New Zealand

The pinnacles, Coromandel

We flew over to Auckland from Sydney and spent the remainder of our trip on the North Island. Rain was certainly a factor: our plan to climb mt. Taranaki was completely foiled. We saw some new and beautiful parts of the country. The incredibly unhelpful information center staff tried to convince us not to do the Tongariro crossing, so we did the more difficult Ngauruhoe climb instead and had a perfect day in the mountains. We discovered that Karangahake gorge makes for a perfect packraft whitewater run, and explored some of the coastline with our boats. Overall a fantastic trip south.


Tongariro trail with Ngauruhoe


Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu


Steam vent on top of Ngauruhoe


Ruapehu, tallest mountain on the N. Island


Ohinemuri river


Ohinemuri river
video of our paddling here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEun1_WH7No


Bridal veil falls near Raglan


Cathedral cove

Down under

Australia was short but sweet. We spent a few days in Sydney before being chased away by the dust storm. We took refuge in the Blue Mountains for a few days hiking around the spectacular national park.


Sydney dust storm


Bridal veil falls


Hiking in the Grose valley


local


steep!


Blue Mountains national park

Tetons

The Tetons

Paula on Baxter's pinnacle

Paula and I spent about 10 days around Wyoming and Montana climbing and hiking.  We climbed Baxter's pinnacle and the Exum ridge on the Grand Teton.  The Wind River mountains were amazing but wouldn't let us climb due to unsettled weather.  We will be back!

The Exum ridge follows the prominent sun/shade line to the top

Leading the crux pitch on the lower Exum

Paula on the summit 13,770 ft.

Paula on the rappel to get off the summit

Denali Work

Denali shadow from 17,200 ft. 5:00am

on the summit


South ridge, East Kahiltna peak


First pitch, mini-moonflower

The mountaineering season was a blur as usual this year. I had barely enough time in Talkeetna to clean up from one trip before I started packing for the next one. The field time was exceptional. I was able to explore some new places including East Kahiltna peak, the Mini-moonflower, Ruth Gorge, and the Pika glacier. My Denali patrol was able to summit in excellent weather, and all medicals and rescues I worked on went smoothly . You can't ask for more than that. Some photos from the trips can be found at:

picasaweb.google.com/alaskabackcountry/morework



Middle Troll, Pika glacier


Rafting out the Tokositna river from the Pika to Talkeetna

A week at basecamp for Rigging for Rescue training made for a great start to the season.  We had good weather, great field training, and awesome company with the PJs.

Some funky layers in the snowpack including Mt. Redoubt ash and some persistent facets visible with this column failure.

Cold clear

Our weeks of negative temps produced the inevitable surface hoar on the snowpack. I found this crystal growing underneath a rock just above Virgin Creek in Girdwood. It had the humidity from the creek to assist its growth. It's probably among the largest I've ever seen.

Early season skiing

Lots of exciting snow conditions to start off the ski season. Alyeska has enjoyed the second snowiest November on record, allowing unprecedented early openings for much of our terrain. Regionwide snow stability has been suspect for awhile with lots of avalanches failing on October snow layers. It produced some large avalanches at the ski area and keeps us on our toes. The skiing has been fantastic and I can't wait for more snow!


Alyeska boundary line, with avy crown on the closed side.


Rob skiing off Magnum, midday twilight in December.