The dark, dark side

Before today I had never tried neither traditional climbing nor multi-pitch climbing - now I have tried both. Although, I did only follow and remove the pros. Since my only pair of climbing shoes that do not have any holes are very tight I decided to use my approach shoes to get the true mountaineering experience. The route (Packrat dihedral at El Rito) is only a 5.6 so it was not a problem to use the big shoes. We were three climbers in the team so I was tied in to two ropes all the time. At the bolted belay station it got a bit crowded and we were trying to sort out the ropes and the life lines. A big problem was to hear the person on top when he was done and ready to belay me. It all went fine but it took us about four hours to do a two pitch climb and then rappel down in two parts with double ropes. This whole exercise was to prepare us for a climb by Moab called Ancient Art that we are going to do around Thanksgiving. Then we will be four climbers but hopefully it will be faster than three as the second pair will use a top-rope put up by the first two. We will need more practice to get good rope management and such.

Climbing at Upper East Fork

Yoshi on Revenge of the Werepig, 5.11c.

Today I went to the Upper East Fork area with Caroline and Yoshi. We warmed up on a 5.10b with a tricky top. I did not manage to do the crux and was irritated by the lichen I got in my eyes as I was struggling. The area is new and some of the routes still need cleaning.  Next up was the Revenge of the Werepig, 5.11c, which is very sustained and has a mantle crux close to the top. Yoshi cave up at the crux after several efforts. Caroline lead it to the top and I tried it again on top rope. It is a really cool route but I need a lot more stamina before I can get it a proper try to do it clean at least on top rope. Later I got my revenge on the nice 5.10c on the rightmost wall. During a previous try I ripped off a good sized hold and hit the wall with my back. I managed to lead it clean and the crux did not feel that hard. Last time I did not manage the crux a single time but today was apparently the day.

4th of July weekend

The crew at Willow Lake below Challenger Peak.

My first 4th of July was spent in Colorado on a camping trip with three activities: hiking a 14er, visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park, and climbing at Penitente Canyon. We left Los Alamos after 1pm and stuffed Jae's and my car full of stuff and four persons in each car. We arrived at the parking lot by Crestone around 5pm and unpacked the hiking gear and started the ascent towards Willow Lake. As we drove towards Crestone we saw a lot of lightning on the mountain and it seemed to be pouring down and hailing as well. It had stopped more or less by the time we headed off. We met some hikers on the way back to their cars and they told us that is was pretty packed up by the lake so they suggested to camp by a meadow further down. My back pack was very heavy so I was hiking slowly and it was a relief when we decided to camp at the meadow which we reach after about an hour of hiking. The spot was very nice and we managed to fit three tents. The beer tasted very good after the hike. Previous campers have had a fire place on a rock but I dug a fire pit and surrounded it with rocks. The others were not convinced that having a fire on the rock could shatter the rock. Next task was to gather fire wood and my small axe got put to work. Jae cooked pasta and a nice pasta sauce. We went to sleep early to get up at 5.30am to start the hike.

In the morning it took us about 70 minutes to leave the camp so at 6.40am we walked up to the trail. The hike up to the lake involved two more water crossings on wet logs which would have been really sketchy with heavy packs. After two hours we reached the lake and stopped for a snack. All tents by the lake seemed empty so they probably started by the same time as us to get down before the common afternoon thunderstorms. The first part from the lake was nice with a scenic view of the lake and the valley below. Then the struggle started. We got up the the grassy slope which was quite hard to hike up. After a while I got in to a 30 steps-rest-30 steps-mode. Half way up the slope a group of big horn sheep walked by quite close. We also saw some marmots. At the beginning of the snow field we stopped and most of the group turned around while Lauren and I decided to give it a try. Walt was already at the top so we tried to follow his footsteps. Finally, we joined Walt at the summit. He had spent his time at the peak by building a 8-piece cairn - one for each hiker in our group. After pictures and some snack we headed down again. We chose a different trail down and came to another snow field where people had been skidding down. Walt set off first and Lauren and I got convinced to try it. I put my rain pants on and my softshell gloves to use as brakes. It was a very fun and efficient descent. At the bottom I got a bit stuck with one leg as I was trying to stop before the snow field ended. Later I learned that someone had broken his leg doing that. The rest of the group was waiting for us above the lake. When I got down to the camp I grabbed my shorts, a towel and soap and dipped in the small creek. It was cold and very refreshing after sweating all day.

Big horn sheep

Challenger Point

Willow lake

The next morning I cooked oatmeal for breakfast and I brought a lot of stuff to put in it so the others seemed to like it though it had a slight smoked flavor - which I was afraid to get when cooking a big pot of oatmeal. After breakfast we packed all our stuff and hiked down to the cars. Since only Walt and Donna had been to the Great Sand Dunes National Park before we decided that both cars would go there. We stopped by the visitor center and then drove to the parking lot for the dunes. One has to cross a river that was like a very wide creek at this time of the year. Kids were playing in the water and people were sunbathing there - it was almost like a real beach. At the dunes I spotted a nice ridge that I wanted to take pictures of so I headed off to the right while most of the others headed for the highest dune.

A nice sand ridge at Great Sand Dunes National Park, CO.

After lunch in Alamosa and purchasing a climbing guide book we drove towards Penitente canyon. The campground was equipped with toilettes and fire pits but the closest water source was down the road. Walt spotted a good spot to get the beginners to climb so we put up ropes on a 5.2, a 5.7 and a 5.8. By the way, on the way in to the climbing area there was a rattle snake that Seth apparently came pretty close to. I only saw it taking shelter under a bush. The start of the 5.2 did not feel that easy but the rest was like climbing a slanted ladder. The start of the 5.8 was a bit tricky but fun. We also did two routes to the left of the first three - a 5.8 and a 5.10. When we got back to the campground the tent I borrowed from Jae had moved some 50 feet in the wind. I did forget to put my pack in the tent but the stakes were in the ground but the did not hold it down enough.

The next day we went further in to the canyon to the Hueco wall. There were several nice climbs of different difficulty.

The Hueco wall at Penitente Canyon, CO.

Solar Fest, Taos & Questa Dome bouldering

We left Los Alamos this Friday to go up to Taos to see the BoDeans playing at the Solar Fest. Then we would camp around Taos to do some bouldering/hiking the day after. There were other bands playing before BoDeans but we did not pay much attention to them. Several food stands were put up within the festival area and I found a very nice lentil curry. The BoDeans, who are mostly famous for their "Closer to free" which was featured in the tv-series "Party of five", got on stage and the others wanted to closer to the stage. The most interesting thing about the concert was looking at the people. There were quite a few hippies and it seemed like I was one of the younger people in the audience.

After the concert we headed to the car to drive towards the ski hill to find the camping spot that W had found earlier that afternoon. There was a stream right there and the sound from the water was pretty loud. We had some beer and chatted a while. The conversations around camp fires always seem to be more interesting than conversations elsewhere. However, we did not have a fire but the conversations were interesting anyway. I was optimistic about the night time temperature so I only brought my summer sleeping-bag and it was apparently too thin since I woke up in the middle of the night shivering. Luckily I did bring long-johns and more sweaters so I put it all on.

In the morning Donna found that some creatures had stolen the tortillas for the breakfast burritos. We decided to drive to Questa to get some breakfast there instead. The cafe in Questa was old but the breakfast burrito was tasty. We split into two groups so Walt, Caroline, and I went up to the Questa Dome boulders while Donna, Misa, and Jae went for a hike by Red River. The bouldering area by Questa Dome has more than 100 established problems on granite. The last bit of the drive there was very rough and the guide book author was right about "4wd only". The hike from the parking to the first boulders was pretty short. At the first spot we stopped at we played around on a few V0-V3's. The granite was incredibly slick and smearing was not to think about. The next stop was at the Trail boulders where we spent the rest of the time. The problems here were quite nice with some cool moves. Some problems seemed sand-bagged.

Caroline on a V2 at Questa Dome boulders.

After the bouldering/hiking we met at Embudo Station for a bite to eat and something to drink. The others tried to hike further than the trail suggestion so they arrived after we finished our food and drinks.

White water rafting, Rio Grande

Charles organised a white water rafting trip to Pilar south of Taos. We were nine people heading up there. To start with the guides drove us upstream to a bridge across the Rio Grande where we started the rafting. The whole morning was very mellow and relaxing and my hopes for the afternoon on the so called Race course got bigger and bigger. They served us lunch by the river in Pilar. After lunch it did not even take a minute before I got splashed with water. There were a few nice rapids along the Race course but the distance in-between them were too long. The best part was the Souse Hole where we got soaked thoroughly. The last mile was merely transport to the pick-up spot. The guide made us try some trick with the raft where everyone gathered at the stern and he was pulling on a line attached to the bow while one side paddled forward and the other backward to make the raft spin. The guide almost fell into the water but apart from that it was not very exciting.

After the rafting one car headed home to attend some party while the rest of us drove to Embudo Station to have an early dinner. It is a nice place right by the river and they have good food and beer. A lot of cotton was blowing off of the cottonwood trees so it was a struggle to keep the glasses free of cotton.

Frisbee golf in Santa Fe

Today, I and four other guys went down to Santa Fe to play frisbee golf (or disc golf as some prefer to call it). Henrik and Jae had to play with no handicap and the rest of us got one extra throw per basket. The frisbees often went wide (at least for some of us) but we all managed to get some pars. Henrik had the least throws but with my handicap I got first place. The price was free dinner and beer afterwards, which we had at 2nd Street Brewery. The victory tasted very good indeed. However, there were indication of changing the handicaps for next game.

In the evening we all watched the swedish steel reinforced Redwings beat the Penguins. A good ending to a nice day.

Memorial Weekend in Boulder, Co

This long weekend was spent in Boulder, Co. We headed up there after work on Thursday and got to the hotel between Denver and Boulder around 1am. In the morning we drove to Boulder and checked in to the hotel there. We did not have a climbing guidebook but luckily REI was in the next block. My suggestion was to go to Flatirons where there is both rope climbing and bouldering. We parked at Chautauqua park and started hiking up the trails. Apparently, the best climbing was at the 3rd Flatiron according to Yoshi's guidebook. As we got up to the trail to the 1st and 2nd Flatiron there was a sign about the 3rd Flatiron being closed due to falcon and eagle nesting. New plans: after looking through the rope climbing guidebook and my bouldering guidebook we decided to go to Eldorado Canyon instead. When we got down to the parking lot we saw several signs on that billboard about the closures. Ten eyes had not seen them on the way up.

The drive to Eldorado Canyon was pretty swift and we parked after the state park entrance. We asked some firefighters for directions and crossed the bridge over the stream. The bouldering guidebook had a few topos but no overview so without the directions from the firefighters it would have been hard to find our way around. A small note that the rope climbing guidebook forgot to mention was that the routes in Eldorado Canyon are more or less exclusively traditional. A nice boulder which was the first one on the trail was unfortunately surrounded by water. We tried to go to the next area but crossing a ridge seemed too sketchy so we went back and went to the boulder right by the road on the other side of the stream. Milton Boulder is a pretty tall boulder with solid but slick rock. We did/tried a few problems before the wind made it impossible to keep the pads from flying all over the place.

The next boulder area was further up the road and very accessible as well. A tall arete was defeated as well as some other easy problems on the A boulder. I joined a local on a balancy V2 but never managed to send it. Yoshi did a sitstart with a hard dyno/swing to catch the next hold on the B boulder. There was also a nice slab on that boulder and I added a sitstart to it.

In the evening we walked into the city center after using the hotel's hot tub. We had dinner at Lazy Dog and it was around 10pm before we got our food. Two glasses of beer and a burger in the stomach made me extremely tired so I had to fight hard to keep my eyes open.

The morning after we had breakfast at the Original Pancake House next door. It was very tasty. We agreed that we were too tired to go climbing so we stuck to the original plan: hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. The web page suggested a few different hikes and the hike to Mills Lake sounded like one of the better moderate hikes. On the way to the trail head we saw numerous elk and they were very fearless. When we got to the trail head it was snowing and the hike would be on packed snow. It was quite a contrast to the weather down in Boulder this morning. I had left my gloves and hat in the hotel room, since I figured I would be sweating during the hike and not get snowed upon. I pulled my hood over my cap and kept my hands in the sleeves as we took off. It was pretty slippery on the snow. It was snowing on and off and in the sun it was very warm but then suddenly a cold wind would cool you off. Up to Mills Lake is a 2.8 mile hike and it was a bit strenuous with the snow and the pace that we kept. The major part of the lake was still frozen. We had lunch there and took pictures of the scenery. In the description it said that we would have a nice view over Longs Peak which is a 14er, but we were sure it was hidden behind some other peak. The hike back was easier as we were mainly going down. Instead of going back to the same shuttle bus stop we continued 0.5 mile up to Bear Lake. It was a disappointment after the steep hike. At the ranger station there I found out that Chaos Canyon bouldering area is not far from Bear Lake. Next time I guess I will bring the pad and the other gear up here. However, I saw somewhere that the hike can take up to two hours.

Mills Lake.

View over the 14er Longs Peak.

At night we had dinner at BJ's which is a microbrewery in the center of town. The pizza was good and the beer as well. We were all tired and called it a day after dinner.

The last day the other guys wanted to go to Boulder Canyon while I wanted to check out Flagstaff Mountain. I dropped them off at the Avalon crag which was not that easy to find using the description on mountainproject.com. I went back into town and had breakfast at a very nice place: Folsom St Coffee.

A V2 arete at Flagstaff Mountain, Boulder.

A V3 on the Red Wall, Flagstaff Mountain.

The semi-regular weekend afternoon at the Pond

After a quiet morning I finally went down to the Pond. It was very warm so the quest was to find problems in the shade. With a few minutes before the nice sitstart on the backside of the C boulder would be in the sun I had to climb it quickly. It felt easier than last time I did it so I am not sure of the grade. In any case, it is a nice problem. I walked over to the Scoop, V3, which I had problems with the first time here. There is a tree that you could fall right into if you miss the good pocket right below the top. I tried the moves and they felt easy today so I gave it a try and a success it was. It is a nice straight forward problem (at least with the sequence I used this time). See a video of the Scoop from the tojorisen blog here.

Feeling satisfied with the easy send of the Scoop I hiked up to the Upper Deck in the gazing sun. Carrying two pads and a backpack is somewhat frustrating from times to times, especially when it is as hot as today. My plan was to try Lost Descent and Spooner again. I had watched a video of Lost Descent so I now know that you do the same top-out for both Lost Descent and Spooner. However, the beta did not help me today. One crucial hold to go right to the top-out was a bit to slopey for this hot day. I came slightly closer on Spooner's sitstart but yet again to warm for slopers today. I tried to figure out were the R and Q boulders were and I believe I found the R boulder but the location of the Q boulder remains a mystery. On the way home I scrambled down the hill to the Cube to have a look at the highball: Doo-doo Wrecka arete V5.

Elks on the Caldera.

As I drove past the Valles Caldera a lot of elk were down on the meadows feeding. A coyote tried to get close to them but was scared off. After a while a large bull with big horns was about to cross the road close to the parking lot where I was but unfortunately it was scared away by another car.

Spider Canyon and Peck's Peninsula, Ponderosa

I had seen that there are some boulders further up the forest road from Ponderosa so today's mission was to check these out. I started at the Spider Canyon and hiked in the two track and found some blocs but they were chossy and not appealing. There are GPS coordinates for some of the boulders but that did not help me as I do not have any GPS unit. After the dissappointment after not finding anything exiting at Spider Canyon I continued to the Ridge (a.k.a. Peck's Peninsula). The view from ontop of the ridge is nice.

The scenery from ontop of the ridge by Peck's Peninsula.

At the Ridge I found several of the problems that I had spotted online. The Funky Spider looked really cool as well as the Pinball Simulator (or First arete). I did not bring the gear down to the boulders but I definitely have to go back to try them. There seemed to by some guys that we camping at the bottom of the bouldering area so that would be a nice thing to do a weekend.

Bandelier

Overview of the Frijoles Canyon with the cliff dwellings at Bandelier.

Overlooking the ruins.	A ladder to a carved out room.
A cactus by the long house.	A stranger in the Alcove cave.

I got to Bandelier National Monument around 4pm. Robert let me through the gate and I ran into Andrew by the shop. Watched the video and bought the map of the main loop. After the main loop I hiked over to the Alcove Cave. The Frijoles canyon is very lush which surprised me. It makes a nice contrast to the rock faces. 

Andrew told me about a concert at the Brewing Co. in Santa Fe the same evening. A group from the park were heading down. I got there a bit late so Missy Higgins had already started to play. I liked her voice and the soft singer-songwriter style of hers. Brett Dennen was next on stage and it was ok. His best performance was in a duet with Missy. Finally, Mason Jennings entered the stage and he was pretty good. The best part was a duet with Brett.

Upper deck at the Pond

As I just was about to start to warm up at the 20 minute boulder at 'the Pond' a guy from Albuquerque showed up with his husky. Apparently he knows the area well and also has found some areas nearby. He was heading up to the 'Upper deck' area which I had never visited so I warmed up quickly and caught up with Eric at a new problem on a boulder uphill from the 'King for a day' boulder. He did not manage to link the start so we walked to 'the Wave' boulder where I wanted to try a slab problem that I have tried twice before. Unfortunately, the problem is in the sun all day so it was already warm. To my surprise I managed to get my left foot to the key foot hold on the first try. After a few more tries I topped it out. Next I did an arete problem which was very nice and graded V3/4.

A nice easy problem on the 'K do me, do me boulder' at the Upper Deck.

I do not think I would have found the 'Upper deck' area on my own. The hike was pretty steep and the loose sand made it hard. The boulders at the 'Upper deck' lie close to eachother and there are several cool problems on them. Eric showed me around and then we headed to 'Lost descent' V5 (V6 sds) and 'Spooner' V7 which Eric wanted to try. He managed the start of 'Spooner' but did not find a sequence for the mantle. It is a really cool problem that I want to spend some time on. Although it is way out of my league right now I think it suits me. You can find both problems in the Ponderosa Weekend movie. The sit start on 'Lost descent' was very hard and we both tried to go straight up for the mantle while I now think one should go right and do the same mantle as for 'Spooner'.

Beehive arete V2 on the Beach Boulder at the Upper Deck.

After Eric left I played around on the 'Beach' boulder but the rock was so warm so I did not succeed on neither the V4 arete nor the V2 arete. I had a look in the guide book and walked around the area to have a closer look at the problems. The 'Swiss cheese' V7 problem on the 'Tree slab' boulder looks really nice but I guess one has to be there in the morning to work on it. Before heading down again I did a nice easy problem on the K boulder. On the way down I stopped by 'Catherine slab' and did the left version although it was ever so hot there.

All in all it was the best day at Ponderosa so far.

Overlook of the canyon of Jemez Springs.

On the way back I stopped at the overlook of the Jemez canyon. Unfortunately, the view was a bit obstructed by trees.

Rope climbing quadruple

Part of the Overlook crag, White Rock, with an overview of the Rio Grande canyon.

The last four days I have been rope climbing outside. Thursday was the first time we went outside for the weekly climb previously held at the YMCA. We went to the Overlook where the mountaineering club also had put some ropes. I climbed some 5.8s to 5.10s with with Walt and Jess. I pumped out completely on the Holy Wall 5.10a as the sun set.

Friday I joined Yoshi and Caroline at the Dungeon, which is very close to town and even closer to work. We worked the climbs at Trash Tower and they were nicer than the name indicates. Especially, Weenies Go Like This 5.11b was nice with a pumpy lower section and tricky sequencies to get to the top. The after climb beer at Canyon Bar was really nice.

Friday evening Jae told me that a group was going to the Overlook to climb Saturday morning before their softball games. When I left home it was quite windy and a bit chilly but at the Overlook it was so warm in the sun. Jae and I warmed up on Cholla Wall 5.10a/b and we had to have several takes each. It is a nice wall that I would like to do clean. I also worked on Holy Wall and managed to get to the top after some struggle. Another nice wall I would like to do clean.

Sunday started lazy. I was tired after last night's bbq at Walt's. My original plan was to drive down to Ponderosa to go bouldering but something kept me in the chair. In the afternoon Walt called me and we went to Las Conchas and the Cattle Call Wall. We did La Verga 5.9, Cud for LuLu 5.8, Bovine Inspiration 5.9, and finally worked on Cow pies for breakfast 5.10d. I enjoyed the bouldery start of Bovine inspiration and Cow pies for breakfast was nice too with a desperate dead-point move.

Afternoon at the Pond

Forest road 10 was open today so I took the dirt road down to Ponderosa. It was a bumby ride at several places. I was able to locate the area Peck's Peninsula but did not check it out. I guess it would be possible to find the Spider area also if one drives north from Peck's.

It was warm today at the Pond today. I think I have to check out the areas in the woods soon to find shade and hopefully lower temperatures. The first stop was at the 20 minute boulder to warm up. The V2/3 left of Ichiro was checked out but the start is very weird with two underclings and then it goes up left of a prow. No success there. The V2 arete left of 'King for a day' got a few tries but the dyno felt scary to do on my own though I had two pads. The last stop of the day was at the Wave boulder and I spent time on the V1 slab with pockets there. Got some beta from some locals that were there two weeks ago as well. It did not help and I tore the skin on a finger on the fairly sharp right pocket. I guess that problem needs lower temperatures since it is exposed to the sun all day. After the failure there I did a few tries on Catherine slab but that was also warmed by the sun so I gave up and headed home.

Catherine slab at Ponderosa.

Las Conchas, NM

Today we headed to the Jemez mountains and the Las Conchas area where we set camp at the Gateway Rock. This was my first outdoor rope climbing in probably five years. I warmed up on Green Thumb 5.8 which was lichen-covered and not very nice. The next route was nice - Woof Toof Noof Roof, 5.10d. The start was pumpy and with my present endurance I was not able to climb it clean. The last route of the day was Drive By Shooting, 5.10a/b which was long (to my bouldering standards) and with the only crux at the start. 

I soon realized how convenient bouldering is compared to rope climbing. I will not change my opinion about that anytime soon. However, rope climbing with friends is nicer than driving more than an hour away to boulder on your own.

Premier at Ponderosa, NM

I went to check out the bouldering by Ponderosa in the Jemez mountains last Saturday. A group of four Americans, one Swede, and two dogs headed down from Los Alamos. The boulders consist of the volcanic rock tuff. It is the same type of rock as in Hueco, which means a lot of weird structures and holes to use. Unfortunately, the only topo is part of a guide book over the rock climbing in the Jemez mountains and it only includes a very limited part of the areas around Ponderosa and moreover there are no updates posted anywhere, except a topographical map with indications of where the other areas are found and some notes (search for Ponderosa). However, there is a bunch of pictures posted on 0friction and a few videos on YouTube.

Goumas on a nice sit-start on the C boulder.

During the first visit we only climbed on two boulders and had a look at a few other by the pond. Today I returned on my own and walked further up to the Nascar boulder and tried and looked at some nice problems. The upper deck and the newer areas are still to be explored so there are lots of problems to climb.

Final day at Pajarito Ski Area, NM

Today was the last day of the season that the lifts were running. It was slushy and very nice conditions as long as you stayed clear of the bare rocks. I went up there a few hours Friday also for a long lunch at the ski hill - one of the nice things about working here.

Sale frenzy and climbing in Abq

Walt and I drove down early to get a good spot in the line to the Scratch & Dent sale at REI in Albuquerque. Henrik arrived at the same time as us and there was already a long line. When they opened it was just crazy. So much people and so much junk. I did not find anything worth buying. The others found some stuff.

We had brunch at the International House of Pancakes which is very close to REI. I had a stack of blueberry pancakes which were tasty and full of energy. The next stop was at the Stone Age climbing gym where I started out at their big boulder with sides of varying steepness. After some time Walt and Henrik gave up the rope and showed me another boulder area upstairs. There had been a competition recently so some problems had points posted by them. Our own competition was started by Henrik. There was a bunch of nice problems up here so we spent the rest of our energy up here. Too bad this place is 90 minutes from here.

Before heading home we grabbed something to eat at Kelly's in Nob Hill. We sat outside in the shade and the temperature was just right - really nice. They brew their own beer and had a large list to choose from.

Banff Mountain Film Festival, Santa Fe

Yesterday I went to see the Banff Mountain Film Festival at the Lensic in Santa Fe. Most of the films were entertaining while a few were a bit slow. Unfortunately, I had already seen King Lines which was the best part. A long film showed a norwegian female base-jumper and freeride skier, Karina Hollekim. She started base-jumping after only 20-something sky dives but she was certain that it was her thing to do. In the film she had an accident during a competition and broke almost everything below her waist. After multiple surgeries she is apparently able to walk but cannot flex her legs much. However, she is planning to be able to ski again.

Another interesting film was a film about a very tricky north shore/trail course in the woods. It must be a lot of work to put such a course in the woods.

Gearing up

Finally, I am equipped to go bouldering. After dropping off Veronica at the airport in ABQ I went by REI and got the MadRock Mad Pad with a 20 % off coupon. I also bought the Jemez climbing guide book which includes the bouldering in Ponderosa.

 

Visit

I have had Veronica here for two weeks (March 8-22) and now she is on her way home. The picture above is from her second day here when we went up to Pajarito to ski. During her first week here we also went to Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The Old Town in Abq was really nice. On Saturday it was time for Skiesta at Pajarito with a live band and skiing comps. Unfortunately, Veronica fell after lunch and twisted her right knee badly. I was skiing behind her so I was able to get to her quickly to get the skis off and ask people in the lift to call the ski patrol. They came after a while and put a support around her leg and got her in a tobaggan. There was not much they could do in the patrol room apart from putting her leg in a cardboard support. I drove down to the medical center where they x-rayed and examined her. She got a brace, crutches, and pain killers. It took five or so hours before we got to go home.

The next day we drove to Las Vegas, NV, as planned. We had booked a room for two nights through priceline and got a good deal at Palazzo. We left Los Alamos later than originally planned after a cold shower since there was no warm water (more about that later). It was very windy on I-40 and a lot of tumbling weed was crossing the road - it was like in a western movie. After a late lunch stop in a snowy Flagstaff we turned out on I-40 again and I noticed that a police car was blocking the ramp just after us. After some miles the lines began and we crawled forward for 90 minutes before we got to an exit where we had to turn around and head back to Flagstaff. Apparently, there had been a 80 car accident further west on I-40. One of the men directing the traffic did not give any advice about how to get to Las Vegas so we had to go to a gas station in Flagstaff to buy a map and ask the personnel if they knew exactly where the accident had happened. They phone the department of transport and the woman there advised us to go south and take a looong detour. However, she had also said that the accident happened close to Bellemont which meant that we could go up towards Grand Canyon to get a shorter detour. The road conditions were pretty bad and there was quite a lot of traffic so it was just a matter of staying on the road. The snow and the freezing temperatures continued for a while and when the road finally was clear and the temperature above freezing it was nice to be able to increase the speed. We finally arrived Palazzo after midnight Nevada time so it was a long trip.

The main thing we did in Vegas was visiting an outlet. We got to borrow a wheelchair from the hotel so I was driving Veronica wherever she wanted to go. I can tell that it is not very convenient to get around clothes stores with a wheelchair.

The hotel room was very nice and we got to spend some time in it since Veronica probably had gotten a blood clot on the way to Vegas and in the evening she did not feel well at all. We ordered room service which was the first time for me.

The original plan was to go to Grand Canyon on the way home, but after the last night and Veronicas condition we decided to go straight home. There was no snow and not much wind this day so driving was a lot better. However, since we go out of Vegas around noon we got home around ten and I was pretty tired the last stretch. It is more tiring to drive in the dark on american highways since there are less reflexes along the sides of the road.

When we got to the apartment there was a note saying that the water heater was broken and a new one would not be installed until earliest Friday. They had opened two empty apartments so we could use their showers but being on crutches it is not that funny to get to another building to take a shower. But what could we do about it - nothing.

Saturday we headed down to Abq early to find presents to her brothers. We were more lucky at the malls. It was then time to go to the airport. We had to pack the gifts into the suitcases and they could not have swallowed much more, which became evident when they got on the scale. Veronica had to pay $50 for the excess weight. She got a wheelchair and we had some lunch. Just as we finished eating she heard her name called over the speakers. We went to a courtesy phone and she was told that she had to go back to the check in desk since her suitcases had been found to be locked. Neither of us were aware about that you cannot fly with locked luggage in the US. She gave them the numbers for the combination locks. I was of course not allowed beyond the security check so we said goodbye there with the wheelchair guy . Walking to the car that I was alone again after two weeks of company.

Skiing Santa Fe

The Santa Fe ski area is pretty close but still so far away when you have a season pass at Pajarito (20 minutes away). Today was the first day at this ski area. The conditions were not the best - icy, cold and with total white-out on the highest parts. During the day some snow fell and the conditions grew better. It was the first day with my new Scarpa T1 boots, which I bought on a sale in Santa Fe the day before. 40 % off made it impossible to resist. They sure are worth every penny since I started to grow some cartilage on top of my left foot due to my old T1's which are probably around ten years old.

Colorado skiing weekend

This long weekend was spent skiing in Wolf Creek, CO. We stayed in a very cosy house though all the stuffed animals and a bull horn chair. The house that we had to dig our way into is situated by the San Juan river between Pagosa Springs and Wolf Creek. There was a lot of snow and they only cleared the path for the cars and did not clear the stairs. Luckily I had brought my small showel so I got to work a bit. The first night we only stayed at the house and ate good food and played a vicious card game that meant that you had to drink a lot.

A few days before the weekend Wolf Creek got some fresh powder but we only found traces of that in the woods. I got to try my new used skis in the powder and it was very nice to be able to float on top more than with my other skinny ones.

My new used skis (but mine have Rottefella R8's instead).

Wolf Creek is a pretty good ski area. With fresh powder the top part must be excellent. Now it was too bumpy for my taste. The slopes far left were really steep but there was some great powder among the trees in the less steep part.

Burns supper

Last night was my first Burns supper, which is celebrated in memory of Robert Burns. He wrote Auld lang syne, which probably most people know. The important ingredients haggis and scotch were of course served. I wonder which Scotsman will continue Chris' tradition next year?

First skiing in many years

Trail map of Pajarito Mountain, Los Alamos, NM.

This weekend I have been dropping my knee and freeing my heel again (e.g., been telemark skiing) for the first time in several years. The last time was problably four or five years ago. On Friday I went up to get some skiing hours during "lunch". It was so nice to be back on the slopes again. I had to rest a lot but it went ok. On Saturday I had to keep up with the alpine skiers and that was tough as the altitude here really gets to you and as my legs are pretty weak. On Sunday I only spent two hours on the skis and then I was exhausted.

The ski area here has about 40 slopes and four lifts. However, one of the lifts only open when there is lots of snow and only during Saturdays and Sundays.