Its Been a Long Time!

Hey everyone, I have been MIA for a real long time!!! but I am going to try and get back on the horse! Here is a little vid of my season!

Moose Muckin, June

Getting back in touch with my fast side... First day back in the saddle on real terrain! It had been raining for a week solid but we could finally see a bit of sun, then it rained again! Trails were super super slick and every root and rock was waiting to put you on your ass. Thank god I got a little experience with wetness out in North Van and Whistler last season. Unfortunately the slick wood claimed a victim at the end of the first run and Will headed to the hospital with an angle the size of a small car. Reilly and I were able to tag along with another crew and still managed to slay six laps! Moose Mt. is in amazing shape right now! Its going to be a fast summer! yeea biking!

Before we got dirty, oh and before Will couldn't walk.

Reilly's way of getting attention...

Vanuck

Wills ankle after his first run of the year... a classic brakes on really wet ladder move!

Ghost Rock Bustin, June mission

So I have been droppin the ball lately with the blog posts. I blame my computer and its turtle speed processor. I really get discouraged when it takes me four hours to get a post done! But that may soon change! In the mean time I have about five posts in the works. There has been alot going on lately so keep an eye for things to come. This post covers a little weekend mission Benn and I did early June. It was kinda the real start to my rock season plus the first day dustin the cobwebs off my trad rack. I would say a pretty successful mission! One thing that I noticed was how green and lush everything was, a contrast to what I usually see in the winter. Oh, I also realized how easy it is to be a climbing bum, SO much easier then being a ski/ice bum, dealing with shit when its -30 out!

Benn's other girl friend. Funny, there both Hawaiian.

Way better crossing in the summer then in the winter. Still a bit fresh.

Benn inspecting Bonanza's crack.

Take a close look, he's just not built for the heat...

Big guy in a little chimney!

Due to circumstances beyond its control, the blue half rope found its self separated from its other half. but in a lucky turn of events the blue rope has been paired with a new, younger, sexier half. Lucky bugger.

Benn making a fun, easy route look very hard.

Hey big guy.

Lots of hang time!

  White Lightning!

Lazy morning. This summer camping thing sure beats winter camping!

Rock out with your junk out.

Standing on the fin, a classic shot.

Me standing on the fin.

Top of the Wraith and looking sexy!

Yet again, another climb completed with the power of the dragon!

One of the amazing views of the Ghost.

Benn taking in the view.

The Wraith!

Another wicked weekend ends as we ride off into the sunset.

I have an edumucation....

Look out world, I am armed with a degree and now nothing can stand in my way!

 Just because she got that stupid piece of paper first doesn't mean she beat me to graduation...

I have no idea who this person is... but I was only granted passage across the stage if I shook their hand.

Ya Knes grads!

One day someone will look at this photo and wonder, how did that bum get a degree? 

Six years, a fro and a shaggy beard baby, thats how!

Parental Units in town

A week of eating out! woo woo! But now my body is in shock, its not used to all this good food. This was basically "Convocation Tour 2010" for my parents. They took care of both my sisters and my convocations in one trip. They also fulfilled a parental obligation to their dinosaur enthusiast son (back when I was a little kid), and took me to the Royal Tyrrell Museum on a family trip! Ha ha

The Lizard King

ARC'TERYX better be paying this guy some royalties...

For all those super science/biology nerds, this one is for you. The actual note book that started it all, Darwin's idea for the theory of evolution. Glavin!

"W" is for Whiteouts and Whiskey

You would think that after the first experience on the Columbia ice field we would have learned a few lessons... the most important being; unless there is a big ass high pressure system in the area you are going to get screwed! But we hoped a little luck would be on our side and remained optimistic despite the poor weather forecast (often all a weekend warrior can do...). We were shooting for a small one day weather window and a second attempt at Mt. Columbia. Our secondary goals were to not get lost in a whiteout again, have to preform a crevasse rescue again, and get a good nights sleep in a tent that doesn't somehow let snow pass effortlessly through its walls. The pictures really tell the story of this mission, but basically we drank alot of whiskey, sat in a whiteout and some how emerged on the summits of two 11,000ers, both of which were not Mt. Columbia. Attempt number three is being organized as I speak, at least we accomplished our secondary goals. Oh, and drank alot of whiskey... always important!

Getting ready for another round.

 Ahh, Nature...

Doesn't look promising... 

Just a friendly reminder that the seracs never sleep...

So far it looks pretty good!

Joel said his metis roots and facial hair would protect him from the sun... he also wanted a base tan... ended up with a wicked burn, haha

All down hill from here...

Camp, Version 1

A glimpse of our objective.

Mt. Columbia, 3747m (12,293 ft)

second highest peak in the Canadian Rockies

Cozy tent for two big boys, at least its not a piece of crap like the last tent we had.

Its 7am, and yes thats a bottle of whiskey in Joels hand.

 Besides drinking whiskey, we did manage to get on a few summits. 

Snow Dome, 3451m

 Now we just need to find the camp again...

Camp, Version 3. 

We decided to head off, but we would at least try for another summit.

Sometimes you make the right choice, and sometimes your wrong... but its all part of fun. 

We will be back...

But despite the choice you make, its always an adventure!

At least we got a better view then these guys!

Pushing to the second summit of Mt. Andromeda, 3450m (11,319ft)!

Joel McLay, Mountain MAN

We emerged from the whiteout out-of-focus, perverted looking and somehow on the summit of the wrong mountain... (there has been some confusion generated by this... this is a joke, we did mean to be on Andromeda).

The best part of ski mountaineering, going down is fun!

Innocent looking turns in a sea of crevasses.

Smile for the camera! Tourists eat this shit up!

Dont even worry about it, were so bad ass we dont even read warning signs...

Its an amazing place!

The flying Dutchman, Joel's new wheels. 

Defiantly a Kootenay boy.

 85' Silverado, Camper addition. Classic!

Then a slap in the face. Stuck for 4 hours outside of Banff. Long weekend + road construction... I hate AB.

Another slide show I put together. Enjoy, oh, and just a rant... thanks to the blazing fast speed of my amazing CPU this whole post took me at least 3-4 hours to put together... so if you want to see more posts, please help find me a better computer!