HardCor Mountain Adventures: Rocky Mountain Spring

It has been some time now since the last blog posting. Time to update some things!

Since the last post about the Jackal Hut, I had not been out skiing… Gears had shifted to some

first ascent adventures in the local Boulder Canyon. Seven new routes in the past month! All of them are visible from the road, with very little approach. Funny how things can sit there for years, with climbers walking by it all of the time. Some friends and I have been opening up new routes in the Avalon/Vampire/Black Widow area for the last few years now. I think we are up to about 40 routes in the area now. Most are traditional or mixed, and some sport climbs also. These have not been published yet, so if you want more information contact me. We are always glad to show new folks!

When the development is complete we will let the cat out of the bag!

Also over the past month we had some great friends come to town, and stay with us at our home. It is always great to catch up with folks, and if the weather cooperates, have some adventure time!

We were able to climb in Eldorado Canyon, and also climb the famous 1st Flatiron with our friend Nogah. She was here all the way from Israel. Glad the weather was ok!

If you don't live here… It is usually pretty dry in these parts. We get 300+ days of sun per year.

The weather had been a bit wet, and snowy around that time.

Next our friend Aaron makes an appearance from Washington. It had been great around here for weather, and the spring snow up high was perfect! That was until Doc (Aaron) brought the Washington weather with him! Spring time in the Rockies was no more. It was blowing hard wind up high, and snowing every day. Our plan was to go spring skiing and camping up high so we would be in place for some mega ascents. Ok, so plan B! Back to Boulder Canyon to work on some more new routing. Doc had a blast, but we were still hoping to get some skiing in. Finally by the last leg of his trip the weather improved. Back up to seasonal temperatures, and sunny skies.

No corn camping (spring snow that softens up by the sun is called corn snow.) But it's go time for some day trips. With the wind still blowing up high, but the sun showing strong, the corn snow appeared for us. And to our delight, the few clouds and the wind helped keep the snow in pretty good shape for doing a few laps up high at Rollins Pass on the first day out! Of course the late exit down in the low elevation snow was a slog out through deep slush. But hey, that's part of the joys of spring skiing in the Rockies!

Day two we head to Rocky Mountain National Park! On this mission our objective is the

Hallway Cooler on the South face of Hallet Peak. With our abundant snow pack,

the snow in this rock lined hallway is wider then most years I imagine. Made for a fabulous ski!

I captured a bunch of footage from these two days out skiing. Video work will begin soon, but for now… Here is a feast of photos from local adventures with friends from afar.