Well, in the past few weeks the ski season here in Colorado has come to a big roadblock known as a massive ridge of high pressure that pushed the jet stream far north. To add to the lack of good conditions, I also got a new job that has cut back on the amount of free time I have for skiing. The new job is a great job though- I work at a mountaineering/climbing/gear/apparel store here in Boulder- nope, not REI or Neptune…the other one.

The great part about Colorado is that when the conditions for skiing dwindle, there is a vast array of other things that one can do to pass the time. For me at this time of year, it is climbing.

Every classic route starts with a single pitch. Chris and I starting the Bastille crack in Eldorado Canyon.

Since wet slides in the backcountry have been prevalent and since the conditions have been less than epic, I’ve also been spending time in the lower elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park (Romo). This past Friday my good friend Lauren and I hiked through the Moraine Park Valley and up the drainage towards Cub Lake to enjoy the sunset.

Getting close to Romo-