Adirondacks wilderness

We just spent 3 nights in the Adirondacks, one of our all-time favourite hiking destinations. We go often and have been using the technical, demanding terrain of the High Peaks region to prepare for some of our longer trekking and mountain adventures.

This weekend, we were back to hone those skills as we are about to head of the the Alpine Club of Canada's General Mountaineering Camp. The weather was gorgeous, the hiking spectacular, the camp site awesome. In short, we had the perfect weekend.

Jan on top of Saddleback (4,515 feet).

"Precipitous down climb" on way from
Saddleback to Basin Mountain. When the
guidebook says this and adds "extreme
caution" there's a reason.

Massive new slide due to Hurricane Irene
last September. Nature is awe-inspiring in
its sheer force.

View of Basin Mountain. We summitted
it, too (4,827 feet), and then 
backtracked to Orebed camping 
via Saddleback.

Signal Hill view over St. John's harbour

This was the windswept view this morning. This was quite the fortified harbour with its various batteries of cannons atop of steep, rocky cliffs protecting the narrows.

St. John's The Brimstone

And now the raucous sing-along
Newfi style.

George St, St. John's

I'm back on the Rock for a conference. Tonight is the last night featuring the "Rally in the alley": drink tickets, live music (awesome entertainer), and fish and chips. Next bar coming up shortly they say.

Giv'r Hill explained

Last weekend we went to see our friend Giselle walk the Blue Nose Marathon. (She had an awesome time!)

Here's one of the highlights of the weekend: Jan explains Giv'r Hill, a feature that receives much respect from runners and walkers alike.

Walk about in sunny Aspen

The Rio Grande makes for a lovely backdrop to our "last-morning-in-Aspen" walk-about. Sculptures abound, including this awesome one replicating Jan's fav pose. Scenic views aplenty.

Life's grand.

We're at the Aspen airport now awaiting or departure in about an hour. We're flying via Chicago which appears quite convenient so far.

Snowmass delivers 6th ski day in sun

Skiing with friends is awesome!

Highland Bowl

This pic shows the hike up the ridge to the very top of Highland Bowl at 12,392' (3,777 m) (another photo by Jan). Jan and our friends did the hike up to ski down this impressive face. I would have loved the hike up, but doubtful about the descent. So I headed to easier terrain that time.

Gorgeous sunny days

We've been skiing hard and loving the sun each day. They said we'd get up to 8" of new snow last night/today. But that didn't happen at Aspen Mountain today. Still fun skiing. At Snowmass on the other hand they had whiteout conditions today. Glad to miss that!
Here is a first photo of these gorgeous mountain views.

Aspen Skiing

We're skiing in Colorado for the first time. Yesterday, Snowmass Mountain offered up an epic adventure when some of us ended up not skiiing the promised steep bowl (off the very top - the Cirque) but narly steeps that lead to trees then glades. I definitely got more than I bargained for on Headwall and Hanging Valley.

Today we enjoyed pristine sun and warmth at Aspen Highlands. Steeplechase was an interesting adventure (double back moguls with all manner of consistency of snow).

It's great being here and getting worked out. Pics to come!