Winter so far

I started out this winter getting in shape uphill skiing at Alta and Brighton before the resorts opened.  Once the resorts opened, I spent about a month riding the lifts at Alta to work on my technique skiing since I only started skiing last February.  Towards the end of December I started really getting into what I started skiing in the first place for - exploring the backcountry and skiing down!  I met several great friends in the backcountry areas around Alta and finally had some people to go with, Aaron K, Aaron R, and Joey.  Aaron R is trying to break the record for human powered skiing with 2.5 million vertical feet in a year! Aaron and Joey put in 10,000+ feet of vertical a day, everyday, and are great skiers of course.  I have already learned so much from them and like my brother James always says, "The best way to get good at something is to go with people who are way better than you."  This is definitely true and I have grown so much over the past month and a half as a skier.  Out of all the people I could have met I am so happy I met them.  The first area I spent a lot of time in was the Emma's, Michigan City, Days Fork, upper Silver Fork, and Cardiff.  This is a great place to enjoy face shots before the sun hits it.

Sometimes it gets really deep!

Sunrise Peak Finally, Mt. Olympus

Ever since I ran up to the Salt Lake Twin Peaks earlier this summer I've wanted to run up to Sunrise Peak.  Weather and time constraints prevented me from that goal week after week and I had to settle for other shorter pursuits.  One day I even made it up to the saddle but was just completely out of time.  Last week I had a particularly stressful day at work and really needed to run it off and stand on a new peak.  The weather was cold but likely no snow on the route up to Sunrise.  I go to the gym to lift weights several times a week and sometimes that overlaps with my running schedule.  Running up mountains after a bunch of squatting and other leg lifts the night before really sucks!  I was so unbelievably tired when I was about as far as the picture below.

Realizing how many more vertical feet I had to go and how my legs felt, I was ready to give up and go for it next year.  But I knew I would be so mad at myself later if I didn't push through that mental barrier.  I always pray before I run in the mountains for protection and strength, but at this point I decided to pray again and remind the Lord how important it was for me to finish this and how I knew I couldn't do that without His help.  From that point on I felt much better and I actually ended up making it to the summit within my goal time.  It was so cold up there that my phone just turned itself off when I was on the top.  Luckily I got some pictures first.

On Saturday I went running in the snow at Alta.  It was great because it wasn't icy at all and just about 3 inches. I'm really excited about skinning up many of these same mountains this winter and skiing down!

On Sunday morning I took advantage of daylight savings and went up Mount Olympus.  After my leg lifts and running the past two days, my legs were not too happy with me and it took me about 10 minutes longer to the summit than last year which was a bummer but still really fun!  Mount Olympus is definitely very steep with about 4,000 feet of elevation gain over about 3.5 miles.

Oh and I forgot that last week I also went up to Sunset Peak which was a lot of fun.  I'm looking forward to continuing down that ridgeline next time.

Sugarloaf and Flagstaff

The past two weeks I haven't been able to get out and go on some of the last hikes on my agenda before winter due to weather and time commitments, but I was able to enjoy some nice quick scrambling along the ridge to Flagstaff for my first time, a rainy White Pine Lake, and snowy Sugarloaf.  Two weeks ago it snowed the first time for the year in the mountains and it was awesome running in it.  Over the past two months I have been able to average over 20 miles running in the mountains a week and have improved a lot in some areas but have been frustrated with the lack of growth in running up stuff 15-20% and steeper for long periods.  I realized that this is because I get up to my VO2 max so quickly on steeper stuff and since I wasn't doing any super high intensity interval workouts my VO2 max is probably no better than it was 2 months ago.  The last two weeks I have been going to the Brighton track and running 800's as fast as I can then walking two laps then running hard for two laps again as long as I can before I feel like I am going to die.  I've been doing the same thing on the long hill by the La Caille restaurant and it seems to already be making a difference when I'm running in the mountains on the weekends.

 Snow on the road!

Great views on Sugarloaf 

 Snow topped AF Twins and Mineral Basin

 Devil's Castle

 The valley of clouds

Baldy looks great with all the snow!

 Moose up White Pine

White Pine Lake

 Fun but short ridge up to Flagstaff

 Looking back

 Nice view of Superior

A patch of Fall

AF Twins, Silver Creek Peak, Red Top, Pfeifferhorn

Earlier this summer my dad, Tyler, James, Garrett,Thomas Thorup, and I headed up Snowbird's roads to the saddle above Gad 2 and headed up to Red Top, the AF Twins, and Silver Creek Peak.  It was a lot of fun with the group and we had some great views.  Being able to traverse across multiple peaks in a day definitely has a different feel than just going to one destination.

Headed up the saddle 

GWB and Peifferhorn in the distance

A great place to ski next spring after Snowbird closes

It was so green everywhere!

Headed up the ridge

Another nice place to ski next year

Dad giving me a bean dip!

Garrett and my dad headed up to West Twin

 Looking back at the journey so far

 One of the Twins

 Family bonding with Timp in the background

 I miss the green!

 Garrett decided to take a nap

 Tyler headed down East Twin

So grateful for this family, only missing Jenna, my mom, Kristen, Avery, and Lyla!

Peifferhorn

Earlier this summer Garrett, Jack Johansen, Suzy from my work, and I headed up to Pfeifferhorn.  Tyler and I did this one last fall, but it was a lot more pretty this time of year.

 Green lakes!

 A great view of the Big Cottonwood ridgeline and many more peaks to ascend

 Looking towards Great White Baldy

 Lone Peak in the background

 Box Elder

Don't fall!