Weekend Review

Last weekend I got to ski in the backcountry with my dad and a couple of friends and then head down to Missoula for a visit with a high school climbing buddy and my lovely sister. For time's sake I'll just throw up some pictures in the post and narrate from there.

Looking upward to Nyack Mountain. Notice the huge cornice off the summit ridge. It's got to be about 60-80 feet out from the rock. I would like to see some of those fall this spring, albeit from a very safe location.

Eric stoked to get some fresh turns. The mountains behind him are in the southern portion of Glacier National Park. As you can see, we really lucked out on weather: it was clear, warm, and sunny. Unfortunately we forgot any sunscreen during this transitional period from winter to spring skiing. Thankfully I didn't get fried like I thought I was going to.

El Jefe himself, dreaming of big turns in the mountains this spring. Eric, Dad, and I were grinning from ear to ear by the end of the 7000 foot, perfect snow day realizing that the three of us will get to do this 5 days in a row in a couple of weeks at the Fairy Meadows hut in British Colombia.

Dad carving some great tele-turns.

Climbing in Lost Horse Canyon with my friend Ryan (green shirt on the left), his girlfriend Brittany (on the boulder), and a psyched group of climbers connected to the UM. We climbed all day on some really aesthetic boulders strewn among the snow and mud of approaching Spring. For my first climb outside for the year, my hands fared pretty well.

My sister and I. Background is the city of Missoula. We were on a hike on the Reynold's Ridge (?) starting from the Orange Street trailhead overlooking the the city to the south and the Rattlesnake and Clark Fork canons to the east.

Fun photo! Practicing my skills with a self-timer and small tripod. One of my favorite landscapes/natural settings is brown-grassy foothills leading up to blue mountains covered with snow. I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Larkin is pointing to her new house in this photo, just south of the UM campus. We spent some time up on this higher ridge with her pointing out some landmarks and streets of Missoula.

We met Monday morning in a cool coffee and tea shop called Butterfly Herbs where I had a fantastic latte and bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. For lunch after our hike (I for one can say that I was particularly ready for some food), we stopped in at Biga Pizza. Larkin is modeling the delicious Flathead Cherry pizza we ordered: smoked gouda cheese, homemade sausage, and real Flathead cherries all on a superb crust. It makes me want to go home and make some pizza! Top it all off with a great, low-key atmosphere perfect for conversation, and you get one heck of a good place to eat lunch.