Skiing Bearhat Peak

It's been a while since I have made the time to post something. I am still alive and well for any of you who were worried. I'm going to try and do some posts over the course of the next couple of days chronicling the rest of my summer since returning from Denali: it's been pretty fun. After that I hope to begin writing and reflecting on the aforementioned trip to Alaska. A month since we returned safely and I feel like I'm mentally ready to work through remembering all the ups and downs of our adventure.

July 16th of this summer was the first Saturday that the Going-to-the-Sun highway was open all the way to Logan Pass and there was still plenty of snow to be had. I will admit that I was burnt-out on traveling on snow when we flew off the Kahiltna Glacier. But a week of not living out of a tent can do wonders for moral. I also probably have a short memory when it comes to remembering suffering in the outdoors. So, as the weekend rolled around, I couldn't wait to do some low-elevation (less than 11 thousand feet...) ski mountaineering.

Bearhat Peak has been something I've wanted to ski for a long time. A fellow teacher of my dad's had mentioned long ago that he had skied from the summit. On the 4th of July four years ago, we had given it a try, only to have a lack of snow foil our plans. We still summited but left our skis behind at the Hidden Lake overlook. Now armed with 4 more years of climbing and skiing experience, the peak came easy and the descent was super-fun.

Here's a video of our trip. I tried my first voice-over in this one. My sister encouraged me earlier this year to incorporate my writing with making videos, crafting a story in a sense. I hope to get better at combing words with pictures and video to create something more memorable than each could be on their own.


Skiing East Bearhat Peak from Colter Lane on Vimeo.
Not your average hike in the Park. My favorite ski buddy (Dad) and I climb and ski East Bearhat Peak in Glacier National Park. Fresh off of a 3 week trip in Alaska on Denali, we were hankering to summit a peak and get some good skiing in before the ski season was over for the year.

Denali Teaser

For all of you that have been waiting for an update on Denali, here it is. It's not much, but at least it will push the SPOT post out of view, eh?

Dad and I got back to Anchorage on July 6th and Kalispell on the 8th. It was nice to have some time to decompress and adjust back to "normal" life. Thanks to my friends Ben and Katie for being such amazing hosts and ushering us back into civilization with good food, good convo, and loaned bikes!

In summary, we spent a total of three weeks on the Mountain, reaching a high point of 18,200 feet at Denali Pass before being turned around by the weather. I would be misleading you if I said that I'm not disappointed about not gaining the top. However, the skills gained in mountaineering and expedition camping will be invaluable and the time spent with my dad will be something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

As a teaser, here are a couple photos:

Follow us on Denali

I don't know if this will work or not. Dad and I are carrying a SPOT Personal Messenger device on our trip to Denali and plan to check-in pretty regularly. The page below should follow those messages as we grind our way up the West Buttress route to the summit, tearing up the spring powder along the way. Thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!

*I've removed the embedded SPOT page, seeing as how we aren't on Denali anymore and SPOT doesn't save our points anyway. I hope to use a SPOT device in future trip escapades.