Off Season

One of the benefits to living in Central Oregon is "year round" climbing in impeccable weather. This time of year, however, is the hardest of the times to actually find anything to do if you are an addicted and performance oriented climber. Granted I could just hop a $79.00 flight to Vegas and leave some skin on desert sandstone, but life isn't always that easy.

The time between the months of December and February are somewhat difficult to climb. The weather is 50/50 in terms of reliability (the other 9 months of the year the days are normally 100% guaranteed to be sunny, breezy days) and the temperatures play a dramatic role in determining whether I can (or should) be out there on the rocks.

So what to do? What does an energetic and ADD climber do to keep himself sane and pass the time? Well for starters I spend money... I don't know if I'm trying to compensate for some sort of unhappiness or some lack of fulfillment, but I seem to spend money during these "off months". That being said, I recently spent a good chunk of money on new skis, boots, bindings all all the other goodies that a back country skier needs.

One of the great things about my life thus far is that I've invested so much time into climbing that I've become rather proficient at it. It has been very rewarding, and much of the good things in my life have stemmed from my vertical endeavors.

One thing that has lacked in my life is basically anything that has to do with anything other than climbing. Granted, being a skilled "all 'rounder" at climbing has given me the knowledge to transcend efficiently into different genres... backpacking, endurance sports, etc. But when it comes to the one outdoor pastime that 99% of the general population have an association with, skiing, I am a complete novice.

Skiing is the one outdoor activity that I have zero experience with. Growing up in Pennsylvania, sledding was much more inviting to me, and when I lived in Vermont, Ice Climbing was all I could think about. Skiing just didn't fit the budget (equipment, silly lift tickets) and I never had to pay to climb icicles. It was only when I moved out West and realized what real snow was that I became interested in hucking myself down snowy embankments.

So, after getting squared away with the best shiny equipment my little bank account could buy, I headed out and hoped that my balance and general athletic ability would help me in my quest to be a "ski-mountaineer".

On my third run, I realized that the bunny hill was now obsolete. I skied the rest of the day and felt pretty good about myself, and realized why 99% of the general population straps boards to its feet.


On New Years day, myself and a crew of 4 (including a powder-hound dog, Cinco) headed into the Central Oregon back country to test the 90" of snow that we have on the ground. After a 2.5 hour ascent to near 8000', we strapped on the skis hit the bowl near Mt. Bachelor. The powder had turned nearly to cement, and the skiing was difficult. Here's Katy's first run of the day... inspiring for an aspiring skier like myself. The Right video is Rebecca Larsen ripping through the bowl getting in some solid tele turns, with Cinco following not too far behind.



I fared worse than Katy, basically toppling down the entire 2000' to the car. I even managed to twist my knee. I'm not used to lower extremity injuries in climbing, so I had no idea what a bad knee injury felt like. I realized then and there while Cinco was licking the snow off my ski goggles that I am not willing to give up climbing for skiing, so I'm going to take it really easy from here on out. Blowing my knee for the spring climbing season? Not an option. I felt a little sore yesterday, but I think I avoided serious injury. That was the wake-up call that I needed.

Photo below: My crew Katy and Corey on the top of Cinder Cone, near Mt. Bachelor, OR. The giant in the background is South Sister.I'm hoping to take a lesson to get more proficient at skiing, and in the process hurt myself as little as possible. Climbing is still #1, but I'm hoping to have some excellent ski-mountaineering adventures come spring.