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#4 Mt. Sherman: The Start of Summer

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#4 Mt. Sherman The summer had begun. I completed junior year of college, started a new job and was eager to begin my first summer missio n - solo. Coming off my first “big” ski season, I felt physically prepared, but under prepared with equipment. The forecast was outstanding - bluebird and sunny; however, I was concerned with a big snowfield that I’d might have to posthole through. Mt. Sherman - June 2021 I was stoked! I was feeling light and nimble after leaving my ski gear at home; however, my next challenge was using my five-year-old Nike running shoes to climb this mountain with snow. I was preparing for the worst postholes of my life or for the possibility of sliding down the mountain unable to self-arrest with my pole. Oh yea? Have I mentioned that I did not own climbing pants yet? I was rocking high ski socks, shorts and trekking poles. I felt like a euro trail runner in shorts. I parked at 11,000’, after a slow drive down the bumpy dirt road, and began my charge up the
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Mt. Democrat: We're Beefing.

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After a busy few weekends with the long slog up Gray's Northern slopes and getting shut down on Dragon Tails, Max and I felt like we were in shape to tackle another 14er. I had been told about Democrat's North face by Justin Ibarra during my AIARE 1. Avalanche conditions were stable, our only concern were wet slides in the late morning/afternoon. We thought we would make it a two night trip and do quandary the next day. I was frothing by the idea of skiing off the summit this time.  Mt. Democrat - North Slopes We departed late Friday night from Denver. For some reason, we decided to take my car, meaning that it would be Max and I's first time sleeping in a tent together. Max's tent was a worn down REI half dome 2 that his dad had lent him after years of use. Max also made the executive decision to not bring the rain tarp, only 2 guy lines and no footprint.  After a few hours of driving, we arrived at Montgomery Reservoir only to find an unmarked, white van a few 100 fee
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#2 Grays Peak: Never Underestimate a Mountain

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We were all gathered in the backyard of Walker's house on a beautiful Saturday afternoon day drinking. It was a warm, 72 degree day. Somewhere between our 3rd and 5th drink of the afternoon, Max and I started talking about what we wanted to ski tomorrow. We had successfully completed Shit For Brains the weekend before and Max had a week of rest after having COVID. We wanted to accomplish a bigger day and had heard someone had made it far up on Forest Road 189 in a car. We didn't know how exactly how far they made it and whether the information was reliable. All we went off of was one person's trailhead post on 14ers.com. We look up the mileage and vertical gain and thought... "7.5miles Round Trip? Only 3,000' of gain? Maybe add another mile and 500' to be safe with the road closures and we'll crush it". It was at this time that Lincoln and Emily were chiming into the conversation and the four of us decided, we'd all go together! We were up early an
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