Friday, March 16, 2007

I finally finished the slide show our of wedding photos I've been working on the last couple of days.

The other big news is I finished my first 5.11 route at PRG today! It was more of scrapping my way to the top than climbing - very ugly - zero style points. I fell once and needed a second take. Next week I hope to climb it clean and with at least a little grace. I really need to get over whatever mental block I have against lead climbing. If I'm starting to top rope 5.11 there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to lead 5.8 or 5.9.

This weekend... more Denali training. I'm very excited about the expedition but after more than a year of planning I'm getting anxious to get started and not just talking about it.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Just got back yesterday from a ski week at Big Mountain. Friday we took the overnight Amtrak from Portland to Whitefish, Montana at the base of the mountain. After we checked into our ski in/out condo on Saturday we hit the slopes and skied most of the day. Saturday evening Kerry treated me to a moonlight dine and ski at the top of the mountain for my birthday. The food was awesome and the ski down very interesting. The full moon was not visible due to fog so thick you could almost cut it. Still we followed the trees and our guides' flashing red lights down Big Ravine. Lots of fun!

We downhill skied some more on Sunday and tried cross country skiing on Monday. It was Kerry's second time and my third time on cross country skies. Tuesday and Wednesday the skies clear and we had beautiful views of the Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park. I don't remember seeing so far into Glacier on previous trips to Big Mountain and was completely engrossed with all the peaks that looked like fun to climb.

Wednesday evening we had planned to take the overnight Amtrak home but the train was 10 hours late so instead of spending the night in the station we headed back to the condo and spent another day on the mountain. The Thursday night Amtrak was on time and we slept most of the 14 hour trip home.

Unfortunately I forgot the camera so I have no photos to share of the amazing views from the top. However we did take a few photos with our cell phones. As soon as I figure out how to get them from our phones to the computer I'll post them on my site.