I just created a personal website. MANY, MANY months in the making. It's more difficult than it sounds... Follow the link at the bottom for the rest of the report.

Without question, one of the hardest things about summiting mountains in the winter is being able to have regular and consistent partners. The amount of physical work needed to lay a track through untrammeled snow can sometimes be absolutely brutal. And with a myriad of other factors that sap one’s motivation (12+ hours of sub 32° temperatures, pre-dawn starts, weather, not being able to fall asleep at 7:00 pm etc.), the solo part of trekking into the wilderness can usually be enough to turn one around.

I haven’t had regular partners in probably over a decade. So regardless if the peak I’m after is above 14,ooo’ or a lowly 10er, finding the motivation to deal with the aforementioned has been a VERY hard sell.

My long-term goal is to summit all Colorado’s 14ers in winter. For one, I’ve only got three months to get in as many peaks as I can. Recognized winter starts on December 22nd, the winter solstice, and lasts until the spring equinox on March 21st. (specific times vary year to year). So, there is that. Then, one has to deal with weather which may not cooperate or see things your way just because it’s your day off. In addition, one must pay attention to the snowpack stability & consistency and make educated decisions whether or not it’s safe to continue. And of course, wrapping all these factors up into a nice, tight little sushi roll, is risk. And as objectively defined as risk is for the masses, we all approach it subjectively. So needless to say, obtaining winter summits entails many elements aligning.

I met my old friends Colin and Prakash at a small diner called Mrs. Rios in the town of San Luis (Colorado’s oldest town by the way). I hadn’t seen Colin in almost two years, and it was pushing a decade with Prakash. I can honestly say, it was the best part of the weekend for me. We lingered by the wood stove enjoying the warmth, enjoying each other’s’ company & bringing old times into the light of day. Before long, we headed out and back to the B&B that Prakash had secured, an old priests & nun’s quarters called El Convento. Since the three of us had a big day planned for the ‘morrow, we didn’t stay up. Prakash and Colin were gunning for Culebra Peak; myself of course, Blanca Peak. We settled into the dark embrace of sleep under the watchful, plaster eye of the Mary Magdalene and a contingent of crosses.

Blanca Peak Attempt- February