Heaven’s Peak West Face

3/7-8/15

Along with Dan Koestler, Jamie Moore, and Marc Venery, I went to a mountain that has attracted me for many years.  This was my fourth try at climbing the peak in winter conditions, and great weather and partners finally coincided to make this attempt successful.  There are many more ski lines on this peak, almost all of which are harder/steeper/gnarlier than the West face.  Regardless, it was a great trip with good friends to ski a nice peak.

Teton Pass Ski Mountaineering Race

Great snow, set skintracks, perfect weather, and good friends? Turns out all those things were included at the Teton Pass ski race.

2/28/15

After a quick warm up, the gun went off late and everyone scrambled to jump into their bindings for the le mans start.  I settled in on the first climb with five people in front, and didn’t change places after the first 5 minutes of the race.  The top five were all on full race gear, and gradually I lost their pace.  For the first thousand feet or so I had Kevin and Andrew close on my tail, but at the ridge bootpack transition, I was able to distance myself slightly.

The first bootpack of the course. Thanks to Pete Siudara for the photo.

After the first climb, I was out of sight of both who was ahead and behind, and just kept a consistent pace below threshold and enjoyed the great snow on the descents.  I used one Hammer gel before starting, two scoops of Heed for the 2:00 duration of the race, and Hammer Recoverite for the ride home.  This was the first race I have done where I did not pass or get passed by anyone!

Results stolen from Brian Story’s excellent blog: mt-adventures.blogspot.com/

I want to thank everyone at Teton Pass for the excellent race and setup, Hammer Nutrition for fueling, and a big congrats to Ben and Inge on the wins! If you are interested in skiing in a unique location in good snow, check out Teton Pass!