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Whistler |
The weekend prior to Christmas Mike and Cherié stole away for a weekend
skiing Whistler. Friday night it snowed 8", making for some
excellent skiing. It was a great prelude to Christmas! |
|
Muir Snowfield Ski |
On December 8, Mike and Cherié joined with their friends Jonathan, Bari
and Tab, and skinned up to the same place they reached 2 weeks earlier.
The weather was the same . . . sunny, and windy up high, but the snow
was much deeper, with 3 inches of new on a good base. |
|
Mt. Rainier Ski Tour |
On November 25, Mike and Cherié took advantage of our great November
weather, and joined their friends Jake, Wendy and Jonathan for a ski
outing at Mt. Rainier. The group skinned or hiked up from
Paradise to just below Camp Muir, where they enjoyed 30+mph winds, that
quickly sent them on their rock-dodging run back to Paradise.
A beautiful sunset and great dinner topped off a great first ski day of
the season! |
|
Esmarelda Peak |
On October 27, Mike and Cherié took advantage of an unexpected late
season sunny day, joined with David and Heike, and climbed Esmarelda
Peak in the Teanaway area. It was a sunny, fun day and summit!
After the climb, Mike and Cherié went to Leavenworth, and planted a tree
on their new property and future home! |
|
Ingalls Photoshoot |
On October 13, Mike took advantage of great weather and shot pictures of
Golden Larches, Mt. Stuart, Ingalls Lake and Ingalls Peak.
Here are a few of the pictures, all of a very beautiful place! |
|
Eagle & Chutla |
On September 15, Mike and Cherié left a foggy Longmire, near Mt.
Rainier, for a climb up Eagle and Chutla Peaks, the western most peaks
in the Tatoosh Range. At 5,000' they broke through the clouds into
glorious sunshine. First they knocked off Eagle Peak, then
traversed to Chutla Peak, for a double summit day! |
|
Enchantments |
Over Labor Day weekend, Mike and Cherié joined Mary for a backpacking
trip through the Enchantments. For those who have not been
there, the Enchantments are perhaps the most beautiful place in the
State, and certainly among the top in the world. The weather was
spectacular, the scenery better, and Mike and Cherié are counting the
days until they return! Here are a few of the pictures |
|
Ice Climbing |
On August 18-19, while Mike was getting rained out on Cashmere, Cherié
braved the cold and ice of the Coleman Glacier on Mt. Baker for her Ice
1 field trip. The group climbed to the glacier, wove their
way through cravasses and seracs, and practiced climbing and rappelling. |
|
Cashmere Mtn |
On August 18-19, while Cherié was ice climbing, Mike joined his friend Ian, and tried to take two of
Ian's college buddies up Cashmere Mountain. They had a great hike
into basecamp, but unfortunately this summer's crummy weather caught up
with them, and their summit day was rained out. All had fun,
and left the mountain for next time! |
|
Vesper Peak |
On August 11, Mike led a Mountaineer scramble of Vesper and (Little)
Sperry. An early morning start led the group of 6 up Headlee
Pass, and into Vesper basin, a beautiful sub-alpine bowl.
2nd and 3rd class climbing took the group to the ridge to Sperry.
They then ran the ridge, and climbed to the top of Vesper. The
views were spectacular! |
|
Mt. Pugh |
On August 4, while Cherié was climbing Cutthroat and Kangaroo Temple,
Mike took advantage of an unscheduled day and climbed Mt. Pugh.
Mt. Pugh was unfinished business for Mike, as he had been weathered off
of it on two prior attempts. The weather was again murky, but Mike
scrambled to the summit! |
|
Liberty Bell |
On July 27, while Mike and Annie were on the
Washington Coast, Cherié climbed the
Beckey Route on Liberty Bell, a classic 4 pitch rock climb. Her
climbing partner was friend Anne Meegan. Cherié led the first and
the crux third pitch. It was a great accomplishment for Cherié.
[Pics complements of Gerry!]. |
|
Washington Coast |
The last week in July, while Cherié was climbing
Liberty Bell, Mike and
Annie took their annual father-daughter vacation, spending 5 days
backpacking the Washington coast. They hiked the 35 miles from Shi
Shi Beach to Rialto Beach, over sand, rock, water, seaweed, and
barnacles! It was much more challenging than expected, the
2nd day being Annie's hardest day ever! It was a fantastic
week! |
|
Tubin' Leavenworth |
On July 21-22, Mike and Cherié had planned a climb of Little Tahoma.
Lousy weather chased them to their favorite town, Leavenworth, where
they visited their new property,
enjoyed the company of good friends, mountain biked, and, a new "sport",
tubing! They rented tubes and slowly floated down the
Wenatchee river. Not Mike and Cherié's typical high adrenaline
sport! |
|
Guye Peak |
On July 15, Cherié climbed Guye Peak, a multi-pitch rock climb near
Snoqualmie Pass, on a Mountaineer rock climb. The weather
was mixed, but the climb a rousing success. This was good
practice for Cherié's upcoming climbs of Cutthroat and Liberty Bell. |
|
Snowking Mtn |
On July 7-8, Mike and Cherié joined with Mountaineer friends to climb
Snowking Mountain, in the North Cascades. The climb was long and
remote, full of routefinding challenges, and with no one else on the
mountain that weekend. The camaraderie, beauty and ruggedness of
the climb made for a fantastic weekend! |
|
Unicorn Peak |
On the 4th of July, Cherié and Mike joined their good friends Heike,
David, Beth and Peter on a glorious sunny day to climb Unicorn Peak,
south of Mt. Rainier. Cherié led the final rock pitch,
bringing everyone to the summit! |
|
Silver Star Mountain |
On June 23, Mike and Steve led their annual climb, this year of Silver
Star Mountain in the Mazama area. Joining them were Sean, Meghan and Theresa.
Escaping rainy weather in the west allowed the group a leisurely day in Winthrop
before the climb. The climbing was
varied, challenging, and beautiful! |
|
River Rafting |
On June 16, Mike, Cherié and Annie joined their good friends Brad,
Celeste, Katherine and Lauren, and rafted the Wenatchee. We were
guided by our favorite river guide and good friend, Lachovia.
Everyone got wet, but the wettest of all was Annie, who went for an
unplanned swim. Afterwards dinner and the chicken dance at King
Ludwigs! |
|
Colchuck Peak |
On June 9, Mike and Cherié escaped the rain in Seattle with their
friends Peter and Beth, and traveled to Leavenworth. After
visiting friends, and a great dinner and ice cream, Mike, Cherié and
Peter climbed Colchuck Peak in a day. They had a great time
in a beautiful place! |
|
Leavenworth |
On May 18-20, Cherié and Mike spent a three day weekend in their
favorite town, Leavenworth, WA, with many close friends.
Amongst the festivities Mike and Cherié managed to fit in river rafting
the Wenatchee, Mountain Biking and Rock Climbing! |
|
Mt. St. Helens |
On May 12, Mike and Cherié skinned up and climbed Mt. St. Helens in a
day, and had a glorious ski down! The 5700' gain was the most for
Cherié in a day, and the second most for Mike in a day.
Sunday was spent nursing sore muscles! |
|
Merchant Peak |
On May 5, while Cherié was on her girl's trip to CA, Mike joined Peter
and others for an attempt on Merchant Peak. The weather was
mixed, the snow unsettled, but the climbing party great! The group
turned around 600' before the summit because of concern about the snow
conditions. A post climb Mexican dinner was the perfect
ending to Cinco de Mayo! |
|
Hex Mountain |
On April 15, Cherié and Mike joined new and old friends and climbed Hex
Mountain, near Roslyn. The weather was great, and the views
better. Mike, Cherié, Beth and Dan enjoyed themselves so much they
toured the mountain as other members of the climbing party descended to
the cars! |
|
Mt. Erie |
On March 18, Mike and Cherié joined Cebe, and Joel, Terry, Meghan,
Judy, Shankar and Beth of their climbing mentor group, as well as
Steve's mentor group, for a rock climbing practice at Mt. Erie.
The day started out in the clouds with wet rock, but ended with opening
views and fine food at Skagit Valley Brewery. |
|
Mailbox Peak |
On March 3, Mike and Cherié climbed about 95% of Mailbox Peak, before
turning back because of avalanche concern. Also along were gung-ho
mentor students Terry and Joel. It was a good day, despite the
forecast, and even better exercise! |
|
Epic Powder Ski Day
|
On February 24, Mike & Annie joined Brad and Lauren at Crystal Mountain
for an epic powder ski day. Off piste the dry powder snow ranged
from knee to waist deep! Falling was like jumping into a feather bed! |
|
Granite Mountain |
On February 17, Mike & Cherié climbed Granite Peak with mentor students
Joel and Terry, and Peter's Mentor Group. The day was sunny, with
great views of Mt. Rainier and surrounding peaks. The ascent was
full of fun exercise, and the descent was a wild glissade! |
|
Crystal Ski Day |
On February 10, while Cherié was teaching at Winter Mountaineering,
Mike, Annie, Brad, Lauren and Pete took a day to ski at Crystal.
The snow was hard, but the weather was great, and the group skied over
15000' vertical! |
|
Crystal Mtn Ski Day |
On January 13, Mike and Annie met their good friends Brad and Lauren at
Crystal Mountain for a ski day to honor Annie's 14th Birthday. The
snow was plenty, and the runs fast and (sort of) steep. All skied
blues and a fav black diamond . . . Frisco. Mike even took Brad on
a double black! |
|
Crystal Pow Day |
On January 6, Mike, Cherié, Ian, Susan, Dawn,
Jonathan and Angie skied an incredible powder day at Crystal Mtn.
The group skied the cream of the Crystal crop, black and double blacks
including Exterminator, Powder Bowl, K2 Face, Frisco and the Northback.
The group was sore and tired at the end of a fabulous day of skiing!
|
|
Hyak Ski Tour |
On January 5, Mike played hooky from work, and ski toured Hyak with Ian.
There was rare dry fluffy snow at Snoqualmie Pass, resulting in ankle
deep runs. An excellent ski day! |
|
New Year Ski Tour |
On January 1,
Mike and Cherié started the New Year out right by backcountry touring
the Alpental Valley, at Snoqualmie Pass. They skied up the valley
to below Chair Peak, enjoying the winter wonderland. A fun
ski back to the car capped off a great outing! |