2021 Year in Review

This post recaps our adventures in 2021. Fun to look back on the different
seasons with friends and family!

January

January was filled with lots of daytime and nighttime skinning and skiing. We recorded close to 25k ft of vert. Some memorable days were skinning all over winter park (we couldn't ride the lift), powder turns on Homestake peak, and Eccles Pass. We finished off January with an avalanche rescue class and practiced making a rescue sled.

February

February continued with more resort and backcountry skiing. We checked out the Arapahoe Basin steep gullies (finally!). We have not always found the best conditions but worth it for the fun and tricky terrain.  A few other areas we skied: Bluebird Backcountry, Vail Pass, Hidden Valley and Bald Mountain.

March

We went to Ouray Ice Park for ice climbing. It was fun to spend so much time top rope ice climbing to improve. While down there we checked out red mtn pass for some low angle turns off McMillan Peak. Lots of powder for March both at the resort and the backcountry. Did you know March is considered the snowiest month in CO?

April

In April we got our Covid vaccines! Exciting time even though the arms were very sore. What better way to try to loosen them up than to go on an adventure? We had an ambitious goal to go up Torreys peak via Kelso ridge and down Grays north slopes. Due to intense wind and shitty snow we bailed off the ridge. We tried out our emergency bothy shelter. Basically a mini tent you can use to get out of the elements. We also had a virtual bridal shower! The rest of April consisted of (you guessed it) more skiing in different places. We went for a skin up dry gulch, towards Mount Sherman (too windy), and more Abasin. We had two training hikes for the High Altitude Mountaineering school (HAMS); one to Torreys Peak from loveland pass and one up to James Peak. Torreys peak from loveland pass is a beast! (10 mi, 6,600ft) Great fitness day but was eager to get back to skiing! One of my favorite days consisted of east wall laps at Abasin - with chicken salad lunch at the top!

May

May! Shelby helped with two Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) mountaineering climbs (Mt. Arkansas ridge, and South Couloir on White Ridge) while Andrew recovered from a minor procedure. After Andrew was cleared for activity again, we planned for some spring skiing - our FAVORITE!

First up was Angel of Shavano on the 14er Mt. Shavano on May 14 2021. With Covid postponing our wedding with our friends and family we decided after being engaged since July of 2019 and together since spring of 2016 to legally get married doing one of our favorite type fun II activities. After exchanging rings at the summit we skied down to sign the paperwork in Leadville county office! On May 14 2022 we'll get to marry again and celebrate with all our friends and family in Golden.

Later that weekend we skied the Grand Couloir on Mount Aetna - super fun day with   long ski run. After being fully vaccinated and cases finally on a downward trend we booked a trip to the East Coast to visit our families!

June

Back in Colorado and we enjoy this time of year with how green Green Mountain by our home is.

Two more ski trips of the season were to North Arapahoe in the Indian Peaks and Tuning fork couloir on Torreys peak. For North Arapahoe we camped the night before as the line is pretty far in. With a poor freeze and a long way to go we turned around. Tuning Fork the next day also had a poor freeze. We were about 500 ft from the Summit before turning around due the warmth. We are looking forward to coming back to this line with a good freeze as it has a short approach and almost 3,000 ft of skiing! This was our last ski day of the season and we got close to 50 days with most of those consisting of uphill!

Looking back this was our last 4x4 adventure with 4runner (before we sold it later in the year - more on that later). Mel visited us as she was in town for a wedding. We took her for a drive to the top Mount Evans!

Okay maybe our last 'adventure' with 4 runner was Film on the Rocks Drive in Edition (Indiana Jones).

Looking back June was actually a pretty busy month as the weather was transitioning and we could do more outside. Some climbing, biking and tennis! Also we won a tent and bought a new oven :).

July

At the beginning of July we canceled our plans to climb Mount Rainier near Seattle due to a historic and massive heatwave in Washington. Although Andrew and I were bummed to cancel, but it was the safer call for our risk level and we booked everything refundable. Instead for July 4th weekend we did lots of climbing, some clear creek tubing, had a bbq and hiked up green mtn to watch fireworks.

More climbing as we really wanted to push ourselves this summer on our climbing goals. Ever wonder how much gear you need to go trad climbing? A lot! Mid July we went with the CMC and HAMS to attempt Gannett Peak. Unfortunately our timing did not work out well as the route over Bonny Pass was melted out instead of a snow slope. Though our intended objective did not work out we had a beautiful 4 day backpack in the Wind River Range.

At the end of July we bought our electric car the Volkswagen ID.4. We have been interested in electric cars for a very long time so it is less of impulse as one might think. Climate change seemed to impact a lot of our summer trips and the smoke increasingly worse in CO every summer definitely influenced our decision.

August

More climbing in Clear Creek Canyon. What is cool is how close we are to climbing for after work! We also went to a Rockies game - always a good time. Mid August Julz came out to visit early. We took her on some scrambling on Mount Morrison in Golden and hiking at Sky Pond in Rocky Mountain National Park. The rest of the family then flew in for a weekend all together! We all went down to Colorado Springs and had a blast hanging out together. Checked out Garden of the gods, cave of the winds, tubed clear creek and played some spikeball in the backyard.

At end of August we went with a guide to Rocky Mountain National Park for an Alpine climb up the Sharkstooth. We felt like the best way to keep pushing and learning was to go out there and experience it. The Sharkstooth was an awesome location to continue our learning and we put the skills we learned to good use in September on our own climb.

We did one of our longest trail runs in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Always fun to move quickly and far through the mountains even if the next day our bodies are like why did you do that!?

Finished off August with some disc golf at our favorite location - Abasin! It's a good day when we don't lose a disc.

September

At the beginning of the September we traveled to the East Coast for a wedding and were home for Rosh hashanah.

We checked off a climb on the bucket list in Clear Creek - Black Gold. A four pitch multi-pitch right over the water. Excited to complete this one at the popular crag - and to go back to do the classics there.

We took a roadtrip to Molas Pass in the San Juans to complete an adventure to Wham ridge, a pretty striking 13er. This trip was a culmination of the climbing skills we had been working on! Super cool and fun trip. Check out the more detailed trip post on Wham Ridge. Also fun to roadtrip in ID.4.

Lastly we squeezed in some mountain biking at abasin before they closed to get ready for winter.

October

At the beginning of October we set out on another road trip this time to Utah to go mountain biking! We headed down on a Thursday, worked from Moab on Friday so we could adventure the rest of the weekend. Spent time Friday night in Arches National Park watching the sunset and stayed for some night photos. Turns out the sushi in Moab is actually pretty good! All the mountain biking in Moab is so great. We spent time in Dead Horse Point State Park and the Klonzo Mtn Bike Trails.

Took friends hiking near Brainerd Lake, climbing in Clear Creek and disc golf by the Taj Mahal (Jeffco county building).

Traveled to NYC for a wedding and to see Julz new diggs in the city.

November

Climbing in the Fall is actually pretty great, the sun is warm, the rock a bit cold and grippy. But we don't like if it gets toooo cold.

Andrew planned a great birthday of 30 'things' for Shelby's 30th birthday. It was a packed three day weekend with 5 activities:

Friday:

• 6 ski runs at abasin
• 6 miles mountain biking at North Table

Saturday:

• 6 climbs in Clear Creek at Other Critters
• 6 miles trail running at Matthews Winter Park

Sunday:

• 6 miles hiking near Moffat Tunnel

The weekend ended with some really good SUSHI.

At the end of the month another trip back East for Thanksgiving, Vermont, and a
wedding in NYC.

December

Uphill access is now open! Wednesday night skin club begins because who wouldn't want to skin during the week after work! With the electric car we use way less energy than our gas cars for the 1 hour drive each way and get some exercise in
too. We checked out some backcountry spots but as always in December its pretty thin out there. Skinning at Winter Park is nice to change it out as well.

Headed back East for Christmas in Virginia. Went on some hikes, played some top golf, and ate a lot of  REALLY good food (thanks Pam!).

After Christmas we chased the powder to Central Colorado. Spending two days in Crested Butte and going to Monarch on the way back. Monarch was a fantastic mountain with a great vibe. We even got a charge while skiing at both mountains. We finished off the trip and our long end of year break with a great bluebird powder backcountry day on Vail Pass. Great way to end 2021 and bring in 2022.

Here's to another year of adventures and for whatever life throws our way!