Alpine Exploration
What MH gear are you wearing now?
Dakota pants and Mangabey Jacket
What is your favorite pre-outing "pump-up" music?
Hendrix, Sublime, anything upbeat and original.
What are you listening to on your iPod right now?
The Verve, a little Bowie and some Black Crowe’s.
What’s your favorite meal in the outdoors?
Annie’s organic Mac and Cheese. Just add water.
What meal do you look forward to when you get home?
Thin cut NY strip, herb and baby romaine, olive oil and Blue cheese. Asparagus as the side.
Best Halloween Costume?
Tin foil covered box robot.
Is there one thing you always take with you during your adventures?
Persistence.
How did you first get started with skiing? How old were you?
As a pre adolescent I looked at hillsides and wondered what things would look like from up there. That led to walking, running, hiking and climbing. Skiing came in when I wondered why I kept walking down thousands of feet of terrain or rappelling thousands of feet on sketchy gear. Style is funny that way…mine was born from curiosity and grew because it’s fun to discover the answer.
Who/What is your inspiration?
It will always be the next mountain I see and want to climb. Every experience is made whole by willing, capable and adventurous partnerships.
Favorite Quote?
“There is no sense in arguing over fun.”
Bio:
At 19, I abandoned a career in architecture for an unknown path that I hoped would lead me to the top of Everest. Curiously enough, it did in 2003 at 23 years old. That path also led me everywhere in between and into some places I could’ve gone and some places I can’t believe I’ve gone…ever been to “The Pavement” in Nairobi, Kenya? Shhhhhh!!!!!
My twenties have been packed full of mileage, it’s cool to be in my last year of them and seeing more mountain ranges on the horizon instead of less. Clinging to the mountain lifestyle as much as the mountainside, I’ve woken up in as many places as possible and now call Telluride, Co. home. It feels good to know these mountains.
These days my resume is a collection of the experiences I always dreamed of living; backcountry turns in the morning, ice climbing in the afternoon, winter days bouldering and hopping on a rope in the desert, long runs in the dry summer mountains and enchaining peaks that once took entire days to climb. The alpine climbing is still sketchy and the mountains sometimes turn me away. I respect my partners and wouldn’t have these experiences without them or the support of sponsors.
Our expeditions always include covering a lot of ground at altitude. That means we have to be light enough for adventurous and technical alpine climbing and likely on a high mountain somewhere remote. To ski off and cover our ground safely in style is the epitomy of my dreams. Every now and then I wake up in the middle of that dream…we are carving turns, we have been climbing ice, we encounter some rock and we’re in the Himalaya and it’s now.
And we couldn’t be happier...join us sometime: www.skithehimalayas.com