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Gothic Hut Trip

Here are some photos from 2 sunny days of ski touring around Gothic Colorado. Thanks everybody for a great couple days out there. It was a pleasure getting to know all of you and showing you around some of my favorite terrain here in CB. Hope to do it again in the future! John MacKinnon

Mar 19, 2011

Photos: 24

2 Days of Ski Touring with Kristian

Kristian joined me for 2 great days of BC skiing around Crested Butte. We explored both Washington Gulch and Snodgrass Mountain with sunny skies and great Colorado powder skiing. Thanks for coming to Crested Butte and we hope to see you again next winter!

Feb 22, 2011

Photos: 14

Early Season Alpine Climbing on Guide's Ridge

I made a wintry alpine ascent of Guide's Ridge on Mt. Crested Butte this week with Paul and Tom. It was a fantastic multi-sport day in the mountains with exciting mixed climbing and very alpine weather. We skinned up Mt. Crested Butte to the top of the Silver Queen and and began working our way up a snowfield to Guide's Ridge. The ridge is an exhilarating 4th and easy 5th class ridge in the summertime; this time of year it is a full on alpine climb with steep snow, rock and mixed climbing. The weather also added to the alpine feel as we saw a little bit of everything from warm and sunny to frigid and blowing snow. We descended off the back of Mt. CB and skied and snowboarded back to the car. Thanks guys for a great day!!

Apr 25, 2010

Photos: 19

Springtime in British Columbia

I went up to Canada this spring to participate in an AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guides Course and Aspirant Exam. These pictures are all from the days preceding the Course/Exam. Several other Guides and I got up there early to train in the Coast Range. As it turns out, these were the only days with "sunshine." During the Course/Exam we received close to 1.5 meters of snow over 10 days and barely saw the sun. That's the Coast Range for you! The weather made for fantastic skiing and excellent practice in white-out navigation. I look forward to returning to British Columbia next season for more training and world-class skiing.

Apr 10, 2010

Photos: 12

Mt. Emmons Super Tour with Dean

Dean and I first skied together in the backcountry last year. It was his first time in the backcountry and we did several laps out at Coney's Bowl. When I heard he was returning to ski with me again, I knew we were going to have another great day in the mountains. This time I selected a "slightly" larger objective! We toured up the south side of Mount Emmons and down the north side of the mountain into Redwell Basin. That would have been a big day in itself, but we then skied up another 500 feet and dropped a whooping 2300 vertical down to the valley. All in all we skied around 3700 vertical feet up and 4000 vertical feet down in an awesome 8 hour day. Great job! I know I was tired the next day! I am looking forward to our next adventure together...Special thanks to Matias, the CBMG intern, who came and helped out on this epic day. Thanks for those great pictures!

Feb 10, 2010

Photos: 18

Backcountry Ski Tour with Steel

What a great way to ring in the New Year! Steel, Matias (a CBMG guide in training) and I went up Washington Gulch for some powder skiing on the north side of Coney's Bowl. It was a crisp morning, but the temperatures quickly warmed up to create an absolutely fabulous day. It was Steel's first day in the BC, and we got two powder laps down the bowl. It was a happy New Year's Day!

Jan 1, 2010

Photos: 16

Snowshoe with Chris and Jennifer

Snowshoe tour up Washington Gulch with Chris and Jennifer. It was a cold clear Colorado day with a stiff breeze from the northwest. Once we got out of the wind, the sun warmed us and we had a great tour through the meadows and aspen glades on the southwest side of Snodgrass Mountain.