Haute Cuisine: Hut-Trip Cooking

Mmmmm...pizza! See below for a link to the recipe. Photo by Gregg Larson, HutTrip.com

By Gregg Larson

Editor’s note: Gregg Larson is the creator of HutTrip.com, a two-year-old website that offers tips and news about the 10th Mountain and other Colorado huts. This article has been adapted from a post at his site and is used with permission.

Anyone who has been doing hut trips long enough has developed a set of recipes that they take each time. I have run into just about every type of chef while visiting the huts, from freeze-dried food chefs (just add water!) to people who seem to bring up an entire fridge worth of food.

Here are a few things I have learned when planning hut-trip meals. … Continue Reading

Trip of the Week: Ski Harvard

High on Harvard, headed south. Photo by Ben Conners

Sure, we’ve already featured an ascent of Mt. Harvard this winter, but Ben Conners and Matt Kamper’s climb last Sunday was a stylish one-day ascent of Colorado’s third-highest peak, with a ski descent right from the tippy-top. Plus, we can’t get over how great the Harvard area looks in winter.

Entering the key chute below the summit. Photo by Ben Conners

Conners and Kamper climbed the south ridge of the 14,420-foot peak. The winter closure on Cottonwood Creek Road added 3.5 miles to the morning skin and yielded big numbers for the full day: 20.5 miles round trip, with 5,700 feet of vertical. Neither forecast (weather or avalanche) was perfect, but the boys got lucky with the former and carefully managed the latter, giving them a beautiful day out. Eight hours up, three hours down—you gotta love skis!

The photos here are reproduced with permission; see the full report and many more photos at 14ers.com.

Adopt-A-Peak

Peak Steward field training in June 2009. Photo by Brian Wallace

The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is making a big push to expand its eight-year-old Peak Stewards program, in which 14er fans volunteer to spend several days educating visitors about the alpine environment, Leave No Trace practices, and peak-specific regulations. The nonprofit has added six one-day training sessions this winter and spring, hoping to more than triple its volunteer corps. We asked CFI education and outreach coordinator Brian Wallace to fill us in:

Mojo: So, briefly describe the Peak Stewards program.

Wallace: CFI’s mission statement in general is to protect and preserve the natural integrity of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks through active stewardship and public education. The Peak Stewards program exclusively focuses on the education portion. Peak Stewards receive specialized training in alpine ecology, 14er-specific Leave No Trace, Forest Service regulations, and visitor interaction techniques.

Mojo: How many volunteers do you have?

Wallace: We had 40 trained at the beginning of last summer and 30 active, completing a total of 140 days. This year I am hoping to recruit and train at least 100 more individuals, with aspirations of over 500 volunteer days on the peaks. … Continue Reading

PLB Mistaken for Avy Beacon

The mysterious personal locator beacon (PLB) that baffled rescue groups and law enforcement this winter had been mistaken for an avalanche beacon by the guy who received it as a gift. The clueless skier (mercifully unnamed) did not read the directions nor register the device, and had been innocently switching it on each time he headed into the backcountry, thus triggering multiple responses from concerned rescuers. Makes you wonder what his skiing partners were thinking—whatever happened to the beacon check? Actually, it makes you wonder a lot of things…

Read today’s Denver Post story here and MoJo’s earlier story about the PLB mystery and interview with Alpine Rescue Team president here.

A Big Month: 70 Peaks in January

Steve Knapp on Pyramid Peak. Photo by Jeremy Mattingley

Last year, Steve Knapp climbed 406 ranked peaks in Colorado. (Ranked, in this case, means at least 300 feet of prominence.) Then, in January, Knapp climbed 70 peaks in a single month. Think about it: That’s more than two peaks a day, in the middle of winter. It was a mild month along the Front Range, but still. We were impressed…and curious.

Mojo: OK, first the basics: Where do you live, how old are you, what do you do for work, and do you have an immediate family?

Knapp: Highlands Ranch. 42 years old, married with two kids. I’m temporarily unemployed, one reason I’ve done so many peaks recently. Previously I was a regional sales director and account manager.

Mojo: How long have you lived in Colorado, and when did you start climbing peaks? … Continue Reading

Rogue PLB Goes Silent

The personal locator beacon that bedeviled search and rescue authorities last month has not been activated since January 5, and it seems likely that the still-unknown person who owns the device has gotten the message on how to use it—and how not to.

From December 14 to January 5, the ACR PLB-300 beacon was activated nine times—eight times near Berthoud Pass, and a ninth north of Crested Butte. Unfortunately, the owner never registered the device, so he or she couldn’t be contacted.

After the fourth or fifth activation from the same device, the Clear Creek County Sheriff decided not to alert SAR teams anymore. Instead, authorities focused on trying to determine who owned the PLB, and on getting the word out to the public that there was a problem.

In a statement posted yesterday at Mountain Project, Paul “Woody” Woodward, president of the Alpine Rescue Team, said, “Through the efforts of ACR, REI, and the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s office, it was determined that this PLB was shipped from ACR to REI on July 1, 2009. It was further determined that 12 of these beacons where sold in Colorado between July 1 and December 13. The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s office made contact with the 12 owners that purchased the PLBs. Although no one has come forth and admitted that this was their beacon, there has not been an activation since these folks where contacted. … Continue Reading