2009 has been a busy year. But between life I managed to explore more of my home state than I’d ever experienced. Some highlights included hikes to Flat Rock, Pole Steeple, and the summit of Big (Tuscarora) Mountain. Holly and I went upstate for a week in September and took a day to visit Pennsylvania’s Grand Canyon, and I did some section-hiking of both the Appalachian and Tuscarora Trails. As always I am finding time to enjoy the great outdoors; now snow is on the ground, hunting season is almost over, and 2010 is right around the corner…
Pennsylvania Meanderings
December 21st, 2009Back to the 14ers…
August 19th, 2009In the second part of my 2009 trip West, I got back to climbing some of the 14ers on my “Hundred Highest of the Rockies” list. I finally got all my trip reports and photographs organized and online.
After some rest following the Grand Teton, I took a day to drive exactly 600 miles south to camp below the trailhead for Mount Sneffels. I climbed Sneffels the next day. After another day of rest, I climbed Wetterhorn Peak, followed immediately by a 3-day backpack to Navajo Basin to climb El Diente by a relatively unknown route (the North Buttress), traverse to Mount Wilson, and finally climb Wilson Peak. I wanted to climb Gladstone Peak as well, but that didn’t work out on this trip. The beautiful weather I had for Sneffels and Wetterhorn was replaced by thunderstorms and waves of hail during the backpack, which kept things interesting.
Now only 11 fourteeners to go!
Grand Teton Time!
August 6th, 2009I have been wanting to climb the Grand Teton, so my friend Logan and I signed up with Exum Guides to climb Upper Exum Ridge. We made it to the summit on July 22 on a bluebird day in Wyoming. Read the full trip report for the details.
Mountain Hiatus
February 18th, 2009
With the economy in the dumps and my life stuck in the rat race, there is just too much other stuff going on right now to spend any time traveling out west to climb mountains, but I will be back eventually. I hope to improve my website in the interim, considering I still have to catch up with digitizing my 5 years of experiencing the mountains of the West (2004-2008). For now I am trying to get out once a week to the woods of Pennsylvania, and that is keeping me happy.
Road Trip!
November 21st, 2008In September and October this year, my wife and I enjoyed a 3-week road trip of a lifetime through 14 states. We totaled 9,000 miles of travel, and got to visit 5 national parks and monuments: Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, Glacier National Park in Montana, Yellowstone and Teton National Parks in Wyoming, and Arches National Park in Utah. I also climbed 8 “and a half” mountains in three of the states, from Glacier Park to the Wind River Range to Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.
The states we visited were: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Nebraska, Iowa. Here are some of the highlights, complete with trip reports from some of the most interesting places:
Ehlenbach’s Cheese Chalet:
Mount Rushmore:
Glacier National Park (Trip Report: Reynolds Mountain, Montana):
Wyoming, including Yellowstone, Teton National Park and a visit to the Wind River Range (Trip Report: Dog Tooth Peak, Wind River Range). Here is Old Faithful:
Arches National Park, Utah – the highlight of our vacation! (Trip Report):
Wasatch Range, Utah (Trip Report: Bullion Divide):
Training for Denali, Part 1
September 20th, 2008Alpine Ascents International has a great personal training regimen for Denali. I am still a couple of years out from climbing The Mountain, but I am ensuring that I keep myself in shape. Right now my workout routine consists of weekly variations of the following:
Day 1:
(Full Body Workout Day)
2-1/2 mile run
Weights / Upper Body: 4 sets of 5-10 reps
Legs / Abs: 4 sets of 10-15 reps
Day 2:
(Full Body Workout Day)
2-1/2 mile run
Weights / Upper Body: 4 sets of 5-10 reps
Legs / Abs: 4 sets of 10-15 reps
Day 3:
(Full Body Workout Day)
2-mile sprint intervals
Weights / Upper Body: 3 sets of 5-10 reps
Legs / Abs: 3 sets of 10-15 reps
Day 4:
(Rest Day)
Do Nothing!
Keep breathing, eat a lot, sleep a lot, be as lazy as can be.
Day 5:
(Leg Workout Day)
2-mile run
Leg Presses: 3 sets of 10 reps
Leg Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps
Lunges (weighted): 3 sets of 10 reps
Squats (weighted): 3 sets of 10 reps
Crunches: 1 set of 100 reps
Day 6:
(Upper Body Workout Day)
3+ mile run
Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-10 reps
Curls: 3 sets of 10 reps
Pull-Ups: 3 sets of as many as possible
Chest / Shoulder Machines: 3 sets of 10
Abs: including sit-ups, crunches, others: 3 sets
Day 7:
(Activity Day)
Hiking. Sometimes substituted with rock-climbing, biking or some other activity.
Sadly I do not stick to this routine as vigilantly as I should, but at least having a routine and someone to work out helps motivate me to work out more often. So while not perfect, I am staying in shape. I have learned from others who climbed Denali that yes, it is important to stay fit, but perhaps more important is the climber’s level of endurance to stick it out for potentially 3 weeks in one of the world’s toughest settings. That is something that is very difficult to train for without long trips to the mountains, something I am not able to do. But, staying in shape for the time being is at least one step toward preparation for The Mountain.
Congratulations, Patrick!
July 23rd, 2008My friend Patrick made it to the summit of Denali on June 20th, along with our guides from the AAI Alaska Trip, Coley and Forest. Here are a couple pictures from the summit of Patrick and the view:
Congratulations, guys!
Link to the American Alpine Institute: aai.cc.
Mountain Nerd
July 6th, 2008
Hi, my name is Brad, and I am addicted to mountains. I am not attempting to quit any time soon, even though this addiction may be growing unhealthy. It’s not like I get out very often, but the momentary relief from the rat race reality is worth the wait. Since the vast majority of my time is spent not in the mountains, but in front of a computer, I have in the meantime decided to document my exploits. A virtual reality escape to the mountains is not anywhere near the real thing–I always miss the thin air squeezing my lungs, the feel of granite beneath my fingertips, the snow crunching with each footstep–but alas, this will have to do for now.
To maintain my sanity and drive to explore, I have a short list of mountains that I would like to someday climb. Most of the mountains I have climbed or hiked so far have been in Colorado, so I have become partial to the idea of climbing the 100 highest mountains in that state. That will be an ongoing project for some time to come.
There are others on the list, but right now, Denali (AKA “Mount McKinley”) is my primary goal. I was just recently climbing in Alaska, receiving the initial training I will need for glacier travel and crevasse rescue, and Mount Rainier will be my next step in training for ‘The Great One’.
My old web site, dailyvillain.com, has fallen by the wayside to be replaced by bradsnider.com. I plan to use this blog to track my progress in preparation for Denali and any future climbs beyond that, so that hopefully I can provide others useful and entertaining information based on my experiences. While I’m at it, I need to put in a plug for summitpost.org, the perfect website for armchair mountaineers like myself. It is always good to know there are other mountain nerds and addicts out there.
I am not alone.