I’ve been really excited lately. I feel for the first time in a long time, I’m starting to get my mountain jive back. While I didn’t get to knock off my winter objectives (A winter ascent of Kelso Ridge being at the forefront, and more snowy climbs) I had a pretty spectacular ski season, and […]
Read more "Grays Peak – Standard Route"I woke up from the back of my car, the rainbow colored prayer flags that hang from my trunk fluttered in the dusty rusted sand, and I watched ash skies envelope the Six Shooter’s towered architecture. Across the fields of sagebrush, and over the black stained bacteria of the cryptobiotic soil, a small rabbit scurried […]
Read more "In The Heart Of The Creek"This week marks five years to the day of my first attempt on Rainier. I was a rookie. Completely out of my element. Completely unprepared for what I was going to go up against. It was my first peak, my first glacial climb, and my first time using an ice axe. I wanted to do […]
Read more "The Photo"Back in September, I was invited to the Outdoor Industry Association’s annual Rendezvous conference. The last session of the conference was to be an information session from surrogates representing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s respective camps, to explain what their candidate would do for our industry, my industry where I make my living. Clinton was […]
Read more "Protect Where We Play"When I lived In Seattle, Nelson and Potterfield’s ‘Selected Climbs in the Cascades’ was essentially my climbing bible. So many magnificent climbs, summits, and remote approaches that made the North Cascades this mythical wonderland of relatively unknown and great ascents. I flipped through some of my favorites, Early Winters Spire, Washington Pass, The Pickets, Glacier […]
Read more "Eldorado Peak: The East Ridge"I’ve always searched for adventure on the grandest scale possible. I like days where I wake up from a tent on a remote ridge. Mornings halfway up an ice wall on the way to the summit. An afternoon traversing a canyon, getting lost between the cracks, and an evening sitting with a friend, watching the […]
Read more "Embracing Microadventure"I am a converted snowshoe believer. In January, I was invited to spend the first day of 2015 in ice-glazed valleys of the Mountain Loop Highway. I didn’t have a pair of snowshoes and my experience was limited at best to a jaunt with friends last March. Compared to my climbing and hiking exploits, snowshoeing […]
Read more "Tubbs Flex Alps Snowshoes Review"How do you define your passion? Are you a hiker, climber, skier, and mountaineer? Or do you simply wrap them under “adventurer” and “outdoor enthusiast”? What experience and what at what level of mastery are you allowed to proclaim that title? A few days before Christmas, I was in a Seattle coffee shop with my friend, Beth […]
Read more "What’s In A Name?"If there is one item in my closet that I cherish above all others, its my collection of puffy jackets. Whether I’m on a cold belay ledge, snowshoeing through the backcountry, or commuting to work on cold, short, November Seattle days, my puffys keep me toasty and dry all day long. When the North Face […]
Read more "The North Face Thermoball Remix Jacket Review"Every year we see new products all across the outdoor industry. Every niche is filled, from hydration, to salves and balms, packaging, and the gear for outdoor exploration. Cairn is a new box-subscription service was developed with a simple idea: Get people excited not only about the outdoors, but also excited to use their gear. […]
Read more "Introducing Cairn: A New Delivery Service For Cool Outdoor Products"
MIKE OFF THE MAP 