Well, last weekend was less than exciting. Frank, Mike, and myself all worked both days - enjoying the mix of both clear and strange weather, and our lovely customers.

Travis had some races up in Portland. Due to an error with timing, he beat second place by twenty minutes. Alright, he's not that fast. However, Travis is still very fast. Faster than you or me. I'm sure once they get their times sorted out up there, he'll find out that he placed very well.

At least for me, all this work and little amount of play is enough to substantially reduce morale. Luckily we're not stranded at sea, or we'd have issues. Here at the AOS we find ways of improving morale - this includes but is not limited to: dancing, tying knots, talking in weird voices, making bagel sandwiches, making fun of each other, and talking about people in 3rd person while they're present.

All of this works fairly well in keeping us motivated and excited. When these activities fail, we have an eight cup coffee-maker.

Oh! I should mention a note about our most recent SOU graduate, and 'morale buster' (This is actually a positive label, though it seems harsh). Sarah Spector somehow managed to graduate this last Saturday 'on good faith', though she still has three credits left to complete! We're very proud of her, and we are also very excited to be seeing more of her around the shop. Learn more about Sarah here. Stop in and give her a big high-five.

So, though the weekend was fairly depressing, Frank and I managed to get out climbing at the Greensprings on Sunday evening. A group of us from the shop joined several other climbers up at the crag last night as well. It was very refreshing to see so many people out on the rock! Michael Daole, our ski-tech. Mike Reinert, our encyclopedia. Even Mackenzie Duffy from the Rogue Rock Gym! First time in a while that i've seen more than one rope up at once. We got a bit of a drizzle around nine, but everyone was very happy to be out.

I'm not entirely sure what the rest of the staff will be up to this weekend, but I do hope that it is full of adventure and activity. I will be driving south to Yosemite on Friday night to climb some multipitch for the weekend, and I'll be back by Tuesday. Hopefully the weather holds - it's looking great so far.

Before we know it July will be here, so take advantage of the more moderate temperatures we're having this month! I was out in the park earlier this week on a sunny day and it was lovely - not too hot, not too cold. Whatever you find yourself doing this weekend, I hope that it is exciting and safe.

Cheers.

Summer is here. Maybe Thursday if we're lucky.

Well, this Memorial Day weekend was spectacular! It finally felt like summer to me, if only for those several days of sun.




Frank actually didn't end up going to the Marble Mountain Wilderness this weekend.

Funny enough, I knew that last week - soon after I wrote last week's post - but I purposefully decided to withhold it from you. The expedition has been postponed temporarily, pending snow-coverage. Apparently Frank didn't feel like digging out the cave entrance (Come on, Frank).

Frank Debaugh did, however, encounter incredibly thin snowpack on Mt. Mcloughlin. It was a less-than successful day of skiing. However, the Mammut Nirvana backcountry pack that Frank was carrying had a very successful day. Observe, the holiest of holy ski-carry systems - doin' double duty.



And Travis?
I never know what Travis does with his weekend. I think it usually involves bicycles.

Also - just a reminder to take care of yourself! Some of our lovely staff members were feeling a bit under the weather recently. Reminds the rest of us to eat healthy and get plenty of sleep!

I was lucky enough to enjoy the company of my whole family from New York City and the Bay Area this weekend - both sisters and my brother-in-law. I have several family members that love to climb as well! We spent a family day at Greensprings and climbed several routes, including Marge's Navel, and the classic Razor Crack. We had the whole crag to ourselves!


Marge's Navel (5.8)



Razor Crack (5.8, 5.11 var) gear to 3 inches.



As you local climbers know, both of these climbs are perfect for casual days at the crag, (and family outings, apparently) and they have excellent rap bolts. Marge's Navel can also be climbed all the way to the top past the first set of anchor bolts for a 'Full Marge', at 5.11a. Razor Crack has some of the burliest rap chains i've seen, period! Rock quality on both climbs ranges from good to great, and Razor Crack has some fun moves that are easily protectable. Stem without using the crack for the 5.11 variation!

Of course climbing is always most fun when you have more than one day in which to adventure, but on lazy Sundays with the family, sometimes the barbecue and the local microbrew can be more appealing! Which . . . was the case this weekend.

So, what did you do with your Memorial Day weekend? Boating, hiking, climbing, skiing? Entertain us with your stories - on our Facebook, at our front counter, or in the comment box below!

It's gonna be a busy week for everyone it would seem, but Summer is fast approaching!
Take care, and we'll see you all in the hills this weekend.

Prohibition

Well, the weather this weekend was prohibiting. Something like this:



I don't know about you, but I had all sorts of plans - all successively foiled by lack of sunshine. I sat in the office last Friday, observing the weather from City of Rocks, ID all the way to the coast, and back down to Yosemite - sobbing uncontrollably. NOAA gave me a mix of both 'it sucks' and 'we can't provide accurate weather data at this time'. This actually translated to 'it just sucks', but I held out hope for a longer time than was probably healthy.

However, adventures this weekend included several exciting indoor activities!

The first was, of course, sleep. I slept a lot. It was really nice. I always feel like sleep is an adventure anyways - you never know if you're going to get much of it, never know whether you're going to have crazy dreams or just hibernate like a piece of timber. Or, take for example the mornings where you wake up in a very curious location, or wake up in a completely different location. Imagine the invigorating suspense and sheer joy involved with such types of sleep. Adventurous sleeping is an art that should be respected and practiced regularly. I will refrain from informing you of where I slept, since that might be incriminating, but suffice it to say that it worked out okay.

The second exciting activity took place with help from our local Rogue Rock Gym - Joey, James, Kevin, and Jesse are all doing a fabulous job of keeping those little plastic knobbies organized in stimulating ways, and Claire and Mackenzie always have cheerful smiles to share! Though Smith, Yosemite, City of Rocks, and the like were all out of the question, climbing was still to be had!

In other news:
Frank Debaugh has some plans to trek to Bigfoot Cave in the Marble Mountain Wilderness this coming weekend. One of the deepest and coldest caves in North America, Bigfoot Cave is both extensive and insanely vertical. I asked Frank what he planned to wear, and he informed me that he'd be rockin' his 3m wetsuit. I haven't asked Frank what sort of food he's planning on bringing, but i'm sure it'll be delicious. If anyone wants to get their alpine caving in with Frank this weekend, i'm sure he'll take some additions to his adventure team. Inquire before Friday! We're open every day this week 10-6. Sort of like every week.

Also, a note: If you plan on attending Frank's mysterious cave-a-thon this weekend, make sure you bring extra socks and gear that you don't mind getting insanely dirty and/or gnarly. Also, make sure you watch out for this guy.


If the weather holds, I'll most likely be off catching up on some trad/sport climbing adventure on either Saturday or Sunday.

What are you doing with your memorial day weekend? Make it memorable! Way I see it, everyone only has a finite number of heartbeats left. Why waste any of them? Just because some of us here at the Ashland Outdoor Store are secretly terrified of inclement weather, doesn't mean that you've gotta be! If you've got the scoop on some awesome adventure this weekend, share it with us, by all means.

I'll leave you all with a small selection of 'inspiring photos', and a link to a truly inspiring video put on by Patagonia last Tin Shed season. If you missed it, check out Free South Africa. These guys are incredibly talented climbers, but they also apply full value to one of my favorite sayings: "There's no such thing as inclement weather - just a lack of adequate gear."

FREE SOUTH AFRICA!




Peace out, guys and gals. Enjoy your week!

Holy Nor-Cal Snowpack, Batman!

What did you do with your weekend?

Frank and Travis both raced cross-country at the Spring Thaw on Saturday. They placed well, and had a blast!

I should also note up-front that our lovely Sarah Spector - despite being swamped with school, never having any free time to climb, kayak, or do anything fun, and having to work almost every weekend - has at this point only two and a half weeks left at SOU! So, the next time that you happen to be in the store on a Tuesday, a Thursday, the odd-Saturday, or a Sunday, you should congratulate her on her almost-completed Environmental Studies degree! She may still be our morale booster and Hardgoods Buyer-in-training (don't know how she does it all), but she's a damn good student as well. Go Sarah! Now you can come adventure with us on weekends too!


Alright, alright.
Well, this weekend was interesting to say the least.

Because of a general lack of climbing partners, I decided to take a very early season backpacking trip to the Marble Mountain Wilderness, located south and west of Fort Jones, CA. The weather, which was dubiously labeled as partly cloudy, with a chance of thunderstorms and rain, ended up cooperating wonderfully! However, we should have brought our tele gear alongside our backpacking boots. Hiking through knee and waist deep snow - full on saturated springtime snowpack - can rarely be considered a lot of fun. All things considered, an early-season trip like that is always a rare and unique experience. You've gotta be flexible with your plans and expectations. This time, however, every single bit of it was fun. Even the sweaty, wet, and cold parts. In retrospect, I might have chosen less food and no bivy sack just to make room for ski boots.

I took off from work around 5:30 pm on Friday, and was packed, supplied with food, and on the road with my buddy Elliot by seven. By nine p.m. we were at the trailhead - Lover's Camp, several miles off the Scott River Highway. My original motivation was to hike in that same evening, and set up camp in the dark. By the time we'd arrived at the trailhead, a long work day had definitely caught up with me. We made some delicious food, and got a great night's sleep. In the morning, we skipped breakfast and were on the trail by eight. Before noon we had made it to what was essentially the only dry campsite in the entire valley above 5,000 feet. The last several miles were grueling, as the snowpack made progress very tedious. Later that day I did spy some crafty little rock nooks where one could have snagged a bivy further above the valley, but I was satisfied that we'd opted for a lower campsite near the caver's cabin. More access to streams for water. More comfy. We enjoyed a lazy day with a short excursion up to 6,400 feet, got plenty of sun, and were happy to watch the thunderstorms and rain roll right on by to the north.

Definitely a funky sort of trip - half backpacking, half waging war against wet snow. The whole time I was wishing i'd had the determination to pack in tele gear, but the original mission this weekend was to check out what the season had in store for us down in northern California. I didn't feel like packing 30+ lb. in for an overnight. I have to admit that the skiing definitely would have been worth it, however. The Marbles have a much higher than average snowpack right now - every single creek and river I saw was busting at the seams. This definitely means we're going to have a lovely and long backpacking season - with the best trips being taken later in the summer. Elliot and I also saw a 150-200 foot overhanging wall, with tons of pumpy climbing, and some tiny cracks - all in beautiful rock! The face was located about three miles up from Lover's Camp, off the trail. Very inspiring. Backpacking trips this summer might have to be modified to include a combination of climbing, caving, and trekking! Anyone who wishes to join is more than welcome.









And alas, now it is Tuesday. Friday seems so, so far away.

Don't let it get you down though. The ability to keep yourself stoked on the little stuff is invaluable. And don't forget your chocolate. I find that it's almost impossible to face a day head-on without a little chocolate.

I know the weather this week isn't going to be ideal, but get out for that trail-run! Meet up with AOS climbers at the Rogue Rock Gym or our local crags after work! I'm always stoked on outdoor climbing (Frank too) basically at any time of the day - including after dark.

Also, I should note that if anyone can come up with a successful way to get Bryant Helgeland climbing outside on a given afternoon/evening, I'll definitely buy that successful motivator the next round at the Creek, or wherever he or she holds their evening forays into the mysterious and relaxing. Seriously, I ask him every day. *Sigh*

Before I go, I have to add that if you've got an adventure idea that you think the AOS crew would like to know about (this includes just about everything), then stop on by and propose your weekend expedition, or share your story with us! We get stoked on other people's ideas, and we love hearing about your adventures as well.

We'll see you out there, enjoy the crazy southern Oregon weather this week!

The calamitous lack of conviction

Ah, spring. We've really got it lucky, living in this valley.


Winter's still got us in what occasionally appears to be a slipping, sliding, full-handed pinch, but the 'sunny season' is here!

Lucky enough, it would seem that in the Rogue Valley we're never stuck with the true brunt of a 'season'. For example, last week we were able to enjoy five or six different types of weather in one day! Was it Tuesday, or Wednesday maybe? Seriously, what other donut hole location experiences such diversity of weather? Absolutely nutty.

I digress.

A calamitous lack of conviction has been recently brought to my attention.

Conviction, you say? Of what type? In this context, I speak of the most valuable type of conviction. The best type of conviction. My favorite conviction. The act of devoting every ounce of energy towards a single goal: to pursue incredibly awesome and ambitiously unyielding adventure, always. As much as possible. Uh. Every day.

Local adventure enthusiasts are shaking their heads in dismay. And those who have more free time... are laughing mercilessly.

Work leaves little time for play, as it would seem. Even the most dedicated weekend warrior finds that weekends these days leave scarce time to completely satisfy the burning lust for exploration. But we persevere! The 'season' is almost here, and every bit of spare time we can find must be utilized intelligently. In order for us to feel more stoked about this weekend, i've included what I hope is some mild inspiration, and a recap of the last couple weeks' events.



Recent trips worthy of mention, carried out despite lack of truly adequate time:

Yours truly enjoyed a quick climb up Mt. McLoughlin several weekends back. Wonderful snowpack and a beautiful day!



Hardgoods buyer and charisma-chief Frank Debaugh came up with the incredible idea to gather firsthand beta on Bigfoot Cave, found in the Marble Mountain Wilderness. In fact, I wouldn't even be here writing this right now! However, this was actually botched because of cold feet. Or perhaps the propensity of getting cold feet? Ground and water temperatures in Bigfoot Cave can cause hypothermia in minutes this time of year. Regardless, it was a brilliant idea, and some people got very excited (He'll get to it soon, with a little help from his friends, and AOS Adventure will be there to cover it).

Frank Debaugh and a crew from Southern Oregon University also killed it at Smith Rock this past weekend. Good climbing all around.

And of course, there is still spring skiing. The tail end of it! Or maybe with how much snow we've had late this season, the midst of it. Define at your leisure.

Anywho,
thanks to Roger Strong and Mike Kurilich, the lovely lads at Black Diamond Equipment Ltd., Bryant Helgeland and I were out to try some sick new backcountry gear, which will be available soon. The four of us - including Bryant's impeccably trained Nanuk - took a fast day trip up Mt. Bailey to enjoy some fine spring skiing. Gorgeous sunny day, and enough vertical to keep us satisfied for the following work week.







It was a great day. As a result, I strongly urge everyone to check out Black Diamond Equipment's super solid line of backcountry ski gear. Those guys are doing an inspiring job of designing skis and boots for next season.

Though the amount of free time for adventure is never enough, we solider on still. Our alpine climbing season will be long this year! And despite a slow start, we've had a killer winter. We all must remember to thank Ullr for his lovely presence this year.

With the weather holding fairly stable, at least one AOS member is off to the south this weekend - early-season backpacking, scoping the snowpack still present in the Marble Mountain Wilderness of northern California! Photos and a full report will be available by next week.

Also, good luck to Travis and Frank, who will be racing in the annual Spring Thaw this weekend. Get 'em boys!

I urge everyone to get outside in the next couple days, whatever that may mean to you. Don't let your lack of undying adventure conviction manifest its ugly head this time around. Go enjoy our lovely valley. May your conviction be strengthened. May your strides be long. May your lungs breathe deep. Go seek adventure!

Smith River Gorges

A couple weekends ago I awoke to 20 degree temperature and and ice/frost combo on the ground. I decided to do the most logical thing, GO BOATING!

Frankie taking his sweet time!

There was four of us going (myself, Dan, Frank, and Chris), so we took an 11.5" raft to r3 and then a creek boat kayak for the 4th. We weren't sure what to expect from the gorges because the flows were quite a bit lower (500cfs in the Middle Fork) then we would have liked. But it didn't prevent us from making a day of it.

We ran the Middle Fork first. Because the flow was so low some of the rapids were a bit tighter and steeper making them really fun. The continuos 1.5 mile run went really fast! We ran the South Fork Gorge second, and it was even lower flow so it was even tighter and steeper and faster. We had good clean lines, no swimmers, no carnage, and a lot of cold water winter boating fun.

Oregon Hole
Photo Credit: Will Volpert

The Smith River is by far one of the most gorgeous river's in our area. The combination of the clear water, the california warmth, and the redwoods is unbeatable, and if you time it right you can see some massive Salmon. The easy road-side access also makes logistics a breeze for shuttling and doing multiple runs in the same day. There is also a lot of variety in the difficulty level which can accommodate all skill and comfort levels.

Dan somewhere in the South Fork
Photo Credit: Will Volpert

There are a lot of different write ups out there about the Smith, but here are our favorites: California Creek's, and Oregon Rafting.

Mt Ashland Gravity Ride

As a competitive cyclist, avid mountain biker, backcountry skier, and climber I am all about the up as well as the much deserved adrenaline-overload-down. Now, the easier and faster I can complete the up the sooner I can get to the down. One of the best descriptions of this mentality I have ever heard was stated by our Black Diamond rep. Kurly described it as, "Usain Bolt up and Usain Bolt down!" Which, is why ounces get counted on all my equipment. I say all this to establish the fact that I feel you have to earn the downhill.

Frank taking his sweet time!


Mike trying to stay warm waiting for Frank

Well, all that being said, recently I was talked into doing my first every gravity ride with two of my coworkers. Normally this concept goes against everything I stand for and believe in. But, it sounded like something fun to do after a long day of work.

A trail view

We shuttled our bikes up to the top of Mount Ashland via Franks car. Within a couple minutes of enduring the cool refreshing gale of wind we were on our mountain bikes rolling down the path. We were meet with very little snow on the path for the time of year. From the very top of the mountain you ride down a forest service road until you come to an intersection. The intersection is a little confusing on your first ride, so make sure you stop and check the trail map that is posted there if you have any unsure feelings about where to go.

Mike (left) and Frank (right) tearing it up!

We descended, descended, and kept descending! It was awesome. Once we got down to the second intersection (Four Corners) we got off the forest service road and took the single track the rest of the way down. Our ride time was a little slow, but we were still done by dark. It was an awesome way to end the day.



Despite the fact that the concept of a gravity ride goes against my conscience, I will definitely be doing it again.