Kettle Crest Advocacy Fest

Jen and I just returned from a weekend mountain bike festival, the 2010 Kettle Crest Fest.

Friday, our trail work party cleared more trees than we could count from the Sherman Peak Loop trail (photo above, ~6,000 ft.). Then we enjoyed two days of some of Washington State’s finest singletrack – including a 2,000′ descent of the Jungle Hill Loop.

The annual advocacy event is hosted by Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and coordinated by volunteer Tim Banning. Lucky for us, New Belgium Brewing was a sponsor!

1 Out Of 750 Photos

This is my climbing partner, Dan Azer, leading the first pitch of the famous 5.6 Beckey Route on Liberty Bell in the North Cascades. As we geared up for the climb, a family of mountain goats approached us – looking for food and, particularly, ‘salt.’

This photo was selected from more than 750 entries as an Editor’s Favorite in the Washington Trails Association’s Northwest Exposure photo contest. Learning The Ropes will be featured in the January/February edition of Washington Trails magazine.

WTA’s photo contest promotes Washington’s wonderful hiking destinations and the importance of advocating for these wild lands.

More pictures from the Liberty Bell slideshow.

Return to Stuart Island

Puget Sound King Crabs are a species of King Crab that inhabit the Pacific Ocean between central California and Alaska. As you can see, adults are orange, red, and purple.

What does this have to do with marketing? Absolutely nothing.

I’m scuba diving around Stuart Island in the San Juans this weekend with James Keithly and Jason Baker.

Note of interest: the African wildlife pictured above live on Spieden Island, owned by James Jannard, the founder of Oakley, who resides on Orcas Island.

Wedding Photography by Marlow

Summer. It’s not just the season for rock climbing and thunderstorms. Summer means weddings. Lots of weddings.

Last month, Jen’s cousin Kitty Rasmussen married Jeff Craig. Watch the Craig-McIntyre-Rasmussen reunion slideshow (the trimaran pictured at the end was hand-built by Jen’s uncle, Dennis Rasmussen, in nine months!)

This week, I visit Hamilton, MT for a one-day shoot of the wedding of Charla Grenz and Ben Solheim.

I return to the office Monday, August 18.

Out of Office: I’d Rather Be Climbing

One that reckons accounts all the day passes not a happy moment. One that gladdens his heart all the day provides not for his house. The bowman hits the mark, as the steersman reaches land, by diversity of aim. He that obeys his heart shall command.
- Ptahhotep (Egyptian sage), 2400 B.C.

The modern version:
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.

Climbing is both play and hard work. So I’m headed to BC for the Squamish Mountain Festival. I will check email sporadically, but return calls after Monday.

Cheakamus Canyon, The Malamute, Shannon Falls, Smoke Bluffs, Star Chek…check out the climbing photos.

Return To Smith Rock

Return To Smith Rock is the sequel to the 2006 Climbing Adventures of Joel Meyers, Sean Smith, and Scott Marlow. The 2008 cast makes their base at Skull Hollow Campground, just a few miles north of the State Park.

Marlow headlines this second tour with all new team members from The Mountaineers Crag Course: Dan Azer, Jeff Meyers, and Adriana Moscatelli. Instructors include: Mark Candelaria, Julie Morris, and Kevin Piasecki.

Photographed against Smith Rock’s idyllic 600+ acre sport-route paradise, students test their trad(itional) climbing skills in stifling triple-digit temperatures against ominous cliffs – like the famous Dihedrals, Red Wall, and the West Side’s Spiderman Buttress.

Out of Harm’s Way, Moscow is visited, and SuperSlabs of huckleberry ice cream and Cinnamon Toast are consumed. Noone is hurt. Everyone comes home safe. Phone calls are returned Tuesday, May 20.