TR: Animas is a Hard Mother - 40 miles and 400ft rock walls

[adam]

One's journey may begin with the goal of a summit, a specific line, a perfect destination. Yet somehow along the way, during the miles of trials that one experiences in this sort of endeavour, this sort of life, the real gift is given. Boundaries are pushed. New horizons are seen, new perspectives granted.

Well said!

[FiveLarge]

Great write up. I've missed your TR's this year, Summit, and haven't seen much of your work either, adimmen. Guessed you two had to have something in the works...and you certainly didn't disappoint. What a journey!

[Schnappi]

Well done boys.

[SchralphMacchio]

I think it was Summit who said in one of my TR's: "This thread has enough fail to convert to win"


but F that.



This thread has golden amounts of win. Everyone is a hero in hero snow TR's.

Only few are heroes who venture for goals deemed unfathomable and unpossible by others. Massive win in this thread.

[tone capone]

One's journey may begin with the goal of a summit, a specific line, a perfect destination. Yet somehow along the way, during the miles of trials that one experiences in this sort of endeavour, this sort of life, the real gift is given. Boundaries are pushed. New horizons are seen, new perspectives granted.

Everyone is a hero in hero snow TR's.

Only few are heroes who venture for goals deemed unfathomable and unpossible by others. Massive win in this thread.

With those quotes I vote this thread of the year thus far.

[ISL]

Burly. That's a long long way to go.

[Meathelmet]

Hahhah : Epic packaging fail !




Nice readup,pics and mindblowing terrain there!

[freak]

nice. you rock

freak~[&]

[P_McPoser]

raft in==raft out

[co skier]

Strong work. Thanks for sharing!

[OverTurn]

great tr. thanks for suffering to bring us this report and these pictures. I am jealous.

[lemon boy]

pure-d badness.

[Trainwreck]

Sweet sufferfest! Nothing quite like an "alpine" start with no sleep, reminds me of winter mountaineering.

[IridePow]

Strong efforts guys!

I just had one of the harder experiences to reach a summit this past weekend, but I do not think it was anywhere close as hard as your outing.

[Wildman]

Props to both of you for going for it. This TR is a reminder what it is all about. Getting deeper and deeper into the mountains, searching for a more pure and profound experience. "May the peace of the wilderness be with you"

[mikemcee]

Awesome...really captured the epic nature of the trip.

[bean]

Phenomenal TR. It's amazing what a great experience a total sufferfest like that can become. Misery in nature has a way of turning into enlightenment.

[Danno]

Nice TR, and impressive work.

I have no desire to ever suffer that much.

[HikeforTurns]

When i first read the title, i thought this was going to be a kayaking TR, as nobody would be actually skiing animas mtn. Solid effort gents! No easy lines in the 'nuche! Let me know when you go for Jagged.

[smitchell333]

Holy moly that is a hike.

Why didn't you wait until the train was running at the least?

You might try this tool for assessing snow depths:

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html

[Patches]

Outstanding TR! Thank you.

[FrontRangeDrummer]

Very nice, gentlemen.

[McClelland]

Wow! There have been numerous comments that echo this but I am using "wow" as in I am amazed at how Darwinism has not caught up with you yet. Although I admire the determination, you need to take a Wilderness skills course (like one taught by NOLS) to learn how to pack your pack, carry less, and do things in style. What a junk show. Your feet...no excuse to let that happen in the span of 60 or so hours. SAR groups exist because of people like you.
Again, I am impressed by the determination but for what? So you can write a TR with photos demonstrating that you have no clue how to pack a pack? (FYI: Expedition sized back packs are designed to have equipment inside of them. If you put everything on the outside, then they carry out of balance. Newsflash: All packs carry poorly with more junk strapped to the outside.) Cross icy, swollen rivers? Continue to go up as you post hole deeper? Do us all a favor and put your ego on ice and sign up for (and take) a NOLS Alaska Mountaineering course. Oh, the photo with the gallon jug hanging off your pack...that's really funny. It's spring! There is water every where. You do not have to carry it. Unless of course you want to look like Jed Clampett.
Being strong, fit and determined only take you so far. It is good to have experiences like this so that you can learn and improve. Goals are good but don't let them kill you.

[summit]

Holy moly that is a hike.

Why didn't you wait until the train was running at the least?

You might try this tool for assessing snow depths:

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html

Waiting for the train, as we did last year, means one must take the bridge and bushwhack up the E side of the Animas River Gorge to get to the drainage. This is extremely nasty in both directions. You cannot think of fording in May because of the flows. As PMcPoser said, raft in, raft out. It also means a shallower snowpack, higher wetslide danger, and even worse difficulty, if not complete inability, in traveling No Name Creek as the snow gets rotten to the ground quickly. Believe me, this was a topic of great consideration this year because of the 15 mi it would save, but eventually we realized (Adimmen convinced me) that going in early, despite the effort, was the best chance to counter the unknown difficulties and known hazards that had stopped us the year before.

That website is very useful. I have it bookmarked and use it throughout the winter, but it isn't much use for where we were this trip. It shows deep snow. It's because the nearest actual sensor to what we skied is in essentially Silverton. There's no accounting for microclimates and winter beta on that range is very hard to come by. Oh well... now we know how it is!

[summit]

<rant snipped>
I am amazed at how Darwinism has not caught up with you yet. SAR groups exist because of people like you. Put your ego on ice and sign up for (and take) a NOLS class.
<rant snipped>

McClelland, you are deeply amusing.

The gallon jug was empty. It was for water storage and purification at camp, especially if we had to camp farther from the creek as we would have if we reached our desired campsite up valley. How much did that weigh… an ounce?

Nobody was going to die on that river crossing. It *might* have fried our cameras, wet *some* of our gear, certainly made us briefly cold, and turned us back if we fell on the first crossing, but there was great care and consideration in the crossing site and in how we packed the gear inside our packs (in waterproof sacks and bags). Worst case: lose a pack and walk out.

Nothing we did on this trip was extreme in terms of death exposure. If you consider this a death defying journey... I don't know what to tell you... enjoy the safety of your living room? We were going out no matter the effort, NOT no matter the risk.

I'm sure you are an accomplished NOLSie, and like many NOLSies (certainly not all), quite arrogant and condescending. Your assumptions show your ignorance of this situation and certainly extreme ignorance of the participants, their backgrounds, and their knowledge. Now check your assumptions, remove your foot from your mouth, and cease monday morning quarterbacking us based on the appearance of Adimmen's pack, which has only light (albeit bulky) items attached... an empty plastic bottle, empty day pack, a sleeping pad strapped to the outside, not heavy items. Or maybe you'll feel kind enough to teach us the secret NOLS method for putting your skis inside your pack.