on a whim

I just decided to ski at least once in every single month of 2009. This really isn't a big deal, especially when you compare it to my friend Drew, who's skied every month since 2006 or something ridiculous, but I'm excited to see if I can do it nonetheless. May, already booked with work stuff and friend visits, poses the first challenge, but luckily Sean and I are heading to Mt. Shasta, a big fat 14k volcano in California at the end of the month to celebrate a rad friend's 30th birthday with some climbing and skiing. Who knows what we'll ski in June, July and the rest, but the Cascades offer limitless options and we'll be sure to keep you posted. I'm doing this mostly to see if I've got enough follow-through to make it happen. Keep me honest, will ya?

In honor of the new goal, here are a few pics from my solo outing with Maya to Sauk Mountain today. Sean was busy keeping "the tulips!" tourists happy, poor guy.

Skis? Check. Food? Check. Knee brace? Check. Black 4-legged garbage disposal? Check.
Halfway to the objective
A new friend in the distance with the Skagit River below

I met the guy pictured above midway through the day. He was traveling with a 70 year old part man, part mountain goat who kicked everyone's butt up the mountain all afternoon. I'm thinking of dedicating my new goal to his inspiring and efficient scrambling.

Not man-goats ourselves, Sean and I are both super excited for spring and summer, so regardless of this goal we'll be talking about things other than snow on the blog, we promise.