Most folks who know us now have no idea, but ten years ago today @elainevardamis and I went to the county courthouse in Boulder and got married. We actually hadn’t even planned to get married when we woke up that morning. Us being together was a bit (ha!) controversial in a small town and I think we finally hit our breaking point, so we decided to block out all the noise, go to the courthouse and charge in head first. They say you never forget how your bride looks on her wedding day. Well, even though we were sitting at a desk in street clothes with a county clerk, I still remember exactly how Elaine looked that day we got married, her eyes, her smile, the way she looked at me, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life. For all intensive purposes, from a practical standpoint, that spur of the moment act probably shouldn’t have worked out. We both gave up a lot - our reputations and more - to make it a reality. Thing is, love and practicality don’t really have much in common and I’ve come to believe love and relationships can work best when a couple has to fight tooth and nail to make it reality. I mean, if you’re not 100% willing to go to war for a person, and even risk your reputation with the knowledge that you’ll be a better human being with that person in the future, how in the world can that relationship survive when the inevitable hard challenges of life hit? During those first years of the marriage, it was us against the world, and if somebody challenged us on it, we’d fight back with nails and fire. As time progressed, and we made new friends, and old friends and family came around, and we didn’t have to prove ourselves all the time, that’s when things really evolved, and we could carve out the life we really wanted without worrying about what other people thought, and we could finally grow as human beings and as a couple. What can I say - Elaine, you’re my soulmate, my best friend, my love, my everything in life. With you the world shines and anything is possible. Happy 10 years babe - here’s to a zillion more. ❤️❤️❤️#lovestory #elope #bestwifebestlife #love
Day 200 of the 2019-20 season climbing up mountains and skiing back down them today! Eleven days in October, 25 days in November, 26 days in December, 26 days in January, 24 days in February, 28 days in March, 30 days in April and 30 days in May including 77 straight skiing days to get this point. Absolute minimum criteria for a day to count was at least 1,000 feet of climbing or 10 km. It was an obsessive, fun, exhausting, stupid and beautiful project all at once. What to do tomorrow? We’re going to go ski (We’ve got about ten more to go to get Elaine her 200 which is when we’ll really celebrate). Finally broken through the tired phase to just feeling like moving all day in the mountains is what the body was designed to do - only took about 195 days to get there! 🎿🏔💪#skiing #ski #springskiing #200daysskiing #epicseason #skiuphill #snow #getoutside #getoutstayout #amundsensports #hyperlitemountaingear #hmgtribe #couloir
Deep in the San Juans, the junction where the Colorado Trail splits off from the Continental Divide Trail, heading to Durango, while the CDT goes to Mexico. We were going the other way, north to Canada, and decided to ski the San Juan Mountains from Cumbres Pass to San Luis Peak, allowing us to pass thru this mighty mountain range well before it was practical. It was certainly one of the highlights of our trek north to Canada. Been sort of lusting for a big adventure this summer, but it’s a tough year to do that. The Colorado Trail is appealing, but there is one significant issue: I’ve talked to at least 100 people who plan on doing that one this summer, and at least five times that number who are posting about doing it online (darn it CT, you done got yourself popular). It seems every person who got derailed from their AT and PCT attempt this summer is heading to Colorado to hike our trail. I think we’d find that to be quite frustrating. I believe it’s time to look at the maps and put together something off the charts, without a name, totally self-sufficient, after the summer hoopla and away from the craziness of the world. 🏔🎿🌲#ski #skiing #continentaldividetrail #cdt #coloradotrail #alpine #tundra #hyperlitemountaingear #hmgtribe @elainevardamis
You'd have to be blind to not notice the recent trend to call people who abide by the "safer-at-home" rules, wear masks and want to wait a little bit (or a lot bit) longer to open things up "sheep." The new phrase I saw today was #sheeple. I have to take exception with this label. It's simply inaccurate. Sheep are a domestic animal who live in a herd. That herd eventually follows each other right to its death. "Sheep to slaughter" is a term for a reason. That's the last thing these so called "sheep" want. They want to live. They want to live desperately, get thru this time healthy and intact, and when this is all over, rage on with life. No, I'd liken this group more as a lone grizzly bear, tucked up high in some remote part of the wilderness, hiding out till the danger passes, but ready to strike back if need be. Strange, but most of these "sheep" I know live extraordinary lives. They are parents, business owners, artists, adventurers and passionate hard workers. Some of these sheep have climbed Mount Everest, visited the North Pole, hiked the length of the country, been professional athletes and looked death in the eye and kept on living. The more I think, it strikes me that the most extraordinary people in life I know are so-called "sheep." 🏔❤️💪🐻#covidpositivity #notsheep #strong #independent #mountains #nature #getoutside #getoutstayout #hyperlitemountaingear
Fun day today navigating that place where the mountains aren’t quite in summer, but they’re also not quite in winter. Roaming on tundra, skiing in slush, finding the first Forget-Me-Nots, riding mountain bikes on old mining roads, pushing that same mountain bike over snow drifts, hanging out by waterfalls and enjoying the glory that is our home. 🎿🏔🌲🚲#springintherockies #mountainbiking #skiing #tundra #forgetmenots #flowers #alpine #mountains #waterfall #nature #wilderness #oldminingtown #getoutside #getoutstayout @elainevardamis #sklarbikes #amundsensports #hyperlitemountaingear
A little home range pride. I think sometimes people who live locally suffer from a little inferiority complex with our mountains in comparison to the rest of the state. Truth is though, I love the mountains around my home. While they are not as dramatic as the San Juans or the Elks, and not as high as the Sawatch or Mosquito Range, they have a mystique all to themselves. The tundra up here in northern Colorado is a little different. Less vegetation, harsher, more firm. The wind pummels it, makes it tough, makes it wild. I once met a ski patroller at the local area who told me that the wind in Antarctica is good practice for the wind found locally, not the other way around. That same wind makes these mountains beautiful but deadly in the winter, and offers amazingly good skiing in the spring. I'll put a spring skiing day in my home peaks up against anywhere in the world. We have more lakes, more glaciers and more alpine cirques than anyplace in Colorado. More than that though, I love the barren mountainsides, the hulking masses, the wide open tundra and the history that goes with it, from the Ute Indians who crossed these mountains to hunting grounds in North Park in the summer, to the miners who dug deep in the mountains in search for riches, to the early pioneers who climbed, photographed and painted them, highlighting their romantic side, the side that screams at your soul. The home mountains are good mountains. 🏔🏔🏔 This is the Cheyenne and Ute homeland. #mountains #rockymountains #getoutside #getoutstayout #wilderness #tundra #alpine #springskiing
