Saturday Morning

In the wee early morning hours of Saturday, while the rest of the world slept, Chad, his brother, uncle and friend began hiking up Ben Lomond, skis in tow, in pursuit of the chance to ski down the famed mountain's face (doesn't that line add some nice Discovery Channel drama to the story). The Round trip in all took about six hours. They started at 5400 feet and top out at 9700. Pretty impressive for a lazy Saturday morning. Here are some cool pictures of their grand adventure.

Chad near the beginning of the climb.

This picture was taken about half way up the trek. You can get a clear picture here of how steep of a climb it was. They started on skies then switched to ice axes and crampons when it got too steep for skis.

This is a shot of them hiking right up the face of Ben Lomond.

Morning light breaking over the mountain.

Looking back over Mt. Ogden.

I love this shot of where they broke trial. It is a great shot with a nice In To Thin Air vibe to it. I love Paul's shadow of him taking the picture. This is the final ridge line to the summit.

Chad and Ben standing on top.

Getting ready to take the plunge.

Isn't this a cool shot. I saved the best for last. The funny thing about this picture is he was trying to take a picture looking out over the horizon, but he slipped and instead took this picture, which ironically is my favorite one.