A cold, crowded trailhead with many friends. Many smiles, much smalltalk. We go our separate ways.

High danger today, but we've agreed to play it cool.

We depart with the looming reminder of choices made a timezone away. Bad news from a familiar place seems to resonate in a certain way.

Over the summer trail and through the big trees, we gain the ridge. More friends. More smiles.

Details begin to emerge from the Wasatch with reception in the Cascades. It was complicated. 

At the parking lot, airplane mode switches off and tragedy ensues again.

Innocence lost. Perhaps it was just a matter of time.

Tears. Voicemails. Questions. The answers won't change anything.

What do you say to a friend who just felt his first tragedy? 

HS-ASu-R4-D2.5-O

Watching it firsthand, the relative size was clearly R5.

For luck, wise friends broke trail with us on this day. The smiles and jokes from their worn, familiar faces mean everything. 

Their presence on the cold Tundra tailgate means that much more in this moment.

They've been here before. And they both know that our friend will never be the same.

To be there for the up, the down, and the transitions, that is one thing. To remain for this, that means much more. 

We'll remember it. Always.

We break formation and head downhill. I can't go yet, and so I stop at a familiar place to walk off unfamiliar feelings. 

"Click." The door locks. A deep breath.

Leaving the fanhouse, strangers approach: 

"We...we triggered an avalanche..."

For my friend Joe and with gratitude to our friends Ryan and Jason.

I have given my nights for mornings, one step at a time.

I have given too many days for mournings, one step at a time.

I have given (much of) my life to the mountains, but the mountains will not take mine.

Moonlit silhouette,

So small, the range gives context.

A dark ridge, bright stars 

(A big fucking pass).

This is life now.

For Stephen, remembering our adventure together, 2022.

The Dawn. And the dusk.

And everything in between.

We will share it all.

The sweat flows; breathing.

Here we transition quickly.

Two turns, a cloud of dust.

For CJ before La Grande Course Pierra Menta 2022.