This Spring has been a little more chaotic than usual as I over committed myself once again. My wife and I just bought a house in Ridgway which was the most expensive thing we've ever purchased and the cheapest thing in the entire valley! Three weeks later I was driving out to Washington state to work a winter seminar on Mt. Rainier which would turn out to be RMI's first guided ascent for 2008. I then flew up to Alaska to guide a ski/touring trip out of the mountain house near the Ruth Gorge which was awesome by the way! Immediately after this I drove to the Wrangell Saint Elias Nat. Park to visit friends at St. Elias Alpine Guides. Here I joined these awesome guys for a pre-season trip where we did some excellent skiing and attempted a new line on the north face of an unclimbed/unnamed peak. With left over liquor coursing thru my veins from a classic Alaskan all night binger, I flew back to SEATAC to see the family and do several trips on Rainier. With a day off and a couple of warm hugs and kisses, I got back on the plane and flew back to the great white north to guide Mt. Bona and Mt. churchill in the Wrangell's. Although this was a great trip, I was feeling like eating a bullet or maybe even two due to the lack of down time and everlasting travel. Luckily, I ended up back in McCarthy With the SEAG crew and laid low for several days before continuing on to Talkeetna for a short stint with a reality show I dubbed the "Kahiltna Kaos". In three days of filming I got about 6.5 hours of sleep and a lead hollow point was starting to sound appealling once again!

But all great (and even chaotic!) things come to an end and I once again boarded the plane back to SEATAC with oversized bags and my family on my mind.