Nirvana doesn\u2019t just mean great rock music; it\u2019s also a state of being. For me, transcendence forever came from long days in the mountains, where lung-busting aerobic approaches and technical climbing merged in a euphoric synergy.<\/p>\n
When I shattered my leg four years ago, resulting in four surgeries, my long outings in the mountains were numbered. Sometimes I could suck it up and deal, but then I could barely get out of bed for weeks afterward. Now, I seek out the best crags with the shortest approaches.<\/p>\n
In summer, it\u2019s easy. Once the snow flies, things get more complicated. Sure, climbing gyms are fun. And skiing is OK, but I get fixated on climbing.<\/p>\n
Ahhh<\/em>, how I miss that flow, that self-powered movement over technical terrain, where all I hear is my heart pounding in the pristine, uncrowded alpine.<\/p>\n Ski mountaineering is nothing new, but it was new to me. It\u2019s a combination of climbing and randonee skiing (a.k.a. alpine touring). For a long time the gear was problematic: Ski boots didn\u2019t climb well, and soft climbing boots meant that for all but the best schussers, descending was pure survival skiing. It was like those childhood ski-school lessons, where you\u2019re told to wedge your skis like a pizza slice to slow down, or point \u2019em like french fries to speed up. Only, I added a twist: pizza, french fries, crash.<\/p>\n In recent years, the niche of skimo gear (yup, skimo for short) has gotten phenomenally functional and lightweight. I\u2019m a rookie, but here are two of my favorite local skimo outings in Rocky Mountain National Park\u2014maybe they\u2019ll spark some ideas:<\/p>\n After a half-hour of gentle uphill skinning from Bear Lake, I strap my skis to my pack and hike steep snow to the ice above frozen Emerald Lake. Pull out my tools, snap-on my crampons. Five hundred feet of easy snow, ice and rock brings me to the gentle slopes of Flattop Mountain. Skis back on, flick my boots into downhill mode, and carve GS turns back to the trailhead.<\/p>\n Another: On a calm spring day, when the ultra-mega South Face of the Petit Grepon basks in sunny solitude, a buddy and I skin to the base. In summer, the hike kills my leg. Now, all smiles, we swap boots for rock shoes and climb 800 feet of brilliant rock\u2014nobody else in sight\u2014then rap down, click in, and cruise out.<\/p>\n Personally\u2014maybe it\u2019s just me\u2014the best part of skimo is the ear-to-ear grin I can\u2019t wipe from my face on the way down. That, and the fact that the next day I can get out of bed and do it all over again. Pizza, french fries, nirvana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nirvana doesn\u2019t just mean great rock music; it\u2019s also a state of being. For me, transcendence forever came from long days in the mountains, where lung-busting aerobic approaches and technical climbing merged in a euphoric synergy. When I shattered my leg four years ago, resulting in four surgeries, my long outings in the mountains were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11],"tags":[352,87,183,111,113,59,364,138],"internal-tag":[1674,1683],"class_list":["post-747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climb","category-snowsports","tag-climb","tag-colorado","tag-kelly-cordes","tag-mountaineering","tag-national-park","tag-ski","tag-snowsports","tag-united-states","internal-tag-pre-redirect-climb","internal-tag-pre-redirect-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/climb\/alpine-multisport-ski-mountaineering","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Alpine Multisport: Ski Mountaineering","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/alpine-multisport-ski-mountaineering","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/climb\/alpine-multisport-ski-mountaineering"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/09\/Cordes-alp-mltspt-IMG-41711500px.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2014\/09\/Cordes-alp-mltspt-IMG-41711500px.jpg?fit=1500%2C1125"},"articleSection":"Climb","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Angela Crampton"}],"creator":["Angela Crampton"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["climb","colorado","kelly cordes","mountaineering","national parks","ski","snowsports","united states"],"dateCreated":"2014-11-25T15:00:07Z","datePublished":"2014-11-25T15:00:07Z","dateModified":"2018-11-12T06:29:26Z"},"rendered":"