Skiing at Crested Butte (December 17, 2007)

In early December 2007, my friends and I made the pilgrimage to Crested Butte to check out the legendary peak. With 81" of fresh snow in the last week, visions of powdery rapture danced in our heads. For more, check out my trip report (mostly pictures).

Climbing Crestone Peak's Northwest Couloir, May 24-26, 2007 (part I added June 5, 2007)

Over the Memorial Day weekend holiday, two of my friends and I climbed Crestone Peak (El. 14,294 ft) in full on Spring snow conditions. We backpacked in to the wild and rough Spanish Creek basin and camped at around 10,900 feet. We made summit attempt the next day, but were turned back due to weather. Then on Saturday, we tried again, scouting a route up to the elbow of the Northwest Couloir (El. 13,400 feet). From there, we climbed the spectacular and steep couloir. I went on to the summit while my friends waited at the saddle. For the full trip report with pictures, click here.

Blog of Colorado Snowstorms (January 4, 2007)

The second big snowstorm in less than two weeks has buried Colorado's Front Range again! We've had 28" in the past 11 days! I kept a snow blog during this storm - click the link to see pictures, snow totals, and more.  For previous Featured Content entries, click here.

Before reorganizing the web site, this section used to be called the "Picture of the Week". Those entries are archived below.

This gallery contains pictures which were previously featured on the front page of my home page. I pick these pictures out of my past and present photography based on their theme (4th of July for example), current events in my life, or on their exceptional beauty or artistic value.

December 26, 2006

A massive blizzard hit the Front Range of Colorado on Dec 21-22, 2006 (click here to see my summary of this storm). I was in NY at the time, but when I got back to Fort Collins I took some pictures of the aftermath. This is how my parking lot looked a full five days after the storm ended! Another potentially heavy snowstorm is on the way and the first flakes are just starting to fall. 

August 2006

It's that time of year again - Pikes Peak Marathon! This picture was taken during the 2004 race. I'll be running Pikes again on Sunday, August 20, 2006.

June 2006

This is me standing on the summit of Mount Sneffels (El. 14,140 ft) on July 4, 2003. I never did finish the trip report, so why this picture and why now? Well, 14'er season is almost here. Just a bit of craziness to get myself psyched up for the season!

September 26, 2005

The beautiful Cache la Poudre River flows through Fort Collins, CO.

My friends and I enjoyed views such as these on a recent bike ride around town. Click here to see more pictures from our ride. 

July 21, 2003

My mom and I hiked more than halfway into the Grand Canyon from the North Rim on July 21, 2003. To see the full trip report and pictures, click here.

May 9-15, 2004

Alison, Todd, and Eric above the Pallivinci at Arapaho Basin on April 18, 2004. This was our last day skiing of the season.

March 25-31, 2004

This is me atop Bear Peak (El. 8361 ft) near Boulder, CO on March 20, 2004. Eric Sigler, Todd Rivas, and I went out for a delightful early Spring hike. To read more about the adventure (a level 4 gadget and info-logging hike), click here.

March 15-24, 2004

This picture was January 2001 during a hike from the side of Mount Sanitas in Boulder, CO. The view is looking south towards Green Mountain and the Flatirons.

 Oh, the beauties of winter . . .

March 7-14, 2004

This spectacular sunrise greeted me one morning in January 2002.

February 22-28, 2004

On Sunday, August 17, 2003, I ran the Pikes Peak Marathon! I'm happy to say that I had lots of fun, experienced some pain, but overall had a fantastic experience. Needless to say, this was a big event for me (my first marathon, and up a little mountain no less!), so I've compiled my thoughts leading up to the race in a Pikes Peak Race Diary. If you'd like to just go straight to my report of the race itself, along with some pictures, click here.

August 17-25, 2003

Victory on the mountain! On Sunday, August 17, 2003, I ran up AND down Pikes Peak in the 2003 Pikes Peak Marathon. To read all about it, see my Race Report.

August 10-16, 2003

    This is me atop Pikes Peak in 2000. The Barr Trail offers a grueling 7400 foot ascent in a little over 12 miles. In less than a week, I will make my first attempt at running the Pikes Peak Marathon! In all probability, I'll be walking most of the way up, but make no mistake -- this one of the hardest marathon races out there, even if most people walk a good portion of the way. I have trained and planned my strategy. All that is left to do now is to eat, rest, and prepare mentally. To follow my thoughts as I enter into this grand challenge, please see my Pikes Peak Race Diary. To understand why anyone would even want to attempt something like this, you may need to do some deeper background on me, which I have provided in my Running History.

July 6-12, 2003

Jonathan, Sara, Ricky, and Eric atop Ellingwood Point (El. 14,042 ft) on June 29, 2003. To see the full trip report, click here.

June 22-28, 2003

Sara, Phil, Eric, and Jonathan on the summit of Mount Evans (El. 14,264 ft), June 22, 2003. To see the full trip report, click here.

April 16 - 23, 2003

This week I decided to throw in a  picture of myself (it is my web site after all :)

This picture was taken in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. I was visiting with my parents in the Fall of 2001.

January 26 - February 1, 2003

This is the view of Lake Louise Ski Area from near Lake Louise, Alberta. The resort is about 5 miles away. The base area is at 5400 feet, while the top of the highest lift (on the left, near the top of the mountain above treeline) is 8650 feet, giving a total lift-served vertical rise of 3250 feet. The narrow lift line on the left is 2134 vertical feet! I skied Lake Louise for two days in March 2002 and was duly impressed. For more information on ski resorts, visit my 'skiing page'.

November 17-23, 2002

This is me standing at the top of La Plata (El. 14,336 feet), one of Colorado's 14'ners. Click here for my trip report.

November 17-23, 2002

We went skiing at Vail this week the day after opening day.  The snow was fantastic -- deep powder in the woods. The bowls were already carved up however -- but the skies were blue, the sun was bright, and it was an awesome day to be at Vail.  This picture was taken by Dan Turk.  From left to right:

Mike Michaelson, Jonathan Vigh, Allison Ordelheide, Todd Rivas, Eric Sigler, and Stephen Turk. 

The mountain in the background is Mount of the Holy Cross (El. 14,003 ft).

November 10-17, 2002

This picture of Mount Bierstadt was taken September 7, 2002 from Guanella Pass.  We passed by on the way to climb Mount Sherman and stopped to snap a few pictures. The alpine tundra was in full Fall colors, and the snow was soon to fall.

October 27-November 2, 2002

What better way to celebrate a birthday, then on top of a Colorado 14'ner?  This picture was taken on top of Mount Evans.  My parents came out to celebrate my birthday with me, and while here in Colorado, we drove up Mount Evans to savor the views.

September 29 - October 5, 2002

I took this picture of the island of Weno in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia while I leaving after spending 10 months teaching high school there. This is the northeast end of Weno. The island in the background is Dublon. For more on my Chuuk experience, check out my Chuuk project page, a long term endeavor to share stories and pictures from my experience on Chuuk via the WWW. 

September 22-28, 2002

I took this picture of half inch hail (I measured one stone 3/4" in the oblong direction, probably after several minutes of melting) that fell August 26, 2002 at about 10 pm. Some massive storms east of the KS-CO border and up in Nebraska sent a strong outflow surge toward the Fort Collins area. As the surge arrived around 9 pm, the dew point spiked up above 60 degrees (very juicy air for Colorado) from about 21 degrees.  Other effects of the surge -- RH went from 9% to about 80%, and the pressure rose from about 25.00" to 25.20".  Shortly afterward, several strong storms formed in the area west and northwest of Fort Collins, while a small cell formed right overhead. There was moderate rain with small hail for about 15 minutes with a coverage of about 5-10 stones per square foot.  There was not very much lightning with the cell overhead, but lots to the north. No damage occurred in the immediate area, although some 1.5" hail caused some leaf and minor car damage east of town, and Cheyenne had some significant damage from baseball size hail. 

September 15-21, 2002

I took this picture of a thistle plant at about 12,500 feet on my recent trip up Mount Sherman (El. 14,036 ft).

September 8-14, 2002

This picture of La Plata Gulch was taken August 3, 2002.  The steep slopes of La Plata (El. 14,336 feet) rise up into the clouds.  For the trip report, click here.

August 18-24, 2002

This picture shows the two routes up the Northwest Ridge of Lindsey. To read more about my July 28, 2002 ascent of Mount Lindsey (El. 14,336 ft), check out the complete trip report.

August 11-17, 2002

I took this picture of this incredible mountain wall between Blanca and Ellingwood Point on July 28, 2002 during my ascent of Mount Lindsey (El. 14,336 ft). A complete trip report is available.

August 4-10, 2002

On July 6, Earl, Christina, Bob, and I conquered Mount Massive (El. 14,421 ft). Check out the trip report.

July 28 - August 3, 2002

I took this picture of Mills Lake while on a hike up Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park on July 13, 2002.

Longs Peak (El. 14,255 feet) is near the center of the photo.

July  14-20, 2002

This is the brave group that conquered Mt. Harvard (El. 14,420 ft) on June 30, 2002. Click here to see the full trip report.

Week of July 4th, 2002

This picture of Old Glory was taken at Southern Adventist University on a beautiful Spring day in 1997.

June 2002

This picture of a sunset was taken in Chuuk sometime during 1997-98 while I was there teaching high school math and science.

This picture has become a popular background with some users of MySpace!

May 2002

This picture of the La Sal Mountains was taken from Arches National Park, UT on April 6, 2002.