Author: ASJ Staff

Stick a Paddle In It!

Thereโ€™s a reason they call it the โ€œBay Area,โ€ ya know. Because it ainโ€™t Phoenix, it ainโ€™t LA, it ainโ€™t Dallas, and it sure as hell ainโ€™t Des Moines โ€“ not that thereโ€™s anything wrong with those places!

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Top Spring River Trips

It happens season after season: By the time many California rafters and kayakers get into river mode, streams up and down the state are drying up and coming off the menu. No doubt, weโ€™re lucky to still have some great rivers that run into and through the summer, either via dam control or watersheds that hang high in the Sierra.

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Sizing up Two Epic Tours: The Sierra High Route and Alps Haute Route

Weโ€™re at the Symmes Creek trailhead, in the high desert sage out Onion Valley Road west of Independence, about to embark on the Sierra High Route. Pioneered by Dave Beck in 1975, this ski tour became an instant classic. Beck envisioned this line across the southern Sierra as California's answer to the famous Haute Route of the Alps. Traversing 50 spectacular miles from the Owens Valley near Mt. Whitney to the grand conifers of Sequoia National Park on the west, the route crosses the highest portion of the Sierra, including six major passes that top 12,000 to 13,000 feet.

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Working the 24-Hour Shift

My 24 hour mountain bike racing career started in 2006. A long-term adventure racing team sponsor bowed out and I was left with the task of redefining myself as an athlete or getting a real job. Fortunately, my sponsors Red Bull and Specialized were supportive in my quest to avoid a nine-to-five existence. For lack of a better idea, I decided to take my endurance experience into mountain bike racing. I knew I could race for days on end from my adventure racing career, but had no idea if I was fast enough or good enough on a bike. I had never actually entered an official mountain bike race or ridden against any women. I won the first 24 hour race I participated in that year in Spokane, WA. It was my test run and I beat everyone in the race, including the men. I took it as a sign. Nine to five would have to wait.

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Thigh Deep in Patagonia

While winter holds here in the Sierra Nevada, southern Chile melts into summer. The snowy couloirs and valleys of the Cerro Castillo National Reserve are now rocky slopes and tree-lined trails. Just a few months ago, I finished a blog entry from the one computer with Internet access that exists in the quaint and colorful village of Cerro Castillo, where we spent our last night in warm beds before heading out into the spectacular grandeur of the Patagonia backcountry.

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Quick-Hit Tele Tips

While some consider telemark skiing to be a new sport, it may be the oldest new sport around. In fact, its Norwegian roots predate the alpine turn by a half century. Of course, that was before ski lifts made hiking for your turns superfluous, or should I say optional.

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Gold, Snow, Whiskey and Fast Dope

Winter enthusiasts might assume skiing for sport in North America got its start in the high peaks of the Rockies, or back east somewhere, in the woods of Vermont or the glades of the Adirondacks, perhaps with fur trappers or Western settlers stealing some leisure time having gotten fat and warm, or relatively so, from the bounty of the new land. Somewhere, youโ€™d think, where a long tradition of skiing persists and to this day is celebrated by renowned ski resorts old enough and big enough to ring a bell with ski bums across the country.

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Kickinโ€™ Axe in California

Nearly 40 winters ago, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Robinson scaled the Main Wall ice route in Lee Vining Canyon, off Highway 120 east of Tioga Pass. A near vertical frozen waterfall, the climb was likely a good opportunity to test some new ice climbing tools Chouinard was developing at the time, including an ice axe with a shortened shaft and a curved pick angle. His innovations helped push the sport past its roots as a subset of mountaineering to become a worthwhile winter pursuit in its own right. Since then, the sport has surged in popularity.

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Bela Vadasz: 30 Years of Alpine Guiding

These are two of the less obvious reasons why Bela G. Vadasz is a mountain guide and owner of Alpine Skills International, the Truckee-based ski mountaineering, climbing and avalanche education outfit he founded with his wife Mimi in 1979 โ€“ making it one of the oldest and most respected programs in the country for teaching human-powered mountain travel.

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Our recent article with Michael Allen is up! Featuring his new film A Long Road To Tao, that's being featured in the Las Cruces International Film Festival this spring along with his work as a fine art surf and wave photographer ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŽฅโ 
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Check out Michael's work at the link in our bio ๐Ÿ”—โ 
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Written by contributing writer @ellasuring
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When itโ€™s not raining, Castle Rock State Park offers amazing hiking and rock climbing just under an hour away from Santa Cruz! ๐ŸŒฒ๐Ÿฅพ

And when it is raining, you can still get out there and have some adventures! ๐ŸŒง๏ธ

We went out last weekend in a break from the rain and sent some climbs at Indian Rock ๐Ÿง—๐Ÿฝ

Just remember to bring water, snacks, warm clothes, and plan beforehand as there is no cell service there, adventure on!

#rockclimbing #adventuresports #outdoor
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Can anyone guess where this iconic Redwood Tree ring is in Santa Cruz? ๐ŸŒฒThe canopies of redwood trees support entire ecosystems of wildlife, insects, plants, and they even create soil up there from decomposing leaves ๐Ÿ‚. Next time you go mountain biking, running, or hiking, take a glance up and wonder at the marvels towering above you! #hiking #santacruz #adventuresportsjournal ...

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