Send in one or two pictures of yourself doing something interesting or characteristic, and I’ll feature them on “Photos of readers”.
Today’s featured reader is James Thompson, who hails from Texas. His notes are indented:
The first photo was on top of Stewart Peak in Southern Colorado (13,983). I’ve climbed the 54 14,000 peaks in Colorado and have been doing some of the high 13ers.
I did software development from 1979 to 2018 and also participated in building 5 water ski lake subdivisions in Texas. I also drive and judge and tech water ski tournaments.
Back in the good ol days. . . my other hobby:
Cool pics. Water skiing is much, much harder than it looks. I got up on the third try and went across the lake. Once.
Great photos. Long ago I did some water skiing. Much better at that than on snow. Climbing the mountains, you are on your own.
Skied on Lake Geneva in my teens where no life belt was available. Some male show-offs (two guys behind one boat) decided to be cute and try to put their arms around me. I fell, of course. T’ain’t easy getting back up with no flotation device, in freezing water, but I did succeed. Next time skied behind my dad’s outboard in Nigeria. Wonderfully warm salt water. Could ski for miles and mikes. Many years later skied on Lake Joseph north of Toronto and delighted my young son by doing a faceplant the first time out.
Envy you all your mountain climbs. Have been partway up Mt. Evans, but bailed during an electric storm.
Kudos for summiting all of CO’s 14ers – no small task! Now 637 13ers 🙂
I guess that should be 637 minus 54.
Gerry Roach and his wife climbed all 637.
Some of the highest 100 I doubt I’ll be able to do.
That is rugged. I’ve bagged only three CO 14ers, Pikes, Torreys and Longs, and the first doesn’t count because I went up in the train. Always meant to do more, but time flew. My last 14er was Mount Rainier in my own backyard, but it was a different sort of experience.
Rainier is not easy! Harder than any CO 14er in summer by quite a bit.
It was a brutal, seemingly endless slog over snow and ice to a cloud-shrouded summit. Give me a CO 14er any day.
“Send in one or two pictures ..”
Send to what address?–I’m pretty dumb on anything but email–no facebook or twitter..
I tried waterskiing a few times as a teenager and found it very difficult. Recollection is of very stiff sore back muscles afterwards. Muscular stiffness does happen with a new activity, but the waterskis seemed hard compared to all other things. Nordic ski racing I only worked up to very gradually.
Walking up Rundle and Cascade at Banff, and similar, have been my only mountain peaking activities, and they’re only about 10,000 feet, 5,000 up from the golf course. The total climb depends how high you start, except for oxygen, which likely is a problem for many up near 14,000 (except Tibetans, etc.. of course). For the latter, the ancient DNA people conjecture that a gene inherited from Denisovans likely helps.
I was always sore when starting my season in the spring. No amount of weight training simulates the pull on the body. Helps some but the first two weeks was something I dreaded every year.
I was lucky not to be overly affected by the altitude other than having to slow down a bit after 13,000.
Fortunately for nordic ski racing there are good ways to keep muscles in shape in summer, especially roller skis. Not roller blades, these have become especially good simulations of the real thing, perfect for skate skiing, just a bit heavier than ideal for the usual, called classic style, which is about 10% slower except when exceptionally cold.
But with two styles, separate equipment on snow and on pavement, it’s gotten pricier, though nothing like serious alpine in cost. I’m just getting my hip replaced, so pretty sad muscles right now, and stiff ones soon enough I hope.
I imagine at your level waterskiing can be quite expensive.
You know, I think my best encapsulating word is “rad”.