Mission Project

By John Garratt

The weather changed! A Pacific storm came in overnight and engulfed our tent in snow and prevented us moving higher up the glacier. It was not until late the next day we managed to move higher for a brief ski towards our objective, Mount Munday. It was then apparent that since we had stashed food and fuel far below for a quick dash to the summit that we did not have enough supplies to stay on the mountain and we would have to retreat.

By Tyler Newberry

I set a serious goal after moving to Summit County, CO. Moving to Breckenridge gave me an intense desire to join the local Summit County Rescue Group. It took me two years to weave my way into three months of meetings, trainings, seminars, gear buying and soul searching. This past January I was interviewed and invited to be a member.

I will be enrolling with Colorado Mountain College to obtain my EMT-IV certificate to even better my aid to the area and the group. Another goal to reach. The photo included is me with my first purchase as a rescue member, a Mountain Hardwear Conduit team jacket - something I am proud to wear. I have fully enjoyed the shell; not only does it say MOUNTAIN RESCUE but it says MOUNTAIN HARDWARE! Thanks for the good gear pushing me on.

By Pearce Beissinger

We were just 3 guys who got together on a regular basis for hiking on the New Hampshire White Mountains. Jim, Tim, and Pearce (me) would get together to knock out our list of the New Hampshire 48 4000 footers. So many people had an opinion of our list, our reason for climbing and hiking, the conditions of the harsh winters, and attempted to make us justify our goals more concretely..... Mount Rainier became the answer. When I turned 30, my wife gave me the green light to pursue a big mountain. Rainier had been a life long dream and seemed like a world away from the soft confines of our icy white mountains in New Hampshire. My friends Jim and Tim hopped on board the wagon with me and we all of a sudden had even more reasons to continue our hikes and our gathering together.

By Dougald MacDonald

Most climbers have no idea how hard it is to do even modestly difficult routes while carrying a pack. 5.7? Beginners climb 5.7 on their first day on the rock. Grade 3 ice? C'mon...you don't even need two tools for that stuff. But throw a pack full of cooking and camping gear over your shoulders, and all of a sudden 5.7 WI3 takes on a harsh new meaning. Add an all-day approach to the start of the climb and you've got a powerful incentive to keep your load as light as possible.

I had been dreaming about trying the northwest face of Apache Peak for years. This 13,441-foot mountain is smack in the middle of Colorado's Indian Peaks Wilderness, about an hour west of downtown Boulder, USA. In the summer it swarms with hikers, and in May and June skiers and boarders carve up the steep couloirs on its eastern flank. But Apache's western slopes are another story. Reaching the remote Fair Glacier, on the backside of Apache, is not at all easy during the spring season, when the northwest face is likely to be in good nick. So....even more incentive to pack light.

By Tony Farley

My Mission Project is film the most beautiful places on earth and create a show in HD to show it in all its glory. I have just completed the second podcast! A trip across the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods, and then to the top of Mt. Tamalpais. My podcast is now featured on the "Great Outdoors" channel on iTunes and is available through YouTube, Yahoo Video, Google Video, Veoh, and many more. I sure would like to win one of those monthly prizes so I can wear a great Mountain Hardwear shirt! Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, the Mission Project is where I got my idea and now I am making it all happen.

Here are the iTunes Links:
HD PodCast

iPod sized PodCast