Unclimbed Desert Towers in Desolation Canyon

Wilderness Exchange Unlimited will be hosting a slideshow on Wednesday, March 14th @ 8:30 PM with Josh Thompson and Dan Gambino. The slideshow will highlight a river trip down Desolation Canyon, UT with the objective of climbing a new desert tower. There will be a small gear raffle sponsored by C.A.M.P. Gear, and hopefully we will have a beer sponsor... Don't miss this unique and awesome slideshow! Tell your friends!

Mountain Hardwear Closeouts

Mountain Hardwear Closeouts

THIS JUST IN: Tons of Mountain Hardwear closeouts just showed up. Here’s some staff reactions:

Fingers:

Hardwear Tents for 25% off?!This makes living in my girlfriend’s backyard not only comfortable, but affordable too! 

Laura:

I just got my Hooded Compressor jacket for 30% off and I love it. I’ll tell ya: having a warm synthetic jacket without dog hair, duck tape, and campfire-ash burns all over sure makes a lady feel like a queen.

Jason:

Hey, I’m not gonna lie. I love drinking large amounts of Dale’s Pale Ale after cragging at Shelf all day. And I may also have a tendency to pass out in cholla behind my truck. Not my fault, it’s who I am. Wait, what? You mean I could get a Ultra lamina 45 and just pass out by the fire in my lawn chair? Oh man, you just changed my life!

Zack:

I consider myself a fine connoisseur of closeout gear. A Giovanni Morelli of outdoor equipment, if you will. I usually scoff at most closeout gear buys, but this one in particular was quite intriging. Trango 2s for $375? I’d a thought I’d never see the day…

CHECK EM ALL OUT!

Backcountry Snowtubing with Hanz Hokie

Highlights from the Swedish legend, Hanz Hokie's trip to the rugged backcountry of Denver, CO. Serious backcountry action! J/k, but it's the only snow on the Front Range right now...

MooCow Snowtube: $24.95
Kid's Snowman Ski Set 70cm Ski (Poles included!): $55.00
Kid's WildCat Ski Set 95cm Ski (Poles included!): $79.95

AE Films presents "Facets of Winter" at WildyX

Wilderness Exchange is pleased to host a showing of AE Ski Film's first film, Facets of Winter. AE Films is a local, grassroots company, and Facets is shot 100% in Colorado. The film features stories from many aspects of exploring the Colorado mountains in the winter - ski mountaineering on the 14ers, skiing extreme lines in the Crested Butte backcountry, and many stories of the unique personalities found in the ski community. Don't miss it!

Check out the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcTQXt1e8w0

Thursday, December 1st

Doors open at 8:00pm

Tickets are $5 at the door.

Our good friends at Avery Brewing will be on hand pouring their delicious craft brews - FREE with entry!

Friends of Berthoud Pass will also have a table selling calenders, t-shirts, and more to support their important mission of providing grassroots, low cost avalanche awareness education and providing valuable advocacy for the backcounty ski community in the Front Range.

TRIP REPORT: Mammoth Gulch

 So last August I came across this book in our consignment section. It’s  called Skiing Colorado’s Backcountry, written by Brian Litz and Kurt Lankford. Published back in 1989 out of Golden, it does an amazing job describing some awesome tours around the front range: everywhere from RMNP to Vail’s Gore Range, Hoosier Pass by outside of Breckenridge  up to Rabbit Ears by Steamboat. It has great route descriptions, seasonal info, decent maps, and some great info on lesser know tours in the front range. Anyone know why this isn’t still published?

So through out the winter I hope to explore and write about some of these routes. There’s literally dozens of routes that I’ve never heard of before, never thought possible (e.g. Skyline Traverse From Berthoud Pass to St. Mary’s Glacier? Sounds awesome, no?).

So this book inspired to me to check out a place called Mammoth Gulch, located outside of Rollinsville, real close to the East Portal.

View mammoth gulch in a larger map

Basically, I had my hopes way too high. Wanted to ski, makes some turns, charge some lines. Still too early.

Thankfully, the road had enough snow on it so the touring was decent. Definitely should have brought theRossignol BC 125s and a Voile Hardwire 3-pin set up.

It’s always amazes me how close things are here in the front range. I was really surprised to see the east face of James Peak, usually the main show when touring around St. Mary’s. Connect the dots between Tolland and St. Mary’s? I bet it could be done pretty easily.

Dead end road? Maybe with these heavy Voile Chargers and Scarpa Skookums. Let’s do lunch instead.

No pow today. Let’s pray for some more snow, soon.

So the skiing was, well, non-existent. Maybe made one turn all day. Still, I always do love getting out and seeing new country. There’s always more to explore...

Fingers

GEAR REVIEW: Voile Chargers

WildyX's very own Reilly 'Fingers' Anderson doing a gear review of his favorite ski: The Voile Chargers. Wilderness Exchange Unlimited, Denver, CO.

Maintain!

Shelf Road season!!!

Hey everyone!!! Temps is crisp and the season for Shelf Road is upon us. That’s why I was sooooo freakin’ stoked to receive 12 copies of the NEW SHELF ROAD BOOK!!!

Training tips for climbing Shelf Road:

- Don’t eat. EVER!!! You may think your stomach is saying “yo dude!! I need some carbs to send!!” But what its actually saying is “listen, you pudgy little punter, if you weigh me down with one more delicious organic treat I can guarantee that you will NOT be sending that sad little pile you’ve been calling your project”.

- Shelf limestone is really sharp. You need to get your hand-flesh in shape. Wrapping your finger board in barbed-wire is a good way to start.

- The footwork required at shelf is very pocket and micro-edge intensive. Crampons actually work way better than climbing shoes for this. You might get some dirty looks, but most people back off pretty quick once you bust out your Tae-Kwon-Do skills with your G14s on.

- Skip bolts – all of them.

- Don’t accept failure. It is very important to be INSANELY hard on yourself if you can’t send something. If you don’t have a COMPLETE breakdown EVERY time you fall off something, then you’re not taking the sport seriously.

- Revel in glory. Every time you send something, be sure to let everyone and the crag know about it. If they seem not to care, it’s because they are jealous – revel in this as well.

- Only take on a draw when you feel the need to “spray down” a climber on a much harder adjacent route with unsolicited beta. If you take for any other reason everyone will know that you suck.

That’s all I can think of.

Climb on,

Sam Benedict

Shipping/Receiving Manager

Wilderness Exchange Unlimited

2401 15th st Suite 100 Denver, CO 80202

303 477 0881

sam@wildernessexchangeunlimited.com