Josh Allred: February 2011

I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures from this event. This was by far the most nerve racking event of the club this year. The reason being was we werent equipped for the challenges up ahead. I was borrowing equipment from our Bishop at the time. The crampons were almost three decades old! Also my ice axe featured bright pink and green streaks across the shaft. What decade was this from? 70's? 80's? Being as it may, we were grateful. We reached base camp with the rest of the group and went to bed. The next morning we took off the face of Mt. Timpanogos. Right off that bat we hit a massive storm. The goal was to get training for the weather, the top was not really an objective at this point. Conditioned worsened it was time to turn around. We were approaching what they call the "step." The most technical portion of the climb, going much higher would of been crazy. Heading down, I had no control of my movement. I was slipping and sliding all over the place. Kt traveling behind me started to loose her balance as well. She slipped and all she could say was "Cea!" She slid past me but as Kt started self arresting her trekking pole caught my crampon. I looked down and it seemed that everything happened in slow motion - like in the movies when the guy has his foot caught on a rope when an anchor is about to pull him down. All of a sudden I was in the air like I stepped on a banana peel. I am sliding down the mountain with Kt. Kt stops and sling shots me, which in turn pulls me head first, on my back down the mountain. I turn on my belly still going head first and jab my ice axe into the snow. My body turns the correct way and I begin to self arrest again. Eventually, I slow down into a stop after a good few hundred feet of sliding. Kt later jokingly told me that her first thought was "Oh no! I killed him!"

Here is a great video of some club members through the thick of it (Featuring the one and only Colin Hale): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lPXFmUbpzc&feature=player_embedded

Doesn't seem so long ago, Kt and I were courting each other as girlfriend and boyfriend. After weeks of deciding how to pop the question and the ring in my hand, I decided on Valentine's Day. It was a cliche, but it was perfect. Kt and I decided to have an epic weekend. Our first stop was Flat Top Mountain (10,620 ft) located in the Oquirrh Mountains. This peak is an #45 on the ultra-prominence peak and #6 of the ultra prominent peaks in Utah. This peak was one that bugged us since our first attempt was a big face plant in the snow - 50 mph winds, whiteout and our truck was stuck. It took several hours to get out, luckily someone came and help tow us out. Thank you stranger.

What a great adventure. This 12.2 mile round trip hike with 4,400 ft. of elevation was a calf burner but smiles all around. Lot of false summits. We were new to winter mountaineering and still thought we were almost there just around the the next ridge. Yeah-right. The weather could not of been better. The scariest part of this en devour was trespassing. Horror stories have been posted on the internet about hikers traveling on private property. Locals would pull up in ATV's with shot guns in their hand telling hikers to leave. The one route we were on was BLM land but to steer the ship the wrong way could mean bad news. Our hope was to not see anyone and move on.

Cold and unseen it was time to go home. We were in need of sustinance and Cafe Rio was hours away. We took off the snowshoes and started glissading (sliding) down the mountain as quickly as possible. The sun was moving down quick. We started looking for the quickest way down. We decided to head straight down. Quickly we dropped 2,000 feet. Almost hone -the car that is, when our nightmare came true. We saw not one, not two, but THREE snow mobiles. It was time to go! But how to get off this mountain without being detected. With the sun disappearing, we got on top of the last hill and scouted our route one last time. 500 ft ft to go then the long 3 mile hike to the car. Kt and I sprint down the hill when the snow mobiles pull up.

My mind was flashing: guns, hicks and a bad case of gingivitis. "Our life's are over!" "We can't die, we aren't married in the temple yet!" I jump in front of Kt, hoping my lankness could shield Kt from the bullets.

Josh: "How's it going?"

Strangers: "Good, was that you two hiking that ridge."

Kt: "Yep."

Pause....

Strangers: "Well, you two are in great shape. We couldn't do that. That's why we have these snow mobiles."

Turned to be a family that was out riding. After confersing for a bit and with the sun going down they asked if we needed a ride. Kt later told me that the first thought she wasn't sure if I was going to say yes thinking we need to go start to finish. "Heck yeah" we said. There we are. Off on the races. Riding down, gaining speed. A sharp left a sharp right, I'm doing everything I can to hold on and not wrap my arms around a 45 year old man. Meanwhile Kt is bringing smiles to a teenager. In 20 minutes, we are back to the car. I smile on the way out, when we pass over a man made hill of snow to drive over a fence. The grin gets wider when I read "No Trespassing!" Say goodbye's to the mountain and our new friends. Next stop: Ice climbing in Maple.

The next day we were exhausted but got up and drove out to Maple Canyon. Really famous rock/ice climbing area. We met with our friends and top roped some of our favorite routes. My crampons kept falling off. At one point, I tried to send up a route with no crampons! Kt switched out (a very tedious task) so we could both climb. She is the best climbing partner. Period.

Day 3 of our epic weekend was much more relaxed. Our good friend, Holly Banks, invited us to go check out Farmington Bay, a wildlife perserve north of Salt Lake. Holly had been bragging about all the bald eagles had flown in to feast and mate. Hundreds of bald eagles were present. It was truly spectacular. Everywhere we turned, there's another.

Sunday night we drove out to good ol' southern Utah. We camped at a beautiful spot called Deadhorse Point. This place rivals the Grand Canyon in beauty. We got up early the next mourning. Early enough to avoid paying and enjoyed the scenery. The rest of the day was spent driving into Arches National Park. A National Park Kt always wanted to go to but never been. The stage was set. We gently strolled around the park, completely to ourselves. We hit the highlights including Landscape Arch. The grand finale was Delicate Arch. The ring was in the car it was starting to get close to sunset. I had looked the night before to know what time sunset was going to take place. We needed to get moving back to the car, grab our gear and make our hike to Delicate. It was Feburary, we had no idea what kind of conditions the ice would be to get into Delicate Arch. The last bit from when I was there could be dicey if it's covered in ice. The clock was ticking we were off. I have never hiked so fast in my life. We got to the last section and there was minimimal ice on our trail making it easy to bypass. We laid out our sleeping bag and pads, enjoyed a beautiful sunset admiring Delicate Arch. Only a few people were present but very spaced out. I was reaching my pocket constantly checking to make sure the ring was safe. Not too long, we stood up told Kt how much I loved her and got on one knee and purposed. There was a pause for a moment that scared me half to death. It would of been a long drive home if she said no. Tears were shared we knew we were crazy in love with each other and that there was no one else in this world for us. She said yes! We kissed and I shouted to the world that "She said yes!!" On person that over heard was a photographer and offered to take some pictures for us. We walked, we smiled, we cried, it was perfect. Perfect ending to an epic weekend.

Fun Fact: On the night before I purposed we were bundled up in our sleeping bags fast asleep until Kt started to interrogate me in my sleep. Apparently, I am honest at night. I was answering questions still half asleep until she asked me, if I had a ring? I immediately woke but pretended to sleep and mumbled, "No, I couldn't get it for a couple weeks."