I took this shot last night out at Crown Point as the moon rose…though as I drove out into the gorge the moon was a vibrant red.  That of which I was unable to capture due to hills blocking the moon from view at the point location.  So I waited for the moon to rise into this frame.

Climb Max is 100% employee owned and operated.  These staff members climb and climb a lot.  Actually, the owner of this store occasionally climbs with the owner of Daddies Boardshop.

Climb Max is a two floor store in a red house looking building.  The first floor has some rock shoe, boots, ropes, protection for aid and free climbing.  The second floor has guide books, packs and a limited variation of other soft goods.

Recently, this execellent duo moved their operation into a well deserved larger space that can be found at the intersection of Sandy and Fremont in NE Portland.  Where you will find a wall display of biblical scale only possibly countered by Cal Skate’s wall display.  However, their floor display is unmatched in the Portland vicinity.  The mall store Zumies can’t even compete with Daddies floor space.  It seems fitting that Daddies Boardshop now operates out of such massive floor plan.  Their floor plan is the largest I have personally seen for a board shop.  I’ve never seen any that match their new location in Colorado, Idaho, Washington or Oregon…not saying there may not be…I just haven’t seen it.

If you’re looking for good quality board gear, whether that be snow, skate or mountain boards Daddies is the stop for you.  The knowledgable staff who are all highly experienced will be able to direct you to the perfect match for the desired style.

Going through my Photos I found these two shots I took this winter on Mount Hood about a quarter of the way up the Palmer Snowfield on the south side of Mount Hood.  I thought they merited a quick post.  I loved how the moon lit the snow around me that night.

This is my take on one of the most photographed mountains in the world, Mount Shuksan’s Northwest face depicting recent avalanche activity and turbulent weather with the true summit just barely visible above the chaotic nature of this magnificently beautiful mountain in the North Cascades of Washington.

This last Friday I went to the Oregon Zoo in Portland and snagged this interesting fish through the glass.

On my way to Yosemite I saw this lake and interesting bridge along Hwy 4 east of Sacramento California. So I stopped for a quick panoramic. Though, I didn’t achieve what I had hoped for. I think what I did get does the bidge and this portion of the lake justice.

My uncle Richard just gave me this wall mounted antique ice axe. This ice axe’s history is little known other than a friend of my uncle’s was using it to clean his fireplace. It has no markings that would denote it being made outside of a home shop. The pick has the beginnings of teeth. So this axe could be the generation after the initial axe design. Which had no teeth and was greater than waist high in design.

Below is a shot of of various mountaineering axes

The tallest axe on the left being just above waist high and then stepping down to just above knee high with the shortest axe in the above image. These three I just received from my uncle too. The shortest axe is the only one with full teeth going up the pick for roughly three quarters of it whole distance. Beyond the wood shafts of these model above we moved to the whole metal forged ice axes of steel that were rather heavy and cumbersome. Yet still fairly long in length.

Next we moved to a light aluminum construction as depicted in the Grivel Air Tech Race Axe below

This is my personal axe for mountaineering weighing in at 14oz. However there are lighter model on the market now. The mountaineering days of evolution also lead to the development of the more modern ice tools that are of the realm of the frozen water ice climber. These started with just getting shorter in length. However, that was not enough. So the next step in evolution was a bend in the shaft. Now here is where we depart from the old…the now semi-standard ice tool is leashless.

These again our my tools for modern cliff warfare. A slim profile, aggressive curve and beefy handle. These have revolutionized the way we approach ice climbing. Now we climb a bit more fluid as if we were just on a rock face. Naturally, you can’t monkey up the whole face with just your arms. Spikes on the feet have evolved just as the tools in our hands. Though the story of the crampon is for another time.

Here’s a small version of my hand held pano from Sentinel Dome. I took this during our Gigapan practice day in the Valley. This one was taken with a 50mm on my Canon 30D. Galleries soon to come….for the portfolio section. Please click on the image for a larger version.