BEYOND THE PASS... UP & RUNNING

In a continued effort to stay in touch with our family and friends, Caitlin and I have created a blog.

Click Here To Enjoy: Beyond The Pass

And no, this isn't the end of The Life O'Riley... There is much more ridiculism to come, it just exists at the new URL, listed above.

Riley says: "In my end is my beginning."

mo̞nte̞βiˈðe̞o̞

Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. It also serves as a beautiful spot to obtain an endorphin rush!

We're hoping tomorrow's weather will cooperate for some time on the beach before we head north, back into Argentina, to see Iguazu Falls.

Riley says: "Running is one the best solutions to a clear mind."

UNO, DOS, TRES, CUATRO, CINCO!

Today we caught a boat from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay.

Setting foot on Uruguayan soil marks the fifth country we've visited together.

1. Estados Unidos
2. Canadá
3. Chile
4. Argentina
5. Uruguay

More adventures to come, tomorrow we head to Montevideo. Stay tuned!

Riley says: "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."

FUTBOL AT ITS FINEST

Wow! Where to even begin? Caitlin and I went to an Argentinian futbol match tonight; the Boca Juniors vs. the All Boys. The Argentinians love their futbol. Love it. It was so fun to be a part of such an energetic, lively, passionate atmosphere.


South American futbol matches have been described as a stadium visually appearing to be breathing. Alive. That illustration is spot on. The entire game, was filled with cheering, singing, yelling, taunting, and jumping. We were at the top of the stadium and when everyone jumped the whole stadium moved. And I mean it literally moved.

¡Que bueno!

Riley says: "Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose."

HOLA DESDE BUENOS AIRES!

After over 70 days in the field on back-to-back mountaineering courses, we are on vacation and oh how sweet it is...

Riley says: "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

"WISH YOU WERE HERE"

A view from inside of our tent on Thanksgiving Day. Imagine if you received a greeting card that could accurately portray this!

Riley says: "To know how to hide one's ability is great skill."

SAN LORENZO MASSIF - AGOSTINI TRAVERSE

Rather than produce a lengthy dissertation of our course and all of the events that took place, I've chosen to use the following photographs and a few brief captions to detail our Patagonia Year Mountain Section.


The Calluqueo Glacier. Our route would eventually follow the snow ramp trending left below the moon.


My co-instructor Christian and I scouting a route through bare ice.


The view before a storm moved in and slammed us for four consecutive days. From November 22-25 we received over two meters of snow, wind gusts upwards of 80 km/hr, were forced to shovel around the clock, lost a student tent due to the wind, and had a strong gust snap a pole in our tent.


Yours truly scouting a route through a saddle that would eventually become our notch to freedom. This day we walked for 12 hours breaking trail through snow from mid-shin to hip deep until we were able to escape the glacier into magnificent Lenga forest.


While our students were traveling on their own, we had the absolute pleasure of spending time with Lucho and Lucy Soto on two of the campos they own. (From L to R: Riley, Tre-C, Lucy, Lucho, Christian)


Lucho and Lucy's grandson, Ammado, was visiting his grandparents and provided endless hours of entertainment for the three of us.


The day before we left the field I spent a portion of my morning helping Lucy to catch lambs so we could tag their ears.


During our final meal we were visited by one of the most amazing creatures I've ever seen, Aegorhinus Bulbifer (more commonly known as the Burrito Walking Insect). I think it looks like a hippopotamus.


One final view... Aren't the skies of Chile and spectacular?

Riley says: "The trick is what we emphasize. We either can make ourselves miserable or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."

A GREAT, GREAT MAN

You can never predict what's going to happen while you're in the field. It's like disappearing for a month and returning to face whatever may have arisen during your absence.

When I was on my first NOLS course in 1997, Mike Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear while I was in the field. We didn't believe the re-rationers. Apparently we were pretty convincing 14-year-olds because a week later they came in with a newspaper to prove to us that they weren't lying.

At the end of an Absaroka hiking course in July of 2009, my mother met me at the NOLS Rocky Mountain branch to inform me that her father, my grandfather, had passed away while I was away. It wasn't completely unexpected but words carry much more weight than the mere thought of it.

It's challenging being away, especially when you return and everyone has had time to grieve and begun to find closure and you're just starting that process.

While we were at Cerro Castillo, my parent's neighbor, Ray, passed away. He was a wonderful, kind, quick witted man who I've known as long as I can recall. He was the epitome of driven and taught me from an early age how to work hard to get the things I wanted.

I met him when I was two and fortunately had a few great interactions with him just before coming down to Patagonia. He was that quintessential neighbor you spoke with across the fence about anything and everything and I always left feeling as though I'd learned something. Often times that learning was accompanied with a smile and some laughter.


Ray Virden at his finest.

I'm sure going to miss you Ray. Thank you for teaching me the definition of hard work. You were the best of the best.

Riley says: "Sometimes you don't realize how much a person means to you until they are gone."

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Well done J, well done.

Riley says: "There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls."

CERRO CASTILLO

Cerro Castillo basking in the alpenglow. Talk about some beautiful spires!

On our 32-day Mountain Travel Section of the Patagonia Semester, 17 students and 5 instructors completed a 105 km route climbing 6200 meters in the National Reserve of Cerro Castillo just south of Coyhaique, Chile.


The entrance to Cerro Castillo National Reserve.

During the first 10-day ration, our group learned basic camping, traveling, and mountaineering skills as they approached the mountainous playground surrounding Cerro Castillo. With a five person instructor team we had ample time to go and play while the students honed their abilities.


Max and Caitlin headed up a steep snow couloir on what we deemed an "Instructor Development Climb".


Victory is ours! The couloir goes!

After developing a competency with the foundational skills, we set up a base camp just below the Piñon Glacier where our students learned how to ferry loads, self-arrest, and travel on glacial terrain.


A wind wall Caitlin and I built to protect our tent from high winds... It was definitely put to the test. We spent three days cowering below Mt. Piñon before we were forced to retreat and take an alternate route to the New Zealand Camp.

The third and final ration was spent base camping to the west of Cerro Castillo developing more technical skills, ice climbing, and summiting peaks.


Max, Caitlin, and I took 13 students up this ridgeline. It was spectacular.

The last three days of the course, we split into two groups. Christian, Max, and Felipe took eight students to attempt Mt. Piñon, while Caitlin and I took the other eight to attempt Mt. Puntudo. In the end neither route went but both were incredible none the less.


Not a bad view eh? A local's campo with Mt. Palo in the distance.

We met up on the 29th day to be evacuated back to the NOLS campo due to volcanic activity in the region.

Caitlin heads in the field tomorrow, me the following day... Round two, ding, ding.

Riley says: "There are two distinct classes of what are called thoughts: those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and the act of thinking, and those that bolt into the mind of their own accord."

PLUME

The Hudson Volcano that caused our course's evacuation is a mere stone's throw from the NOLS Campo. It was rather spectacular last night as the sun set.

Riley says: "The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette."

SAFE & SOUND

We are out of the field, early in fact. Yesterday we were evacuated from the Cerro Castillo area due to the "red alert" on a nearby volcano. Of all of the things you could be evacuated for, a volcano was the last on my mind!

Our course went really well and as we wrap things up we're already starting to prepare for our next courses. We head back into the field on Monday but I hope to put up some more photographs from our trip! Check back soon...

Riley says: "Life gives us brief moments with one another and if we're lucky one moment will produce memories that last a life time...”

KNOTS

Knots. They accomplish a variety of tasks. As seen above, a simple overhand in a food bag keeps the goodness in and the badness out. They continue to keep me safe on snow, ice, and rock as I pursue objective after objective. Heck, they've even helped to maintain my sanity during a long cowering session in the tent.

Tying off the 65th bag of butter earlier today, I couldn't help but notice just how simple, yet important, a knot really is. Tomorrow we head into the field. And, for 30 days the knot will once again be a best friend.

Here's to a month of recognizing the small things in life. I encourage you to do the same.

Riley says: "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

ASADO

Asado is a term used to describe a range of barbeque techniques or the social event of hosting or attending a barbeque in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and southern Brazil.

The asado. It's huge here in Chile. Night two of our Patagonian living, we found ourselves at an asado. Typically, there's a variety of meat prepared, as well as a few choice vegetables. And the Chileans? The Chileans know their meat. It's never burned, always tender, and unbelievably flavorful. Thirty-five minutes from now I'll be attending my second asado. One of my goals in traveling down here has been to embrace the local foods in whatever area we're in. So far, it's been delicous!

Riley says: "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."

ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

It happens every course... Gear is exploded into what seems like an endless space and then carefully organized into a form fit to live within a confined space.

One of the most popular sayings around the NOLS community when it comes to packing is, "ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain." It's commonly used when students bring some ridiculous item they just can't live without. I ride the fence on this philosophy. Ounces do indeed equal pounds but they also equal comfort and warmth. And so, each time I pack, the same questions are posed:

What layers should I bring?
Do I really need this?
How much sunscreen should I pack?
What would one Snickers bar per day weigh for this course?

What's my main concern for this upcoming mountaineering course? My hand layers. How many pairs do I need? Which ones should I bring? Gloves? Mittens? How cold will it be? Do I need 2 pair? 3 pair? 4 pair?

Every time I head into the field I test something different to see how it works... This process is never-ending, spontaneous, and in reality, quite fun. We have four more days until we're field-bound... I should be able to decide before then right?

Riley says: "Don't agonize, organize."

DEFENSE *clap, clap* DEFENSE *clap, clap*

hantavirus |ˈhantəˌvīrəs|
noun
a virus of a genus carried by rodents and causing various febrile hemorrhagic diseases, often with kidney damage or failure.

The term "biblical proportions" has been used multiple times in the last few days to describe the number of mice within Chile. The events leading up to this are as follows:

1. Kila, a bamboo-like plant, blooms, flowering all over the county. This is an event similar to a 100 year flood cycle.
2. After the Kila blooms it drops seeds on the ground.
3. The mice population explodes with the increase in food.
4. The mice eat all of the seeds and then they start to look for other food sources.
5. They travel in massive hoards eating everything in sight, even vehicle tires.
6. As they cross the roads they are run over. The starving mice start to feed off of the smashed mice, which are then smashed, and so on, and so on.
7. The areas where the Kila bloomed are now hantavirus hot beds.
8. Typical NOLS operating areas are greatly reduced due to hanta-infected areas.
9. Once we're above 1,000 meters we're safe. There are no mice that high.
10. Thank a higher power we're mountaineering and not hiking!

Riley says: "The best defense is a good offense."

AND SO IT BEGINS...

We kicked it all off this morning. Briefing for courses is always a bit of a chaotic process. You meet with lots of folks, fill out lots of paperwork, and try to ensure you're not forgetting anything that could be detrimental to a course's success. Today is even more exciting as we're briefing not only for our first course, but also for our second, which starts in early November. Let's just say that on days like today, the checklist is a person's best friend.

Riley says: "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

As it turns out... September 18th is Chilean Independence Day. Cait and I joined a couple of in-town staff to attend a celebration near Coyhaique. It was fun to experience another nation's traditions and see just how proud the Chilean people are.

El Gauchito was a game that was being played by the local Chilean men. It's similar to the game of horse shoes but instead of shoes, you throw a cow's hoof capped in metal plates. After ten minutes of watching, we still couldn't figure out what the rules were. I particularly enjoyed watching the men talk trash to one another in between throws.

Riley says: "You have to do it yourself, no one else will do it for you."

BIENVENIDO!

We made it to NOLS Patagonia just outside of Coyhaique, Chile! This is our home for the next week or so until we go into the field. Not a bad view eh?

Riley says: "Love of beauty is Taste. The creation of beauty is Art."

ARTESANO

Moving on foot has always been my favorite mode of travel for seeing new places. It's slower, I have genuine experiences with my surroundings, and the people watching only lures me in more. Argentina and Chile are no exception. I've especially enjoyed our strolls through artisan areas like the one above. One thing is for sure, the people down here produce some beautiful crafts.

Riley says: "No great thing is created suddenly."

CHO-CO-LA-TAY

From South America

Chocolate is big in Bariloche. With a stroll down Calle Mitre (Mitre Street), you'll easily pass fifteen different chocolate shops in less than a kilometer. And, in the spirit of experiencing all we possibly can on this southern journey... We couldn't help but indulge.

Riley says: "I feel that the greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more."

CERRO CAMPANARIO

From South America

A short bus ride from Bariloche provides access to what has been called the "5th Best View In The World", Cerro Campanario. After another onslaught of Spanish, Cait and I deemed it appropriate to go see this wonder for ourselves.

At the base of Cerro Campanario one will find an aerosilla (chairlift) and a trail disappearing into the woods. We opted for the trail and ascended through a variety of beautiful, Argentinian vegetation.

At the top? It's gorgeous. You can literally see in every direction and you're surrounded by mountains, lakes, peninsulas, and trees as far as the eye can see.

Our take on its claim to fame? It's beautiful no doubt, especially on a clear day. But, it would be more aptly titled, "5th Best View In The World"*.

* Complete aerosilla access, el restaurante, y banos.

Don't believe us? Come see for yourself. We'll be here until March!

Riley says: "Time and space; time to be alone and space to move about. These may well become the great scarcities of tomorrow."

PERFECTO!

From South America

Spanish lessons are officially underway! Today I spent six and a half hours building the foundation of what I hope will become the Spanish language, coherently flowing out of my mouth.

And, I can't think of a better way to end the day than a walk along the beautiful, Bariloche water with the most amazing girl in the world.

Riley says: "Make your life a mission, not an intermission."

BARILOCHE BREAKFAST

From South America

Zucaritas made with real sugar, a carton of soy "juice" (as they call it down here), and a plastic bag of drinkable yogurt. Delightful!

Riley says: "Sometimes the littlest thing can bring about the biggest smile."

BARILOCHE BY BUS

From South America

The bus system down here is incredible. With less than $30 and 7 hours of our time, we're in Bariloche with one day to spare before Spanish school begins. I found the ride to be particularly enjoyable for three reasons.

1. It was slow and slow meant scenery. You can see so much more on the ground!

2. It's comfortable. I literally slept better on that bus than I have in months. I told Cait I wanted to buy tickets for two more days just to catch up on lost sleep.

3. The bus played music videos from the late 80's and early 90's for over four hours of our journey. It was like stepping back in time. Here's just a sample of the greatness, recorded for your reflective pleasure:

• Poison - Something To Believe In
• Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You
• Eric Clapton - Tears In Heaven
• Air Supply - The One That I Love
• Cindi Lauper - Time After Time
• Spandau Ballet - True
• Whitesnake - Is This Love
• Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
• Journey - Lights (When The Lights Go Down In The City)
• Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting For You
• Phil Collins - Take A Look At Me Now
• Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
• The Rolling Stones - Angie
• Berlin - Take My Breath Away

More from Argentina to come soon!

Riley says: "There are no failures; just experiences and your reactions to them."

PATA...GOING...GOING...GONE!

It's official! After nearly 24 hours of travel, four flights, a destroyed backpack, and a bus ride, we're here. Patagonia here. The next 5 months here. Here now, in Puerto Montt.

Tomorrow, we'll take a 7 hour bus ride to Bariloche, Argentina to hone our Spanish skills for a week. Hone is more apt term for Caitlin, who has a firm, firm grasp on the language. As for me? I stumbled over myself trying to buy three chocolate bars earlier. So, I've got some work to do.

Yet, I'm here. I'm in South America. I'm a place that's always intrigued me. I can't communicate with anyone coherently, with the exception of Caitlin, but that feeling is an empowering one.

Stay tuned.

Riley says: "Sometimes you don't know what you're missing until you reach out to touch it."

A GRAND OL' TIME... LITERALLY

Darcy, Caitlin, and I atop the Grand Teton having just completed the Owen Spaulding route after rain, thunder, and lightning shut us down.

Riley says: "What a grand thing, to be loved! What a grander thing still, to love!"

ONE HANDSOME LITTLE DUDE

Earlier today Calla, J, Cait, and I took a 9-mile hike on the Middle Fork Trail. It was a hot one but the Winds are as beautiful as ever.

Riley says: "Handsome is as handsome does."

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

There are few things in this world that rival a good, awkward photograph. In fact, the successful capture of such a moment should be considered a piece of fine art.

The Mona Lisa? Beautiful? Yes. But does it leave my face streaming with tears from a fit of laughter? I'm afraid not. Imagine how much more entertaining a trip to the "art" museum would be with a special exhibit dedicated to The Awkward.


Take this photograph for instance. The dead tree seen here is one my family used to pose with any time we took a hike up to The Falls. So, naturally, when Cait and I took a run past it yesterday, I couldn't help but let the nostalgia take hold. One click and...

Exhibit A: Why is Cait wearing a dress and Riley is wearing running clothes?

Exhibit B: Is Riley wearing a fanny pack above his belly button?

Exhibit C: Yay! We're a couple. You sit down and I'll stand a foot away from you in my awesome knee brace.

Exhibit D: Hold on tight!

End Result: Completely, utterly, shamelessly awkward.

Click here for more lifelong inspiration: Awkward Family Photos

Riley says: "May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true, may you always embrace the awkward, and see the lights surrounding you."

TRULY A TREAT

I love to slalom ski, L O V E it! And, I rarely have the opportunity to do it. So, on a recent outing to visit Cait's aunt I couldn't help but partake! (Side note: A pair of sunglasses would have radically improved my facial expression in this photograph.)

Riley says: "Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it."

AHH... THIS IS THE LIFE

And... Fist pump. Hoorah Portland, hoorah!

Riley says: "We create our fate every day we live."

GOING PRO ON THE VACATION CIRCUIT

Cait and I have been on full-fledged holiday since finishing up our work in Alaska. It's been great. Scratch that, it's been wonderful. We've been based in Seattle for the most part and have been taking full advantage of all this area has to offer. We've seen a play (Aladdin), gone boating, watched a baseball game, eaten amazing meals, gone paddle boarding, jumped off a 20-foot high dive, and even visited a potential graduate school program. Most importantly though, we've had the opportunity to catch up with family and friends along the way. Newer interactions with family and friends have been very fun as we're slowly introducing and meshing our two "worlds".

This past weekend we found ourselves in a well known climbing destination, Squamish, or Squampton, as the locals call it. This was my third trip to our northern neighbor but my first to British Columbia. If you've never been, go. It's unbelievably gorgeous. We stayed with a close friend, Darcy, and very easily caught the best weather window one could ever ask for. After two days of cragging to regain our comfort on the rock, we spent our third and final on a multi-pitch route called "Sky Walker". It was a beautiful line that, for me, didn't reach its fruition until the top of pitch four when I stumbled upon this little gem below one of our anchor bolts...



Our northwestern leave continues for another week before we head for the Land of... er to catch up with the Hopeman dynasty, as well as our Wyoming-based amigos.

Viva la Vida!

Riley says: "It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

CLASSIC ALASKAN NOLS MOUNTAIN ROUTE: ✓

Our 30-day mountaineering expedition began at the toe of the Matanuska Glacier. With 15 bodies in tow we navigated our way up through a sea of bare ice and moraine to an immense ice fall guarding what we hoped would become the base camp for our alpine glory.

The ice fall occupied two days of our travels, one spent scouting and the other maneuvering for 12-hours through exposed terrain and multiple white outs, up into the safety of “Turtle Flats” on the Harvard Glacier. Here under blue bird skies, we found ourselves surrounded by possible peak objectives for the coming days. In total, we spent seven days up in Turtle Flats peak climbing, ice climbing, doing crevasse rescue, hunkering from inclement weather, and drinking in our alpine surroundings.

Our final days would involve a roll of the die with the weather gods to determine whether we’d be pushing for some more technical objectives. And my how the odds did not play into our favor! Deteriorating conditions, a.k.a. rain, brought about enormous increase in avalanche activity and with them our dreams of alpine glory became memories of the past. With students running the show we descended from the Harvard to the Powell Glacier and began our journey towards water and greener landscapes. Motivated by ice climbing possibilities and thoughts of non-glaciated terrain, we moved quickly through yet another sea of bare ice and moraine to the toe of the Powell.

Here our intrepid adventurers sunk their axes into vertical ice, slapping back gravity’s pull with each swing of the axe. Those ascents would be the last for the group as the call of independent travel loomed near. Dividing into groups of five and seven the students plotted the last three days of their experience and set off alone from their instructors into the Alaskan tundra to put their skills to the test.

The final days brought about hilarious hours of shwackin’ and bush pushin’ until everyone arrived at their rendezvous spot. Smiles abundant, sun burns on the mend, 70 miles behind them, and just over 12,000 vertical feet gained throughout their journey, another successful expedition came to a close.

On a personal note, during the final hour of our 12-hour push to flat freedom, I was in the lead negotiating a route through some largely crevassed terrain. Just as we thought we were home free, fog descended upon us and we found ourselves in a complete white out. It was so thick I had difficulty telling up from down, left from right. As I walked with a probe extended ahead of me to provide some depth perception, my senses began to toy with me. At one moment I felt as though I was falling, which I was, and extended my left leg over my right to catch my balance. The ground was closer than I had anticipated and I ended up tweaking my left knee. Not awesome but better a strain than something more serious. Such is life, especially in this lifestyle. Luckily, I was able to finish our route with minimal discomfort and am looking forward to two months of down time to fully recover before we head south to Patagonia for the fall and spring!

Riley says: "The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure."

ONWARD... TO THE MATANUSKA!

Our mountaineering students have no idea what they're in for...

Riley says: "To succeed, jump as quickly at opportunities as you do at conclusions."

TAKING IT ALL IN

This past course was a really rewarding one for me. Alaska has some incredible terrain and it feels great to have a mountaineering course under my belt. I've already started briefing for my next course but decided I'd share the course summary I wrote at the end of this past expedition.

The Deltas of Alaska’s vast Eastern Alaska Range played host to this 28-day mountaineering expedition. Eight men and one woman from the United States Navel Academy, along with their three instructors, traveled mostly by snow shoe through a variety of mountainous terrain. After pushing up through lowland Alaskan “shwack”, the group rigged themselves for glacial travel and moved up onto the Canwell Glacier. Here they established a base camp where the Canwell meets descending glaciers from Snow White peak. On day 7, the expedition’s re-ration pilot, Dave, landed at the perimeter camp with a 15-day ration of food. With a solid foundation of outdoor skills under their belts, the instructor team handed over leadership to the student group in rotations of three days. Through early planning the students began to lay out an overall course progression driving towards their ultimate goal of independent expeditions at the course’s end. Caching half of their rations, the group moved to the upper cirque of the Gulkana Glacier. Below Ice Fall Peak the course began to sink its teeth and ice axes into bold Alaska terrain. After obtaining the necessary skills for a peak ascent, the group was led to the top of Cony Mountain by three midshipman leaders. With alpine glory pumping through their veins, the group set its sights on larger, more challenging objectives. Unfortunately, torrential rains brought avalanche activity presence onto all mountain aspects and another summit would have to wait. Descending back to the Canwell, the group pushed up and over Apocalypse Pass, installing at the head of the Gakona Glacier. Here days of snow and whiteout conditions forced the cower, until a brief afternoon window allowed for crevasse rescue and self-ascension. Further down the Gakona, vertical ice climbing created a nice activity when weather became sporadic, while dreams of another summit bid grew. With one day remaining, beautiful weather moved in and the group split: a group of four bound for a looping traverse and a group of eight driving for an airy ridge ascent. Negotiating through large crevassed terrain, both groups were successful tagging their respective summits. Weary but well feed and watered, a final push to the last re-ration airstrip went off without a hitch. Once again, Dave dropped in restocking the expedition for the final five days. After safely crossing the Gakona River, the group’s last major obstacle, the students set off in a group of four and of five for their four day independent expedition. At the successful completion of these treks, in total the group traveled over 70 miles, gaining upwards of 18,000 feet throughout the expedition’s duration.

Riley says: "Paradise is seldom recognized as such until it is considered from the outside."

INSTANT PROOF THAT ONE PERSON'S TRASH IS ANOTHER PERSON'S TREASURE

Alaska is an absolute goldmine for random backcountry finds. This beauty came into my life on the third day of a recent Naval Academy mountaineering course. It took three of us to drag it out onto the snow and it was so worth it.

Riley says: "Check out that continuous schrund!"

WATCH OUT NOW!

Allow me to introduce the instructor team for my upcoming United States Naval Academy mountaineering course...

Riley says: "Everybody keeps telling me how surprised they are with what I've done. But I'm telling you honestly that it doesn't surprise me. I knew I could do it."