I have enjoyed the outdoors all my life but I didn't really get heavily involved in wilderness sports until I got to college. Since then I have tried a lot of them: canoeing, rock climbing, mountain climbing, white water kayaking, white water rafting, sea kayaking, hiking, backpacking, down hill skiing, cross country skiing, and ski mountaineering. While in college I was mainly focused on backpacking and rock climbing. I even chose my graduate school (University of New Mexico) largely based on the great rock climbing half an hour drive from campus.

Winter climbing in New Mexico	Rock climbing in Yosemite	Rock climbing in the Cascades

When I graduated I moved to Seattle, since in my estimation it is the best place in the country for wilderness sports. After arriving in 1981 I got much more heavily involved in mountaineering and ski mountaineering. There is nothing quite like a springtime decent in your shorts, down 7,000 vertical feet of perfect corn snow! The fact that you have to hike up the 7,000 feet first while carrying your skis on your back also helps to keep the crowds way down. Since we started building the house and garden in 1996, I have had to cut back on my outdoor pursuits some. Sandy and I are looking forward to more free time in the future and to spending more time enjoying the wilderness sports we love.

Skiing at Taos, New Mexico	Guiding a raft on the Wenatchee	On Mt Adams summit

 

Pre-dawn start on Mt Shuksan	Kayaking the Skykomish

 

All images on this page are © Michael Stoy

 

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