What is your favorite place that you have been to on the planet?

Long's Peak, the 14-er in Rocky Mountain National Park. I climbed up via Kiener's Route, and down via the North Face - these are both relatively easy Class 5 technical routes. This was my first big (5,000 feet of vertical) to incorporate technical climbing on both snow, ice and rock, and the mountain has lots of history, and the summit views are breathtaking. That said, I'm also weak-kneed for the Southwest, and love New England.

 

You're most likely to plan a trip around:

Definitely the mountains, and usually with a mix of activities depending on the season - hiking, snowshoeing, climbing, downhill skiing or XC/AT/Backcountry skiing.

 

Do you shoot pictures with a digital or film camera?

I'm all digital - the cameras have gotten more sensitive that even the best film and are lighter - and the ability to verify the success of a shot, or lack thereof, in real time, is priceless. After moving through several precursors, I have the exact same camera as Gyan, my December 'GO motm' predecessor, the 9MP Panasonic Lumix TZ5. It has a seriously big/fast Leica lens with 10x zoom, a decently fast processor, aMAZing battery life, and is still small/light/cheap enough to feel comfortable taking everywhere. Before this camera, I had the earlier TZ1 model which was similarly great, but lost it to a fall (it, not me, fortunately) amid the boulders of Mt. Adams.

 

When you have a long weekend you:

I love road tripping and also enjoy my share of urban adventuring and cultural events, my first tendency when presented with a long weekend is to figure out which mountains I can make room for on the schedule while trying at least a little not to fall too far behind on other responsibilities. When it comes to the mountains, I openly admit to being incorrigible.

 

Do you prefer to save up for one big yearly trip, or take multiple shorter trips?

Rather than living a year of everyday live and then spending multiple weeks to enjoy my passions, I prefer a more even mix throughout the year when possible - although life's demands don't always allow this. Also, if I'm after fourteeners, that in itself sets the vacation length to a week or more to allow for altitude acclimatization.

 

What's your dream destination?

My criteria for this would be (1) summiting a spectacular, technically challenging and historically significant mountain and (2) to not be more than a day or two away from good accommodations, food/wine and culture. Ratcheting these criteria up to the 'dream' level, and acknowledging the full range of amazing mountain destinations available on the planet, my brain comes up with the Matterhorn.

 

When traveling you care most about:

While relaxation, food and drink, getting off the beaten path, and enjoying the local culture are all great objectives for a vacation, my main motivator has always been the opportunity to enjoy my favorite activities (usually mountain related) in a manner and amid scenery not possible at home.

 

Where do you plan to travel next year?

While I've enjoyed the mountains throughout my life, I've been seriously hooked by them only over the last 10 years or so. I have yet to fully experience what the 48 states have to offer, and so am content to limit my travel to this over the coming year. In addition to my ongoing pursit of the New England and New Hampshire Hundred Highest and winter 4,000 footers, likely destinations are the Rockies, Cascades, and Palm Springs.

 

What is favorite type of lodging?

Staying with friends, hands down - I'm fortunate to have them within striking distance of some great destinations. Absent that, I think a bed & breakfast makes a great base of operations for hiking/mountaineering. For dowhhill skiing, a lodge is hard to beat. For pure relaxation/beaching or urban adventuring, I would likely go for a hotel.

 

When making travel decisions, environmental concerns are:

Very important. It detracts from a vacation experience for me to know that I'm taking a bigger car than I need, or not carpooling as much as I could. I'm also crazed to the extreme about packing 'stuff' out. While playing at a popular rock climbing crag in the rockies once, I couldn't help but notice that the trailhead was hopelessly littered by passing traffic. After our climb, we took a couple of hours (had a box of hefty bags with us) and cleaned it up.

 

What do you do to enhance your outdoor fitness?

I try to get to the mountains on at least a weekly basis for a serious hike. Despite some interruptions to the pattern, this has been great for my legs. Unfortunately, I have not yet found any upper-body exercise options that feel like fun rather than work. I'm a big believer in 'slow burn' strength training, but don't get to it as much as I should.

 

What is the most significant gear invention?

Two related invenations, GoreTex and Polartec. As it they have come into being and gotten more refined and cost effective over the past 30 or so years, I deeply appreciate how much more feasible it is to enjoy a serious, challenging outdoor adventure without the dominant recollection being one of having felt cold and wet through most of it. It's just as utterly awe-inspiring to me as the destinations themselves.

 

Your indispensible travel tip is:

I find that packing for a trip has two stages - first, inclusion and then, exclusion. I usually do OK with inclusion, i.e., "what will I need for this trip?". On the other hand, exclusion - "OK, now what of all this stuff can I really do without?" - takes more out of me. If you're like me in that respect, consider this: I often have wished my bags weren't so stuffed or my pack so heavy, but *not ever* have I regretted an explicit decision to leave this or that behind. So, cull away!