The original plan was to do an epic backcountry ski weekend in the Eastern Sierras at the end of April, usually a reliably good time to get some spring skiing in at high elevation. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans. After making the 7-hour trek from the SF Bay Area to Bishop, CA, we couldn’t get from the road to the minimally snowy part of the mountain. Or, at least, not without an inordinate amount of hiking over loose rock with skis on our backs, which is not my idea of a fun time.

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Chillin in a paltry patch of snow
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The mountains look snowy until you try to actually plan a ski approach and descent line and realize how many protruding rocks are in the way

So, we went with our backup plan: bouldering in the Buttermilks!

And by bouldering, I mostly mean stretching because for whatever reason that was the theme of the trip.

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Going hard on the naps
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One of us is ready to climb
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Caught unawares yet again as I’m chillin and stretching while my friends actually do rock-related things
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He got me back eventually though. I had absolutely no idea this picture was being taken

 

Since we were there, I figured I might as well struggle-bus up some rocks. Yes, that’s the technical term.

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I got made fun of for stretching so much but flexibility is actually super useful
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I’m not the only one with a tactical butt-in-the-air!

It was admittedly a bit of a bummer to miss out on some gnarly backcountry ski adventuring, but at least we got some stretching (and climbing) in.

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Friends that stretch together, send it together

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