After getting out of the car at the West Slabs trailhead we popped the trunk and out stepped Jared. The 37 year-old lawyer, father of 4, had ridden back there so we wouldn't have to take two cars. It felt like high school. That set the tone for the day as Jared, Andy, Sam, Aaron, Uncle Roman, and I went for a casual stroll up Mt. Olympus via the West Slabs. Chad Ambrose recently climbed to entire slabs, car to ridge in 46 mins. That's fast. Although we all would like to have a run at Chad's time, today was not the day. After about a thousand pictures and 95 mins we hit the ridge.
From there, we scrambled over to the true summit where, for some reason, a Bodybuilding Magazine style photo shoot broke out. Again, high school. Apologies to the one couple on the summit who had to witness it. This certainly wasn't the view they were expecting.
On the way down the pace picked up and eventually turned into a full on race to the car. I haven't run that out of control down something in a long time but there's something about beating your friends that just brought it out. For the record, Andy and Sam tied for the win. We all felt pretty lucky to have so many great peaks within 10 mins of our doorsteps, especially Olympus. If you have the time, go do the West Slabs one more time before it turns into ski season. Every time I've gone it's been more fun than expected. A few pictures...
 |
| The crew starting up |
 |
| Andy a bit higher |
 |
| A bit higher |
wow, talk about slabs
ReplyDeleteOh, and rumor has it that a new section of the BST from the olympus trail to Olympus Cove is nearly complete...
ReplyDelete