My Stories

friends + feelings

My Last Hurrah…

When my count down to the “Last Day At Vail Resorts!” stumbled to an end I jumped right into my two weeks of…freedom. I was finally down to just one job! I had a sliver of free time and I could spend it however I wanted; not just sleeping! And that’s exactly what I did. It wasn’t until late last night that I realized this — on Monday I’m essentially saying “good-bye” to Colorado for…I have no idea how long. Oh, I’m excited, I’m ready for another bout of change and I have an incredible summer ahead of me.

However, I am going to miss Colorado! From the mountain views to the adventurous people to the winding trails to the local cafes….I’m going to miss Colorado and I am going to miss Summit County! Thankfully I’ve been a lucky duck and I’ve taken some serious advantage of my free time…
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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Alpine + Crevasse Rescue [WEMT Training]

I am one step closer to snagging the Wilderness upgrade for my EMT-Basic certification. While I don’t plan on officially upgrading for at least another year [far too nomadic to get true work experience] it’s empowering to add to my stash of rope tying, pulley rigging + snow traversing know-how. More importantly, I’ve learned a lot more than just how to string up a 6:1 pulley or best practices for building ice anchors.

Since the internet is the last place you want to learn all the details about technical mountaineering I’m going to share the more emotional side of mountaineering…things I learned about myself + the mountains while I was out frolicking in the mountains in the name of “college credits”.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
runventure

Summer Shenanigans: Mixing Work + Play

Spring showed up in February…but winter came back with vengeance in March. The mountains still aren’t sure what season it is, bouncing between fresh powder mornings and slushy afternoons. We might get another dumping of snow, in true Colorado fashion, but in my mind…summer is just around the corner. So close!

Heck, my version of summer kicks in before April is officially over! I actually have a lot on deck for my summer, but not in the traditional sense. I’m trying something new — combining a full-time job with a consistent travel-for-fun life. I’ve spent the last few months plotting, planning, working + negotiating to make this happen, and now it’s about to start happening!

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
friends + feelings

Currently.

Oh, life. It sure can be a messy pile of reality checks and ironic laughter. The past few months have been nothing shy of a roller coaster…but not the let’s-see-how-many-people-puke roller coaster you know you made while playing Roller Coaster Tycoon. No, it’s been a much better, controlled chaos sort of roller coaster with just enough drops to get the adrenaline going before you’re back up on top. In other words, things have been good. Busy and a little crazy, but good. Really good.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
runventure

#GameOnPGH: Still Running

Cross training is essential for a successful, injury-free race…right?! I sure hope so, because that is currently my game plan for this upcoming marathon. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still running! But I’m not running nearly as much as I thought I would be considering how many times I threatened myself + my lack of training during the Steamboat Marathon last year. I’ve been active + playing outside a lot lately, more often than not with my running shoes on my feet; however, I’m not always doing the whole arms pumping + legs churning running thing while I’m out there. #GameOnPGH, right?!

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Sandy Bruises [Sport Climbing]

I have discovered something life changing; the perfect excuse to stay in college for…ever. They’re called “outdoor education classes” and they are basically classes that get you college credit while you’re out in the wilderness living life. It’s been decided — I’m going to be a college kid forever. Sorry, world. I put this whole “in class” excuse to use last weekend when I took four days off to play in Moab’s desert while taking a sport climbing class.

After working two overnight shifts [ie: basically sleeping 6hrs in 48hrs…after a weekend of sleepless winter camping] I piled my camping gear into the Honda Civic and headed west. All was well. Exhaustion hadn’t kicked in yet, I remembered snacks + the busted antenna was doing its part go play me some sing-a-long music. I was happy + full of grand plans for an early night followed by a weekend of slab climbing, sandy running + comfy car camping. All I had to do was get to Moab and find myself a campsite…simple, right?

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Monterrey’s Mountains: Pico Norte of Cerro de la Silla

From the snow to the sunshine…in posting order + in real life! I’m in the process of repacking all that winter camping gear into my car for a weekend of car camping + trail running + rock climbing in Moab. It’s a sorta solo, sorta group trip. I’m headed that way to take on another outdoor education class [lead sport climbing] but it sounds like I’ll have plenty of free time to explore trails…trails without snow!

Speaking of trails without snow, La M wasn’t the only mountain we hiked while I was down in Monterrey, Mexico. It was only the beginning of a handful of adventures out onto the trails near the perimeter of the massive city. We had settled into an AirBnB near Cerro de la Silla, a really nice neighborhood that butts up against steep mountains leading up to a jagged ridge.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Winter Camping; I Hate You.

I have been winter camping a handful of times and every. single. time. I hate it with every fiber of my body. People who love it will tell you it’s awesome and “not that cold” and so much better than summer camping because you can eat all the foods…okay, maybe. But, what they don’t tell you is that it’s approximately 4x more work than summer camping and “not that cold” is a very subjective term [shivering is “not that cold” compared to toes so frozen they ache for hours]. That said, I’m a very ssslllooowww learner and I went winter camping again last weekend. I hated it. To the point of tears more than once.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Monterrey’s Mountains: La M in Chipinque

In mid-January I had a chat with my scheduling manager at the hotel, asking for 5 days in a row off…any 5 days. I had no idea what I was going to do with my time off but after weeks of working two nearly fully time jobs I needed a breather. She picked the dates that worked best for the schedule and I started perusing the internet for cheap flights.

I ended up booking a flight to Monterrey, Mexico where I knew I’d find a familiar face, cheap tacos and an excuse to work on my Spanish. Come late February…off I went! I was giving myself a mid-winter trip to Mexico, where I wouldn’t see a drop of salt water but I would find the top of a few urban mountains.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago
trails + tents

Hello? Spring? Is that you?

Okay, so weather is weather is weather and whining about it isn’t going to change anything but…spring seems to think it has arrived here in Summit County, Colorado. Since early February we’ve had only a handful of days that didn’t get above freezing with most of our days hitting 40-50 degrees before noon rolled around. Sounds like spring, right?!

Except it’s March! Spring should NOT be here yet! 

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m loving this weather — it’s fantastic for running on the roads or trails, it’s doing a great job of kicking off my runner tan lines + back country packs are lighter because you need more sunscreen than layers.

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By Heidi Kumm, ago