Phil Wortmann

For the fifth edition of this blog, I'm releasing a chapter of my new novel, Harte Tower, a coming-of-age climbing adventure novel. This chapter offers a peek into the background of Joe, Ethan's grandfather, who spent decades guiding and climbing in the Alaska Range. I was fortunate to climb the North Buttress of Mt Hunter in 2014 with Chris Sheridan and Doug Shepherd, and I used that experience to build this scene. I hope you enjoy. Mount Hunter's 4,000 foot north buttress shrouded in...

Old Colorado  Noah (left) and Millz putting in work History is heavy. It permeates the places we live. You can feel that weight driving up the Oak Creek Grade before the gnarled oaks give way to pine. Looking out your window over the high plains, you can imagine the scene where 200 years ago, 800 Spanish troops trapped the fearless Comanche chief Cuerno Verde and his eldest son in an arroyo and cut them down. Cuerno Verde’s father had suffered the same fate a decade before, making for three...

The best possible bang-for-the-buck impact on our local winter economy. Back in the early 2000’s, I was fresh out of the Army and starting college. I scraped together a few bucks, bought a discounted pair of Scarpa boots and two mismatched straight-shaft tools from a clearance rack, and headed up to Silver Cascade. My little 92 Nissan pickup only had rear wheel drive, so I had to drive it like I stole it to get up the steep grade. Ranger Ron happened to be suiting up in the parking lot and...