So here is how it went:

KE: Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to
you. The ice climbing has been good and after a fifty day expedition,
which tests your skills in patience and not a lot of climbing, I've
been psyched to get out and play. Here's a start to the questions
you asked:

I was born and raised about 40 miles from
the Canadian Border in North Central Montana. A small little farming
community called Havre. Nothing in the way of mountains for a hours
so I would often drive to the Banff area or Western Montana for
skiing.
I've been skiing for 23 years now and climbing
for 12.

Favorite Mtn range is the Beartooth's in
Montana. It's my backyard and no one visits the area so I'm not
running into people on the trails. The unlimited potential is exciting.
It's not an easy range to access which makes the mtns seem bigger
and wilder. When you're deep in the Beartooth's you know you had to
work to get there.

Who inspires me? I find the most inspirational
people are the ones that truly love being in the mountains. They're
not there because it's the cool place or the they need to be there
because of some sponsor. They spend time in the mountains because
it's a sanctuary. It's a religion. Carving turns down a beautiful
face or climbing a mtn; the love for mountains radiates when someone
is passionate.

This was my third trip to Asia. the first
time was 1997 climbing in the Karakoram Range of Pakistan. The second
time was 1999 in Tibet to try and ski the South West face of Shishapangma.
My third and most recent trip was back to Tibet on Cho Oyu; Postitioned
between Shishapangma and Mt. Everest. Respectivly between the lowest
and highest of the 8000m mountains Cho Oyu is the sixth highest.
I was working as a photographer for The North Face documenting the
expedition. John Griber and Doug Stoup were the two other members
of my group, both of them are snowboarders. Unfortanely they both
became sick and had to return to the states.

At 9:00 on Oct. 1 2002 I crested over the
last of the horizons and saw the view I had heard so much about.
The north side of Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Kangchenjunga, and the Kumbu
below. I spent a little over an hour on the summit under perfect
skies then clicked into my skis and started down the mountain. The
top portion of the skiing off the summit plateau was survial skiing
at its finest. The wind hammerd sastrugi snow varied in depths of
almost three feet. Just over the edge of the plateau the skiing
dropped down a beautiful 40-45 degree face. The snow turned to a
smooth, chalky sastrugi that made for the best turns on the mtn....
Some of those shots are on Big Lines...The skiing presented an
incredible opportunity to see the mountain in a different way but
not always with the best snow. Lower on the mountain I had leg breaker
sun crust and refrozen corn. Within an hour and half I had skied
from the summit into Camp II. I waited there, hydrating and resting
for nearly three hours and then skied the rest of the way down to
Camp I(6300). I took off my skis and started the walk down to Advance
base camp arriving around 7:00 pm.

With 22 expeditions on the mountain this
season, massing over several hundred, less than fifty made it to
the summit.

Kris