|
Going to extremes Wyoming man gives new definition to extreme sports JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - Rick Armstrong has never found a sporting challenge that didn't captivate his attention. Armstrong, 28, is the Evel Knievel of the Tetons. He is the first person to ski and snowboard the 13,772-foot Grand Teton, has skied nearly every major Teton peak and has pioneered at least six new ski routes in the range, including a recent descent of the Grand's harrowing Vision Quest Couloir. His penchant for perilous adventure extends to paragliding as well. Armstrong, a Wilson resident, is the second person to fly a paraglider over the Grand (Jon Hunt of Wilson is credited with the first Grand flight), and he has flown across the Tetons eight times. Last August he brought along a friend for the first tandem flight over the Grand. "More than anything, I just enjoy the outdoors," he says, downplaying his passion for playing on the edge. "I just like being up in the mountains. "It's not about risking my life or anything. I just like to get my skill levels up to do whatever I like, and I like doing things that no one else has done." No one else had skied the near-vertical Vision Quest Couloir until Armstrong and friend Eddie Horny made their descent on April 17. The two summited the Grand Teton via the popular Owen-Spaulding route, then rappelled to the top of Vision Quest, a narrow ice gully that faces north and is located below the Enclosure, a sub-peak of the Grand. The mountaineers were forced to rappel twice over the rocks and sheer ice while carving turns through the 600-foot-long chute, which measures 4 to 8 feet in width and drops into the infamous Black Ice Couloir. In all, they rappelled about half the route. On reaching the bottom they climbed back up and out. "It's a classic route," Armstrong said. "There are not a whole lot of routes like this in the U.S. that have been skied. It's a line where you don't fall." Armstrong and Horny never felt too much stress from the danger involved. "It's extremely exhilarating, but you've got to be really focused," Armstrong said. "Eddie and I had a blast. We sat up on the Upper Saddle afterwards and drank tea." Armstrong has been having a blast with extreme skiing since moving to Jackson Hole in 1988. The native of Anchorage, Alaska, grew up in Durango, Colo., and studied broadcast communications at Durango's Fort Lewis College before being drawn to the Tetons by the area's renowned skiing and climbing as well as its "rowdy reputation." After a disastrous first run down Rendezvous Bowl that left him with a bloody nose, Armstrong soon garnered his own rowdy reputation at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. His bold leaps over cliffs earned him the nickname "Sick Rick." Sick Rick "went big," in skier jargon, with a creative jump off the north wall of Corbet's Couloir in 1995, a plunge still talked about by skiers and snowboarders. Armstrong doesn't know exactly how far he jumped, but estimates the distance at 80 to 100 feet. "It was really big, more than a sane person would jump," he said. The Corbet's impact left him shaken but unhurt. Later that year, however, he jumped more than 150 feet in Champery, Switzerland, and broke his ribs on the landing. Although he has skied professionally for the past seven years, getting paid by companies such as the North Face and Smith to promote and design their products, Armstrong steadily has cut back on the number of days he spends on the slopes. He used to ski 200 days a year, which wore out his knees and shoulders far more than any of his jumps. Now he spends only 100 days schussing through endless winter. He spends much of his time traveling across the Rockies and around the globe. The past year has been a whirlwind of climbing and skiing excursions, including trips to South America, Japan, India and Alaska. The life isn't quite as glorious as it sounds, Armstrong cautions. He recalls the days when he worked three jobs at a time, struggling to stay awake as a late-night DJ on KMTN after an evening of waiting tables. "There are a lot of misconceptions about my lifestyle," he says, laughing. "I think everyone who makes a living earns it. I definitely have the best equipment, but I work really hard to make money. When I'm not skiing I'm making phone calls. It's a job, for sure, making it all happen." These days Armstrong is trying to make a new videography business happen. He also stays busy plotting adventures both for him and his wife, Holly, who works as a masseuse and nutritionist for a pro mountain bike team sponsored by Ralph Lauren. This summer he hopes to ski in New Zealand for an upcoming Teton Gravity Research Film. He also would like to extend the boundaries of long-distance paragliding, eyeing a flight that would take him from Grand Targhee across the Teton, Gros Ventre and Wind River ranges to the Bondurant Rim. Soaring above majestic massifs at close to 18,000 feet is an unparalleled thrill. "Nothing even comes close to paragliding over the Grand," he says. "I always say it's man's oldest dream. We've figured out a way to harness flying with just air. Like birds." Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|