Climbed Snowdon Peak via the West Buttress with Max today. No matter how many times I do this climb, I always enjoy the combination of aesthetics and relatively good rock quality (for the San Juans anyway). One of the best weather days of the summer so far with barely a hint of the typical afternoon…
Last week, Garry from Florida came to Durango on his vacation out west to climb his first peak. Garry had some multi-pitch climbing experience so the objective was the beautiful Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak. We took the Durango Narrow Gauge Train to Elk Park and then hiked up to Vestal Basin to camp. The…
The other trip I guided on Mt. Rainier, along with fellow SWAG guide Gary Falk, was a climb of the ultra classic Liberty Ridge. This is certainly one of the most sought after routes on the mountain, and is well deserving of it’s classic status. An approach from the White River Campground leads to lower…
I just completed a short stint of guiding on Mt. Rainier for Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI). The first trip I led, along with fellow SWAG guide Gary Falk was a Kautz Glacier Expedtion Skills Seminar. In total, the seminar includes 6 days of instruction and climbing on the less popular, though classic, Kautz Route. The…
We recently hosted a Leave No Trace (LNT) Trainer’s Course here in Durango. Kate and Tracy, the LNT traveling trainers stopped by for the 2 day course to help make sure that Southwest Adventure Guides is current on the most recent information regarding leave no trace backcountry protocols. It was a great course and is…
Last week, Patrick from Texas came up for a few days of alpine training in the San Juans. A few days of rock climbing in the Durango area were followed by a couple of mountain days to help establish a solid foundation of alpine skills. He’ll be joining us later this summer for an ascent…
Loyal client Valari W. recently completed, and successfully, summited the Moose’s Tooth in the Ruth Gorge/Denali National Park, via the Ham ‘n Eggs Couloir. She was led by our guide Chad Peele and the group experienced great weather, but “sporty” conditions on the route. Some of the ice pitches did not lend themselves well to…
Out in the mountains for a few days with a crew from the Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, NM. A group of 7 soldiers from the 21st EOD came to the San Juans for some mountain training. We combined a few days of rock climbing with a couple of days in the mountains, acquiring basic rock…
Another day in the mountains on our Ski the Peaks program. Due to the weather, we were forced to make a change in our scheduled descent of the Battleship and instead toured up and skied down the Pumphouse, a sub peak of the Sultan. Great skiing and incredible spring powder on about 14 inches of…
Our Ski the Peaks programs in the San Juans are in full swing. Last weekend we completed a ski descent of the West Face Couloir of Red #3. Great conditions and an aesthetic line made for a great day of skiing on one of the area’s most sought after ski runs. This weekend we skied…
Spent another day in the backcountry with Ben from Oklahoma. We’ve successfully converted him from resort skiing and claims he’ll never go back after a few days of powder with us in the San Juans. Our tour near Minnesota Gulch started a little sloppy, but ended beautifully on a mixture of north facing powder shots…
Did some backcountry skiing today with Ben from Oklahoma. It was his first time bc skiing but he performed like a pro! We toured up and skied down the Pumphouse run, a popular and classic tour near the town of Silverton. The recent snow was the perfect powder refresh for this NNE facing run. Snow…
Great weekend in the San Juans. About 6 inches of snow on Saturday gave way to perfect weather on Sunday. Did an overnight on Engineer Mtn. with Ian from CA, and Nick from NYC. The conditions on the NE Ridge of Engineer are just about perfect right now. Generally stable snow and great cramponing led…
Climbed Stairway to Heaven in Eureka with 2 clients today. Nice job Ari and Alex!! Forgot the camera, so no pictures. It looked like it was going to dump snow all day, but only a few flurries actually fell. It was very windy with gusts in the 40 – 50 mph range. The climb is…
Climbed Whorehouse Hose with a client on Saturday. First pitch is in excellent condition, though a bit brittle due to the warm day temps and cold cold night temps. Middle pitch is a snow gully, and the last 2 pitches are both in excellent shape, though the right side has typical thin “glassy” sections. Warm…