Successful Summit of Cotopaxi! I am happy to report that on Thursday night/Friday morning, 7 out of our 9 team members reached the summit of Cotopaxi. After a few days of acclimatization and training on Ruminahui and then the glacier on Cotopaxi, our group made the successful summit push in good style, reaching the summit…
Talked to Nate on the Sat Phone this morning. Crew is camping near the hut and working on glacier travel skills. The weather is reported to be excellent and the health of all the climbers is excellent. Heading for the summit soon!
First Acclimatization Peak Complete Earlier today our team successfully completed a climb of Pasochoa – an extinct Volcano on the outskirts of Quito with an altitude of approximately 13,700 feet. Pasochoa represents an excellent first trek for the trip, as it offers about a 4 – 5 hour round trip on relatively mellow terrain, yet…
Team Assembled in Quito [image_frame style=”framed_shadow” align=”left” alt=”Ecuador Volcanoes” title=”The Basillica” height=”240″ width=”320″]https://dev.mtnguide.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/bascilica3.jpg[/image_frame] Our 9 day Cotopaxi Express Expedition has begun with great success! First, all of our climbers arrived on time to Quito with all of their gear and baggage for the trip. A minor miracle to be sure! Second, the group is all…
Best Practices for Placing an Ice Screw by Dale Remsberg – IFMGA Mountain Guide Placing an ice screw while on lead has changed a lot over the years. Gone are the days of hanging from your leash and wrestling in a 22 cm screw, getting completely pumped in the process. The ice tools are better,…
Rappel Ice Routes with Confidence by IFMGA Guide Pat Ormond V-Threads are a great way to rappel ice routes without having to leave gear if good fixed anchors don’t exist. They are strong, quick, and easy. With minimal practice, you can get it right first try every time. [fancy_numbers variation=”deepblue”] I look for the best…
Senior SJMG Guide Mark Miller AMGA Certified Rock Guide Mark is one of the original SJMG guides working in Ouray. He has been teaching ice climbing longer than any other active guide in Ouray. Well known for his calm and no nonsense approach to ice instruction, Mark is one of our most requested guides. A…
Classic San Juan Backcountry Ice Recently one of our guys and guests climbed some cool stuff up in the Skylight/Camp Bird area just minutes outside of Ouray. Check it out! [vimeo url=”http://vimeo.com/82232322″ width=”600″ height=”400″ title=”0″]
Essential Technique for the Ouray Ice Park In the video below, SJMG Guide and AMGA Certified Rock & Alpine Guide Dawn Glanc covers the steps involved in quickly and easily transitioning from belay to a raise for a climber who needs assistance ascending. The techniques shown in the video are particularly useful in areas like the…
Belay with Confidence in the Ouray Ice Park With the Ouray Ice Park set to open this weekend (Saturday December 14th, 2013), we thought it would be a good time to cover some important considerations to take into account when establishing your belay stances and anchor systems while down in the canyon. In the video…
Techniques to Manage Lowers and Top Belays With ice climbing season already in full swing here in the San Juans, and the opening of the Ouray Ice Park just around the corner, we thought it would be a good time to cover a few essential techniques for managing lowers and top belays. As guides who…
A bunch of early season snow has inspired me to work on a project I have been wanting to do for years – an online primer course of avalanche awareness skills for skiers and climbers. I imagine this course will cover a wide variety of topics but I thought it made sense to start with…
Techniques for Efficiency With backcountry ice climbing here in the San Juans and around Colorado already in full swing, we thought it would be a good time to highlight this video – Belays & Transitions for Multi-Pitch Ice – offering a few tips and tricks for increasing your speed and efficiency on multi-pitch ice routes.…
Yesterday Thad and I decided it was finally time to get out and start swinging the ice tools. We headed up Camp Bird Rd. outside of the ice climbing mecca of Ouray, Colorado and climbed the classic route ‘The Talisman’. It may be in fat condition right now but it still offers quite a pump! On…
Ivan and I were able to make it up into Yankee Boy Basin this week to do some winter mountaineering. We enjoyed perfect Colorado weather the whole trip and were able to summit Mount Sneffels (14,150′)!
Registration Now Open! The 2014 Ouray Ice Festival Clinics are now available for purchase. Click on this link to go to the Clinic Schedule and Shopping Cart. In association with the Ouray Ice Park, Inc., we’re proud to offer the most unique ice climbing clinic schedule in North America. This year is one of the…
An Early Season Climb of The Ribbon Wow! We are feeling grateful in the San Juans! Based on the wet September and the cycles of snow, cold night time temperatures, and sunny days in October, the ice flows are really shaping up beautifully. Hopefully, this pattern continues, and then solidifies into an epic winter with…
Saturday, Tim and I were able to get out and climb Snowdon. Although it’s still fall in Durango, it most definitely is winter above 10,000′. I’m pretty sure I can speak for both of us when I say, that we were thankful for every layer we brought. Enjoying the crisp morning! Snowdon still a…
Essential Equipment for Ski Touring An often overlooked, but critical piece of backcountry safety equipment, is your repair kit. After blowing up a ski binding, try post-holing chest deep several miles back to your car in the dark and you will know what I mean. The following is a very basic repair kit that you…
The Best Recipe for Early Season Ice Conditions Around the middle of October and as the temperatures in the high country start to drift towards the teen’s at night, we start thinking about how ice conditions are shaping up on all the area’s classic backcountry routes. The foundation for a good early season ice year…