Every few years the weather provides us with enough cold and overcast days in a row for a few finicky San Juan classics to form. At a New Years party, Mark “Coach” Miller and I were discussing the weather and ice conditions when we both realized Gravity’s Rainbow might be perfect the next day. After…
SNOW IS FLYING and ICE IS FORMING! Lots of fresh snow has fallen in the San Juan Mountains this past week, and colder temperatures have allowed the ice to get fat! At SJMG Winter is in full swing, friends and families are having a blast in the Ouray Ice Park. People of all ages are…
Happy Holidays from the crew at San Juan Mountain Guides. May your new year be full of hero-ice, blower-powder, and splitter hand cracks!
Ice Park opening day is always has a festive feel to it. There isn’t really any official fanfare but climbers from all over the state show up and bring with them a distinct enthusiasm. They are excited for another season with miles of farmed ice climbs dripping down from the western rim of the Uncompahgre…
I spent the last four days climbing with Rob from NY. Despite some difficulties from the weather and high avalanche danger in many places, we managed to cover a fair amount of ground and climb some terrific pitches. It seems that this is good year for our high flow backcountry waterfall climbs as opposed to…
Recently, I took great pleasure in climbing “Out of the Mainline,” a unique flow that forms in the Fall Creek drainage. This ice climb rarely gets traffic due to its grossly humongous basin lurking above. Most years, the Fall Creek climbs have far too much risk of avalanche danger to go anywhere near them. I…