Start of SMG Alps 2011 Post #2

The day started off rainy and looked to be very wet.  I spent the morning getting organized and putting together information for Tony and Mich.  I heard some great news from US Airways. they found my bag and would deliver it tomorrow.  Around 11 I decided to go out and see what I could find.  My travels took me to a wet but fun trail through the clouds.  At the top I found a restaurant that served an excellent cafe with warm milk.  After my mid day coffee I went down the chairlift back to Pontresina.  I didn't get too wet and it was great to stretch the legs.  It began to rain in town again so I took off in the Renault and checked out some trail-heads.  I was able to drive through St. Moritz to Bondo where we will launch for the climb of Piz Badile.  All in all a great day capped off with a cool street festival with all kinds of people and local wares.   Tomorrows weather looks to be better so I will head up into the hills to get some beta, and maybe tackle a vie ferrata or two. 

Looking down several hundred feet to the river on the main street in Pontresina.

Just outside of town on my walk I found these great flowers.

Looking at town from the trail.

A cool creek through the clouds.

The view of the lift from Alp Languard restaurant.

Ridding down the lift.  If you look closely you can see that the lift makes a turn to the left.  I've never seen a lift do that before!

A random castle poking out on the way down the lift.

The view from Bernina Pass

Bernina Pass

Driving back from Bondo.  If you look closely you can see this crazy road cutting through the hill.  Wild driving! Especially with the logging trucks coming down.

View of the top of the lift and the restaurant at Alp Languard where I had the coffee.

Start of SMG Alps 2011

Hey there everyone,

Well, after an interesting fight (Reno - Phoenix - Philadelphia - Zurich) I've (Neil) arrived in Pontresina. US Airways lost one of my bags so that will be a fun follow up.  It's the bag with all the gear in to so I've got fingers crossed that they find it soon.  This year we decided to  rent a car in Zurich instead of taking the train to give us more flexibility with weather.  What a cool drive from Zurich to Pontresina. I went right over Julierpass (2284m) and dropped into St. Moritz.  This place is amazing! I'm staying at the Hotel Post in Pontresina for a couple of days of scouting before I connect with Tony, Mich, and Bastien.  I'll be posting with pictures and trip updates as often as I can. 

Some light rain going over the pass.

Looking down the street in Pontresina

The front of the Hotel Post

The lobby in the Post

Mt. Ritter

Mount Ritter is classic.  It's the highest peak in the Ritter Range, which includes Banner Peak and the Minarets.  R.J. Secor says, "Mount Ritter is perhaps the most prominent peak in the High Sierra, and can even be seen from certain summits in the southern portion of the range."

Mt. Ritter on the left, Mt. Banner on the right

The beginning of July was kicked off by a crew of six (3 clients, 2 guides, 1 intern) tackling Ritter in a three-day trip.  Jed and Bernd were our fearless leaders, guiding us through not only the objective and subjective hazards of the mountains but the initial chaos of Mammoth Ski Resort to get us on the shuttle and on our way to Agnew Meadows.

Away from the crowds and into the wilderness!  Ah, sweet bliss.

On the approach, headed down into the San Joaquin Valley

Day 1 was an 8-mile approach to Ediza lake where we set up camp.  We passed down through the San Joaquin Valley and then up past beautiful falls, past Shadow Lake and finally to Ediza.

Clients (from left to right) Tommy, Art, and Todd with the falls behind.  Mammoth mountain is visible left.

The Minarets, Mt. Ritter, and Mt. Banner from Shadow Lake (right to left)

We got to camp in the middle of the afternoon and took advantage of relaxing underneath the incredible Minarets, Ritter and Banner.  Dinner was a fabulous Thai dish with lots of fresh vegetables courtesy of our illustrious guide Jed.  Then early to bed, early to rise. 

The view from our campsite on Ediza lake.  The Minarets in the middle, Mt. Banner on the right.  Tons of snow!

We left camp by 5:30am and made great time, stopping to take pictures of the morning light painting the peaks before us.

Morning in the range of light. Ritter on the left, Banner on the right.

 Our route was dictated by many things including snow conditions.  We opted for the Southeast Glacier which ascends the left side (looking at Ritter from Ediza lake).  The snow was perfect for kicking in steps and efficient climbing.  Although we were prepared with crampons, we didn't need to bother with them.

Looking down the snowfield from where we came.  Lake Ediza is the snowy patch on the right side of the photo just under the mountains in shade.  It was still mostly frozen over.

Up and up we go.

Most all of the climbing was on snow, a rarity in July.  We made constant steady progress toward the summit and only had to climb a 40-foot section of rock.  We short-roped through the rock section and the steeper snowfield that followed.

Looking out after the rock field.  You just can't hate the views the Sierras have to offer.

The final snowfield before the summit.  The summit is actually on the left, even though it doesn't look like it from this perspective.  (You just can't capture the distance with a camera!)

Art, Tommy, and Jed shortroping at the top of the rock field.

Jed, Art and Tommy just before the descent with Banner in the background.  We did it! 

We summited with a whooping 9 people on the summit.  (A solo climber and two skiers were ahead of us.)  Extensive views of the Sierra abounded and we could even see the back side of Half Dome.  It's really something to be on the summit of a mountain that dominates in height like Mt. Ritter.  There is nothing taller than Ritter to the north until you reach Mt. Shasta!  

All in all it was a great trip, with a smooth, straightforward climb to a classic summit.

Mt. Conness

In The Good, the Great, and the Awesome Peter Croft says of Mt. Conness's North Ridge, "This route has the most alpine feel of the Conness routes...." and describes it as "undeniably classic." That's exactly what we got climbing it this last Friday. Due to old man winter and his cronies hanging around longer this year, Conness looked more like the Sierra in March rather than late June. What is normally scree, scree and more scree was snow, snow, and more snow.

On the approach. This is summer?!

We got an early start, were around Saddlebag Lake in no time, and before long crampons were on, ice axes were out and it was on.

We headed up the snow field on the right, then climbed up and moved left along the snow toward the ridge where the climb began.

Pitching it out on what turned out to be fairly steep snow. One pitch up put us in a much better position.

We short-roped along the snowy ridge before and gained the first tower before we could finally ditch the crampons and do some normal climbing. The sound of crampons grinding on stone is none too pleasing.

Looking up the ridge, just after the initial snowfield climb.  This is before we took crampons off.  

A similar photo, early season, from mountainproject.com.  Look at how much less snow there is than when we were there!

Another shot of the ridge.

Barbara rocking it on lead.

Steve and John on top of the first tower (on the right).

Once we gained the first tower it was 2 rappels before the 5th class climbing began.  After the rappels we roped up and headed for the summit.  We got the treat of ducking around a corner and climbing over some seriously exposed terrain.  Fun-scary, for sure!

A 360 from the summit.

We summited, but as you know, that's only half the battle.  We had soft snow on the descent and definitely wanted to stay away from south-facing slopes.  What first seemed like it could have been a bit of a dicey descent was some down-climbing, a rappel, and lots of awesome glissading.  

The plateau after downclimbing and before the rappel.

The ridge we climbed as seen from the descent.  The first steeper section and change in incline on the left, moving right to left, is the first tower.

Steve showing us how it's done!

We ended up getting back to camp and continuing on down to the cars for a victory dinner at the Mobil.  An awesome alpine climb, snow, rock, beautiful weather, beautiful views, glissading; what more could you ask for?  What a great day.

Sawtooth Mountaineering Seminar, June 2011

Dan G. and I just finished this year's version of our comprehensive "Sawtooth Mountaineering Seminar". Designed to be a thorough introduction to snow and rock mountaineering skills, the SMS is always a great time, in a great place, with the usual cast of great SMG people.

This program was conducted as part of our scheduled offerings. We have a very deep list of possible courses and trips all around the world. All of these are available on a customized basis. Some of them, rotating on a seasonal and yearly basis, we offer scheduled, and therefore discounted below the custom rate. Lots of other guide services operate on that model. We, however, offer our scheduled trips with "no minimum to run." And that's unique. It means that folks, upon first signing up for a trip, can count on that trip running. Pretty simple, eh?


Dan was stoked to score a 1:1 course this time around in the Sawtooths. On the first day, we hiked from Twin Lakes near Bridgeport, CA up dry and flowery switchbacks to the snow line. We pitched camp, then did an afternoon of snow skills.

Each day we had awesome summer weather. Valley temperatures hit near 100 and the mountain sky stayed clear. We love those summer conditions, usually using the long days, dry afternoons, and good footing to cover tons of ground in the high country. This week near Matterhorn peak, however, represented the first distinct warm-up of the year. A very long winter and spring of abnormally heavy snowfall and cold, windy conditions left unseasonably deep snow uncharacteristically late. Warm temperatures will eventually melt and consolidate the snow, but the first big warm-up means some sloppy travel and elevated avalanche hazard.

Travel conditions and mountain hazards are very real parts of mountaineering, and we took the opportunity to discuss and make appropriate decisions. In this case, our best risk management tool was early morning travel on firmer snow.

The second day of the course we woke at 5 am and moved camp a couple thousand feet up into the snowy zone. We had our next camp set up by 9am, that day's lessons completed by noon, and were in "bed" by early afternoon.

Day 3 we woke at 1 am for a go at the summit of Matterhorn Peak. Dan, with fitness and stoicism from a long and happy career flying for the Air Force, never hesitated with the unorthodox sleeping and action patterns.



We caught sunrise from just below the summit of the peak. That's what its all about!



While descending in early morning light the snow was actually still firming up as the sun's heat intensified. At 2 am the snow was softer than at 8 am. These solstice nights are short, and the days are long and hot. Having a firm grasp of your solar patterns and the physics of phase changes helps with mountaineering. Who knew we'd call on those high school science lessons way out there?

On day 3, we were back in camp at 9 am with snow skills and a sweet summit solidly behind us. With another day and a half ahead, and high altitude rock existing as islands in a stormy sea of transitional summer snow, we elected to retreat to lower ground for the rockier portions of our course.

Day 4 we climbed the Regular Route on Cardinal Pinnacle, enjoying smaller packs, continued great weather, and discussions of climbing technique, interpersonal relations, and small-town gossip. What more can one ask for?

AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course, Eastern Sierra, June 2011

"The American Mountain Guide’s Association (AMGA) is the premier source for training, credentials, and services for professional mountain guides and
climbing instructors in the United States."

Becoming intimately familiar with the "training" portion of that organizational mission statement has become a large part of my life in the last number of years. And it looks like the "credential" portion of that will consume much of my life for the next few years, as I take my final exams on the way to securing IFMGA certification. Right now, in early June of 2011, I find myself in what I think is a bit of a unique position. With an observation of SMG's AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course this past weekend I have now participated in every outdoor course the AMGA has ever offered. Anyone else want to claim that?

What does it all mean? What ties it all together? The overwhelming theme among all these courses (9 of them: TRSMC (no longer offered), RIC, RGC, SGC, SMGC, AGC, AAGC, IIC, SPI... Gesundheit!) is professionalism. Guides work in a highly demanding, stressful environment. Whether that is at a crowded rock crag with a group of never-evers, or deep in the wilderness, alone with a strong climber on a technical ridge traverse a guide needs some structure from which to make choices and decisions. In these difficult and varied environments, we need experience, knowledge, personality, patience and a whole slew of other attributes you can't even begin to imagine. Formalized professional development courses provide that structure, as well as peer review and crucial skills.

This round of the AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Course (June 3-5, 2011) was attended by a talented and varied group. We had a father-son team, just a few months into an open-ended climbing road trip. We had a charismatic veteran of 112 El Capitan ascents. We had a 5.12 crack climber and a relatively new leader. Also attending in various capacities were an SMG "consultant/intern", wrestling-coaching-single-father-engineer, and myself as the token "perpetual student". Talk about diversity of background!

Sprung Has Sprung...Almost

Hey Everyone!

Mount Whitney Approach

 What a crazy winter we have been having! With sunny skies and 70 degree temps through January and early March, we were beginning to think that mother nature was ready to hail in the warmer weather for good. These last few weeks have proven us wrong though, and winter has come back in full force! With as much precipitation to rival the first storm we got back in December, our winter trips are still in full swing. We have been running some rad ski trips, with deep powder goodness. Touring season has just about started and should be ideal in the coming months. We also ran our last avalanche course this last weekend, with the tons of snow providing a very educational backdrop. If you missed out this season, fret not, we will be running them again en mass next winter. We also made a few gallant efforts to summit Whitney via the Mountaineers Route but mother nature shut us down. These are a few pics Lyra's summit bid. However, even with all this winter surrounding us, spring is without a doubt on the horizon.SMG is gearing up for what will surly be our best spring/summer season ever! So get out there and enjoy this wonderful white snow, because as with all great things, it will eventually come to an end. 

Snowshoeing i