Family Ice Climbing in Colorado “You really want me to ice climb?” “C’mon Dad! I know you can do it!” cried 8-year old Izzy, tugging on her father’s hand and directing him toward the leather couch in our reception area. Grinning in the thin air of Telluride’s 8,750 foot elevation, Ernie allowed himself to be…
I received a phone call from a climber yesterday who had been on one of our Denali expeditions this summer. While looking back at his photos from the expedition, wanted to reach out and share a story about passing around the infamous Windy Corner at around 13,400’ on the West Buttress Route. He thanked us…
Date: September 18, 2015 Route: SW Chimney 5.8 TH: Cross Mountain Time: 10:05 total Distance: 10.1 miles El gain: 3,060 ft. Gear: 70m rope, standard double rack and a single #4 was plenty for pitch 1, and a ½ rack plus the #4 for the final pitch Lizard head is a classic ascent that ranks…
I’m just back from a great couple of weeks climbing volcanoes and traveling around the beautiful country of Ecuador with Greg, Vanessa, and Nick Blasic. We met in Quito and made the requisite tourist visits to the Mitad del Mundo (the Equator line), and beautiful historic Old Town Quito. It was my first visit to…
Dallas Peak, CO 13,809ft Date: July 23, 2015 TH: Mill Creek Time: 11:40 total Distance: 10.1 miles El gain: 4,420ft Gear: 60m rope, #.5 – #1 Camalots, set of nuts Dallas Peak is a exciting adventure comprising of some excellent single track trail, off trail hiking and a great deal of 3rd classing with…
A couple of our guides, Jacob Schmitz and Josh Garner, are off on a personal adventure to climb the 5th highest peak in the world, Makalu (8481 meters/27,825 ft). They have arrived in base camp, and had their Puja and they are ready to climb! They are with a couple of climber/guides from Argentina and…
It’s nice to have arrived home to some snow! While there was snow up high when I left, the lower elevations and most south faces were pretty darn dry. Now it feels like winter, and makes the temperate climate of Ecuador seem all the more appealing. The trip I helped out with had been…
Our Ecuador team took a couple of days to rest and enjoy the tropical lushness of Banos, Ecuador following an exciting and fun ascent of the 5897m volcano, Cotopaxi. We hiked up to the Jose Ribas hut in the mid afternoon of the 15th and ate an early dinner. After five hours of restless sleep…
Our entire Carstensz Pyramid team summitted on the 20th and 21st of the month. Congratulations to all including our guide Scott Woolums, who completed his 4th and 5th lap of the complete 7 summits by summiting twice on consecutive days! Here are the climbers: Summit Oct. 21st Alan Arnette. Colorado, USA Chuck Raper. California, USA…