Twin Peaks Guided Hike

Had a beautiful day up on the Twin Peaks Trail today with David and Joel from the Midwest. There is till a bunch of snow on the trail up higher on the North aspects, but it is manageable.

Enjoying the first of many scenic vistas.

The beautiful City of Ouray from 2,500 feet above.

David takes in the grand panorama from the summit. Potosi Peak and Whitehouse Mountain are in the background.

Making our way down through some nice Spring vegetation with the peaks behind.

David demonstrates good log and pole crossing skills to his entertained brother.

Thanks guys! Great day!

CC

Potosi Peak

Mark guided long time SJMG family member Julie from New Mexico on the imposing Potosi Peak on monday. This peak has a certain notoriety for being loose and unpleasant, but as you'll see from the photos its good right now! Just make sure you have good snow skills and get an early start.

Mark nears the top of the couloir.

Julie enjoys the view from the top.

The only scree on the route, at the very top.

A short thin ice crux provided a smidge of excitement!

Nice work!

Skiing the Snake Couloir

Spent this sweet Saturday guiding Sam from New Mexico down the Snake Couloir on Mount Sneffels. The weather was beautiful, despite a steady breeze. We left the car around 11,000ft at 0500 and started the skin up into Yankee Boy Basin. Climbing conditions were quite good, and we were up on the summit in a couple hours.

Sam on the 14,150 ft summit of Mount Sneffels.

We fueled up, set the rappel anchor, and headed down into the top of the Snake. At the end of the rope we found some really nice soft snow, and we started to think this might be a good day. We put on the boards and got psyched. The conditions on the top half were a little variable, but we found mostly soft powder lingering on the skier's left side. Sam proceeded to rip it up.

Sam making some nice turns down the first leg off the summit.

At the dogleg bend we encountered a nice combination of fresh corn snow and powder in the shade. The crux of the descent is the tight and steep section just down from the bend. It was pretty hard with a runnel worn into the middle, but Sam did an awesome job of side-slipping and hop-turning through it. We were soon down into more soft powder where the couloir opens up, and Sam let 'em run a bit!

Sam gets a bit more aggressive!

Overall, we could not have asked for better conditions. 

Sam takes a breather and reflects on this incredible high mountain descent.

Thanks Sam! Super Special Day!

Cheers, CC

Looking back up at the choke from high in Blaine Basin.

Rock Climbing in the Moab Desert

Spent last weekend over in Moab, climbing with Bill from California. It was his first experience climbing the unique sandstone of this area. With some specific instruction on different hand and foot jamming techniques, pointers on combining these techniques into movement sequences, and a few practice laps; Bill was climbing right up some challenging cracks. 

We started off at the very popular Wall Street area. We were the first ones there and were able to jump around and climb exactly the routes we wanted all day. We alternated between classic slab routes like Snake Slab 5.8, and classic crack routes like the Flakes of Wrath 5.9+. Each of these routes has different opportunities for learning different skills. We had an awesome first day with over 10 pitches of sandstone sweetness!

The Snake Slab 5.8+, Wall Street

The Flakes of Wrath 5.9+, Wall Street

 We wrapped up the trip with the world famous and very unique Ancient Art Tower. Located in the Fisher Towers outside of Moab, Ancient Art is a twisted spire of Cutler Sandstone that appears to defy the laws of gravity. After a couple pitches of bolted face and fun chimney climbing we were positioned under the final column in the sky. Everything was very fun and Bill enjoyed his momentary perch high above the desert floor.

Bill starting up the final pitch on the Stolen Chimney II 5.9 A0, Ancient Art, Fisher Towers

Don't Slip! Bill braves the exposure and has a stand on top!

Sweet trip! Thanks Bill!

Cheers, CC

Spring in the San Juans

Changing seasons here in the San Juans. One day its beautiful and the next it snows a bunch!

There is plenty of good skiing around, and super nice rock climbing in the sun as well. It should be a good alpine season, although maybe a little later to start perhaps. It has definitely been a late winter around Ouray. Not sure how the roads are plowed out everywhere, but there is still a lot of snow up high.

June and July should prove to be great times for climbing snow and ice routes on the high peaks of the Sneffels, Wilson, and Cimarron ranges.

Right now we are all climbing in the desert or Black Canyon or skiing. Hope everyone out there is enjoying Spring as well! I'm headed to Alaska for a 12-day alpine expedition, but am already looking forward to the sunny rock climbing and beautiful alpine climbing back here!

Cheers, Clint

While many are turning their attention to the coming spring time, a few hardy souls know that the ice climbing is not only still good, the crowds are gone. Scott and I enjoyed two quiet days in the ice park. The second day we were joined by Dave and had the whole scottish gullies area to ourselves.

Scott and Dave both had ice climbed before but were looking for a refresher on the foundations of their ice climbing skills. We worked our way through San Juan Mountain Guides uniquely effective ice climbing curriculum. From triangles to monkey hangs to flagging and using your hips, Scott and Dave quickly moved from low angle ice to vertical ice to

over hung chandeliered ice. Exercises like climbing with no tools then with one tool and climbing without kicking or swinging taught the duo how to stay stable on their feet and how to move creatively on the deceptively varied medium of ice.

Great job gentlemen we look forward to going even bigger next year!

Train to Go Big

Matt has big plans. This spring he is headed to Mount Rainier's Liberty Ridge, a spectacular objective in and of itself. The ice tower some climbers in Michigan constructed near Matt's home was not quite enough training. So Matt decided to come out to Ouray, Colorado for four jam packed days of steep snow and lots and lots of ice.

Matt and I hit the must see venues of Ouray ice climbing. We spent the obligatory day in the ice park honing Matt's technique over the course of around a thousand feet of climbing. The next day we figured, why not a thousand more? So we headed over for a sunny day on Eureka's Stairway to Heaven. Though the good weather did not hold Matt and I were able to get plenty of climbing in over the next two days on Horsetail Falls, several routes at the Skylight area, and a few long laps in the Pic o' the Vic area in the ice park to wind down the day.

Matt is climbing strong and certainly ready to take on Liberty Ridge. Good luck Matt!

P.S. Watch the top outs on Skylight they are a bit slushy/non-existent.