Thanks to Steve from Atlanta, GA for great company and a hard-earned summit of Mount Whitney from the more adventurous side. This was like no hike or climb he had ever experienced and he did a great job. Besides the amazing sunrise and the perfect weather, a highlight was catching a decent sized trout from Upper Boy Scout lake with one cast of a fly. Here’s to more mountain experiences in the future together with Steve!
Black Kaweah & Hamilton Dome
SMG Guide Jed Porter and Chad Buelow just returned from a grand adventure in Sequoia National Park. Here is a short video Jed made that tells the story!
Want to see commercial airline service in Bishop? You can help!
Hey everyone who may be interested: The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power has granted a long-term lease to the Bishop airport, here at the gateway to the Eastern Sierra. This means it is eligible for FAA funding that could bring commercial air service to our town. Most of us know that the Mammoth Airport is just not a viable solution, due to constant delays and cancellation potential from mountain weather. An upgraded Bishop Airport would be a …
A Letter to Dustin
August 9th, 2014 Dustin Boylin Lake Gregory Regional Park, Member Dear Dustin, On a beautiful trip to the Williamson Bowl in the High Sierra this week, we set up camp near one of the pristine alpine lakes at around 12,200 feet. Soon after setting up our tent, we discovered, in a rock hollow, your cache. At first we thought perhaps this camp area had already been claimed by someone, but then we noticed it was just a small hydration pack …
Wounded Warriors 2014!
For more than five years now we have had the privilege of donating a day of climbing to the Wounded Warriors program. ESDS (Eastern Sierra Disable Sports) has a spring program for the Wounded Warriors that provides incredible mountain opportunities for disabled veterans and their families. For a week each spring guests participate in a myriad of mountain activities. There is fishing, boating, kayaking, hand biking, hiking, camping, climbing, and much, much more. ESDS has built this program into a …
Palisades! August 1-4, 2014
“It is ordained that three dry round grains of barley make an inch, 12 inches make a foot, [and] three feet make a yard.” -AD 1303. Henry III in the “Composition of Yards and Perches“ And 14,000 feet make a significant mountaineering challenge. As your “Guides to the Sierra Mountain(s)” we are forever reaching further and further into the corners of the world’s greatest mountain range. We are on an undying quest to find the best of the best and the …
New Routes in Sequoia National Park
Over the last two summers Sierra Mountain Guides has visited Lone Pine Canyon in Sequoia National Park on 2 separate guided explorations. The soon-to-be-Sierra-classic climb and ridge traverse that has come to be known as Sabre Ridge and the adjacent formation known as the Prism were climbed by Brandon Thau, et al and reported in the American Alpine Journal. The first known ascent of the Sabre Ridge was by a trail crew member in 2008 and the Prism has seen …
The Hidden Value of a Mountain Guide – from Middle Palisade & Mount Russell
Tom and Andy are a couple of very intelligent and engineers from the Eastern US. They work for the Department of Defense to help keep all of us Americans safe. They are also experienced mountaineers. Why then have they had so much trouble summiting mountains in the Sierra together over the past decade? Altitude is probably blamed by many as the number one reason for aborting High Sierra climbs. It’s usually not conditions, as so many of the peaks are …
Demystifying the Ball Nut!
Ball Nuts? For those that have heard of them but have never tried them, they are thought of as a piece of aid climbing pro or a relic from a bygone climbing era. But for those that have used them for free climbing, especially on less traveled granite, and in the alpine, they tend to become an invaluable addition to the rack for many climbs. For those who have never heard of them at all, this may just sound like …
Why I Love Sierra Alpine Rock Climbing. An 8,002 word essay from last Thursday.
Absolutely incredible.* (*each picture is worth 1,000 words)
Backpacking Mammoth to Tuolumne: June 28 – July 1, 2014
Kyle and Kurt Kupiec engaged our services for a journey from the Eastside, through the Ritter Range, to Tuolumne Meadows and we sent them out with one of our best – Jen Reynolds! Here are some excerpts from her report with some photos of the team: I met with Kyle and Kurt the night before the trip and did a gear check so that they could get packed and ready that night before heading out. I brought the group gear and their …
Alpine Conditions Report – Incredible Hulk – July 2, 2014
Howdy alpine rock climbers. This edition of the Alpine Conditions report is focused on the Sawtooth Range and specifically the vicinity of the Incredible Hulk. We just spent a few days there in Little Slide Canyon and would like to share with you our findings. Read our recent trip report from the Red Dihedral for a nice photo gallery that will further inform and titillate you. (Love that word titillate, and glad for the opportunity to use it with you …