Hey All, I went in yesterday, Jan 17th to put in a track with snowshoes after the storm. I recommend snowshoes, but it will be a packed down track for boots soon, I’m sure. Climbs still look in good shape. Road is plowed. Happy Climbing!
Best 48 Hours in Bishop!
Fall is quickly approaching, temperatures are dropping and the rock climbing season in Bishop is upon us! Well to be honest the climbing on the east side is amazing year round but Fall is when this zone really shines and there are two areas that stand out- the Owens River Gorge and Pine Creek Canyon. The best two days you could spend in Bishop would be climbing at these two crags. “The Gorge” as locals call it is home to …
Devil’s Dream Tour & Backcountry Snow Report – April 7, 2017
Happy spring Eastern Sierra skiers and riders! Hope you are enjoying the Sierra backcountry season so far. It’s only around half way done. And with that in mind I would like this post to serve a few different purposes: 1) to help inform you about recent and current conditions as per usual, 2) to celebrate June Mountain and all that it offers us backcountry recreators on the eve of it’s annual spring closure, and 3) to report on a tour …
Trip Report – Palisades Traverse: June 15-18, 2016
Jimmy and Jack are some pretty cool cats, and they are down for adventure. Hailing from the east coast they have also fallen in love with the eastside of the Sierra with its blue skies and granite peaks. They have shared views of these peaks with their families and they have dreamed of the opportunity to climb them with a local, professional guide. I met Jimmy and Jack last summer during a crack climbing and self-rescue skills day we …
Trip Report: The Juggernaut & Peeler Pillar
Whosoever touches this gem shall possess the power of the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become forevermore a human juggernaut! With respect to alpine rock climbing, the Sierra Nevada gets more and more amazing every year. Perhaps nowhere more so than the Sawtooth Range. In 1970, a grade V 5.8 A3 route was completed on a prominent pinnacle on the northeast ridge of Eocene Peak. With its unusual scale and attitude, the wall came …
Trip Report – Red Rock, Nevada | November 2014
It’s only “Snow-vember” in the High Sierra shade right now. Thanks to high pressure and record warm temps, the high sunny places have felt more like “Rocktober.” Down in the desert, the conditions have been as dreamy and perfect in both sun and shade as they can be this time of year. With the assistance of our friends at Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, their guest guiding program and one of their top local guides, Josh Janes, we commenced our semiannual (spring …
One Weekend in Autumn…
It was good that Alex had the wherewithal to contact me last week about a climb of Charlotte Dome over the Columbus Day weekend. We enjoyed comfortable temperatures, a kiss of westerlies, and all the gloriously textured and featured granite that one can dream of. Charlotte Dome captivated our entire day, stopping time like mug of hot coffee or a snifter of fine brandy, and our cups raneth over. This October, the month of harvest, we reaped peaceful rewards after …
Featured Alpine Route: The Southeast Ridge of Mount Russell
The Southeast Ridge of Mount Russell (III, 5.9) is a classic alpine gem of a route that gets relatively little traffic or mention by guidebook authors. There are 7 different guidebooks for climbing on Mount Russell in my library and the route is listed in 3 of them. There are surprisingly very few details about this route that I could discover in these books, or from internet searches, so I figure this might be useful for someone. A conversation …
Trip Report – Mount Whitney, Mountaineer’s Trout – August 18-20, 2014
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!
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 …
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 …