Ouray Ice Climbing, Jan. 2011

The annual trip to Ouray Ice Festival with Mark, Chris, and Marty
















Val and Stacy Pilsbury, first time ice climbers enjoy a break from the climbing, and enjoy a walk through
the Ouray Ice Park.


















Another view in the Ouray Ice Park, beautiful ice everywhere.















A slack liner balances across the 50 meter gorge during the Ice Festival.















Mark Stepovich belays Chris Mahr.
















Chris on the left, Marty on the right goes after a mixed route up to the hanging pillar.

Feather Peak Coulior

August 2010 ice in the Eastern High Sierra














The gorgeous Royce Lakes Basin below Feather Peak.
















Chris Kulp approaching the coulior

















Up the snow and onto the ice, it was in great conditions this last August.















The beautiful sweep of the Feather Peak Coulior drops below the heels of Chris.
















Nearing the top, swing to tool, kick the feet, repeat....

The Alps, August 2010, with Gary Arce

Gary and I met in Zermatt, Switzerland to begin our climbs of the Matterhorn, and Mont Blanc.
The Mountain Guide.

















Gary on the Breithorn, a warm up outing prior to the Matterhorn.
















The Briethorn has some stimulating snow, ice, and rock climbing, occasionally on very narrow ridges.
















Gary and Doug with the iconic Matterhorn behind, viewed from Zermatt.















The local music festival features the Alpshorn quartet.
















Gary Arce on the summit of the Matterhorn with "Saint Bernard" watching over the climbers below.















Doug on the summit of Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France
















Gary nearing the end of a 14 hour day as we descend from Mont Blanc

French and Swiss Alps, 2010

Summer 2010 saw us on Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and a attempt on the Eiger
The Mountain Guide travels to Europe.

Keith Bortle and I had a great time in the Alps this season, with beautiful peaks, nice people, and the Euro not in our favor.















Stepping out on the glacier above Chamonix, France Keith and I join a few of our friends for
a little glacier stroll.















Keith follows a pitch on the Cosmique Arete, a wonderful mixed route that end at the cable car station.














Keith and I cross the glacier towards Mont Blanc (15,781') as we start what will become an 18hr. day climbing
over Mont Blanc du Tacul, Mont Maudit, and then to the summit of Mont Blanc.














Keith nearing the summit of Maudit. We had the route to ourselves that day, a very rare treat. BUT, we had to pay
for that treat with some deep snow trailbreaking.














Doug on Mont Maudit with extraordinary mountain scenery all around.



















Descending the Monch, a moderate outing near the Eiger in Grindlewald, Switzerland

East Buttress, El Cap with Shirley Wes and Kay Wilson.....the rest of the story..

In May 2010, Shirley Wes and Kay Wilson came to Yosemite to continue their training for the
East Buttress of El Capitan, a 13 pitch, 5.10b. First climbed in 1953, this classic Valley route
has it all...face, fingers, hands, fist, stemming, and yes, everyone's favorite...chimneys. The
Mountain Guide


















The beautiful morning light on The Cathedrals as we approach El Capitan.



















Shirley and Kay get down to business. The chimney and stemming of Pitch 1. (a full body workout)





















Now when does a foothold become a handhold ?


























Kay nears the anchor at the end of pitch 1.


















Kay on p 6. This was quite challenging as it was very wet from Horsetail blowing water on us as
the afternoon winds picked up.

















Shirley and Kay on the Nose belay. We waited here for some time as there was a slower party ahead of us
and overcast prevented the sun from drying the rock from Horsetail Falls blowing water.





















Shirley on p 7, the 5.9 fist and face pitch. This was hard as the rock was a bit wet.

















Kay enjoying the view from high on El Capitan. We were past the crux of the route, but still needed to hustle
as the remaining pitches and the lengthy descent would press us toward darkness.



















The summit with The Three Bothers and the Valley in evening light. What a wonderful day on the rock, with great partners, a day to
remember.

Yosemite, May 2010, with Shirley Wes & Kay Wilson

Shirley and Kay are planning and preparing to climb the East Buttress of El Cap in June and have been polishing their wide crack skills in Moab, UT and Red Rock, NV with guide Amie Barns and now here in Yosemite with me. Not many folks chose to work on their wide crack skills as it is so physical, gotta hand it to these gals.
The Mountain Guide


















The Iota Chimney, Kay and Shirley wanted ( they really did) to polish their wide crack skills as we prep for the East Buttress of El Capitan in mid June. I have guided for YMS, Yosemite Mountaineering School since 1984 and can count on one hand the number of times people have requested chimneys, fist cracks, and flares. Way Proud !


















Next, off to Reed Pinnacle, regular route, and Bongs Away (not shown) for some variety in our skill development. And to have a little fun of course.

















Kay Wilson on pitch 2 of the Braille Book, a 5 pitch 5.8 up Higher Cathedral Rock. It was a gorgeous day out, with a few parties behind us. The Valley was as beautiful as ever !
















Pitch 3 of the Braille Book, way off the deck, stemming away, oh so good !
















Shirley, Doug, and Kay on the descent from Higher Cathedral Rock.

Yosemite, May 2010, A day on the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral.

The East Buttress of Middle Cathedral, grade IV, 5.9, A0, one of the Fifty Classic Climbs in North America. The Mountain Guide















At the base of the route in the morning light, Sloan Larsen and Daniel Kennedy prepping for the route above, 10 pitches of the best moderate terrain in the Valley.



















Sloan Larsen on pitch 6, a wonderful 60 meter rope stretcher of everything good, fingers, hands, fists, laybacking, and some good stemming. It doesn't get much better that this.



















Sloan nearing the belay ledge at the end of pitch 6, with El Cap meadow and the Merced River far below.



















Daniel pacing himself on the long 6th pitch as he cleans the gear. We were quite fortunate to have only one other party on the route that day, a very uncommon event given the well deserved popularity of the route.
















Sloan nearing the top, it turned out to be a longer day than normal as the descent gully was choked with snow. We had rappels through waterfalls, a number of rappels off snow bollards, a very alpine finish to a great day in Yosemite Valley.