About a week ago now, Vince Tinnerello, and I successfully climbed the East Gully (4th Class) on the Crestone Needle (14, 197′).

With the South Colony Rd. recently redone by the USFS, we aere able to both get our vehicles up the famously awful road for an evening rendezvous at the upper trailhead, below the shadow of the Ellingwood Arete route on ‘The Needle’. That night as we went to bed under cloudy and rainy skies, the conditions seemed to be stacking against us, as we knew it was inevitably snowing up high. Sure enough, a 4:00 am start, found my truck (my travelling tent) and everything else coated in a thin veneer of ice…we were sure we would find more of this up higher, and it could easily turn us around in the East Gully, as we were more prepared for a summer climb with no crampons or ice axes.

The approach to the South Colony Lakes went quickly, and sunrise found us making our way up to Broken Hand Pass, through lightly snow covered scree and talus. This part of the route proved to be the most treacherous part of the day, and what is a scrambly trail at worst in the summer, required ropework and careful footwork to successfully navigate in the fall alpine conditions we were greeted with.

Once on top of Broken Hand Pass, we could see that the SW exposure of the East Gully route was sunny enough, that all but a trickle of verglas in the very center of the couloir was dry and sunny. Due to the direct nature of the route and Vince’s solid footwork, I opted to take a harder (4th class) but wuicker and cleaner route for us to the summit ridge, by going up the East Gully proper to it’s terminus. From here it was a short exposed ridge scramble and we were rewarded at 9:30am with the small and exposed summit of Crestone Needle all to ourselves.

A mixture of surprisingly cold winds and quickly building clouds had us heading back down our ascent route after a brief 10 min. on the summit…just enough for some mandatory pictures and a quick bite of food and water. Vince dispensed with the technical portions of the descent much quicker then on the way up, and we found ourselves 1 hr. later at the top of the still snowy and icy Broken Hand Pass. Once again, rope work and careful routefinding took us down to the lakes and a quick hike back to the cars…drinking celebratory beers by 12:30 pm.

Vince, thanks for a fun climb in less then desireable conditions. Looking forward to climbing more 14ers with you in the future, and getting that coveted 14er ski descent this spring as well.

—Your Guide, Jayson Simons-Jones

This past weekend CBMG Guides & WMI of NOLS Instructors Billy Rankin & Jayson Simons-Jones held the first ever CBMG sponsored wilderness medicine training course, by offering a 3-day Wilderness First Responder Recertification Course. The WFR curriculum is a 72 hour wilderness medicine training that is the industry standard for all professional guides, educators, and instructors in the outdoor industry.

The course covers large amounts of medical topics and skills, such as: patient assessment, fracture management, cardiac emergencies, spinal injury management, altitude illness, diabetes, CPR, and a host of other theory and practical skill sets relating to common trauma, medical, and environmental emergency scenarios. The Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS is the premier provider in wilderness medicine training, having helped develop and refine the curriculum and recertification standards for the industry over the past 2 decades.

Everyone that holds a current WFR certification is required every 3 years to re-certify through this intensive scenario based format, in which folks must pass a written exam and demonstrate competency in a variety of practical skill sets also. This weekend’s recert course followed just this format, and was stacked with a full enrollment of 30 folks that came to Crested Butte to enjoy the incredible surroundings under beautifully clear and cloudless autumn skies in Colorado.

Folks descended upon Crested Butte from all over the state and beyond, and from a variety of different outdoor professions ranging from river guides, school teachers, camp counselors, mountain guides, NOLS & Outward Bound instructors, and government agency field workers. After a long an intensive weekend of three 9-hour days of wilderness emergency medicine scenarios, all 30 students left freshly WFR-Recertified for another 3 years.

Look for more WFR-Recert Courses and some other wilderness medical course types to be offered by CBMG as the seasons unfold in the future.

Congrats to all the course participants for a super fun and super good course, we hope you never have to use any of these skills, but we feel good knowing everyone out there is in good hands if you need to. C-ya all again in 3 years time.

— Your Instructors , Billy & Jayson

Fall is perfect climbing season in The Black Canyon. At an elevation of just over 5,000′ on the western slope of Colorado, summer is too hot to climb on all but the coolest days in the shade, so spring and fall are perfect. In celebration of her 50th birthday, longtime client of mine and CBMG, Karen Fontenot enjoyed her first rockclimbing adventure to the famed Black Canyon of the Gunnison, by blazing up Maiden Voyage (III 5.9-) in 3 hours ! Karen has climbed numerous routes with us for years in the Crested Butte area, and was finally ready to venture onto the bigger walls offered here, and ushered in CBMG’s fall Black Canyon guiding season for 2008.

A few days prior Karen & I spent a day at local Taylor Canyon training for ‘The Black’ by climbing Aqua Dog (5.7+) & Dunn’s Dihedral (5.8). Taylor Canyon is a great prep area for The Black Canyon, as the climbing and grades are similar in techniques and difficulty. This proved to be a great benefit for Karen, as by the time we headed into the canyon, she was both mentally and physically ready for the demanding climbing, and made a successful all-free ascent (no falls) of Maiden Voayage (III 5.9-).

 The Black Canyon is a dramatic and beautiful rockclimbing venue, but can also be quite intimidating due to it’s remoteness and committing nature of the climbs. We left Crested Butte early in the dawn hours, and 2 hours later were beginning our descent into the Cruise Gully. After an hour of steep scrambling and 2 mandatory rappels we were at the base of the climb, with the only way back out to the canyon rim being technical climbing above us (retreat is a difficult option once in). The weather proved perfect, with temps in the 80′s and shade on the wall all morning for us. We had the good fortune of being the only climbers in the canyon that day, and enjoyed 6 pitches of incredible climbing on stellar rock, topping out in the early afternoon sun at 12:30. A brief stint on the summit to take in the views of the canyon and the raging Gunnison River far below, and we did one rappel off the summit block and had a 30 min struggle back up a side gully to the canyon rim and our car. We were back in Crested Butte with a successful climb under our belt in time for happy hour!

Karen, congrats on coming a long-way over the years with your climbing skills, and in getting a big goal accomplished in great style. Looking forward to more adventures in ‘The Black’ with you.

— Your Guide, Jayson Simons-Jones

Leaving CB in the summer time is tough, but the French alps provide an endless playground for rock and alpine excursions not to be missed. Having spent the past couple summer seasons guiding in Chamonix, I was looking forward to another exciting season in the big mountains

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With lots of late spring snow, and good weather through the center of the summer, most routes were in good condition through July and into August. The glaciers were full and the Alpine rock was baking in the sun. Between guided trips on Mont Blanc, the Breithorn, the Riffelhorn and the local via ferrata I was able to pull of some classic routes such as the Grand Capusian, The Augillle Doree and the south face of the Augille du Midi.

The climbing culture is vastly different in the Alps. During the summer climbing months, thousands of people head into the mountains. Local crags host families top roping near the center of town. The mountain trains and ski lifts take visitors and climbers to the glaciers edge, and mountains which required weeks for the first ascents are achievable in day outings with a stop at the mountain side coffee shop before and after the climb.

The few bad weather days encountered in Chamonix were quickly compensated for with a half hour drive through the tunnel under Mont Blanc to Italy. Frequently the Massif blocks the weather in to the north, keeping Italy and it’s amazing sport crags in the warm sunshine. Disappointed Mont Blanc clients quickly forgot about their summit bid while sitting in the coffee bar a stone’s throw away from the multipitch sport climbs they had just finished.

The Alps offer all types of activities in the summer. From trail hiking to ice climbing, glacier walks to mixed test pieces, and of course big mountain climbing. The infrastructure and mountain culture makes climbing in the Alps an experience all mountain enthusiasts should enjoy.

Posted By Steve Banks