Well folks…we said it was gonna happen anyday, and…well…it has….feet of fresh powder to kick off Winter 2010/2011 !!! 

 If you haven’t been thinking yet about getting in an Avalanche Course, backcountry skiing or riding in the deep powder, or swinging some axes on an ice climbing trip..now is the time !

“We’re Out There”…you should be out there with us !!!

The Fall 2010 Season at Crested Butte Mountain Guides has quickly come and gone, and already we are finding ourselves preparing for the inevitable arrival of Winter any day now. But before we begin writing about backcountry skiing, ice climbing, and avalanche courses, we thought we would share a bit of our Fall off-season travels and plans for Winter 2010/2011. 

September & October brought typical beautiful and perfect weather to the Colorado high country, with warm cloudless days and crisp cool star filled nights. The changing of the aspen leaves was once again one of the highlights of the year in the Crested Butte backcountry, and we enjoyed our last weeks of the Summer season guiding folks on fall foliage hiking trips, rockclimbing in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, and mountain-biking amidst the golden aspens.

CBMG Guide, Ross Matlock, ran our 2nd Annual Fall Technical Mountain Biking Clinic and had a fun and successful time, with great riding conditions, while many of the rest of us guides mixed work and play with lots of local rockclimbing in Taylor Canyon, The Black Canyon, and trips to the Utah Desert and Red Rocks, NV….JSJ even made it back to his old stomping grounds after a nearly 8 year hiatus, back to Joshua Tree, CA.

The big news of the Fall season around Crested Butte Mountain Guides, was of Senior Guide, Mike Bromberg, achieving his IFMGA/UIAGM Guide License. Mike, passed his last and final exam with the AMGA, his Alpine Exam, in the Washington Cascade Mountains, making Mike the 2nd guide at CBMG to achieve this highest level of professional certification, and one of less then 75 guides nationally that is recognized at the international level. Big congrats to Mike from all of us here at CBMG….

To celebrate his achievement, Mike got to work with other CBMG IFMGA/UIAGM Guide, Steve Banks, running a Rock & Alpine Training Seminar for the FBI here in Crested Butte, during a particularly stormy and unfriendly week of weather, as Colorado received it’s first major winter storm of the season, dropping over 2+’ of fresh snow in town in late Oct.

 So….now here we all are once again. Gathered in the ‘Guide Shack’, talking Winter, and getting excited for all the new adventures this season that await for us all on the ice, in the classroom, and out in the powder. It is snowing again outside, and while some of us are getting the last of our rockclimbing days in, others are seeking out the early season ice climbing and backcountry skiing and riding.

 We are excited for Winter 2010/2011 and hope you all are too, and that you will join us for a great Winter backcountry experience here in our wonderful backyard of Crested Butte, Colorado, on  a backcountry ski or hut trip, avalanche course or ice climbing trip. Or farther abroad to Mexico for our Orizaba Expedition, or this Spring in Europe on the World Famous Haute Route Ski Tour and Ski Mountaineering in Alaska….

—CBMG Staff

Though summer may be officially over, there is no shortage of activities and fun to be had.  We are staying quite busy climbing in the Black Canyon, summiting the Crestones, and hiking in the beautiful West Elk Mountains - taking in the vibrant color changes of fall!

And we will continue to climb as the days get nicer in the desert.  Don’t forget to check out our Utah Desert Climbing Camp held October 11-15, 2010.  5 days of learning the basics of pure crack climbing technique on the world-famous sandstone cracks of the Utah Desert Area.

While we are definitely still enjoying the warm weather, our minds are also never too far from thinking about the snow!  Check out our ‘When Is it Going to Snow Contest’  to place your bet on when it will first snow (1/2 inch on our Guide’s bench!), and win a 2 for 1 trip or course with CBMG this winter!  

Stay tuned for the adventures coming this winter, including climbing Orizaba in Mexico, ski mountaineering in Alaska, and our ice-climbing camps!