This past Spring season, exciting things have been happening at Crested Butte Mountain Guides. CBMG Guides have travelled far and wide in search of powder, singletrack, and warm rock, some for play and rest after a long and busy winter of guiding, others keeping the work season going through the Spring off-season lull.

A first stop on many lists was Moab, UT…only 4 hours away, but a great respite from a long and cold Crested Butte winter, with great warm sunshine, invting sandstone Desert Rockclimbing and dozens of desert towers to get back out on the rock, miles of some of the world’s best singletrack to begin the Mountain-Biking season with, and of course great camping.

CBMG Guide Steve Banks headed off to Europe to guide the Classic Haute Route Ski Tour between Chamonix and Zermatt once again. Steve has just returned to Crested Butte and word is, the trip had great conditions and was once again smooth and successful. Join us next year on this ‘must-do’ ski mountaineering tour. Look for Steve’s write-up on this BLOG coming soon. 

 Closer to home, the wet and stormy weather in the Colorado high country kept the Ski Mountaineering season going through late May. CBMG Guides Johnny MacKinnon, and Mike Soucy have been busy guiding these ski descents both locally on the Mt. CB ‘Guides Ridge’ and farther abroad on some of Colorado’s 14ers. Either a great capstone experience to the ski season, an intro into bigger more technical skiing, or as a training regimen for bigger and more complicated mountains, make sure to join us on a Ski Mountaineering trip in 2011.

This off-season the CBMG World Headquarters also got a face lift, as we disposed of the old dingy carpet and replaced it with some brand-new oak hardowwd floors, installed by CBMG’s own JSJ. We think they do alot to brighten and open up our cozy little miner’s cabin, so make sure and come check out the new(er) digs, just make sure to wipe your feet at the “Guide Shack” door.

Lastly, warmer days are here, and dry rock abounds from the Utah Desert, to the local Taylor Canyon and The Black Canyon. This summer, as well as having our standard Rockclimbing Programs and guided opportunities, we are once again having our successful Women’s Climbing Series, a 3-day High Angle Rock Rescue Course, and a few Yoga /Climbing Retreats. Visit www.crestedbutteguides.com or call us for more details.

Don’t delay. Get out and enjoy summer in the Colorado high country and in the Crested Butte backcountry. Book your guided summer adventure today with Crested Butte Mountain Guides. Currently offering guided trips daily in: Rockclimbing, Mountaineering, Mountain Biking, Hiking, Backpacking, Skills Instruction/Training or simply a fully supported car camping trip around a campfire under the Colorado stars…

 —CBMG Staff

Crested Butte Mountain Guides has a few spaces left on our Colorado Spring Ski Mountaineering Camp being held in Crested Butte on April 8-11, 2010. As the resorts close, it’s time to go bigger and badder, so learn the technical skills of ski mountaineering from AMGA Ski Mountaineering Certified Guides in this 4-day camp. $525 / person. Call us 970….349.5430 or visit our website for more info: www.crestedbutteguides.com

It’s that time of year when we look in our garage, dust off the skis and evaluate if any significant gear purchases are needed or if some things need to be sold off.  It’s the season of ski swaps as well, an excellent venue for making a little extra cash, get a good deal on some touring gear, or to do some trolling for vintage gear.  Ski Swaps can be like ‘Antique Road Show’ for mountain folk.  Or you can get some great collectors items like when Pat O’Neill was selling his skins at last year’s Nordic swap (who knows how many races have been won with those skins!).  I’ve worked a number of swaps and I used to deal with a lot of gear, so I thought I’d start this winter season with a look at my own gear closet. 

I think for living in a ski town and working at a gear store, I’ve kept it pretty minimal with 3 pairs of skis (exluding my skate and nordic gear).  Let’s start with the Movement skis.  Movement is a little known Swiss company that is just starting to gain some ground here in the US.  The Freeheel is their assymetrical tele ski and I gotta say–I love them.  They’re great on the resort, but also nice to tour with.  Their line seems pretty ‘new school’, but across the board, their skis have gotten incredible reviews.  They don’t get that much press (I don’t think they were even included in Skiing Magazine’s Gear Review), but if you get a chance to demo them, you should.  Although then you’ll want to buy them, which could be bad. If you have a recession proof job–go for it!  But if you don’t, don’t even ski them–it’s better off just not knowing.  I put a Voile Switchback on them which I think is the most trouble free of the tele touring bindings.  I’ve tried the 01 and the Ascent, but I really like the Switchback for it’s even flex and it’s reliability.  It’s streamlined–not a lot of parts to break or have issues with and it flexes the most like my old hardwire Chili’s, which were my favorite tele bindings.

Next up is the Dynafit Mustagh Ata, or my ‘Lion King’ skis as Jayson once called them.  If you can get past the crazy chinese lion eyes staring back at you while you are skinning, then you’ll fall in love with this ski.  It’s amazingly light, but still very stiff.  I never drop the knee in the backcountry anyway, so these are my go-to skis for touring.  I’ve had these for a couple of years, and I’ve had so many good days on them not matter what the conditions are (except breakable crust–I just can’t have a good day on breakable crust no matter what skis I have).  They are mid-range in terms of width and I’ve never felt like I needed more ski or should have a thinner ski.  Incredibly versatile.  And of course Dynafit bindings speak for themselves.  I’ve never felt the need to go with the fancy-smancy FT12 binding, the Comfort has always been good to me.  Although I think they are discontinuing the Comfort, so the ST would be my choice.  If I could click my heels three times and get another pair of skis, I’d get the Manaslu’s–love those for deeper powder days.  But if I was searching for a one and only pair of AT skis, I’d probably go with the Mustagh ATA Superlights which are new this season. As far as the Phat Luv’s–I wouldn’t take those in the backcountry unless I was being towed on a snowmobile by Dan Locknecker for every run; the bindings make these fairly heavy. I did have a day of towed skiing up by Irwin last winter with these and they were just the ticket.  When we’re in a nice storm cycle, these can’t be beat for an awesome day on the  hill. I can’t believe I did it, but I did–I sold my Mega Rides this year. I’m trying to keep a stasis in the gear closet and I knew I wanted to get a slightly stronger boot than the Mega Rides, and I’m a Garmont girl, so I went with the Luster. It replaces last year’s Radium (for the ladies) and I swear they feel lighter than my Mega Rides! I’m excited about the wrap around cuff and the stronger flex. I haven’t skied them yet, but I know they’re going to be awesome. I’m now realizing I really could have taken better pictures . .. For tele boots I have the Garmont Elektra (white and silver) and my old Venus boots (blue) that I learned on. I really only ski the Elektra’s, but I keep the Venus’ around for the sole purpose of a lighter boot for the Al Johnson.   Also note my Puma’s there which were my indoor soccer shoes from high school that  are close to 20 years old (which after doing the math, I still cannot believe), I still cannot throw away.  They are literally ‘blue suede shoes’–I mean come on. 

You may be asking yourself why I included a picture of two random pieces of fabric–well this may be the most important $20 that only costs $1.32 to make piece of fabric in your gear closet!  The Buff!  Yes, we made fun of all the Europeans that wore them years ago (and when we saw them on ‘Survivor’ used as tube tops), and then we made fun of our friends that came back from Europe lauding the benefits of the buff, and then we made fun of our friends that wore them after getting them as a prize for the Randonee Rally, and then we finally bought one ourselves. . .I don’t know why this small piece of fabric makes such a difference, but it does. It’s often exactly what you need to shield your face from pin pricks of flying ice, or a little extra warmth around your neck, or the classic ‘buff/visor’ combo (which still makes me laugh at you, but just a little). I may have a Buff photo collection by the end of the season. All the guides love their Buffs. . .

My last favorite item that has proved extremely valuable in the backcountry is my Patagonia Down Sweater Jacket. This is the pullover from last year, but I think making it a zip up is a big improvement. It’s so frickin’ light, and so frickin’ warm. Perfect for when you get on top of a ridge and the wind is howling–it’s like wrapping a sleeping bag around you. It’s light enough not to be a burden in your pack and compact enough to squeeze on under your shell.
Well, that’s some of the items in my closet. We’ll be featuring some other employees of CBMG and find out what’s in their closet. I’ve heard that Jayson has 18 pairs of skis. . . let’s find out.
–Karina Steele (CBMG Office Manager)

This past weekend brothers Tom & Casey Kaptur once again joined Crested Butte Mountain Guides for a guided trip to the Sangre De Cristo Mountains for climbs of the difficult Crestone Peaks. The Kaptur’s have been regular guests of ours on their quest to complete all of the Colorado Fourteeners.

This year’s trip into the Crestones had a somewhat auspicious start, with a low level storm with lots of moisture blanketing the range on our approach day, so we opted for the dry comforts of town in the small ranching village of Westcliffe, CO, instead of camping and starting our trip off in the midst of a storm.

A  2am start from town had us bouncing up the 4wd South Colony Lakes Rd in the dark and leaving from the upper trailhead at 4am for an attempt at the Crestones Traverse. We were able to make good time under clear but windy conditions and reached 12,900′ Broken Hand Pass at sunrise, where we enjoyed a beautiful ridge walk above the clouds below and under the early morning sun.

 Once in the East Couloir on the Needle we roped up and made a climb straight up the gully to it’s terminus on the ridge, enjoying mostly 3rd and 4th class Crestone conglomerate knob climbing to the summit ridge, where a short scramble along the exposed ridge took us to an early morning 8:30 am summit.

Rapidly building clouds, deceasing visiblity, and high winds made the call for us that conditions for the traverse to CrestonePeak were not optimal so we opted to descend from the Needle with one difficult and successful summit under our belts and return to South Colony Lakes where we could set up camp and attempt Crestone Peak the following day.

 Once down at South Colony Lakes the weather seemed to be breaking, so Tom opted to try and tack on a climb of Humboldt Peak (14,064′) via it’s easy 2nd class route by himself, while Casey rested and secured a good campsite amongst the approaching weekend crowd, and I ran down to the truck at the trailhead to get our remaining overnight gear. As luck would have it, the weather took and incredible turn for the worst, and a half-hour after our sunny blue skies an incredibly fast moving storm was overhead and in no time was pelting sideways rain and hail while I hurried back with tents, and Tom was forced to retreat from 13,000′ on Humboldt.

 The rest of the afternoon was spent in our repective tents, soaked from being caught out there but warm, and waiting for that typical Colorado evening clearing so we could dry ourselves and gear off before tomorrow’s pre-dawn freezing cold start for Crestone Peak. We barely eeked out 45 min of evening sun, before shadow and night hit, and went to bed damp but motivated for the next day.

 Day 3 had us up early before the sun again, and walking out of camp at the lakes by 4am to be ahead of the weekendcrowd on popular Crestone Peak. The morning dawned clear and cold, and we made good time up over Broken Hand Pass again, anddown around to Cottonwood Lake and the base of Crestone Peak’s Southerly Red CouloirRoute. At the 12,600′ mark where we entered the gully proper, Casey had opted to turn around and save Crestone Peak for another day feeling sluggish andtired from the length and difficulty of the previous day’s climb.

 So as Casey chose to turn back, Tom & I opted to continue our climb, and headed into the clouds and frigid October like temperatures, making our way up the long 3rd and 4th class gully. We reached the summit by 8:15 am we were greeted with a surreal mix of clouds, sunshine, and lots of winds, with an incredible view above the clouds to the east of the range, and clear blue skies to the west. We snapped some photos ate some food and were headed back down quickly….a good decision since we passed 28 people still on the way up!

 Arriving back in camp by 1pm, to find Casey in good spirits and the weather completely stabilized and clear, Tom opted to once again try for the easy and thus far elusive Humboldt peak, so off he went again, this time I went with him as guardian against the weather (yeah right) and for moral support and company. By 3:30 pm we had reached the summit of Humboldt under clear skies, and racked up almost 6200′ of vertical !!!  A slow descent on tired legs and achy knees brought us back to camp and on to Casey waiting on us at the trailhead with the last of a few swigs of Crown Royal in honor of our big days and success on the Crestone Peaks.

Congrats again boys, looking forward to the next adventure.

—Your Guide, Jayson Simons-Jones (CBMG Owner / Guide)

 Almost 5 years ago to the day I had spine surgery following a long and nagging back injury that resulted in my collapsing and falling down from losing much muscle coordination in my right leg. The doctors at the Denver Spine Center removed pieces of 2 severely herniated discs in my low back, routed out the nerve holes to make room for the inflammed and swollen nerves to breathe, and clipped off some pieces of the bone on my spine to allow for them to get to the offending discs.

 For the next 7 months I was regulated to basically walking only….on flat ground….while I healed. Not easy mentally or emotionally for some one used to running around in the mountains for work and play. After seeing 4 surgeons along this road, I was told post-op that my ‘mountain career’ and essentially guiding should be reconsidered and that it was unlikely I would be able to climb or run around in the mountains at a continued high level after my recovery. I was also told, that the 5-year mark post surgery was a very good indicator of how the remainder of my life would go with the repair and healing of my back.

So…..Sunday morning, on a big mission I’d been dreaming about for a long time, I decided to attempt a mega Colorado 14er link-up and prove to myself and my docs that I indeed have kept up my ‘mountain guiding’ career and am not hampered in the least by this injury or recovery anymore. So at 3:30 am on Sunday I left the Maroon Bells parking lot to attempt to climb both South & North Maroon Peaks (14,156′ & 14,014′  respectfully) via their technical connecting ridge and then continue onto Pyramid Peak (14,018′) for a 9,000′+ vertical day and countless rugged mountain miles and technical scrambling on these notoriously loose and challenging Elk 14ers.

 With the ‘Bell Chord Couloir’ still full of snow I set off to climb this steep but direct line that intersects the ridge between the two ‘Bells” as the quickest and easiest way to access both summits and do their traverse. I hit the rock fall prone ‘Bell Chord’ at dawn’s first light and was able to make good time up it in great snow climbing conditions, and after a quick 4th class scramble, was on the summit of South Maroon Peak (14,156′) at 7 am…

 A brief time for a drink and some summit photos and I was off, back to the notch at the top of the ‘Bell Chord” to grab my ice axe and crampons and along the decieving and exposed 1/2 mile traverse to North Maroon Peak (14,014′), where I arrived 45 min later, fresh and feeling good, but under early threatening skies.

After a quick stop on the summit of North Maroon and some more summit photos, I pounded some ShotBloks and Red Bull and prepared for the big and steep 4,000′+ descent down to the valley floor and the base of Pyramid trail, where I had stashed some more food, water, Red Bull, running shoes, and some shorts for a fast and light mission on Pyramid that I was hoping would allow me to have the stamina to pull off the 14er trifecta.

 6 hours after starting from the trailhead, and already having both Maroon Bells under my belt, I started up the grueling and direct Pyramid Peak trail, while clouds continued to darken and build just across the valley earlier then normal. At this point, I was running on arenalin on the possibility of pulling this off….as well as an iPod full of punk rock music in my ears and Red Bull in my veins…

 I continued to move quickly and felt good until I hit the mellow snowfields in the amphitheatre below the North Face of Pyramid Peak. Here I began to bonk hard in the heat of the day and my pace started to slow drastically. The loose and frustrating climb up the loose scree and dirt of “The Filter” that leads to the 13,100′ saddle on Pyramid’s Northeast Rideg Route, was hard…as it felt like it took all my energy not to vomit on the spot from all the exertion.

 At the saddle, I took my longest break of the day…pausing to drink some more water and try and get down some real food….a turkey and cheese bagel. At this point the clouds seemed to be confining their convective build-up to localized area and were producing more wind and virga then any real threats, so I went on for the last 1,000′ to Pyramid’s summit.

 30 min later, and 8:45 after starting out, I was on my third 14er summit of the day, and was blessed with also having this summit all to myself as well, except for one lone mountain goat. Here I had 20 min to reflect on the 9,000′ of vertical I had travelled, that I still felt fairly good, and how far I had come in these past 5 years of my life. The mountain goat, however, was obviously much less impressed….as I’m sure that would be a normal routine day for them.

I was able to descend the upper technical part of Pyramid fueled by excitement and enthusiasm….but by far the hardest part of the day was the long, steep, and painful pounding back down the trail from teh ampithetare to the Maroon Lake trail and the 2 mile rocky walk back to the parking lot. This was one of the the most challenging mental activities I’ve endured in a long time….as the last hour, with almost everything done and gone behind me, it took everything I had to not just curl up in a ball and ’sleep it off’ on the side of the trail for a few days. 11 hours and 20 min later I was back in the parking lot, pounding Gatorade, and soaking my tired and sore feet in the ice cold river after a solid day of 9,032′ of vertical…

I realize my endeavor was nothing more then an entirely selfish and incredibly personal goal and achievement….made ultimately clear to me by the humbling and un-enthused mountain goat on the summit of Pyramid Peak….but I hope it has helped settled some important internal battles and questions in my own mind and body, and hopefully will maybe inspire someone else out there that has been given a less then promising outlook form the medical community to take some of their healing into their own hands and achive a goal….and hopefully one more meaningful and important then just climbing some mountains in Colorado really fast.

—Jayson Simons-Jones (CBMG Owner / Guide)

This past week, Randy Brooks and I headed down to the Crestone Needle in the Sangre De Cristo Range for 2-days of alpine mountaineering and a climb of one of Colorado’s most famous 14′ers.

Randy, hailing from San Angelo Texas, is well on his way to finishing his 14′er quest, as this was peak number 48 for him, and as some icing on the cake we spent his 45th birthday below the Needle’s imposing Northeast face camped at beautiful South Colony Lakes.

This was my first climb with Randy, and late spring snowstorms had combined to make the standard Southwest Face Route on the Crestone Needle a mixed alpine climbing bag of solid 3rd & 4th class rock, with snow and ice climbing skills necessary.

After a long and slow, but comfortable drive up the South Colony Road in Randy’s beautiful Land Rover we had a mellow hike to camp at South Colony Lakes where we spent the afternoon resting, acclimatizing, and preparing for the next day’s pre-dawn start.

Day 2 found us up and out of camp by 5 am, and dawned clear and sunny on us as we approached the initial difficulties of getting up to Broken HandPass under a beautiful sunrise. The rest of the climb of the Needle’s SW Face Route went smoothly with mixed sections of snow, ice , and rock, as I chose to do the more preferrable and direct but slightly harder line up the ‘east couloir’ all the way to the summit ridge and then a short exposed ridge walk section over to the summit. While this route is slightly harder (4th class) it is more aesthetic, quicker, and arguably safer.

A brief stint on the summit by 9am, had us turning around and descending under increasingly cloudier skies, and we made it safely back to camp by 12:30 after a fairly smooth and uneventful, but enjoyable and successful climb.

In camp we were greeted with a herd of local big horn sheep with babies in tow, where we hung out and took pictures before heading on out of the mountains and back to our respective homes.

Randy, thanks for a great day, and for sharing your 45th birthday with me. I hope your climbs of Mount Wilson & El Diente went as smoothly as ours did. Looking forward to climbing with you again.

—Jayson Simons-Jones (Your Guide)

This past Wednesday marked the start of Fat Tire Bike Week, a Crested Butte tradition, and also saw the arrival of the Bicycle Tour of Colorado as well for 1-day, resulting in a massive start to the summer season here in CB with 2,000+ bikers, bike companies, and festival goers all in tow.

With the summer kick-off we’ve been busy guiding once again, with multiple trips going out daily….guiding rockclimbing, hiking, mountain biking and mountaineering trips this week.

Friday also marked the start of our NEW  ‘Peak Of The Week’ series, in which we offer a weekly guided climb of a  different and local peak every week for 6 weeks at the ridiculously low rate of $45/person.

This week, CBMG Guide Dan Escalante led our inaugural ‘Peak of the Week’ trip by successfully getting Judy & Andrew Holder to the summit of local Mount Baldy (12,610′) under tropical monsoon like rain conditions….way to go Dan.

Keep up to date with our daily happenings by joining us as a ‘fan’ on Facebook…

We just wrapped up our 5-day Alpine Climbing Skills Clinic with Dean Kurth & Patrick Torosian, with two spectacular, big mountain days. Wednesday we tackled some technical snow climbs on Ruby Mountain (12,644′) & Mt. Owen (13,058′) and then yesterday had a capstone experience on the super aesthetic and technical “S Couloir” on Purple Peak (12,810′), to send them on their way feeling strong and more confident in their skills set and ability to tackle some more challenging and technical terrain on their own.

Wednesday, Dean & Patrick got their first taste of being ‘on their own’ by taking turns leading a steep snow climb up the South Face of Ruby Mountain. Here they put their new skills to use for the first time by taking turns on the sharp-end of the rope, placing snow protection, building snow anchors, and linking together multiple pitches of snow climbing. Then it was up the fairly mellow mixed rock and snow ridge to the 12,644′ summit of Ruby Mtn.

From there we descended of the North side and on up the slightly more challenging mixed snow and rock ridge to 13,058′ Mount Owen. An easier climb then the mornings’ route up Ruby, Patrick led us most of the way up the ridge route, across the steep and exposed snow fields at the false summit, and on the summit of a 13er ! On the way down in  the heat of the afternoon  sun we enjoyed some nice long (but wet) glissades down the bowl between the 2 peaks and the a short walk back to the car.

After a intense pace of 4-days of alpine climbing we decided to call a rest day before embarking on Purple Peak (12,810′) and a climb of it’s hidden and technical “S” Couloir Route as a capstone experience for these guys.

So….Friday morning we met at 6am and left early again for the fairly quick and direct walk on the morning’s frozen snow above treeline to the Scarp’s Ridge saddle over 12,000′ where we then descended down and around the North Face of Purple Peak to the bottom of the “S”. This route is one of the best snow climbs and steep spring ski descents in the entire Elk Mountain Range outside of Crested Butte, and us guides jump at the chance to get on it with anyone looking for a great mountaineering experience. This trip, however, was extra special, as Dean & Patrick were their primarily to put their skills together and do it mostly on their own, with me ‘ghost guiding’ just to prevent any catastrophic mistakes.

With that being said, they showed great progress in their skills from the previous climbs on Ruby & Owen, and swapped leads of steep snow climbing up the ever steepening and twisting route of the “S” Couloir. After 3 long pitches in which they demonstrated running belays, simul-climbing tactics, and belaying off snow anchors we reached the ridge fairly quickly just a  few hundred feet shy of the summit, where I took over the lead on the trickier and incredibly exposed mixed, snow, ice and rock ridge that leads to the summit.

The summit of Purple Peak (12,810′) our 5th of the trip, was no doubt the most rewarding of the week, as not only was it the hardest technically to climb, but it involved all 3 of us working together as a team more then just a standard guided ascent and thus it felt more rewarding for all of us….I know it certainly did for me watching these guys put to use all I they had learned over the course of the week.

Overall, it was a great week of alpine climbing skills, and Dean & Patrick walked away with a great improvement and development on their skill set, and are ready to tackle more challenging terrain on their own……keep practicing those knots boys…..

Thanks for a great week and looking forward to more climbing with you both in the future…

Your Guide — Jayson Simons-Jones

Today just wrapped up Day 3 of a 5-day intensive alpine mountaineering skills clinic w/ Dean Kurth & Patrick Torosian from Cincinnati, OH.

These  2 motivated gentleman have enlisted the expertise and instruction of Crested Butte Mountain Guides in our incredible backyard of the Elk Mountains, for a 5-day clinic and skills progression covering many of the basic alpine climbing and mountaineering skills of which to have a solid foundation to build from while tackling some of the world’s great mountains.

Dean comes to this clinic with years of lead rock-climbing experience on the infamously scary sandstone towers of the Garden of the Gods, but is fairly new to the world of alpine climbing and it’s associated snow, ice, and mixed rock and snow terrain.

Patrick has a background of successful summits of many big South American volcanoes, including Cotopaxi (19,347′) in Ecuador, yet is new to the world of rock climbing and placing traditional gear, building anchors, and the like.

So…..Crested Butte, what a perfect place for these two friends to get together and build upon what they each know, while also gaining some new skills, so as to forge a climbing partnership in the future.

Day 1: Taylor Canyon rock-climbing day. A great first day focusing on a basic introduction to placing rock protection, building rock anchors, different belay configurations, rappelling tactics and improving and practicing climbing skills.

Day 2: Mt. Crested Butte’s Guide’s Ridge. A super fun day in an incredible alpine setting getting to put together the basic rock climbing skills form Day 1 on an incredibly beautiful and exposed climb in the alpine realm, complete with a June mini-snow and hail storm for added dramatic effect.

Day 3: Mount Baldy’s Emerald Lake Couloir….an aesthetic, long (~2,000′), steep and challenging snow climb right from beautiful Emerald Lake at Schofield Pass to the summit of Mount Baldy in the heart of the Paradise Divide region of the Elk Mountains. A great venue w/ practically zero approach, of which to practice and implement crampon and ice axe use, rope work on steep  alpine snow climbs, snow anchors and running belays, and self-arrest skills.

So far we have had 3 long but fun and engaging days of alpine climbing skills, with great weather, incredible mountain environments and thoughtful and critical discussions and practices on the various skills workshops we have been covering.

Looking forward to bringing it all together over the next 2 days…..

-Your Guide…..

Jayson Simons-Jones

The summer season is knocking at the door here in Crested Butte, and before the guiding and managerial workload starts in earnest for the summer season I took advantage of a brief window this Sunday and got out of town to go visit our neighboring San Juan Mountains, a few hours drive to the South.

The weather here in the Rocky Mountains continues to be very spring-like with lots of rain and snow squalls, making for difficult to predict hiking, mountain-biking, and rockclimbing conditions close to town.

If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em, right?… So we loaded the skis into the truck and armed with some beta on where the roads were plowed up to the trailheads, and the snow was still white and good, we headed south for a quick 24 hr ski and alpine climbing mission.

American Peak (13,806′) in the American Basin area below Handies Peak is famous for having lots of great steep couloirs for snow and ice climbing and skiing and allows high vehicle access to practically it’s base…so why not take advantage of the stormy weather.

Surrounded by 14er peak baggers headed for Handies Peak, we enjoyed complete solitude on it’s less famous but way more technical neighbor, and had a relatively quick approach hike in ski boots on the dry trail before being able to don skis and skins and head towards it’s eye-catching lines.

Great firm late-spring snow allowed for perfect alpine mountaineering conditions involving crampon and ice axe use, and we had our pick of multiple steep and challenging ski lines on American Peak’s north face.

The first couloir we chose was a fairly straight forward quick warm-up climb and ski before we began to work our way down the face and pick continually steeper and more challenging lines. The second was a beautiful steep and rock-walled couloir that felt like being in a giant rock-walled hallway, with perfect consistent pitch and snow conditions the entire way.

The third and final gem of the day, was a tad more alpine-esque in that it proved to be good mix of snow, ice, and rock, taking all types of alpine climbing & mountaineering skills and techniques, complete with an ice-climbing bulge and a near vertical rock wall finish in ski boots and crampons to reach the ridge just below the summit.

A perfect run of 1500′ of spring corn snow, brought us back to a quick dry walk to the car, and we were having beers on the tailgate by noon, before venturing back to Crested Butte for the evening.

American Basin is a great spot for quick and easy alpine access for either early season summer alpine snow and ice climbers, late season spring skiers looking for some challenging and quality lines, or the easy 14er climb in Handies Peak. Come check it out sometime….

—Jayson Simons-Jones (Owner / Lead Guide)