Lately, CBMG has been busy with lots and lots of Wildflower Hiking & Peak Tours around the surrounding backcountry.

As the flowers have hit their peak bloom the local trails, alpine meadows, and peaks have been awash in a sea of pastel colors…making the Crested Butte Backcountry a spectacle of natural beauty.

Daily afternoon thunderstorms are contributing to keeping everything fluorishing and in full bloom.

No where have the flowers been in all their glory, then on the West Maroon Pass hike between Crested Butte and Aspen.

CBMG Guides took a special group on this hike between the two towns last week, and despite the difficulty of the hike (11 miles and ascending 12,500′ West Maroon Pass) the group was rewarded with incredible views of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area and the peak of the high country wildflowers.

Many more hikes await your participation, but it is almost August, so the flowers will begin their colorful decline soon, so make sure and get out there with us soon.

-CBMG Staff

A family reunion held in Crested Butte was livened up with 3 days of fun-filled rock climbing.

Nora Longthorne and crew joined Crested Butte Mountain Guides for 3 days of fun-filled vertical adventures with ascents of local favorite the ‘Guides Ridge’ on Mount Crested Butte, and rockclimbing in local Taylor Canyon.

CBMG Guides Kyle Mattingly & Laura Chase had a lot of fun taking various family members on these technical outings over 3 days, and the guests had this to say about their experience:

“Just want to let you know what a great experience the entire family had on our Crested Butte Mountain Guides Adventures! Kyle and Laura were FANTASTIC. The kids all really enjoyed both days with them, and Matt (my husband), Brian (brother) and I all had an amazing experience with them. They are wonderful guides and dealt with the many personalities with good grace and humor! ” – Nora Longthorne

All of our guides have been busy, with CBMG Owner/Guide, JSJ, taking 2 folks up the challenging and exposed ‘Sunset Ridge’ on Mt Crested Butte.

and, along with CBMG Guide, Ian Hatchett, continuing to cover miles of local trails and peaks hiking with return guest, David Maniatis.

Other days have been filled with daily rockclimbing trips in Taylor Canyon and Cement Creek, Mountain Biking Tours, and some very successful and beautiful remote Backpacking Trips.

Stay tuned as more photos and stories roll in from our daily mountain adventures with our guests.

—CBMG Staff

 It never fails that this time of year CBMG stays extremely busy, and it is not hard to understand why.  Beautiful weather, green, luscious mountains and wildflowers are too enticing to even think about staying indoors! 

Our guides are busy taking kids’ camps out climbing and mountain biking, hiking infamous local peaks such as Gothic Mountain, and leading wildflower tours for the 24th annual Wildflower Festival! 

The owner, Jayson Simons-Jones, has also been out leading trips in the Crestones and the Black Canyon – nothing is off-limits!

We have also started are weekly Peak of the Week climbs for all of you who would like to join us for a cheap, fun climb to our local peaks. Please visit our website to check out the schedule or to sign up!

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

This Summer I was asked by sometime/longtime local Crested Butte resident and itinerant world adventurer and mountaineer, Roy Smith, to join him for a corporate teambuilding program he was instructing this Fall. Knowing Roy’s quiet but impressive climbing and professional development history (1st ascent of Alpamayo w/ Chris Bonnington; 1st descent of OmoRiver in Africa; founder of Outward Bound in the US; founder of Prescott College’s Outdoor Program) I was honored that he would request my assistance, and we set to work at once determining a suitable environment for his corporate teambuilding curriculum delivery, and appropriate climbing challenge for the participants.

Based on the usual cold and fickle weather that can plague Crested Butte and the Colorado high country in mid-October, we began to look at the American Southwest Desert. The Superstition Mountains of Arizona, outside of Phoenix, were an idea I had come up with after having spent some extended time there years ago with Outward Bound Semester Courses. This range is incredibly rugged desert mountainous terrain, with minimal water and difficult travel. It also has a fairly accessible but difficult crown jewel of the range in the Weaver’s Needle; a volcanic plug reminiscent of Devil’s Tower with mandatory 5th class climbing to reach it’s remote wilderness summit. We both agreed it seemed like a perfect challenge and experience for where this program should take place.

After a quick personal climbing trip to Red Rocks, NV, I arrived in Phoenix a day prior to the program’s start where I also met Robert Miller, the third member of our instructor team. Bob, an old climbing friend of Roy’s from Prescott days, brought extensive experience in the Superstition’s and the AZ desert, and offered great couter-point to all the adventure stories these two guys have had over there 50+ combined years of globe trotting climbing and paddling adventures.

A brief reconnaissance hike over our itinerary in 90F degree heat, revealed that there was no water along our route, or anywhere to be found for that matter in the range. This meant we would have to slightly tweak our itinerary or carry lots of water. Despite the unappealing thought of carrying water for 4 days in the hot desert, we opted for the latter which allowed us to complete a much more elegant and natural route despite our heavy packs.

Mid-day on Oct 15th we met our group of 6 Canadian business owners at the airport and drove directly to the trailhead, immersing them in near 100F degree heat straight from their home of Calgary. We immediately went through gear at the trailhead, eliminating anything extraneous (and I mean anything) to make room for the 3 gallons (24 lbs.) of water each person would have to carry. That evening we camped in a beautiful wash and slept out under incredible desert stars opting to leave tents behind to save weight.

The group was a business support/forum group of 6 large business owners form the Calgary area, all in different non-competing industries, that get together once a month to share strategies, discuss problems, and in general try and share information and tactics to help one another out to stay successful. Once a year they go on a retreat together, hence our meeting in the hot and dry AZ desert. I was really impressed withthis concept of shared strategizing and was eager to learn from these folks as well as see how large and successful business owners would deal with and incorporate the challenges that we had in store for them.

Days 1 & 2 would consist of early dawn starts, hiking a loop around the Weaver’s Needle and discussing everything from business strategy and management lessons, to the usual get to know you conversation, to tasteless jokes, and listening to stories from Roy & Bob. Mid-day was too hot to hike in the 100F degree sun, so we would find some small but suitable shade and siesta or discuss more business strategy, before moving on under the setting sun to camp. Day 3 was an ascent of the Weaver’s Needle. A 750′ 5.5 climbing route that challenged everyone with it’s difficulty, exposure, length of day, and brutal desert heat. However, after a 10 hour day everyone had stood on it’s remote summit and made it safely back down to the waning light and welcomed shade of camp, slightly sun burned, very dehydrated, and overall excited at the large team accomplishment we had achieved.

The heat of the climbing had all but drained most of the last of our water resources, so it was an early thirsty night, and Day 4 we awoke before dawn to cover the final 4 miles back to the trailhead under pre-dawn skies with empty packs and empty water bottles. And then, just as soonas it had begun it was over, as 12 noon that day found us all dirty and smelly at the airport heading back to our respective homes….the Canadians to Calgary, me back to Las Vegas, and Roy & Bob off to Prescott, AZ.

Overall, a really cool and different experience then the everyday guiding of Crested Butte Mountain Guides, and a great way to soak up some desert sun and warmth before heading into a long and cold Crested Butte winter. It was great to meet and get to know everyone, and a big ‘thank you’ to Roy and Bob for letting me work alongside you both….it was a real honor. Looking forward to next time.

—Jayson Simons-Jones (CBMG Owner / Lead Guide)

Summer is in full swing here in Crested Butte, with beautiful sunny days and warm temps…and all the wildflowers are beginning to show all their beauty, just in time for our Annual Crested Butte Wildflower Festival.

All this week we are guiding daily wildflower hikes for the festival, as well as doing our standard repetoire of privately guided hikes, mountain biking, and rockclimbing and mountaineering trips.

Summers here at 9,000′ are short so don’t miss out, and take advantage of our daily trip offerings today.

And this Friday our New ‘Peak of the Week’ series heads to majestic Teocalli Mountain (13,209′) for a combination wildflower tour and peak hike…call our offices to register today.

—CBMG Staff

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.

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