Early Morning Belay

Crested Butte Mountain Guide Johnny MacKinnon spent May and June guiding on Mt. Hood in Oregon. Hood, at 11,239 ft., is Oregon’s tallest mountain and with a variety of ever-changing weather and route conditions ensures that each day on the mountain is different, challenging and exciting. All in all, Johnny logged 17 summits and 2 ski descents down the 45 degree Old Chute. He’s excited to be back in Crested Butte and looks forward to spending his summer climbing in Colorado’s mountains. Here are some photos from his adventures on Mt. Hood:

Roping up at the Hogsback at 10,500. The Old Chute is the visible wide chute with several climbers on it. The upper slopes of Mt. Hood offer endless variations via numerous snow and ice gulleys through the rimed towers

Cruising Mt. Hood’s Summit Ridge at 11,200 ft. The summit ridge narrows down to a knife-edge (two foot) ridge with a 3,000 ft. drop down to the Elliot and Coe Glaciers. This is an amazing place to watch the sunrise.

Summer has come to Crested Butte! More visitors are visiting, snow patches are turning into mud, mud puddles are drying out, and wildflowers have started blooming all over the place. To prepare for the summer season, most of the guides went out for staff training this past weekend. We climbed to the peak of Mount Crested Butte via the Guide Ridge and Sunset Ridge to refresh our memories of what the mountain looks like without snow, then rappelled down.  The guide ridge is a great alternative route to the peak and alpine experience right out our backdoor.

-Kirsten Fraser

Fellow CBMG Guide Mike Bromberg and I recently returned from an AMGA alpine Guides course based in Rocky Mountain Nation Park, which sits just outside of Estes Park, CO. The course lasted 10 days many of them being early alpine starts at 2 am. We came away with many new skills to further the safety and enjoyment of the clients we guide in the alpine realm. We are now entering “prime alpine” season hear in Crested Butte. With amazing alpine routes right outside our door, call or come by today to book a trip you soon won’t forget.

—Kyle Mattingly

On June 18th, myself and fellow backcountry ski mountaineering partner Hutch DuBosque nabbed a great conditions late spring / early summer ski descent of the SW Couloir on South Maroon peak. A beautiful plumb line on a burly peak, that is visible from almost any other peak in the Crested Butte area, I’ve been looking at this line for the past 9 years and finally caught it. Conditions this season allowed for some easier access from the Maroon Creek parking lot, as this line is difficult to reach from just about anywhere in a day trip. However, lots of late season snow and easy access on the Aspen side allowed us to catch this ski in a one -day 11 hour push round-trip from the car.

I was able to scope conditions a few days earlier, on a guided trip up South Maroon, and was surprised to see the couloir still in and in prime smooth corn conditions as well, with minimal melt out, runnels, or even sun cups. The prospect of such good conditions so late in the season, coupled with such easy access, made me pull the trigger knowing full well these things might not all line up together again for another 20 years. We awoke to a dawn start at 5 am, and suffered through a ridiculously hot and sweaty 5 hr. climb of the Bell Chord Couloir to the summit of South Maroon. On the summit, we had to wait as the sun was just making it’s way around to the deeply inset SW Couloir, and conditions were still a little firm. After an hour wait on the summit, a mix of nerves and excitement proved too much to wait any longer, and I dropped into the top steep exposed pitch to find good soft corn skiing. 1,000′ of 50+ degree jump turns later and we were at the last dog leg in the couloir, and the only bad runnelled snow we found all day. From the bottom of the line, it was a fairly quick traverse south to the head of Fravert basin, where we gained a low saddle in the ridge before West Maroon Pass. From here we were able to ski a few thousand feet and a few miles down the basin, almost all the way back around to the base of the Bell Chord and our hiking boots and the 2 mile hike back to the car.

Overall, a fun adventure and an incredible ski on a beautiful mountian in near perfect conditions….it just doesn’t get much better. Now maybe we can finally hang ‘em up for the summer?

 —Jayson Simons-Jones

In mid June we still had plenty of snow for climbing some incredible couloirs around Crested Butte. Dan Escalnate and Alan Bernholtz took a group of 4 up some amazing peaks. We climbed 50-70 degrees snow routes. The conditions were perfect and the weather was awesome. This is the year to climb in the Elks. The ascents and descents can be easier when they are covered in snow. It was  a great way to start off the summer.

Alan Bernholtz

This past Saturday Phil Lakin, Keegan Young, and Malcolm McCollum, all from Tulsa, OK, joined CBMG Guides Jayson Simons-Jones & Ian Hatchett for our first guided climb of the season on the Maroon Bells. These flatland Oklahoma boys chose to tackle the incredibly aesthetic and ambitious line of the Bell Chord Couloir for an attempt on the summit of South Maroon Peak (14,156′). We were greeted with near perfect alpine conditions for great crampon and snow climbing, as well as encountering much mixed snow and rock on the summit ridges.

With Phil behind the wheel, the Tulsa crew left late Thursday afternoon and drove straight through to Aspen for a dinner rendezvous with us guides, and some quick gear logistics and orientation. Then it was off for some quick shut-eye and a 3:30 am departure from the Maroon Creek Trailhead. The morning dawned clear and cold and we were joined on the mountain with probably a dozen other folks skiing and climbing in the Bell Chord area and an Aspen Expeditions guided party on the South to North Bells Traverse. An incredible winter in the Elk Mountains this year has left much of the alpine climbing in the Bells area with great full snow coverage and minimal summer runnels in the couloirs. The Bell Chord proved to be in some of the best shape we’ve ever seen this time of the year, and allowed for some fast and efficient short-rope climbing.

After exiting a hot and rockfall filled climb of the Bell Chord we then climbed onto the North ridge to South Maroon and experienced full mixed rock and snow climbing conditions with crampons for the final 400′ push to the summit. Beautiful, calm, cloudless Colorado weather greeted us on the summit 7:30 hours after leaving the car. From here we enjoyed a lazy 30 min rest and lunch while taking in the views of the unbelieveable snow covered peaks at our feet, and then proceeded south down from the summit to the “Y” Couloir for a complete traverse of the South Maroon summit.

The descent to the “Y” Couloir off the summit was filled with more challenging technical mixed terrain, and was slow and tedious, and had everyone feeling tired from the hot sun and constant mental focus because of the nature of the terrain. After a few hours of rope work negotiating rock and snow filled steps we entered the steep and smooth “Y” Couloir and enjoyed 6 long pitches of roped glissading to reach the bottom of the upper bowl and the last steep snow slopes of the Garbage Chute before exiting back on to the trail above Crater Lake in the beginnings of the evening alpenglow.

Back down the trail at Crater Lake with South Maroon and the Bell Chord towering above us everyone was elated and happy at what we had accomplished, and the fact that although it was an incredibly long day, the weather was perfect, the climbing was fun and challenging, and the scenery and companionship was second to none. Tired and weary we walked the final 2 miles of dry ground in our wet boots back to the trailhead for some celebratory beers at the car 15 1/2 hours after departing.

Congrats boys on a great climb and summit push, and thanks for your motivation and fun-filled attitudes on a long mountain adventure.

Your Guides — Jayson & Ian

This past weekend, Tom Kaptur, from Chicago, Illinois returned to CBMG in his quest to finish all of the Colorado 14ers. With beautiful clear summer weather, Tom & CBMG Owner / Guide, Jayson Simons-Jones headed down to the rugged Sangre De Cristo Mountains to capture three of the four 14,000′ peaks in the remote Sierra Blanca range.

After a mid-day rendezvous in the San Luis Valley desert at 8,000′ we headed via truck and our own two legs up the rugged and un-drievable Lake Como Road. Reaching Como Lake by evening time, we set-up camp had some dinner below the Alpenglow on Little Bear Peak (14,037′), and got some eraly zzzz’s for our early morning summit attempt.

Friday morning dawned clear with a moderate overnight freeze, and we were up at 4:00 am, with crampons on for the first snow climb up to the ridge by 5:30 am. After this fairly easy unroped climb, we traversed along the West Ridge of Little Bear to the Southwest Face and “The Hourglass” the route’s crux. Being early and the only climbers on Little Bear all day, we were treated to good firm snow and some alpine ice in this small couloir that spills onto the upper face and leads to the summit. After busting the rope out for a small short-roping section and one belayed pitch on about 40′ of verglas ice on rock we were on the summit of Little Bear Peak (14,037′) by 8:30 am. 30 min later we descended down, before snow conditions got too soft for walking and sun-hit started dislodging frozen rocks on the upper face. The final descent back down the west ridge couloir proved the most difficult part of the day, as softening snow led us through 700′ of waist-deep postholing. However, by 12:30 pm we were back in camp drying ourselves off in the hot mid-day sun, cooking up some lunch and napping in the afternoon breeze.

Saturday morning brought an even earlier start (3:00 am) so as to avoid a longer post-holing slog-fest later in the day. As we donned headlamps and headed towards Blanca Peak (14,345′) & Ellingwood Point (14,042′) at the head of the Como Lake Valley, we were again greeted by a cloudless morning and a beautiful sunrise on the surrounding peaks and out on the San Luis Valley desert floor. By 6:00 am we were high on the regular route to Blanca Peak and reached the summit by 6:30 am. A short snack and break here, before traversing back down the ridge to the saddle, where we put our crampons back on again, and headed up the South Face of Ellingwood Point for our final of the three 14ers we had as our objective. Firm and steep roped snow climbing brought us to the Ellingwood Point summit by 7:45 am.

After a good break on our last of 3 summits, we headed down by 8:15 am, and were back in camp by 10:15 am, having happily avoided any postholing this time around. After another leisurely lunch we packed up camp and headed back down the rocky and hot Lake Como road to the truck, and on to the valley floor……. and Tom back to Chicago.

Tom, congradulations on a successful and ambitious weekend of Colorado 14er mountaineeirng….it was great fun and a great adventure…..

 Your Guide

—Jayson Simons-Jones

Crested Butte Mountain Guide’s full-time guide Mike Bromberg became the latest CBMG Guide to earn his AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide Certification. After going to Alaska for part of this past winter to work as a heli-guide, Mike trained for and passed his exam in Valdez this past May.

All of us here at CBMG would like to congratulate Mike on his hard work and training.

Crested Butte’s record-setting winter of ‘07/’08 is still going, with fresh powder skiing being had even in mid-May !!! Town is quiet, as the ski resort has closed and most people have put away the ski boots and headed to warmer climates via bikes, surf trunks, or climbing shoes.

However, those of us that have chosen to stay (or have to stay and work), have been blessed with some epic spring corn and powder skiing. Everything is still in, and in phat too!! We are even still skiing the ‘ol standby Red Lady Bowl from summit to car with full coverage.

So, even though we are all looking forward to warmer temps, flip-flops and some bare, dry ground around these parts…it’s hard to hang ‘em up knowing this type of ski season may not happen again for another 50 years…and besides…no one likes a quitter, right?

Feel free to come join us, as the days are fleeting, and unlike all the surly locals at the various warm and sunny surf breaks, we actually like to share…

– CB Mountain Guides

Crested Butte Mountain Guides owner, Jayson Simons-Jones, has just returned from a successful guided trip of the famous Haute Route ski mountaineering trip in the European Alps. This trip done in conjunction with Jean Pavillard and Adventures To The Edge, was a great first for CBMG, and looks to be the beginning of a spring tradition for us in the upcoming years.

This famous ski traverse between the alpine villages of Chamonix, France & Zermatt, Switzerland, covers a total of around 180km and travels through some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery in the Alps….from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn. Jayson & Jean were joined by fellow ATE Guide Patou, and 10 clients from America, Britain, and Poland. The weather was somewhat less then clear, and continuously challenging as the trip progressed, but in the end our group had the satisfaction of being the only guided group to complete the full traverse despite the wintery, whiteout conditions we encountered.

Despite everyone meeting in Chamonix under clear and sunny skies, the next day on the 2000m ski descent of the Vallee Blanche were greeted with whiteout, snowy, and wet conditions though we had it all to ourselves. From there the weather continued to hang around as the next few days between Chamonix, the Argentiere Hut, and the Trient Hut were all challenging in terms of visibility and stormy conditions. However, our mixed group of folks kept high spirits, and the clouds would seem to break in all the right places to gove us stunning views of the dramatic scenery and fresh spring powder skiing. The technical sections such as the Col Du Chardonnet & Fenetre De Saliena were covered with fresh snow, and therefore made for easy travel and quick transitions. Both of our first two night sin the plush and comfy huts were enjoyed all to ourselves (a rarity on such a popular route).

Day 4 we descended, just as the clouds broke, some 2000m down from the giant Trient Glacial Plateau into the town of Champex. From here we stepped out of  our skis for the only time, to transport to the ski village of Verbier, Switzerland via bus. Once there, after enjoying a fresh lunch and coffee in town we rode the gondola to the summit of the MOnt Fort, and skied down to the Mont Forte Hut, within the ski area piste, complete with showers and all. After a winter of guided hut skiing in Colorado, I must admit it was luxurious to stayin huts that had staff on hand to do all the cooking and supply the food, and all we had to do was kickback, enjoy the scenery, play cards, drink wine or espresso, and share some good conversation.

The next 4 days From Mont Forte to Zermatt covered some of the most majestic and dramatic mountain scenery anywhere on the globe, as we traversed through the heart of the Swiss Alps and stayed in huts that were engineering marvels in terms of their placement, design and sheer size. As the weather still taunted us with brief spells of clear and sunny skies, despite the large size of our group, everyone’s good spirits and equal skill levels allowed us to take advantage of those moments and ski both The Rosablanche and La Luett peaks on the way.

Day 6, at the Le Dix Hut was everyone’s favorite, as it was the only day on the entire trip where we enjoyed cloudless, sunny skies, and a fresh 6″-8″ of cold, light powder skiing. From there on, the remainder of the trip threw us the worst weather yet, and the final day from the Vignette Hut to Zermatt proved to be the hardest and most challenging for everyone, but once again everyone’s spirits were high at the sight of completing the entire route. The intense spring storm we encountered may have slowed and stalled our progress, but despite freezing temperatures, wind gusts near 70kph, and continual snowfall and whiteout conditions we made it to Zermatt after travelling 24km and crossing 3 passes and 7 glaciers!

As we stopped at a bar on the way down the ski piste to enjoy celebratory beers and espresso, everyone was stoked and excited at our experience of skiing through the Alps. Seemingly as a final gesture of blessing from the weather gods, we were all greeted with our third cloudless and sunny day of the trip, as we all left Zermatt under the shadow of the towering Matterhorn to go on our separate ways, and me back to Colorado and spring corn skiing in Crested Butte.

Thanks everyone (Jean, Patou, Biddell, Craig, Bill, Timothy, Michael, James, Ollie, Will, Rory, and Edward) for an awesome experience, great camaraderie, and for such a seamless and enjoyable first of many guided trips to the Alps for Crested Butte Mountain Guides.

 PS: Stay tuned for postings of more pictures as they come in…

—Jayson Simons-Jones (Your Yankee Guide)