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Well, AMS did it again- put together an awesome group and enabled another radical adventure in the mountains. Glenn, Bill, Chetan, Ti, Cindy, Hugh, and Matt kept me company (not all at the same time) allowing me to rediscover the Pica to be a little slice of heaven (although maybe just a touch colder and with a few more evacuations than I normally like). We lost Cindy and Hugh in succession to medical issues, but despite our loss, we kept chugging along- and by day eleven found that we were actually having a pretty good time.
Before . . . And after . . .
The mountains were friendly though. Most of the team members were beginners before this trip and I believe are now four true mountaineers capable of route finding through fields of glaciers, assessing hazards in the mountains, living the good life on snow, and going places that before was simply a dream.

We climbed Big Arapile, got turned back on another objective, climbed rock and ice, and navigated through the gnarly Italy’s boot ice fall.
I must say, day eleven was my favorite- first Bill cooked all of us pancakes with strawberries, then Ti made us all real espresso with the most incredible “Handpresso Wild”, Matt and Chetan headed off to try and find some snow they wouldn’t punch through to their wastes on, while the rest of us took a ski lesson that culminated in the always tricky and simultaneously hilarious feet of skiing downhill while roped up, then we came back to practice advanced crevasse rescue techniques, did emergency shelters, and practiced searching for beacons. Somewhere between all the madness of day eleven, I found time to bake a cheesecake (aka mix and refrigerate)- which we needed at the end of all that work in the sun. Then we packed up as much as possible for our AM flight back to Talkeetna- and all the comforts of Alaska in the summertime.

AMGA Ski Guides Exam

I have been having a hard time embedding my youtube videos lately- so just click on the link above to see some photos and video of my latest trip to Alaska.
I just finished my final exam with the American Mountain Guides Association. There are three disciplines one has to pass to receive the international certification as a mountain guide: rock, alpine, and ski. The process took me six years and I had been guiding for four before that. After passing coursework, an assistant level exam, and accruing a number of actual guiding days, we are permitted to enroll in the exam. The ski discipline was my last. For eight days (and much longer beforehand) the candidates guide examiners and each other through glaciated, technical ski terrain. Rob Hess and Colin Zacharias, masters of their trade, were our examiners. We had unusually clear and hot weather, forcing us to wake up in the dark (not easy in Alaska in May with 18 hours of light) so that we could finish each day before the sun warmed the snow making it dangerous. We suffered through some ‘firm’ ski conditions but found some beautiful sun softened snow as well. I learned a lot on this exam. I will leave the process of certification sure that I have lots of room to grow as a guide. But also knowing that I have come a long way.

Check out the link to Crested Butte Mountain Guides to see the video that Colin Zacharias made of our exam.