Ned and Kyle, Smith Rock, Apr 2010-Large.m4v

We've been having great weather for climbing at Smith Rock State Park! Check out the video from this weekend.

TMG Staff Sending in Alaska!

TMG guide Chris Wright recently completed some new climbs in Alaska's remote NW Yentna Glacier area. Read the full trip report on Now!Climbing.com!

Spring Trip to Red Rocks!

The drive to the Redmond airport was unusual for this winter as there was a nice new blanket of snow covering the ground. What great timing since we were heading to Vegas baby!

Red Rocks has a bit of everything for the climber: hard steep sport routes, long multi-pitch walls, and even some bouldering. With limited time I only had one day to climb. Our objective was Eagle Dance IV 5.10c A0. A 5:00 AM start from the still awake and partying Las Vegas strip had us meeting our friends and climbing partners at the Red Rock Canyon park gate at 6:00 AM. The hike up Oak Creek Canyon offered great views of towering sandstone walls with Eagle Wall coming into view after a little over an hour of fast hiking.



-Hiking in to Oak Creek Canyon

A quick calf burning section of 3rd class scrambling brought us to the base of the 10 pitch desert classic.



-Eagle Dance Route

The pitches went quickly as the climbing was fun and enjoyable as we basked in the sun on the south facing wall.



-Topping out pitch 4



-Heading up pitch 5

Red Rocks is a great destination for climbers of all abilities. There are typically cheap flights into Vegas and accommodations range from camping in a tent out near Red Rocks to staying in a high roller suite on the strip. Who knows a couple days climbing a couple hitting the slots and the trip might just pay for itself!


More info on climbing with us in Red Rocks.

Spring Has Sprung at Smith Rock State Park

Matt & Noah dialing in their footwork in the morning sun.

This past weekend we had tremendous weather and great climbing conditions out at Smith Rock State Park. Spring has sprung down in the park with green grass, flowers blooming, and tee shirt weather climbing. Matt enjoying the classic climbs on Cinnamon Slab.

Early spring is a great time to get out of the gym and dust off those rock skills, or learn some new ones, and we did just that on Saturday. We had two climbers, Matt and Noah, from the WEsT side of the Cascades join us for some instruction on climbing movement, gear placements, and anchor construction.

Noah- Hard to find something not to smile about on such a prime day.

Learning to place gear.

Bringing it all together...

Skiing In the Central Oregon Outback

The time was finally right for an excursion above treeline into the Central Oregon Cascades. Even office workers need to get out sometimes, and Carlos and I elected to shine our office duties in favor of sunny skies and great snow. We decided our objective to the NE Ridge of Broken Hand, a feature just to the east of our much-beloved Broken Top. Below is Carlos heading out with Broken Top in the background.
Here he is at the east col of Broken Hand, enjoying the view to the north of Middle and North Sister.


Then...things got a bit more serious with some technical climbing to gain the summit of Broken Hand. The NE ridge has some rock climbing and some steep snow. A great objective for ski mountaineers.



Straddling the ridge up high, we both felt the exposure.


Carlos is pretty excited on the summit. His first technical climb with his splitboard on his back.

We were rewarded with over 1000 feet vertical of beautiful turns down into the upper part of the Snowcreek drainage.


After that run, we skinned up to Point 8378, and skied its huge north face. What a great run!

Ouray Ice Climbing Festival

This year I traveled with the whole family to the Ouray Ice Festival in Ouray, Colorado. Each year a large amount of dedicated ice climbers converge on what is, arguably, one of the most civilized ice climbing venues in the US.

Below is my son Calvin(age 8) being lowered down from his first ice route.

Each year San Juan Mountain Guides puts on a kids clinic. It was a blast and they did a really nice job with two instructors for every kid climbing.

Here is my other son Finn (age 6) swinging the tools for the first time.

There was awesome competition climbing going on too. Here is a short clip of Will Mayo attempting to complete the route.

My good friend Gregg Dubit from Durango came up to meet us and we snuck out and got a couple of pitches in the gorge as well. Here he is topping out at the Five Fingers Area.


There were a lot of other great activities. Here is Finn doing the ice axe throw for prizes.

One of the greatest things about the town is the public hot springs. Nothing beats a great day on the ice followed by a soak. Now how about a beer and salad?

If you are interested in exploring the ice in Ouray this winter, be sure and contact TMG guide Chris Wright at chris@timberlinemtguides.com.

2 Spots Left on Chris's Feb 5-7 Ice Climber's Course in Ouray!!!

Thinking about coming out to Ouray? Get out here!

I've still got two more spots left on my 3-Day Ice Climbers' Course Feb 5-7th! I'll be instructing the course for International Mountain Guides out of Seattle, one of the world's most successful expedition and alpine guide services, and it's a bargain at $600 for three full days of climbing and instruction in the Ouray Ice Park and surrounding areas. In our three days we'll work on everything from belay skills to the basics of crampon and ice tool techniques as well as advanced ice skills, lead climbing, protection systems and all the climbing you can handle. For a more detailed itinerary check out IMG's website here, and for questions and booking information shoot me an email at chris@timberlinemtguides.com!

There's no better time than now. Carpe diem!