Another beautiful day in the San Juan mountains as Chris joined Ben and I for an ascent of Wham Ridge on Vestal peak.
wham just peaking over on the left
Day one consisted of going over gear in the morning, hopping on the train, and hiking into Vestal basin to set up camp.
Day two was the money day. Up at 3:45 in the morning to start the hike up to the base and up we went as the sun started to rise in one of the most breathtaking sunrises I have seen this year.
Finally we reached the top only to make our way down, pack up camp, and hike out to catch the train.
Chris cruised as expected and it was a great trip.
Earlier this summer we did an amazing 10 Day climbing trip in the Weminuche Wilderness. During the course of the trip we climbed Centennial 13′ers Vestal Peak via the Wham Ridge, Jagged Mountain via the North Face, Pigeon Peak via the Southwest Slopes, Turret Peak via the Western Slopes, and Jupiter Mountain via the West Face. A Centennial 13′er in Colorado is defined as any peak over 13,807 feet, and in addition to the 54 14′ers quest, the 100 highest peaks quest has become increasingly popular during the past few years. Indeed, some of the best and most inspiring climbs in Colorado are on 13′ers.
The group on top of Jupiter Mountain
From the maps below, you can get a sense of how we accomplished this feat over the course of 10 days. Being out in the Weminuche for that length of time really gives you a sense of how remote and rugged this part of the San Juans really are. The Weminuche is a true wilderness area, with plenty of route finding and navigation required to travel between the major drainages.
Part 1 of our route
Part 2 of our route
We began the trip on the Colorado Trail and Elk Creek, and finished up on the Needle Creek trail. Along the way we traveled through Vestal Basin and down to Balsam Lake, along the “high traverse” to Jagged Mountain (one of the best mountain days you’ll ever experience!), up and over Jagged Col and down into the remote No Name basin, then back up and over Ruby/No Name pass into the super rugged Ruby Creek drainage, then back up and over Ruby/No Name and Twin Thumbs pass for a finish in the popular Chicago Basin.
View of Monitor Peak from upper No Name
In short it was an amazing trip with great clients (thanks Charley, Phanie, Greg, Doug, and Chris!!), and a great guide and support staff (thanks Matt, Mike, Drew, Ryan, and Alec!).
On the summit of Jagged Mountain
This is simply one of the most amazing trips that you can do in Colorado or the entire mountain west. We will be offering this trip again next year with some fixed date departures, so stay tuned to our website in the coming months for more information, dates, and costs!
Great pic of the group with Jagged Mountain in the background
Just got back from a Light and Fast Alpine Course in Vestal Basin. It was a great trip with perfect weather, and fun people.
Mike and Terri started out their four day course at East Animas with Nate. They learned about belaying, rock climbing technique, climbing knots and much more.
The next morning I met them at the train station and we were off for Vestal Basin. We were dropped off by the train at Elk Park and started our hike to camp. It’s a tough hike into Vestal Basin and both Mike and Terri did great.
We woke up to a star filled sky and started up toward Wham Ridge on Vestal Peak. As we geared up at the base of the climb the sun was rising, and then we were off. Mike and Terri must have been paying attention when Nate was talking about climbing technique, because they flew up Wham ridge. I’d give them the option of the easier way or the harder way, they always said the harder way, so I finally stopped asking and just opted for the harder lines.
The next day the train picked us up at Elk Park and shuttled us back to Durango.
Mike and Terri you both did great, I hope to see you in the future!
Earlier this summer Erik Weihenmayer climbed Alpamayo via the French Direct in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca with us and Southwest Adventure Guide Rodrigo Callupe. It was the first recorded blind ascent of the mountain. Alpamayo has long been considered one of the world’s most beautiful mountains, and one of the most sought after climbs in South America. Recently, however, the “normal route” called the Ferrari Route, has been subjected to unreasonable objective dangers and has been climbed much less frequently. For this ascent, we decided on an attempt of the French Direct Route which is more difficult but provides a more direct and generally safer path to the summit. Check out the video below and congratulations Erik!!
It was off the the Black Canyon to meet Chris for a weekend of slabs, splitters, and runout fun for Ben and I last weekend.
Ben and I met Chris at his hotel in Montrose on Sat morning to food shop and get ready for the day’s route. The route we chose was called Ground Control To Major Tom (5.8+) and it was a first for all of us. After descending the Chillumstone Gully (a rather bushy affair) we arrived at the start of the route.
The route consisted of slabs and cracks for the first 600 or so feet followed by 600 more feet of exit pitches to finally reach the top. All in all, we figured the route was around 14 pitches and took all day. Good job Chris! That was a BIG route!
After completing the climb, we drove to the north rim which was just 1000feet or so by sight but 1.5 hours by car. Once there, we found camp and enjoyed some well earned burritos before bed.
The next day was a lot more casual climbing the five pitch route Maiden Voyage (5.8+)
A fun route.
When we finished we were off to drive back to Montrose only to learn that Chris’s flight was canceled but there was one he could make in Grand Junction and so we were off to race to make the flight.
…he made it
All in all, a great weekend full of adventure and incredible views. The Black yet again provides.
Nate left off with the team about to carry up to camp 2.
May 28-Instead of making two carries to camp 2 as we did to camp 1 we did a single carry to give us another summit day. We ended up building camp 2 at 13,800′ which is a little lower then the plateau to stay out of the wind.
May 29-Rest day. Beautiful weather.
May 30-On our first summit attempt we got turned around at 16,200′ by wind and low visibility. Sadly the weather was pretty good everywhere other then the top of the mountain.
May 31- Planned day for second attempt at the summit but the weather didn’t play out as we needed it to so we sat in camp and rested up for a window.
June 1-Second summit attempt. Weather was great out of camp but we were again turned around with zero visibility and had to rely on compasses and GPS at times to return to camp safely.
After our second attempt we descended back to base camp arriving around 7pm
June 2-The team was flown out by the famous Paul Claus.
All in all it was a great trip with a really fun group of guys in an amazing range.
We are about to launch our first Peru trip of the year, with a climb of Alpamayo’s French Direct. Joining us this year will be Erik Weihenmeyer, who is a veteran of Artesonraju from a few years ago, and Eric Alexander. Their guide will be Rodrigo Callupe, who has guided for Southwest Adventure Guides for the past 8 years. We will post updates when we receive them and as the group works their way up towards the mountain.
The French Direct has been the route of choice on Alpamayo for the past few years, given that the Ferrari Route has been closed due to objective hazard in the form of a large overhanging cornice on the summit ridge.
This year we have joined forces again with International Mountain Guides (IMG) to offer the Mt. Bona Expedition in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. The guide for the trip are Mark Allen and Ben Kiessel, both of whom work for SWAG and IMG.
Basecamp construction on Mt. Bona
After flying into the Klutlan Glacier and establishing basecamp on May 24th, the team has been enjoying some great weather and is currently dug in at Camp 1, snacking on some quesadillas in preparation for their carry to Camp 2 later in the evening. Camp 2 on Mt. Bona lies at the plateau between the summit of both Mt. Bona and it’s sister peak Mt. Churchill.
Camp 1 on Mt. Bona
We will keep you posted regarding the progress of the team, but things are looking great right now!
Recently, Southwest Adventure Guide achieved American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) Accreditation. What does AMGA Accreditation mean? Taken from the AMGA website is the following statment:
“Accreditation provides a consistent and meaningful standard by which to judge the reliability and professionalism of a climbing program. It informs the general public and land managers that a program conducts business in an ethical manner, is in compliance with state and federal regulations, and utilizes guides who are certified and that all guides in the program have received formal training appropriate to the terrain they guide.”
At Southwest Adventure Guides, we understand that our clients have many options when choosing to hire a guide service to help them achieve their climbing, mountaineering, or skiing goals, be it on a course, private trip, or expedition. In addition to the fact that the majority of our guides are certified in either the rock, ski, or alpine disciplines, our commitment as a company goes beyond that with regard to how we actually conduct business with our clients and present ourselves to the general public. The accreditation process was directly related to this commitment.
We’re excited to become one of the select few guide services to have subjected themselves to the rigorous process of becoming an AMGA Accredited Company. Many, many thanks goes out to all the individuals who helped to make this happen, most especially Senior Guide Andrew Klotz, who spent countless hours meticulously organizing all the information that needed to be compiled during the process!!
Operating under special use permit in the Rio Grande - San Juan National Forest and the Grand Mesa - Uncompahgre National Forest - Wrangell St. Elias National Park - Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park - Indian Creek BLM. Southwest Adventure Guides LLC provides services and employment opportunities regardless of an individual's ethnic or cultural heritage, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or physical handicap.
