Here are some photos from a June 14th-15th ascent of Mt. Heyburn with Mike and Patty from Tampa. Not bad for a couple of climbers from Florida! Snow line was about 7800 feet. We left camp at the highest bench lake with crampons and wore them all the way to the base of the Stur Chimney, which was snow free.

Erik Leidecker-SMG

On June 13th Sam Gardner and I skied the South Face of Williams Peak. Sam is from New Mexico and was in town for a wedding in Boise. He is an accomplished alpinist and we made good time on both the ascent and descent. We skied all the way down to Yurt Lake at 7,700 feet, which is the same as you would ski during mid-winter! There was 1-4 inches of new snow and generally fair to good skiing, especially on the old snow melt-freeze crust. Thanks to Sam for a great day!

Erik Leidecker–SMG

On June 6th SMG guide Marc Hanselman and I skied the South Face of Kent Peak. We approached via the East Fork of the North Fork of the Big Wood River and followed a tongue of avalanche debris at 8100 feet into a high basin to the west of the drainage that comes off the south face. Conditions were firm (crampons) up to 10,800′ at which point they became more breakable. The south face itself was mostly breakable crust, and due to the generally cold and unstable weather the mountains haven’t seen much of a corn cycle. Despite the funky ski conditions there was plenty of sunshine and all in all it was a great day in the mountains.

Here are a few photos from the weekend of May 31-June 1st at City of Rocks. Ralph and I spent a day working on lead climbing skills.

Erik SMG

We just returned from Durango, Colorado and a three-day adventure retreat with San Francisco-based Pantera Capital Management.  Special thanks to Southwest Adventure Guides, Mild-to-Wild Whitewater, Norton’s Catering, and of course the Pantera crew for a great trip.

On Friday the 16th we floated the Upper Box segment of the Piedra River.  The Upper Box is 10 miles of Class II through Class IV whitewater and the river cuts through tight stretches of narrow sandstone gorge.  On Saturday the team spread out around Durango for mountain biking and rock and alpine climbing.   Then on Sunday we navigated through an orienteering course before a barbecue lunch and plane flights back home! 

Thanks again to Pantera for three days of great company and great adventure!  Stay tuned for more photos!

Erik Leidecker–SMG

This years ski camp (April 24-27) couldn’t have worked out better. For weather we had everything from mid winter-like storms to perfect blue bird days. We skied everything from 1.5 feet of fresh powder in couloirs to corn on smooth solar exposures…not bad for the end of April…although we are in the Sawtooths.

Everybody who took the course expressed how they learned lots of new skills, challenged themselves in steep terrain and had an all around good time. For some of the people it was their first time in the Sawtooths and they commented on how they were “blown away”. Drew from Backcountry Magazine covered the course and he had a blast at the yurt - their article will be out sometime next winter.

What a way to wrap up the ski season. Excellent skiing, exciting terrain, good weather, great food = fun times. For most it would be the last turns of the year as well as their best turns of the year. Here at SMG we’re not missing a beat and have already gotten out the kayaks and climbing gear. Thanks for coming!

Instructors: Kirk Bachman (lead guide), Mike Hatch (Guide), Clark Corey (course assistant)

Participants: Mike Bratina, Jake Goyden, Darin Lightfield, Bill Erikson, Dustin Bloxham, Joe Tobias and Drew Pogge (backcountry magazine).

-Clark

Mike and I were up at the yurt on 3/8 for some maintenance and stayed the night to get in some turns the next day. Snowstake (at the yurt) was at 160cm. Southern exposures were “dust on crust” in the AM but softening up during mid-day. North facing slopes offered mixed conditions ranging from wind buff to excellent powder. Warm weather combined with small storms cycles the past month have allowed the snowpack to stabilize which allowed us to get into high north facing terrain. Skiing and riding was amazing (blue-bird day) and we found the best snow on north facing slopes.

-Clark