Ice Climbing in Washington

A few years ago, I was invited to participate in a segment on ice climbing for the public television show, Oregon Field Guide. Unfortunately for us all, I recently found clips from that episode on youtube.

After the producer called me, I got in touch with a few people who used to work here (Mark Allen and Gene Pires) as well as Alex Krawarik, whom I wrote an ice climbing guidebook with some time ago. Everybody was psyched to go out, climb some ice and be on television. A bit of the psyche drained away when we realized what this would really entail.

Though in shape, the camera crew wasn't used to long slogs in snow shoes. As such, it took us a long long time to get to the base of the routes. Neither of our objectives were in very good condition. Indeed, the route that Mark and I climbed was in terrible shape and took an extremely long time to send.

My favorite element of this video revolves around the fact that they put a microphone next to my mouth. As a result, while I'm climbing low-angled ice my breathing sounds as if I'm completely and utterly worked; whereas everybody else climbs in complete silence...apparently not breathing at all...





--Jason D. Martin

November and December Climbing Events

--November 19 -- Las Vegas, NV -- LVCLC Meeting

--November 20 -- Seattle, WA -- Climbing in China

--November 20 -- San Francisco, CA -- North America Wall

--November 22 -- Seattle, WA -- Seattle Bouldering Challenge

--November 22 -- Bellevue, WA -- Ski Mountaineering in the Central Caucasus

--November 28-30 -- Los Angeles, CA -- ATS Outdoor Adventure Festival

--November 30 -- Contest -- Defenders of Wildlife Writing Contest

--December 2 -- Bellingham, WA -- Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour

--December 3-5 -- Seattle, WA -- Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour

--December 11-13 -- Mora, MN -- Sandstone Ice Festival

5 Reasons You Should Climb Denali in 2009

AAI climber Will Baumann reaches the top of the fixed lines
on the West Buttress, Denali. Coley Gentzel

1. The State of the Economy. So the rumor has it that the country is in an econimoc recession. Some have felt it, some haven't, but those that watch the news, listen to the radio, and read the paper are hearing plenty about it. We say, what better way to distract yourself from reality then to stand on top of the highest mountain on this continent? Nothing like a little personal accomplishment on a large scale to help you forget stock market woes!

2. Politics and Religion. I am not sure about other guides, but on my trips, one of the only hard and fast rules we have is that discussion on politics and religion must be kept light and short. If you've had your fill of Palin, Obama, he said, she said and the like, fear not, you can escape with us for a few weeks.

3. Denali Registration Fee, aka Money. Another hot topic as of late is that there is a proposal on the table at Denali National Park to raise their mountaineering use fee from $200 per person to $500 per person in 2010. If you want to sneak in while the price is low and save yourself a few hundred bucks, 2009 would be the time to do it.

4. There is no time like the present, an oft used and sometimes abused statement that continues to ring true regardless of context. I have always been of the "use it while you got it" mentality. The reality is that none of us are getting younger, and so you might as well give it a shot sooner rather than later. Don't let, "maybe next year" turn into a decade. With regard to training, it is easier to keep up than catch up and if you have been maintaining a good base of fitness for a while now in preparation for something cool, now could be the perfect time to step it up and give Denali a go.

5. What Else are you going to Do? Take a cruise? Go sit on the beach for a week or two? Hey wait, that doesn't sound half bad. No really now, isn't 2009 a great time to change the scenery, check out what Alaska has to offer, and finally climb in one of the "Great Ranges of the World?"

Jaime Garis and an AAI team step onto the summit of Denali. Coley Gentzel

So now that you are thoroughly and completely convinced that 2009 is the year to climb Denali, the next question you might ask could be "Why Should I Go with You?" You shouldn't. Not without some homework that is. There are a lot of differences between services and programs on Denali. Our Denali program page details our approach to this climb and history on the mountain, including a wealth of information on training, gear, and the climb itself. Check it out and give me a call if you want to talk more about your qualifications and how those compare to the requirements for joining the trip.

Coley Gentzel
Alaska Programs Coordinator and Guide

AAI Gary Kuehn leads a team to the top of Motorcycle Hill. Coley Gentzel

A 2008 AAI team on the summit of Denali. Coley Gentzel

Free Winter Clinics in Bellingham

This winter (beginning next week!), the American Alpine Institute will be running a free clinic series at our Equipment Shop. All clinics will be run by our winter ski and avalanche guides based in Washington.

Here are the program dates for the next couple months:

November 19:
An Introduction to Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding - an overview of required gear, skiing techniques, and places to go

December 10:
Avalanche Awareness Seminar - an introduction to safety in the backcountry

January 21:
Backcountry Skiing in the Pacific Northwest - a slideshow and discussion hosted by AAI guides

Weekend Warrior -- Videos to Get You Stoked!

Welcome warriors to our weekend of weird. Yep, we've got a newscaster struggling, a robot sending and just to make sure our weirdness isn't too weird, we also have a couple of climbers deep in the Canadian wilderness ripping it up...

So apparently a sports reporter in Montana has a segment entitled, "How Hard Can it Be?" Yep, you know where this is going. In one segment he attempts indoor rock climbing. His white tube socks and red headband definitely did not help him to send. Check out this hilarious video below.



Okay, this one's a bit weird but also cool and very sci-fi. These dudes created a robot which can climb just about anything. This crazy contraption gives new meaning to the term, "sendbot."



Okay after that weirdness, we definitely need something to get you stoked. So check this out. This couple is in the Ghost River Valley of Alberta on a climb called Beowulf, WI4. The combination of the great music and the cool climbing is just what the doctor ordered to bring on the stoke!

Choosing a Solo Tent

Perhaps the most common question that our first year guides ask is, "what kind of tent do you recommend?" I actually remember asking that very same question myself as I started my guide career and I subsequently made a big mistake.

The first tent that I bought for guiding was a Mountain Hardware Trango 2 which is a great tent, the thing is utterly bomb-proof, but clocks in at nearly ten pounds. Even when one splits such a tent with his partner, it is still a tremendously heavy piece of equipment. Unfortunately, as a guide you spend so much time in the field that you are often unwilling to share a tent. During the summer season a guide's tent becomes a guide's home; a home that one carries by himself weighing almost ten pounds is an incredibly heavy abode.

Mountain Hardwear Trango 2

Every now and then I was lucky enough that our shop manager would let me borrow one of the one man tents that we rent. As such I often borrowed the four season one man MSR Fury. This extremely heavy duty tent is no longer made as a solo tent. It now only comes in a two-person version. This is a good thing, because the door in the vestibule on the one man version was nearly impossible to get in and out of. One had to contort his body in multiple strange ways in order to get in or out of the tent.

MSR Fury

Many guides chose to go with small two man single-wall tents like the Black Diamond/Bibbler Ahwahnee or the Black Diamond Firstlight. Others are big fans of the solo double-wall Hilleberg Akto. I personally hate single-wall tents in the Cascades. They often leak after a few years of use. And the Hilleberg tents have a somewhat confusing system wherein the tent and the fly are permenantly attached to one another. This system often requires additional time to figure out when you set it up.

Personal prejudices toward the preceding tents aside, many of our guides have found these options to work excedingly well. And it is important to understand that each individual has different needs and desires. As such, many of the options previously listed might work very well for you...

Eventually I decided that it was time to purchase a one man tent of my own. I ended up with a very light option, but again something that wasn't terribly functional. I purchased a Mountain Hardwear Halcyon one-man tent.

Mountain Hardware Halcyon

There were three problems with the Halcyon. First, the entire inside of the tent was made of mesh. This kept the inside of the tent cold and allowed muddy water to splash in from below the rainfly. Second, I wasn't able to sit-up inside the tent. It was too short. And third, the tent was not free-standing, which is a huge pain in the rear. Each of these problems were enough to make the tent worthless on their own, but together they made the tent less than worthless, they made the tent pure garbage. As such, I got rid of it and invested in a much cheaper but more functional one man tent.

Approximately two years ago I bought a double-wall REI Chrysalis UL tent. This was a much warmer one man tent that allowed plenty of room for me to sit up inside. There wasn't very much mesh on the tent at all and it was completely free-standing. After all of my experimentation this was by far the best one man tent that I encountered.

REI Chrysalis UL Tent without the fly

The problem with this tent of course, is that they no longer sell it. And indeed, they have not replaced it with anything similar. Unfortunately, it looks like when my tent wears out I'll have to start a new quest for another one man tent that works.

--Jason D. Martin

November E-Newsletter

AAI's November E-Newsletter has just been released! Read about new winter programs, check out an article written by Coley Gentzel on "The Progression of a Mountaineer," vote for the photo contest finalists, and view the newest gear for the upcoming snow days.



Click here to see the November E-Newsletter

Click here to read Coley Gentzel's "Progression of a Mountaineer"

Click here for the Photo Contest