A window of good weather finally opened for us to make our winter attempt at Mount St. Helens. We had been waiting around for three days hoping for our timing of this trip to align. It had been snowing here for the previous week and everyone was getting antsy. Summit day would begin with a…
Waiting On a Weather Window
A small group of us from Utah made our way out to Washington state again for another Pacific Northwest volcano. This time was to make a winter ascent of Mount St. Helens. Two from our group tried it last year at this same time but experienced a whiteout and had to turn back within a…
Prepping for Denali Prep with AMS
I just submitted an application to attend a Denali Prep Course offered by the Alaska Mountaineering School in May, just THREE MONTHS away! When our plans for climbing Alaska’s highpoint got pushed out yet another year, I felt the need to take a bigger step in prepping for Denali. I can’t wait another year, hearing…
Este Corto Paseo Hasta El Miro
If you’re ever in Costa Rica, around the Jacó area, I would highly recommend this short walk to El Miro. The views are beautiful! Whether this was intended to be a luxury hotel or someone’s private mansion, the location of this abandoned structure can be found at the south end of Jacó. I know very…
Traversing Mexico’s Sleeping Beauty
DAY 8 – Izta Summit Day Midnight came quickly as it always does. Not sure why we had to start that early again and our guides really didn’t have a good answer. We only had 4,000′ of elevation in 4 miles, very much like a typical day in Utah. Granted, we were starting from 13,000′…
From Citlaltépetl to Iztaccíhuatl
DAY 7 – Getting Ready for Izta After a successful summit of Orizaba followed by a day of rest and relaxation, our shuttle driver transported us from Servimont to La Joya in the Parque Nacional Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl. This was a 4.5 hour drive as we looped around from the north and then down through Amecameca. I…
FELIZ NUEVO AÑO from El Pico de Orizaba
FELIZ NUEVO AÑO from El Pico de Orizaba, the tallest peak in Mexico and the third tallest peak in North America at 18,491′. What a way to start out the New Year! DAY 5 – Summit Day Our summit start began much earlier than necessary. Our guide insisted we start at 1 a.m. along with…
Acclimating for 18,000 Feet
DAY 3 – Acclimating at 14K After another fine breakfast from Servimont, we loaded up our gear and got ready for the drive up to Piedra Grande Hut. The road to this basecamp is about 16 miles up from Tlachichuca and took over 2 hours. It’s a rough and rutted route… a typical 4WD road…
Staying at Servimont, Tlachichuca, Mexico
One of my strategies in preparing for Denali is to test myself at higher elevations. The tallest peak I’ve reached so far is Mt. Whitney at 14,505′. Two times on that summit and a bunch of other 14ers in Colorado isn’t enough. I wanted to know how I’d do at altitudes greater than 14K. So…
2023 Year In Review
My focus for 2023 was clear! I just declined an invite for Denali at the beginning of the year and knew I had to fill a large gap between where I was (beginner level) and where I want to be (advanced level). That meant a lot more intermediate level experience was needed. So I immediately…