Walker Spur, Grand Jorasses

The Walker Spur  is a mixed rock and ice route on the north face of the Grand Jorasses.  
We climbed this route in two teams of two.  Our friends Tim Connelly and Dylan Taylor formed one team, and Winslow and Todd were the other team.
      This is a long route, approx. 1200 meters of climbing.  The descent is down the south side and is more than 2500 meters of down climbing, rappeling, glacier walking and trails                                 
The picture below is of the north face of the Grand Jorasses.  The Walker Spur is the prominent buttress in the left center.

More European Adventures

For our latest adventure we rented a car and drove south to the Dolimites of Italy.  The Dolimites is a large area in the northern, German speaking, mountains of Italy.  The rock climbing is endless and the landscape incredibly beautiful.  
We camped out and cooked on a stove, which was a first here in Europe.  We get a lot of this state side, but in Europe we have utilized the huts.  It was fun to camp and dirt bag it again.
The Rock is all limestone, making some very beautiful formations and inspiring towers.  The rock climbing is unique in a few ways.  There is a "no bolt" ethic, so most of the protection is pitons.  The climbing is very run out, often 20 to 30 feet between pro, and the pro that there is is often suspect.  The routes are also very circuitus, following the path of least resistance.  The path of least resistance on these limstone walls means lot's of traversing, making route finding difficult.   I am maybe making climbing in the Dolimites sound not real fun, but that is not true.  Climbing here is very fun and very adventurous.  You absolutely must be on your game, falling is not an option here.  So even the moderate climbs will keep you excited!

Mongolia 2009

I loved guiding in Mongolia this year with Dianette Wells, Tracy Murgatroyd, Lani Hicks, Lynn Jacobs, and Cathy Goodrow!  We climbed Mt. Khuiten, 14,500ft. , the highest peak in Mongolia which is on the boarder on China.  We also climbed Mt. on the boarder of Russia.  We rode horses out, drove to the lakes in Western Mongolia and went horseback riding to the waterfalls.   We also went rafting and rock climbing! Here are the photos!

Europe 2009

We have had a great vacation over here in the Alps.  We climbed the Matterhorn, in Switzerland.  It was a long rock ridge route that was super fun!  It was interesting to see the mad rush of people climbing the ridge, and the delicate etiquette of how to pass other guided parties on the ridge. 

We then spent a few days in Italy craging because it was raining/snowing in Alps.  We stayed in a great hotel that was an old church, and ate good food. 

Then we climbed Mt. Blanc from the Cosmiques hut going over Mt. Blanc de Tacul, Mt. Maudit, and then to the summit of Mt. Blanc.  We made it up in 5.5 hrs. came down to the hut and then climbed the Cosmiques Arrete on the way back to the Auguille de Midi to catch the tram back down to Chamonix!

Check out photos here!

Hiking up Mt. Blanc early morning, Mt. Maudit portion!