Leaving No Trace Leaving No Trace Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
Fitness & Training Tips Get Tips Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
Planning For Success On Your Trip Get Plan Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
SMC Cancellation Policy Get Policy Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
Our Covid-19 Plan Get Plan Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Get Guide Mammoth to Yosemite Valley Hike PDFs Details, Itinerary, and Equipment List Our Covid-19 plan. Our Cancellation Policy Suggestions on preparation - get the most out of your trip! Tips on physical training for your trip LNT - Let's work together to protect our precious mountain environments.
BY ROBERT ROPER SEP 26, 2022 Read the full article at the link below: https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a40982966/expedition-retrace-crossing-sierra-nevada-nonnative-people-robert-roper/
Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you once again for the Avi 1 course with SP Parker. It was phenomenal, couldn't have ever expected anything more. Sp's professional insights were a great compliment to the materials. And the instructor to student ratio was amazing. While I didn't get much time with Anouk or Tyler (because I was with SP and Sue), they seemed incredibly sharp and very interesting to listen to. Having Sue along, as a practicing snow scientist, was fascinating - a real treat. You too can learn about avalanche safety. Check out our Avalanche School web page for more information
At 13,147 feet Boundary Peak is the high point of Nevada and something we guide fairly often. While not hard in a mountaineering sense, it is a hard hike with no defined trail in the upper section, high elevation and lots of talus and rock to negotiate. It requires strength, determination and stamina - not things generally associated with an eleven year old, especially one from the flatlands of Florida. I guided David and his son Will, with help from new guides Heather Shaw and Chris Miller up the peak on May 18 and we all had a great time. David’s knees decided that they had had enough at Trail [...]
Williamson #49- The Long Version So the story begins…. When you play sports you are taught to go until the buzzer or whistle. The reason for this is because you don’t know what you can accomplish in that small amount of time. I never wanted my biggest hike to be my 49th hike. How awful would I feel if I couldn’t accomplish that one and I was so close to the finish line? I would have rather it be in the early 40’s and I could have held my head high and walked away knowing I put in a good effort but there was still a lot to be done. [...]
There are a lot of Sierra photographers but none have been more consistent over the years than local Claude Fiddler. I have done a number of trips with Claude in the high Arctic of Alaska and he has watched Claude haul around large format cameras, huge tripods and then see him watch for days until the perfect moment of light and place came together. Along with Claude's images are essays by renowned climbers such as Tom Hornbein, Peter Croft, Dick Dorworth with artists and writers Valerie and Michael Cohen and Claude's daughter Laurel. For those of you who appreciate fine art photography and who have a love for what John [...]
One never knows what you are going to get. On May 11th, 2022 I had to scout snow conditions up in Bishop Creek. I saw a short steep ice flow that I'd seen before but hadn't got to yet. I rounded up a strong, young guide with better ice climbing skills, and less sense than myself, Braden Downey (photographed). We headed out today before the sun rose, in colder than usual temperatures, to try our luck. Unexpectedly the ice and the climbing turned out to be great. Mixed climbing, steep ice and a detached pillar which was somehow still standing. Maybe this route has been done before, maybe not - [...]
We all know that when you go to a doctor you expect them to have graduated from Medical School and be trained and certified. Or maybe you see a Nurse Practitioner or intern, but understand they also have achieved certain levels of training and are qualified to help. Plumbers, bookkeepers, auto mechanics, child care providers... we expect most the professionals who help us to have formal qualifications. Can the same be said of the guide who accompanies you out in the mountains? Often not. Over the last 4 decades guiding in the USA has been slowly evolving, becoming more structured and more standards applied. Sierra Mountain Center (SMC) and owner [...]
Sierra Mountain Center and its owner SP Parker have long been involved with the AMGA (American Mountain Guides Association), certifying guides and supporting guiding in the USA. The AMGA has an Accreditation program which looks at business structure, guide training, and how a business is complying with permitting and legal requirements. It points out actual, or potential issues, and offers solutions to those problems. SMC first underwent this process in 2018 and just had a re-review in November 2021. We are very pleased that the AMGA found no problems and we can do not better than to quote the reviewers. In the opinion of this reviewer, the Sierra Mountain Center [...]
SMC is still here, surviving a tough year thanks to our wonderful guests, some hard pulls from our team, and our proximity to these amazing mountains. We are very much looking forward to the summer of 2021, and getting outside with you. Keep reading and find out what we've got going on! Snow is melting fast and we anticipate a long hot summer. (Photos above and below taken on one of the winter's rare dumps -- in May!) So if you can, get out early while things are still cool and the creeks are flowing with water. Long term predictions indicate a more extensive monsoon season but like any long [...]
Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you once again for the Avi 1 [avalanche] course. It was phenomenal, couldn't have ever expected anything more. Your professional insights were a great compliment to the materials. And the instructor to student ratio was amazing. While I didn't get much time with Anouk or Tyler (because I was with you and Sue), they seemed incredibly sharp and very interesting to listen to. Having Sue along, as a practicing snow scientist, was fascinating - a real treat. As I've said, thanks again, and you'll definitely be hearing from me again when the snow comes for some backcountry touring, and a companion [...]
I wanted to reach out and let you know that I had a really, really good time with Braden, super nice guy. Learned a ton, got some really good climbing in and the weather was perfect. I'll definitely be coming back to build on what I learned. Maybe shoot for an alpine ice or mixed climbing route. I appreciate you guys taking me out. Cheers, Chris A. Want to get out and learn ice climbing. Visit our Ice Climbing School webpage for more information.
Currently there are lockdowns preventing local lodging from hosting guests coming to the area to recreate. At the same time public lands are open. Without getting into the politics of it, we’d like to show you an easy way to ensure that where you are camping for the night is… copacetic. This is handy information for any time -- not just when there are lockdowns! The Eastern Sierra is a delicate ecosystem, and is the watershed for most our participants coming from the South. So please, read below about how to properly go to the bathroom (poop) outdoors when there is no toilet. Local land agencies have been having particular [...]
The governor of California has put in place a stay at home order for residents. (Learn more) SMC complies with any closure orders, so regrettably we are not able to operate in-the-field (in person) programs until the orders are lifted or changed. This applies to all ski, backpacking and climbing programs. Locally, the Inyo and Mono County Health Departments are asking that visitors from outside of the county refrain from visiting and instead stay very close to home, wear masks, and limit contacts. SMC Avalanche Courses Avalanche courses have been very popular this winter and most courses are full. We are asking people who registered for field programs before Christmas [...]
What do the the Polar Bear, the Pika, the Sierra Nevada Red Fox and Thiem’s buckwheat all have in common? At first glance they don’t have much at all in common, but all four could be listed as endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (or what tattered remains are left of it). Polar bears and pikas suffer from habitat loss due climate change. The Sierra Nevada Red Fox suffers from reduction in quiet habitat by relentless human intrusion. Thiem’s buckwheat? Might just be human ignorance. It’s easy to get excited about saving large charismatic animals such as the polar bear. While Thiem’s buckwheat could be considered furry, it’s not [...]
My daughter Whitney (27) and I recently spent a week backpacking with a group from Sierra Mountain Center (SMC) out of Bishop, CA. For several years we had been thinking about Mt. Whitney. In 2017 we tried the Mountaineer's Route, (with another guiding company), and made it to Upper Boy Scout Lake. Coming from Michigan and lacking the time to properly acclimate, we were not feeling well. We decided not to overpush and go for the summit. I said to Whit, we should try this again, but give ourselves more time. Fast forward to 2020, I booked our trip with SMC and it ended up being one of the best [...]
On June 24th, a strong 5.8R earthquake struck near the foot of everyone’s favorite California 14er, causing massive rock falls and naturally, road and trail closures. Even without road and trail closures, getting permits by lottery to climb Whitney is difficult. Sometimes Whitney… just isn’t an option. SMC wants to know: are you heart-broken because you were set on climbing Mount Whitney? Can we help? […]
Now I understood why the party ahead of us had been so slow on this pitch. I gasped for air while inching my way up the steep, strenuous crack. The spike of my ice axe stuck out of my pack and scraped against the granite, creating fitting background noise for my struggling. Upon reaching a spacious belay ledge, I congratulated my partner on his challenging lead. “How could that pitch be 5.8?!” we wondered. It would be weeks or even months before I would learn that we had been off route due to our lazy, follow-the-party-in-front-of-you mindset on a popular climb, taking a 5.10 variation by mistake. Luckily, one pitch [...]
Alright, so it's pretty obvious what this post is going to be about: my little affectionate history with a piece of rock in the mountains. Our guides want to gush about their favorite routes in our backyard this summer in the same vein as our online Adventure Presentation Series Spring 2020. We want to keep you all--our readers and guests--motivated to get back into the hills as soon as it works for you during COVID-Era. There's no rush--we want you all to feel safe, healthy, happy, and go when you're ready. In the meantime, I'll try not to wax poetic about what is ultimately just a geological anomaly. When Sierra Nevada climbing [...]
