Tim and Phil on their climb 7/11/12
OUTSTANDING, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, any variation of adjectives. On a scale of to 10, an 11.
Brian on his Whitney Climb 6/4/12
I want to thank your Team for a great Climb on Mt. Whitney this past week. Aaron and Luke did a fantastic job for us. These two young men were friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. It was a pleasure having these two guide us on the mountaineers route. At every step along the way, Aaron and Luke made us feel as if our success, safety and enjoyment was their top priority. Connie has been extremely helpful and responsive in setting up details of this climb. I would recommend these guides and your company to anyone wanting a first rate experience. This was an outstanding adventure I will always remember. Thank [...]
Tom on his Mount Whitney trip 7/10/12
The summit to Mt. Whitney via the Mountaineer's Route was amazing. Sam is a great guide and we were fortunate to have him lead our group. Daniel and I will have this special memory forever and I want to thank you for your patience with all of my calls and answering all of my questions. I hope to do another tour with SMC. Todd
Clarence King, Mt Cotter and Mt Gardiner with Linda Emerson 7.2012
This is the eight trip that Linda and SP have done as Linda works her way to completing all of the Sierra Peaks list. We intended to do this trip two years ago and then last year, but things got in the way. The third time was however a charm and went just perfectly with no fuss and no drama. Just what a guide wants. We were slated to go in on Monday using the services of Pine Creek Pack station, but that day was stormy and unsettled so we delayed a day - much to the joy of Cricket, the packer, who had just come out from a big [...]
Mt. Emerson 13, 225′ July 4, 2012
Some of the Sierra Mountain Center team went out on July 4, 2012 to check out Mt. Emerson 13,225'. There are several different approaches. We decided to climb the SE Face. Short approach for this fun alpine route on solid rock. Leaving the Piute Pass trail before Loch Leven Lakes- Route climb the 5.4 crack ( great hand holds) then continue up class 3-4 to the traverse up high. The traverse is amazing, every 10-20 feet you move the scenery is different, miles of mountains and lakes. This is a great day climb. Mt. Emerson is a good climb to challenge your skills, learn new skills and take [...]
What our Clients are saying: 2012
Dear Connie: My recent trips with SMC (Boundary Peak & Mount Whitney) were incredible! I want to thank my guides (Ryan, Jim, Andrew, & Sam) for two awesome mountaineering adventures. Their knowledge, professionalism, and preparedness made both trips a rewarding and unforgettable experience. Please share this email with them and thank them for me. I also want to thank you for your professionalism and for just being so nice in preparing and scheduling these two trips for me. I would certainly recommend SMC to anyone looking for a great outdoor experience, and I will also put a post in the Highpointers Club's Newsletter recommending your guide service for Boundary and [...]
Skiing Canada’s Wapta traverse
Over the years John Miller has done a bunch of trans Sierra ski trips with SMC. Given this year's low snow fall in California it was just as well that we decided to head north to Canada to do a hut to hut ski across the Wapta Traverse out of Lake Louise in Alberta. Along on the trip were John's sons Cooper and Rob, Marc Shea and SMC guides SP Parker and Andrew Soleman. We met in Calgary and headed out to Canmore the first day. SP and Andrew had arrived the prior day to get everything organized and food shopped for. Day two was a little delayed due [...]
Jim on his Mt Whitney climb 8.11
I just wanted to thank you both for making our climb up Mt. Whitney an absolutely fantastic experience. You guys were terrific and the trip couldn’t have gone any better. I have been talking about it nonstop since getting back and have recommended it and you guys to several friends at home and at work.
Steve on his climb of the East Face of Whitney 8.11
Joe and I are just a couple days removed from an awesome trip up the East Face of Mount Whitney. Aaron was our guide and did a fantastic job from start to finish and made the experience really fun. We would use SMC again in a heartbeat and recommend your service to anybody looking to do a trip. Thanks again,
Rhonda on climbing Whitney via Cottonwood 8.11
We just returned home from our trip to Whitney via Cottonwood and I wanted to express my sincere thank you for putting together such a fantastic trip. Honestly, it will be one to remember forever. Above all, Marie and Luke were outstanding. Their expertise, encouraging words, ability to pace us and sure friendship was the ticket for success!! They both did a wonderful job supporting my 14 year old son through the peaks, teaching him about the backcountry and making the entire trip fun. We are putting together pictures and will be sure to add SMC to the email. Still flying, Rhonda
White Mountains Hike 6.11
The White Mountains of California are truly fantastic. This unique range became wilderness only two years ago. It is high alpine desert and this year was marked by a profusion of flowers with fragrant phlox scenting the air. This year we had only one client, Robyn from Monaco (she hiked the JMT with us last year) but three guides, SP, Luke and Ryan.We start slowly up Cottonwood Creek. This is totally unexpected oasis of trees and meadows at above 10,000 feet on the crest of the range. We camped here one night and then stopped to visit friend Dori at Barcroft Station where she cooks (she even came over in [...]
Peter on his Bear Creek Spire climb 6-11
Connie, Andrew, and SP, I'm just now back in touch with e-mail, so it's the first opportunity to say thanks for the Bear Creek Spire trip and for the flexibility in rescheduling. It was perfect. Andrew is an excellent guide; I can't imagine better. I've done four trips with SMC, all of them A+.
Bob on his East Buttress climb 7/11
Hi Connie, Just wanted to say thanks for everything. The climbs were great and so was the service. You handled the scheduling (and changes) quickly, kindly and professionally. Aaron was also great -- he is a very skilled guide and also very professional with people and logistics. Thanks again for a great experience.
Fran on his 7/11 climb of the East Face of Whitney
I'd like to thanks you for my successful summit. Nate did a great job of guiding; he's definitely a professional and I highly recommend him for anyone looking to attempt this route. As a former employer I know how hard it is to find good help. My compliments to you!. I found the climb quite challenging. There was a little bit of everything; stream crossings, crampon use and rock climbing. Getting to the summit was as much fun as actually arriving there. I'll be climbing with you again sometime.
TJ on his climb of Whitney with the family 6.2011
Just got back from CA on Sunday and I wanted to drop you a quick note to let you and everyone at SMC know what a great trip we all had (Mt. Whitney - Mountaineer's Route - June 17-19). For me and my boys it was a first rate experience that we will never forget. I can't say enough about Nate and Aaron and the job that they did guiding us, and the others on our journey. Those guys are true professionals. From my perspective, there's no greater compliment. Sunday night, in Mammoth Lakes, the whole family went out for pizza and it was fantastic listening to Teddy, Aaron, and [...]
Mike on his Mt. Whitney climb June 2011
I wanted to thank Sierra Mountain Center for a great trip up the Mountaineers Route of Mt. Whitney. It was everything I expected and then more. Our guide Andrew was superb in every aspect of his job. He was a complete professional and we felt we were well taken care of at all times. I look forward to climbing again with your company and with Andrew.
2 Day Mountaineers Route on Whitney
This week I was lucky enough to get to do our most popular trip in a two-day mega push with Luc Peltier. On our first day, climbing a little higher than usual, we made it to about 12,000 ft. At one of my favorite spots we set up camp: a set of rock ledges with snow melt for water and a great view of both the North Fork drainage and Mt. Whitney. During the day the weather was warm, and the snow felt soft under our feet. Expecting a change in weather that evening and for the next day we weren't surprised when the temperature started dropping with the sun. That night [...]
Mount Whitney with a group from Japan
This has been one heck of a spring in the Sierra. One day is a perfect spring day; the next four are full on winter. The snow pack is still not melting and we have had to cancel trips because of the quantity of snow. But we have been lucky on Mount Whitney and managed to get to the summit on all of our trips including this one. We have worked with Katsuhiro Yamashita, a Japanese IFMGA guide, before and this year he brought a group of five women and one man to climb Whitney in a quick one week trip from Japan. All of the group was older with [...]
From Ryk on the Extended Mountain Camp
Eric was outstanding. I’d trust him with my life—and did. His knowledge/experience is wide, but doesn’t let his student feel this gap in knowledge and skill, which is considerable! I appreciated his patience, flexibility in tailoring the trip to our needs/desires, and his generosity in offering to drive up to Mammoth Lakes that last day in lieu of my exhaustion at Palisade Glacier, and my fellow traveler’s malfunctioning crampon/boot situation. SMC is lucky to have someone like him. I found out that I really like rock climbing, despite previous doubts about my ability to actually do it. I’d certainly like to do more. The last day at Crystal Crag, doing [...]
From Frank on his Whitney Climb
Overall how would you rate the trip with us. It was awesome. My first trip and I couldn't have hoped for more. Did the pre-trip information and the office adequately help you prepare for the trip? Yes. Especially considering the last minute circumstances I think the office did a terrific job of scrambling resources to make it as safe and convenient experience as possible. How would you assess your guide(s)? Chris was awesome. I felt the pace was well suited to the group and he was extremely knowledgable about all aspects of the trip, and mountaineering in general. He was friendly but necessarily firm when safety was a stake. Couldn't be happier [...]
From Chip on his Mountain Camp
Challenging but not overly so. Eric was terrific! The weather was fantastic, with lots of snow to practice on and the location is as good as it gets. Eric picked a great peak for day three - Petit Griffon. One of the most beautiful and not just a marathon summit or a fitness test - it required using the skills we had worked on.
From Scott on his Whitney attempt
I would rate our feb. attempt of mt. Whitney a 10 .I met all my primary goals for the trip even though we were not able to summit.I used the gear list you provided to guide me in my purchases and all my stuff worked well.You did a great job of supplying me with the info. needed to make the trip a success. Our guides,what can I say, Braden and Aaron were outstanding.Their knowledge and style of guiding made them both a pleasure to work with.I feel they made the right decision to turn back based on their experience and common sense.I learned a lot from them and it seemed [...]
From Jorge 5.11 on his Snowskills course
just wanted to take the time to Thank You very much for having put the basic snow travel class together for us; although, the class was not commonly scheduled for Mondays. I will tell you that Tim Villanueva was a great instructor to have. He did not pull punches when it came to conveying the seriousness of snow travel risks. Tim was fun, yet, stern about getting us to learn the proper technique. The day went by fast and I was left eager to learn more. I am now more convinced than ever in that, had my wife and I continued to snow travel without the basic skills, we would [...]
The First Mountaineers Trip of 2011
20-22 MAY 2011 Headed up Whitney for the first, but not the last, time this season with three great clients: Heather Krauss, Regina Froemmiling and Aaron Howell. The forecast looked more like winter than a mid-May spring trip. I think that we all dressed a little too heavily for the warm sunny weather that was our actual Friday. Conditions were great; we hit soft snow on the slopes, clean rock on the ledges and had crystal clear skies. Up early on day two to beat the forecasted storm we silently forced down some food, strapped on our crampons and started hiking. Just below Iceberg Lake the morning alpine glow [...]