Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We had a great year at Mountain Trip and are enjoying Christmas at home! More trips head out soon, but all of our trips are home for the holidays this year.

Wishing you and your family a great Holiday Season and Happy New Year from our family at Mountain Trip!

Aconcagua Team on the Summit!!

Our first Aconcagua expedition of the season is standing on the summit of the highest mountain in South America.

Congratulations to:
Vivian Rigney
Allan Frankl
Phil McDonald
Denis Autier
and their guides Zach Shlosar and Ariel Di Carlantonio

You can read the expedition dispatches from this trip at

http://mttripaconcaguadec09.blogspot.com

Colorado Ice Climbing

Todd R starting up pitch 1

Cold temperatures and low snowfall made for some great early season ice in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Three Mountain Trip guides snuck out for some fun climbing near Silverton, CO last Sunday and climbed the three pitch classic, Whore House Hoses (WI 4). Jared Vilhauer, Dave Ahrens and I enjoyed the day despite chilly temperatures. A big dump of snow on Monday and Tuesday has made routes like this one off-limits until the avalanche hazard decreases.

Dave belaying Todd on pitch 1

Dave soloing up the short pitch 2

Jared approaching the hidden pitch 3

Dave enjoying the "plastic" blue/green ice of pitch 3

Dave and Jared getting ready for the last rappel down the route

Dave on the last rappel, about 50 meters from the bottom

Video of 2009 Denali Expeditions

I've finally finished the slideshow/video from the 2009 Mountain Trip Denali Expeditions. I tried to include pictures of all of the climbers and guides who were a part of our year in Alaska, but I know I am missing lot's of you. If you were on one of our trips in 2009 in Alaska and have a great photo you'd like to share, send it to us at info@mountaintrip.com and I'll try to add it to the show.

Check out the video, or find it on You Tube

Mountain Trip guide to receive governor's award

Mountain Trip guide Greg Nappi, whose efforts led to a successful rescue of another Mountain Trip Guide injured in the Alaskan back-country, is among the recipients of Alaska's Governor's Annual Awards for Emergency Medical Services.

The accident took place on the morning of April 9 when Greg and Joe Butler were ice-climbing above the Eklutna Glacier in Chugach State Park. Joe fell some 1,000 feet and came to a stop with a broken femur and various other injuries.

Greg, aka super friend, rappelled to find Joe and then hiked a silly amount of miles to a wilderness hut where a sled, tent and other survival gear were located. Greg returned with the gear and bundled up Joe, as night descended and a storm moved into the valley. Greg skied through the night to find a cabin locked and unoccupied where he kicked in the door to phone rescuers. Picture James Bond kicking in a door. Joe was evacuated within hours as the blizzard ensued.

We are all happy to know we have such skilled and determined friends in the Mountain Trip Family. Congratulations Greg, and Joe, we wish you a speedy recovery.

Check out the video below to see Joe's big break, pun intended, in the commercial industry.




Here is a link to an article in the Anchorage Daily News

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/1012356.html

Travel Guard Trip Insurance Available Online!

We are happy to announce that we can offer all of our US and Canadian climbers the comprehensive Travel Guard Adventure Protection Plan.

It is easy to set up, and can all be done from home via a link on our website that you can reach HERE.

The unfortunate reality for active outdoors people is that we often expose ourselves to the potential for injury while we train for our upcoming trips. A somewhat parallel reality is that most trips in the mountains are subject to a level of subjective hazard that is even higher. Injuries and illness are occasionally unavoidable in the big mountains. The Adventure Protection Plan is one of the better ways we've found to help our climbers protect their investments in their expeditions.

There are some valuable additional benefits that are included in the plan if you sign up within 15 days of making a deposit, so please consider that into your decision making. When purchasing a policy, also consider the cost of your flights and any additional travel expenses you might need when deciding on the appropriate level of coverage.

We have had several of our climbers use this plan over the past couple of years and they have expressed a high level of satisfaction with their experiences. Unfortunately, we have also had a couple of climbers injure themselves right before a climb who did not have any trip insurance as well. They all wish they had protected their trip expenses...

TRAVEL GUARD ADVENTURE PROTECTION PLAN

Our 2010 Denali season is filling up!

It has been a very interesting experience to see how our pre-season bookings have changed over the past five years. "Back in the day," it was fairly typical to have a fair amount of space left on trips as late as a month before the season started. We began filling trips by February a few years ago, and our 2009 season was completely full by December 1st, 2008.

It looks like we are on a similar track for our 2010 season. We have space available on most dates, but are rapidly filling up. I'd encourage anyone even considering joining us on Denali to at least give us a call to talk about whether it would be a good choice for you or not. Any perspective small groups of even two or more friends should contact us very soon as trips with even two spots left open are becoming few and far between.

We will probably open our May 23rd Denali Traverse expedition up to climbers who want to climb up and down the West Buttress. This trip has some confirmed traverse climbers, but still has many spaces open, so we will most likely run a combined trip on that date. We have done this before and it works well.

Thanks for checking in, and we hope you are all enjoying the warm, "Indian Summer" that we are having here in SW Colorado.

Keep climbing,
Todd

Another Successful Carstensz Climb!

Bill called earlier today from the summit of Carstensz Pyramid!

Carstensz expeditions are never easy, and can often be plagued by unecpected challenges that we have little control over. This particular climb was all that and more. We want to really commend our climbers for keeping faith in Bill and in the trip and for being flexible and committed enough to get their opportunities to reach the top. Patience, grit and determination are crucial for any expedition, and these climbers displayed those qualities in exemplary fashion.

Great work, team!!!

You can read about their climb HERE.

Denali Cuisine Cooking Class

Mountain Trip Lead Denali guide Kevin Koprek is teaching a class on Denali Cuisine in Ouray, CO this Saturday. Kevin will instruct participants on the fine art of menu planning, meal preparation and how to handle the nuances of all the logistics of packing for a long expedition like Denali.

For more information or to register, please contact Weehawken Creative Arts HERE.

Bill and the team are at Base Camp!

After some days of delay waiting for a helicopter repair, Bill Allen and our team are finally at Base Camp below Carstensz Pyramid. This trip is never easy, and this particular expedition is living up to that tradition.

Read all the dispatches HERE.

Getting Ready for Carstensz Pyramid Expedition

We are settled back in to our beautiful home of Ophir, Colorado for a couple of weeks, but preparations are on for the upcoming Carstensz Pyramid trip. I am looking forward to going back over for my yearly trip to Indonesia for this adventure. I missed going over last year due to a knee injury that has healed up just fine now. I say it all the time, but it is always an adventure traveling to the remote island of Papua and navigating the logistics and politics that it takes just to get to base camp. This will be my 6th trip to Indonesia, and it makes it something like 10 for Mt Trip. It has been different every time.

This time we are going to be flying in by helicopter from the village of Nabire. It's over an hour flight to base camp from this village over some of the most remote jungle left on the planet. The island of Papua is split in half by the border between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The Surinam range runs East to West across the island, and Carstensz Pyramid is the highest peak in the range at just over 16,000 ft. The climb is a one day push from our base camp at a beautiful lake at the base of the mountain.
The climb is a fun outing climbing about 4,000 ft up a limestone peak. Most of the climbing is really pretty straight forward low 5th class climbing with a fixed rope for protection. The real excitement starts when we gain the ridge and need to pass over several gaps along the way to the top. The first of these gaps is by far the biggest, and we will be using a "Tyrolean Traverse" to get across it, instead of rappelling down 20 meters, and climbing back out the other side. The tyrolean is really pretty fun, but it definitely get's your heart beating fast as you look down several thousand feet while suspended by a rope (or two).

This spot is the technical crux of the entire 7 summit journey.

Most of the climbers coming to Carstensz are working towards climbing the highest peak on each continent, these peaks have been dubbed the "7 Summits" It's a great excuse to travel all around this planet to extremely different places for some fun climbing, and incredible cultural experiences.

The culture and people of the island of Papua are some of the most fascinating on the planet. I don't really claim to grasp the complexity of their varied cultures, but the island is home to the most different languages, and tribal groups left in the world. It is truly a sense of stepping back into the stone age when you get into some of the more remote villages, where there first contact with the western world occurred in the last 50 years or so.

This picture was from a small village outside of Wamena in the central mountains of Papua. They put on a bit of a show for us with their ritualized war ceremony. It's the real deal over there, as there are still local tribal wars that break out with some regularity. This is a Dani tribe, one of the largest groups in the highlands.


The Mountain Trip team for this adventure:
1) Ben Swart. South Africa
2) Elsi Bezudinhout. South Africa
3) Ephi Gildor. Aspen, Colorado
4) William Hanlon. Alberta, Canada
5) Chris Davenport (guide). Aspen, Colorado
6) Bill Allen (guide). Ophir, Colorado/Anchorage, Alaksa

We are meeting in Bali in early October for a day or two of surfing fun, and then it's off to Papua!

I'll be posting and updating a trip blog when the trip starts. We're planning to head back over for a couple of trips in March of next year if you are interested in heading over for an adventure of your own.

Cheers,
Bill

Dave Ahrens passes his AMGA Alpine Exam!

Congratulations to guide Dave Ahrens for passing his AMGA Alpine Exam in the Cascades last week. Dave put a lot of time and effort into getting his Alpine certification which involves 3 separate courses and an intensive week long exam.

Good Work Dave!

Dreaming of the next trip...

As we finish putting away the tents and cleaning up the gear here in rainy Anchorage our minds begin to wander and we begin to dream of the next expedition. Maybe one that involves traveling to Bali, hmm... Lucky for us Carstensz Pyramid is next on the list, we're going in October with one or two groups of climbers for this adventure. It is always an adventure traveling to West Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) and getting to base camp is arguably the hardest part of this trip. Others might argue that the Tyrolean Traverse (pictured below) is the hardest part of the climb, but from a guides perspective, this is a much more manageable risk.

We've still got a couple of spots on our October trips.

Our last team of the season reached the summit!

Our last Denali team of the 2009 season reached the summit on a picture perfect, warm and sunny day!

Jacob Schmitz called to say that he was enjoying an amazing from the highest point in north America. The team made good time to the summit and the first rope teams found it so warm that they posed for some shirtless summit shots. Shirtless at 20,2030 feet in Alaska? That's almost unheard of...

Congratulations to all the climbers for their hard work and great effort.

This wraps up our 2009 season. we were able to put 11 out of 14 West Buttress expeditions on the summit, despite a month of horrendous weather in May and early June.

We'll post a 2009 season recap shortly. Please check out all of our expedition dispatches HERE.

Two more teams on the summit!

Today two more Mountain Trip groups reached the summit of Denali. Our June 23rd team and a small, private climb both made it to the top of North America on what Mountain Trip co-owner and guide, Bill Allen, described as the nicest summit day he's seen in over 20 Denali expeditions.

16 climbers reached the summit today with Mountain Trip:

Ephraim Gildor from the US
Stina Glavind from Denmark
Sheri Bastien from Canada
Jaysen Armugmum from the UK
Scott McNaughton from the UK
Neil Hunter from the UK
Mirek Standowicz from the US
Shawn Dawson from the US
George Stewart from the UK
Patrick Turner from the US

Mountain Trip guides:

Bill Allen from Ophir, CO
Heidi Kloos from Ridgway, Colorado
Sebastian Grau from Santiago de Chile
Justin Buttrick from Anchorage, Alaska
Constantine Severis from Telluride, CO
Chris Davenport from Aspen, CO

Congratulations to all the climbers!

Joe Butler and Greg Nappi

Two of our guides Joe Butler and Greg Nappi were on a climbing trip this spring up here in Alaska and Joe fell about 1000 ft. Their strength, experience, friendship, and determination brought them through alive, and Joe is recovering nicely.

Greg is currently out on his second Denali expedition of the 2009 season, and Joe is recovering quickly and is already walking with just a cane. This is a pretty amazing story and definitely worth a read.

Link to Article in the Anchorage Daily News

MT Chicas on the Hill!

Two Mountain Trip guides and a couple of friends are having a blast climbing and skiing on Denali.

Sonja Allen, (Bill's wife!) and Kim Grant are currently based at Camp 3 with friends Karin Kingsley from Ophir, CO and Kim Havell from Telluride, CO. The four have spent so many days skiing the Ophir and Telluride backcountry together over the years, they decided to take their infectious good energy to Denali.

They summitted in mid-June and have been waiting for the weather to clear so they can get some skiing in!

The slopes above Camp 3 offer numerous world-class lines to ski and if the conditions permit, I reckon the girls will shred their fair share of them. We'll keep you updated on their progress and will post some photos from their trip when they get back off the mountain.

Have fun, be safe and GO BIG!

Featured Guide: HEIDI KLOOS

Heidi Kloos is a great friend and one of our senior guides. She has been working for Mountain Trip since 2005 and is one of our favorite climbing and ski partners when we're not working.

When not climbing, Heidi helps run an alpaca ranch in Ridgway, CO. Her responsibilities include looking after dozens of very valuable animals, helping shear their coats, birth their young, and milk Penny the Cow each day.

Heidi has participated on 10 Denali expeditions, nine of which were with Mountain Trip. Her level of care for her teammates is incredible, and is only rivaled by her strength of resolve, and strength on the uphill. In a nutshell, she's a sweetheart, but one tough cookie! Here she is riding her horse, Lady, in to climb Hayden Peak, in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Heidi is a very seasoned international mountain guide. She has led many trips to Nepal and in South America. She'll help get you up your mountain, and also find the good "sanduche de pollo a la italiana" on that back street in Mendoza.

Boundless energy, enthusiasm and good will might start to sum up an experience with Heidi in the big mountains.

We should also mention that she is a very solid technical climber and one of the first women in the U.S. to earn the title of Certified Alpine Guide by the American Mountain Guiding Association.

Who, where, what and why?

We often talk about the Mountain Trip Family. We don't talk about this as hyperbole, but because it really exists. Bill Allen and Todd Rutledge own the business, but the heart and soul of the company are our guides and the climbers we get to spend time with in the mountains.

Mountain Trip is a small guide service based high in the mountains of SW Colorado in the tiny hamlet of Ophir. Ophir is a community of about 190 folks, located at the end of the road for most months of the year, but accessible from both the east and the west when the 11,814' pass to the east is clear of snow. There are no paved roads down here, and with the long, tough winters, the town is full of hearty, adventurous people, and our local playground is often a zoo with the 60+ kids under the age of eight who are running amok.

Backcountry skiing, rock and ice climbing, mountaineering, hiking and mountain biking are all accessed literally from our front doors. It is a vibrant community that lives according to the principles of the traditional "village" and everyone helps each other out. It is a special place.

Todd Rutledge began guiding for Mountain Trip in 1994, and followed the lady who would soon be his wife to Ophir in 2001. Bill Allen joined the Mountain Trip team in 1995 and began frequenting Ophir in 2002, and moved to the town in 2006. We assumed the helm of Mountain Trip following the 2004 Denali season, when founder Gary Bocarde decided he was ready for some sunny rock climbing and cycling, instead of working away at a guide service.

Gary always fostered a feeling amongst us guides that we were all part of a greater fraternity and we took that feeling and have taken it a few steps further. Our guides are our best friends, confidants, climbing partners, and mentors. We take good care of them and challenge them to be innovative and to always strive to orchestrate the best possible outcome from any given scenario. They return to work for Mountain Trip year after year, after year, after year. Barring injuries and the occasional need to placate a girlfriend, we have almost a 100% return rate in our guide staff year after year, after year.

Years ago we decided to extend this feeling of inclusion and of being part of something bigger than oneself to those climbers who chose to join us in the mountains on our expeditions. An expedition begins long before you arrive at the trailhead and we strive to give unparalleled personal attention to our climbers from their very first email or phone call. We absolutely love what we get to do, and we love to share all of the knowledge gained over decades in the mountains with our climbers. There are no big egos around here, just passionate climbers who are eager to share that passion with you.

If you have big mountain dreams, or are curious as to what life on a big, cold peak might be like, give us a ring. Novice to the mountain world will find us to be attentive listeners, ready to give you advice as to where to start or how to proceed. Experienced alpinists will find us happy to talk about big, gnarly routes and help plan that next big adventure.

Why Mountain Trip? Because we do take it personally... and it shows!

Welcome to Mountain Trip!

Mountain Trip was born of an Alaskan daydream in 1973. We are now the industry leader for providing mountain guiding services on Denali and around the world.

We are a small company and we like it that way. It enables us to intently focus on providing the highest possible service on a select number of expeditions. Providing personal attention every step of the way is our goal, and our climbers often comment that they felt more like climbing partners than "just clients."

Hopefully the posts on this blog will provide you with some insight into our world. It's a pretty amazing place!