“What Happened to Climbing Etiquette?” I spent the last five days out ice climbing in Lee Vining Canyon with a series of different groups and a total of seven different guests and let me tell you, the conditions have been spectacular! The cold snap that hit...
“Still Solid in LVC” I spent the last few days up in Lee Vining Canyon and enjoyed some surprisingly great conditions for ice climbing. With the warm temperatures down in the valleys it was hard to imagine the ice not falling down the mountain, but LVC...
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed!” Pitch 2 of North Gully with SMG guest Caitlyn Bidwell on Feb 5th The ice in February is off to a great start here in the Eastern Sierra and this past weekend was just delightful with cool, sunny, bluebird days with pretty...
“Getting into the Swing of Things” While we have been having some unseasonably warm weather lately here in the Eastern Sierra, without a single drop of precipitation in the month of January, the ice seems to be coming into its own. While the overall conditions are...
Lee Vining: Just had another really good weekend of ice climbing in Lee Vining Canyon with four stoked new ice climbers. This might have been the busiest weekend that I’ve ever seen out in LVC in the past several years”. The parking lot was completely full...
I just finished up a couple days of guiding out in Lee Vining Canyon this past weekend (Friday and Sunday) and was pleasantly surprised with the conditions we had! The approach is fully packed in and no longer requires snow shoes. Be careful on the...
One week later and our ice climbing venue in Lee Vining Canyon is starting to come alive, but it still has a decent way to go. “To be or not to be?” That is the question! Ice climbing and California, two words that not many people...
Main Wall Well it’s been a slow start to the winter out here in the Sierra but that’s changing as we speak. We’ve got a storm hitting that is expected to drop about 5 feet of new snow by the end Tuesday with another smaller storm...
Are you looking to skip the lines and get into the backcountry this winter? You’ll want to take your AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Course Here’s what to expect on your course. The focus of the AIARE curriculum is getting out into the backcountry safely, but your course has...
As the days get shorter, the nights get colder, and the fall colors begin to show in the Eastern Sierra, we would like to look back over the past summer’s busy guiding season to highlight some of the memorable experiences we have had in the...
The 2021 alpine climbing season is here. Over the last month Sierra Mountain Guides has conducted trips from Matterhorn Peak in the north to Lone Pine Peak and Mount Whitney in the south. A light winter means trail access is great to reach the sheltered...
Well folks it’s been a pretty dang good season for ice climbing here in the Eastern Sierra, if you went to Lee Vining that is! Just kidding June Lake had some stellar days too! As well as a couple other early season backcountry zones. This...
