Video from the Alpine Exam by Martin Volken

Here is a link to a great video that Martin Volken shot during the Alpine Exam. He had a great little HD camera and I think the quality of the video is pretty good. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this video is worth a million. See for yourself!

Certified Alpine Guide

I'm glad to report that I've finally and officially passed the Alpine Guides Exam! I was certainly relieved to have passed the exam, and I'm also psyched for my other exam partners Pat Ormond and Justin Merle who also made it through on top. Making it through this whole process has been a culmination of a huge amount of effort, planning, and plain old hard work. I could not have done it without the support of my wife Keeton, my parents Tony and Nancy, and my sponsors---RAB, Osprey, and Petzl. Looking forward to the fall and winter seasons of climbing and guiding. Hopefull my ankle cooperates............

All Done!

Well I wasn't able to post anything during the exam, just too much to do in too little time. But I'm happy to report that it's the last day of the exam and I just finished my individual exam debrief with the examiners. The new AMGA policy states that they don't inform candidates whether they passed or failed until about a week after the exam is over, so I'll have to wait for the final word.

In general though, I feel pretty good about my performance which in the grand scheme of things means as much as anything. I'll post a full recount of the exam in a few days, but here are a few pictures from the exam to give you a good idea of what the last 10 days were like.



(Justin climbing in foul weather on Mt. Shuksan)










(Justin climbing on the NE Ridge of Shuksan)










(Pat on Mt. Shuksan with the Jagged Ridge and the Crystal Glacier in view behind)










(Nate coiling in on Shuksan)











(Rob on the Coleman Glacier, Mt. Baker)









(Rob on the summit of Sherman Peak, Mt. Baker)









(Pat scoping out the knife edge on Triumph. Justin and Martin are ahead)










(Rob traversing the knife edge on Mt. Triumph)










(Martin on belay on North Early Winter Spire)









(Martin cranking through some liebacking on N.E.W.S)











(Martin wide crackin' it on N.E.W.S)

North Side of Mt. Baker

Our final choice for pre-exam preparation was some recon. on the north side of Mt. Baker. Baker has a number of routes on the north side, including the North Ridge and the Coleman Headwall, and we wanted to have a good handle on glacier and route conditions prior to the start of the exam. We'd heard some discouraging reports prior to heading out but wanted to see for ourselves. Mt. Baker is a glaciated volcano similar to Mt. Rainier, but much lower in altitude with it's summit at just over 10,716 ft.

(View of the North side of Mt. Baker. The Coleman Headwall is the glaciated route in the center of the photo. The N. Ridge comes in on the left.)

After a day of rain on Wednesday we loaded up and left the parking lot early Thursday morning. A nice and relatively short approach took us to camp Mirkwood, a popular camp which affords great access to the ice on the lower Coleman Glacier. This is a popular area for ice cragging in the summer and will likely be the site for some of our exam.

(Checking out crevasses for our practice sessions)


We crossed the Coleman and after a some healthy slogging on a moraine between the Coleman and Roosevelt Glaciers, finally reached the point where we decided to rope up and head out on the glacier. Our goal on this day was to scope conditions on the glacier and practice our crevasse rescue scenarios. As we crested a roll on the Roosevelt we ran into fellow examinees Adam George and David Valet. We all decided to team up for the crack rescue practice.

(Pat ascending back out of the crevasse and getting ready to haul)

After a couple of scenarios, Justin, Pat, and I went for a walk up the Roosevelt with the intention of scoping access to Mt. Baker's North Ridge. We made it to about 8100' before we decided to turn around and head back to camp before we ran out of light. With our route to 8100' well kicked in we planned to return the following day and climb the North Ridge.

(On the Roosevelt looking for a way through the maze)

Waking early (4 am) we retraced our steps back to 8100' with Jusin in the lead. As we trudged upwards, it became increasingly clear that the route was not going to go. Large crevasses, moats, and bergschrunds guarded access to the ridge, making path both impassable and potentially dangerous. After a couple of hours of poking around looking for other, safer alternatives to access the N. Ridge, we tucked our tails and headed back.

As I've said before, safety is of the utmost importance on climbs like this, and we all felt that pushing it was not warranted in this situation. Other routes like the Coleman/Deming and the Coleman Headwall looked to be in better condition. We'll have to wait and see if we get this as an exam objective!

(Pat climbing up an ice wall to look for a way through, only to be stuffed by a large crevasse on the other side)

The exam starts in a few days and I'll be taking a few days off to rest and get all my gear ready. Thinking about doing a day of cragging at Index, a popular rock climbing area about an hour from Seattle. I will try to do a couple of posts in between days on the exam, but depending upon the schedule, it may be a tall order to do so. At the very least I'll post how things went at the end of the exam!

Paisano's Pillar

After a prolonged stretch of R & R, Justin Merle, Pat Ormond and I made the drive from Seattle back to the Washington Pass area for a day of climbing. We decided on a climb of Paisano's Pillar which is a sub-peak of Silver Star Mtn. and part of the popular wine spires just east of Washington Pass. The area is known for it's high quality rock and good selection of technical climbs to the various summits that make up Silver Star and the Vasilliki Ridge.

(View of the Liberty Bell Peaks from Silver Star Mtn.)

The approach to this area was, for lack of a better word, brutal. Pretty much straight uphill for approximately 3500'. It was a good way to get the heart rate up and test out my ankle. Over the weekend I gave the akle plenty of rest, ice, and ibuprofen. I also went out and purchased an ankle brace. I prefer the ankle brace over tape because it is easy to put on and take off, and is adjustable throughout the day. Overall, I felt OK with the ankle but I'm definitely favoring the injury a bit. I've opted to hike with 2 poles instead of 1 to facilitate travel on rough trails and surfaces.

(Climbing the 5.8 twin cracks on Paisano's Pillar)

We finally found the base of the route and began climbing. It was noticeably colder today, and we were all happy that only the first pitch of the climb was in the shade. All of us were blowing on our hands to try and keep the digits warm so that we could feel the rock. Most of the peaks in the range were dusted with snow from the previous weekend's storm. Fall has officially arrived in the North Cascades.

(High on the route. Check out the sweet crack in the corner!)



The climbing on Paisano's was very enjoyable, and generally clean rock typified the route. Some tricky route finding and guiding though kept things interesting on the climb, which was rated 5.8. I led the entire route, mock guiding both Justin and Pat to practice some specific guiding techniques and get in the right mindset for the exam. We summited the pillar and descended back to the car without incident.

(Topping out on Paisano's Pillar)

Our next objective is some reconnaissance on Mt. Baker, though the weather looks poor for wednesday. Thursday on looks much better so we're planning for a couple of days on the N. side of Baker. Only 1 week left until the start of the exam. Stay tuned!

Rest & Weather Days

Well the timing of the weather couldn't have been better, as it's predicted to rain Friday through Monday here in Cascades. My only objective during this time is to rest my body and more specifically my sprained ankle. The Cascades are well known for their stretches of poor weather and plenty of rain, so rest days become compulsory regardless. Planning on heading back out starting Tuesday of next week to test the ankle. Hopefully I'll have good news to report!

Mt. Shuksan

We were a little worked after the day on Black Peak, so we started slowly on this day, but eventually made our way to the Mt. Baker ski area and the Lake Ann trailhead for the approach to Mt. Shuksan. Our plan was to climb up the Fisher Chimneys route and squeeze in a climb of Shuksan prior to the start of a bad stretch of weather which was predicted to come in Thursday and last through the weekend.

(View of Shuksan and the Fisher Chimneys from Lake Ann)

Given our later start, however, we ended up only making it to the camps at Lake Ann. To make matters worse, I twisted my left ankle quite badly on the way in. My left ankle has been a problem since my college soccer days. I had a complete reconstruction of my right ankle during my freshman year at college, but never felt the left ankle was bad enough to justify the surgery. As if the alpine exam wasn't going to be hard enough already, now I've got a bum ankle to deal with. I still completed the trip on Shuksan with Pat and my good friend and Mountain Goat researcher Adam Wells, but I'm not happy with the badly sprained ankle as a result of the trip.
(Taped up the ankle right after the injury to prevent swelling)

The weather wasn't great in the morning so we opted for a later start and more of a reconnaissance day on Shuksan instead. We still climbed up the popular Fisher Chimneys approach route, and then accessed the upper Curtis Glacier via Winnie's Slide. Icy conditions pervade the mountain at this time, and all the warm weather has really melted things out on Shuksan.

(Guiding my friend Adam up the icy slopes of Winnie's Slide)

After a short tour on the Upper Curtis, we stopped at a crevasse and did a few run crevasse rescue practice runs. The exam has a crevasse rescue component that each candidate must successfully pass in order to pass the alpine exam. You want to make sure you're dialed in on this stuff prior to the stress of the exam so you can be on autopilot come exam time.

Poor weather is predicted for the weekend, which comes at a good time because I'm going to need an extended period of rest to try and heal this ankle.......

(Pat digging a t-slot during our crevasse rescue session)