June 6, 2018 The hardest decisions are often ones that don’t give you definitive closure. Frustrating to say the least. Mountain guides are forced into this decision more often than most, and certainly with more on the line than most. We saw that yesterday on the Emmons route with Dallas and his team when they […]
IMG News
New Guides Learning The Ropes On Mt. Rainier
![](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-New-Guides-Justin-Merle-195x110.jpg)
May 2, 2018 The first IMG climb of the Mt. Rainier season is just a few days away and we’re not letting those days go to waste. This morning our newly hired guides gathered at IMG for our annual new guide training. The goal for these three days is to get them up to […]
Weekend Guide Training Wrap-up
![](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/IMG_20180428_170310502_TOP1-195x110.jpg)
April 30, 2018 Every spring IMG Guides come together for our annual Guide Training weekend just before the start of the Rainier climbing season. This year we packed the room with 37 Guides. Saturday is typically reserved for getting to know the new guides (10 this year), discussing any new protocols, a refresher on […]
Denali Prep Seminar Soaking In The Sun On Mt. Rainier
![Mt. Rainier National Park Webcam View (4.23.18)](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Webcam-View-4.23.18-e1524508418563-195x106.jpg)
April 23, 2018 IMG Senior Guide Betsy Dain-Owens checked in by radio from the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier today. Her report was that the Denali Prep Seminar team is having an absolute blast in the good weather. Their plan for today is to work on some of the fundamentals (ice axe arrest, cramponing, and […]
Justin Merle Promoted To Chief Guide
![Justin Merle (Sarah Cousins Hoopes)](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Merle-Sarah-Cousins-Hoopes-195x129.jpg)
April 23, 2018 Justin Merle began guiding on Mt. Rainer in 1999 and hasn’t stopped. Since his first climb as a guide, he’s accumulated over 160 summits of Mt. Rainier and countless other summits here in the Great Pacific Northwest and worldwide, including seven summits of Mt. Everest. Merle, an AMGA certified Alpine Guide, has […]
Training on Rainier at its Best
![Learning to Negotiate Fixed Ropes (Conrad Wharton)](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Denali-Seminar-practice-Conrad-Wharton-195x146.jpeg)
April 13, 2018 As always Rainier has provided a great training venue this week. Snowy winter weather, wind, and variable terrain gave our Denali Seminar team exposure to all aspects of expedition climbing. Over the last 6 days they’ve experienced expedition camp maintenance, crevasse rescue scenarios, navigation training, fixed rope courses and, of course, the […]
Los Cuernos –> French Valley –> Paine Grande
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From: Dustin Balderach Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 To: Tye Chapman Subject: Relaxing at Refugio Paine Grande Hey Tye. All continues to go beautifully (pun intended) down here in Torres del Paine. We just finished a great big dinner here at Refugio Paine Grande. A super nice lodge located right on the shores of the […]
Four Seasons In Two Hours = Patagonia
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February 7, 2018 IMG Senior Guide Dustin Balderach checked in from Refugio Chileno in Torres del Paine National Park this afternoon reporting that he and his team “had a great day today”. They got a nice early start from Puerto Natales which put them on the trail about 10:30am. Once on the trail they made […]
Full Circle: Elizabeth Hawley Passes
![Liz Hawley and Her Trusty VW (Eric Simonson)](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Liz-Hawley-and-her-trusty-VW-Eric-Simonson-195x130.jpg)
January 26th, 2018 I met Liz in 1979 on my first Himalayan Expedition and she wanted to know everything about what happened.  Since then, I met her dozens and dozens of times in Kathmandu, as I traveled back and forth to Nepal over the years with our climbing teams. Ever the journalist, Liz was all […]
2019 Everest Dates Released; 2018 Prices Until May 1
![The views of Everest & the Khumbu Glacier are breathtakingfrom the summit of Kala Pattar. (Tye Chapman)](http://mountainguides.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/aut14_tc-kala-pattar-pano-195x59.jpg)
January 25, 2018 While the 2018 Everest Expedition hasn’t officially began, we’re happy to report that we’ve already had some strong interest in our 2019 Everest Programs! The dates are set, but it looks like prices will be going up for the Spring 2019 Everest programs (Everest, Lhotse, Lobuche, EBCÂ Treks). There’s just no way around […]