International Man of Mystery...

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I grew up in the Boston area and lived there until my junior year in high school when I attended the Mountain School, a semester program run by Milton Academy in Vershire, VT. I then attended Colby College in Waterville, ME. During my time at Colby I studied anthropology, spent a semester in Northeast India, and became fluent in Nepali. Before I became a guide I earned my black belt in kenpo karate and taught karate for 6 years. I began guiding in college on the rocky coast of ME with Acadia Mountain Guides and on ice at the International Mountain Climbing School in NH. After graduating I took to the highway and drove from ME to WA for the big mountains and glaciers. I spend my winters in lovely Ouray, CO guiding in the famous ice park. I am currently working towards becoming a certified guide through the American Mountain Guides Association. I live, work and play in the hills and on the rocks. On the rocks both literally and, well, with ice.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mount Rainier: The Big 2-0


Yesterday I had the opportunity to enjoy my 20th summit of Rainier with a terrific group of folks on Mount Rainier. In typical July-uary fashion we had iffy weather our whole way up the Muir Snowfield. The mountain was blanketed in cloud formations that indicated strong winds on the upper mountain.






We spent our first night at Camp Muir listening to the wind howl through camp and rake the upper mountain. I was not optimistic about our summit chances. However, the winds seemed to die down a bit in the afternoon at high camp.



We left high camp around 1:15 am and sat in the wind at our first break at the top of the Disappointment Cleaver. It was not looking good. We kept going and as we did the winds died and a gorgeous sunrise streaked through layers of clouds. We kept going up and the winds died. The team enjoyed a near windless summit. Congratulations on your summits guys!

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