Recently, Guides for Glaciers (G4G) was established, with a mission to address the issues of the changing mountain environment and its impacts on the guiding profession. G4G intends to mount an educational campaign to bring together common stakeholders in order to influence public policy and preserve the longevity and economic sustenance of the mountain guiding profession globally. The longevity of the entire guiding profession hinges on guides’ ability to advocate for climate change policy and preserve our mountain environments well into the future.

Climbers on Rainier's crater rim.

This season on Rainier has been like the line of an EKG—valleys and summits, sadness and elation, life and death, reminding me of what it means to be here—to be doing what I'm called to do.

At ~13,800', nearing the summit via the Emmons Route.

After a springtime of climbing and guiding in Alaska/Denali and an enjoyable stint back in Mammut & my home-base state of Vermont, I arrived back in the Pacific Northwest this past week for a series of Rainier climbs with Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated (RMI). As chance would have it, my climb was slotted to be the first climb of the summer season—apparently though, nobody had shouted to the sky that it was about to be summer. Or, if they had, the sky wasn't listening.