Climate change is making mountains more dangerous and threatening the prosperity of the guiding profession. This spring a historic mass of ice broke off from Colfax Peak, sweeping across the standard ascent route for Washington State's Mount Baker climb. Photo: Kel Rossiter

Tantalized. Photo: Vince Shuley

When things line up and become all time…

It was Tuesday night on March 22 at 8pm when the other partners cancelled. Anna Segal hesitated on our heli booking. I was at the Whistler Museum giving a presentation on 'Group Dynamics.' My text to Anna read, "I'm still in." Within ten minutes two women, Julie Cossette and Catherine Henry, were recruited from the audience and our group into the Tantalus Range was back on track.

Rising above the thick clouds of Chamonix Valley. Photo by Holly Walker

Holly Walker brings her BC bootpack style to Glacier Mort in Chamonix. 

Last January I had the opportunity to jump on a plane and cruise into Chamonix to meet up with fellow Mammut athlete Erin Smart. Weather was mixed and snow conditions were variable, so each day we looked at various options before leaving the breakfast table full of croissants with a side of café. One morning in particular, Erin had the opportunity to work with Smart Mountain Guides off of the Aiguille du Midi and ski the Vallée Blanche. So I contacted Whistler friends Kate Covello and Tyler Collins to see what ski adventure they had lined up for the day. The couple had moved to Chamonix for a season to ski everyday and avoid the rain that plagued Whistler.

Scenes from the San Juan Mountains, site of the AMGA Ski Guide Course.

Flow of the Fedchenko from Vince Shuley on Vimeo.

Ross Berg and client climb in the Tantalus Range. Photo by Ross Berg.

Back on the boards--skiing down the Vallee Blanche in Chamonix.

Something that I have always regretted is not becoming a proficient climber. As a skier, I shrugged off learning rope skills and picked up mountain biking as the summer counterpart to my winter endeavors. When I was about 23 years old, I spent a winter in Courmayeur, Italy skiing on the Mont Blanc Massif and dabbled in crevasse rescue and basic glacier travel skills, but I was inexperienced and my nervousness made it hard for me to absorb the information that I was taught. When I lived in Colorado, I spent many days in the backcountry, but I never really found the need to apply any of those skills that I had learned that winter in Europe.

Racers lined up for the midnight start at Mt. Crested Butte Photo ©Doug Shepherd

Sometimes, circumstances in the mountains are beyond your control.  Injuries, weather, and sickness are just a few things that can derail months of preparation.  When it's obvious a climb, a race, or a trip isn't going to go your way, what do you do?  Burn out and give up?  Enjoy the experience for what it is?  All of these issues become even more complicated when you are working with a partner, who is fighting his or her own battles.  My strongest relationships are with those partners whom I've gone with into the mountains and tried our best, independent of success or failure.

I have finally succumbed to summer. My skis are bedded away after an incredible May in the Tetons.

Despite a relatively meager snowpack in the West this last winter, Spring skiing conditions in the Tetons were perfect in May. Corn skiing in the Tetons is not as easy to find as, say, in the Sierra where cold, clear nights and warm days are commonplace in the Spring. Spring skiing in the Tetons is often obstructed by unstable weather and late season dumps. And the rocky, cliff-riddled nature of the skiing requires a deep snowpack up high.

Luckily, despite a relatively low snow year in the Tetons this winter, warm Spring storms deposited plenty of late season snow above 10,000' and May was blessed with cold clear nights and sunny days. As a result we had plenty of snow in the alpine and pool table smooth conditions up until a 2' dump on Memorial Day weekend which subsequently gutted the range with runnels and debris.

This May I guided several parties down the Grand Teton via the East Face-Ford Coulior route. The clients had trained on a lot of steep, exposed terrain in the Alps and at Valdez Heli-Ski Guides, providing them with the needed level of comfort in the No-Fall Zone.

Skiing the Grand requires that skiers negotiate 50+ degree terrain while skiing above a precipitous ice-choked coulior. While rappelling is necesary to descend the iciest of sections, the goal of such an outing is still to ski all that is skiable. While guiding, ski-belays are necessary but hopefully minimized if the client is extensively trained in steep and exposed terrain. The most successful clients have trained in both the Alps and in Valdez, Alaska where the No-Fall Zone is easilly accessed, respectively,  via a 20 minute tram or a 2 minute flight.

As my annual spring ritual of ski touring in the Alps rolled around, I was a bit worried for a few reasons. First, most of Europe had an extremely low snow year. Coming off a huge winter in Crested Butte, I was not really looking forward to bad snow conditions and cracked up glaciers. Secondly, coming off of a huge winter in Crested Butte, I was ready to be done skiing and wanted to start my climbing season instead. Luckily, conditions up high in the Alps remained good and a combination of good snow, perfect weather and great clients keep my skiing spirits high!
First up was a Silvretta Ski Traverse (http://www.stevebanksmountainguide.com/Site/Silvretta.html). This region of the Swiss/Austrian Alps sees much less traffic and has amazing terrain with very comfortable huts. This trip included several Crested Butte folks as well as my brother (another guide to share the load!) and my father, Murray. The Silvretta is a great into to ski touring Euro style. The altitude is relatively low, the huts are spacious and comfortable and there is less pressure about getting to the next hut and more focus on skiing up all the terrain and enjoying the surroundings.
A quick stop over in Chamonix to get settled in at my "summer chalet", then it was off to meet my clients for the famed Haute Route traverse from Chamonix to Zermatt. Our first day started off a bit auspiciously with a descent of the Vallee Blanche in a total whiteout. We did get a quick clearing enough to look around at the Mont Blanc Massif and the Dent du Geant, before feeling our way down the glacier to the Requin hut for lunch.

Luckily the next day dawned clear for our departure from the Grand Montets ski area into the wild Argentier Glacier. The next day proved to be rather challenging, first finding our way through the broken up glacier, then navigating two large glaciers in a complete whiteout to reach the Trient hut. While this day was difficult, the bad weather did lay down a foot of fresh snow which we were able to farm throughout the rest of the trip. In hindsight I would take one whiteout day for six days of sunny powder skiing anytime!
We were exceptionally lucky to have such good conditions for the Haute Route agin this year. Other guide friends were swearing to only do the HR on my schedule in the future as I have been blessed two years in a row now.
Arriving in Zermatt, I received word from my brother in Chamonix that a quick hit to Finale, Itlay for some spring limestone pulling on the Mediterranean Coast was in order and I better get it together. I caught a train at 6:15 the next morning back to Chamonix where I was granted one cup of coffee and an hour to switch from skiing to climbing mode and get my kit in the car. By 4:30pm that same day I was enjoying a sunny overhanging crag and my first test of Mammut's new Smart belay device. This thing proved an easy addition to the rack with easy feeds for the leader as well as easy holding power for the belayer.
Four days later, with fingertips burning, we headed back to Chamonix feeling good about our early season sends and looking forward to more warm sunny rock.
-Steve Banks
www.stevebanksmountainguide.com

Winter has come in hard and fast in Crested Butte. With over 200 inches of snow in December, we are off to an incredible start. Of course, when the snow flies, I get busy with avalanche forecasting for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center, ski patrolling, guiding backcountry skiing as well as guiding for CS Irwin Snowcat Skiing. While it makes for a busy schedule, I love all of my jobs so much that I just can't seem to stop!
I haven't had much time to get on the ice this season, but did manage o make it down to the Ouray Ice Festival to lead a clinic for Mammut on advanced ice climbing technique. January's cold snap finally allowed the Park to get some good ice flowing just in time for the Fest. With a bit of free time this month, I am hoping to get into the Black Canyon to sample some big wilderness ice. Rumor has it that conditions are pretty good down there.
Sub zero temperatures last week made it hard to motivate to get on out my limited time off, but UIAGM guide Mike Bromberg braved it one afternoon to get into some steep skiing on Mt. Crested Butte's Country Club Couloir. This rarely fills in enough to be worthy as it faces due south, but sticky wet snow this year has it plastered. Still very narrow in some places, it made for an exciting descent!Check out Mike's video:

Skiing Crested Butte's Country Club Couloir from mikebromberg on Vimeo.

Check out the list here.

The summer season started off with great weather and conditions. I hit the ground running with guiding ascents of the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc as well as some classic Chamonix rock routes like the Index, Petite Floria, and the Papillion Arrete. Classic mixed climbs were in great condition as well, and the must do Cosmiques Arrete saw many ascents. My Outline Hoody was my constant companion and go to layer for all conditions.

In between guiding trips, I still managed to get in some great sport climbing in the Chamonix valley as well as in Italy and Switzerland. The proximity to the borders and the weather patterns which get blocked and pushed around by the Mont Blanc Massif allows for easy travel to find good climbing weather and conditions somewhere in the Alps on any given day. I got to put my new Togir Light harness (the most comfortable harness I have ever worn!) and Pro shoes to the test on lots of rock.

As September rolled in and the temperatures dropped snow began accumulating up high and turned to ice creating the amazing 1000 meter mixed lines that the hard core alpinists come to Chamonix for. With the guiding season winding down and some free time on our hands, my brother and I are looking toward these routes for our fall adventures. Of course, that means leaving the valley sport climbing and cafe's behind for cold bivies and airy exposures!

The past two months have kept me on my toes with guiding trips in Colorado, British Columbia and the French and Swiss Alps. I think my home in Crested Butte is just a laundromat with a mortgage these days!
After a Ski Mountaineering course in Crested Butte with the FBI (can't say anymore about that...) I headed off to Vail to teach a Guide Training Course including an AIARE Level 2 safety course for Paragon Guides.

Back in Crested Butte for two days to finish my taxes and pack for a week of guiding at Ruby Mt. Lodge in the Valhalla Mountains of British Columbia.
We had a great week with 10-20 cm of new snow every night and fairly stable avalanche conditions which allowed us to crank out some great late March powder turns. The hospitality at Valhalla Mountain Touring is second to none with gourmet meals every day and a wood fired sauna to melt away the daily 5000 vertical feet of skiing in the legs.
Driving home after four great days of warm sport climbing, I had to wrap my head around skiing again, this time a week long Ski Mont Blanc program. With two experienced Irish ski instructors, we were again headed into the mountains and onto the glaciers for some steep skiing and acclimatizing for the objective ahead. The Gervasutti Couloir on the Tour Ronde, followed by awesome corn skiing in the Argentier basin led us into the end of the week and another winter storm rolling into the Haute Savoie. The new snow and clouds kept us from being able to climb and ski Mont Blanc, but we had an excellent week of ski touring and many great turns.

The continued valley rain and mountain snow has kept me on the couch today, glued to the computer and wondering where I will be of to next skiing high on the glaciers or climbing down in the valleys.

Steve Banks
IFMGA/UIAGM Mountain Guide
www.stevebanksmountainguide.com