Rock Guiding and Exam Training

It has been a very busy summer for me- one for the record books for sure.  I can almost count on 2 hands the number of days off I had during August and September combined, and even now that those months have passed, my upcoming AMGA Rock Guide Exam is taking up most of my time and mental energy.  

Last month I took several parties up the East Buttress and East Face Routes on Mount Whitney- here are a few pics from a climb with Matt N:

Stepping around on the Tower Traverse

On the Washboard

Since my last trip up Whitney, with tiny little Tyrannosaurus arms and massive thunder thighs, I met up with my buddy Rob, who comes out annually from Colorado to make me realize how out of climbing shape I become in the summer.  A few days of punishing squeeze chimneys and OWs in Yosemite Valley is just about all I could handle, so I came back over to Mammoth to get ready for a trip to Red Rocks in order to train a bit for my exam.

Jen came out with me for several days of climbing to be my mock client, as she did last year for my Rock Guide Course.  We climbed some classics including:
Dream of Wild Turkeys (III 5.10a)
Sour Mash (III 5.10)
Black Orpheus (IV 5.10a)
Armatron (II 5.9)

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After climbing Sour Mash we headed to the Strip and went to a Cirque du Soleil show- always a good time.

Now I am back on the Eastside about to watch the first snowflakes of the season fall before going back to Vegas for the exam at the end of the week- wish me luck!