Smile Mountain Guides (2024)

24/05/2024

💜Happiest of Birthdays to the one and only !
Along with being a continued partner of stoke and jokes over the years, he’s a passionate cat dad. Do we need to say more? 😻l

A friend to many, he’s a connector of the team, keeps the atmosphere calm. Here’s a bit more.

Jesse began rock climbing in 2002 while in college in the southeast. Following graduation and wanting to climb in larger and colder environments, he maxed out his credit card on ice and ski gear before moving to Montana where he learned to climb in the mountains through mistakes and luck. He’s since climbed and skied in a number of countries and across the US.

Currently based in western Colorado, Jesse guides mostly in CO, UT, and WA throughout the year. Known for his calm demeanor and terrible wit, he’s a fun person to learn from or spend the day going after a climbing objective.

A little-known secret is that Jesse is a strong all-around outdoor athlete, you would never know because he wouldn’t brag- so we’ll do it for him, but don’t let him serve you up too many days of humble pie! He is pursuing IFMGA certification.

💯💜

26/04/2024

Congratulations to for passing his Rock Guide Exam 🎉🥳

It has been a long time coming and it’s great to have grown right beside him for almost a decade now. This is a proud achievement and we could not be more happy for him. This process takes years of honing the craft of guiding by working in the field with you all and a dedication to keep pushing one’s own abilities in unison.

Here’s a bit more on Brent: a full-time climbing coach and guide, climbing plays an integral role in Brent’s life. Helping others find ongoing fulfillment through climbing is his highest priority. From building mental confidence to gaining physical strength to refining one’s technique, Brent approaches his work from a holistic perspective of getting your whole body and mind to work together for your best performance.

From coaching in the gym to achieving alpine summits, Brent meets his guests where they are in their climbing journey and helps them plan tangible steps to reach their goals. He truly embodies the mission of inspiring growth and exploration.

03/04/2024

HBD to the one & only 🥳

He’s an irreplaceable part of the Smile team 💜 Thanks for sharing your stoke for all things climbing as a guide, partner, & friend!

Send Mike some love or coffee, or both ☕️😍

06/11/2023

Smile Mountain Guides is a company built on the idea of “ SHARING GROWTH AND EXPLORATION IN THE MOUNTAINS”, connecting clients with talented, motivated, and personable guides who have a genuine interest in helping people achieve their goals.

We can’t thank our team enough for what they do and are so happy to be able to support them.

Thanks for an awesome event!

Each of Smile’s team members embodies our core values of PASSION, PARTNERSHIP, PERSEVERANCE, and CREATIVITY.

We all have chosen a career as professional guides working in the field year-round. Because of this and because of our passion to be in the mountains personally, our guides also have significant time climbing and skiing in venues around the world.

This gives them a unique opportunity to not only educate but also inspire, relate to you, and work out the best experience for you.

._outdoors .guides

08/08/2023

Partnership: A connection of people whom inspire, motivate, and grow together.

Smile had a great weekend working with the to help build student skills for their Advanced Alpine Climbing School Program.

Our goal for this program was at its foundation, to have people come away with the understanding that easy terrain is consequential terrain and we should treat it as such.

This terrain is often solo-able but to do so, should be a deliberate choice and not a default in the mountains.

Giving students definitive tools to help protect the team in this terrain is a start, so that they can still be efficient and also safer in their mountain pursuits.

Want to learn more?
Grow & Explore at
www.smilemountainguides.com

31/07/2023

Climbing offers a different perspective on life.

It deepens our belonging to a community.

Builds lifelong bonds through shared experiences.

Places us in challenging environments.

Ultimately, climbing helps us grow and explore, both the natural world and deeper into ourselves.

Smile Mountain Guides’ mission is to “share growth and exploration in the mountains”, it’s fitting as this mission as been our path for more than a decade in the mountains, both on the receiving and giving end of that spectrum.

📸:

Peru 🇵🇪 2022 Trip

05/07/2023

Tech Tips are cool, but we also sharing real experiences. 💜💜

Climbing can offer a different perspective.

It deepens our bonds to community.

Builds lifelong bonds through shared experiences.

Places us in challenging environments.

Ultimately, climbing helps us grow and explore, both the natural world and deeper into ourselves.

We happen to offer a wide variety of programs and experiences dedicated to these mountain pursuits through, fun, educational, and at times, challenging moments in the mountains.

16/04/2023

BEST THREE DAYS IN MOAB

+ Local Cragging
+ Beautiful Summits

Great climbing and experiences associated with the adventure weave a path through the soul, like canyons crafted by powerful river.

Sometimes the energy is intense and powerfully moving in its intended direction.

Then it pauses, trickling around new corners while on lookers are not as sure where it going.

Experiences take us all over, on time will tell where Moab takes you.

Beautiful three days with .wilmott37 and guide in Moab

💜

01/04/2023

Come Join Us In The Flatirons This Season 💜

Until Learn More About Why They’re So Flat and Vertical 🏕️😅

The final event in the Flatirons’ formation was the building of the modern Front Range, which lasted from about 70 to 64 million years ago.

The uplift was accomplished along a series of faults whose motion tilted the Fountain Formation layers down to the east, creating the Flatirons’ impressive 50-to-60-degree slopes.

In the process of building today’s peaks, one fault north of Baseline Road shoved rocks from the west up and over rocks to the east.

Farther south, a different fault, which cuts right through the Flatirons, shoved layers from the east up and over rocks farther west.

Thanks to the eastward tilt of the rock layers, this east-over-west fault geometry stacked up a double thickness of the Fountain Formation on Green Mountain and Bear Peak—a bit of geologic serendipity that, along with the exceptionally strong cement, has made it much more difficult for Mother Nature to quarry and remove the Fountain Formation in this area, resulting in Boulder’s iconic backdrop.

08/03/2023

💜💜Happy International Women’s Day 💜💜

Let’s celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of those we know AND those we do not.

Let’s also remember this day is a call to action for setting agendas and goals that keeps our world moving forward.

Imagine an equal- equitable world.

A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

💜 A world of abundance 💜

20/02/2023

A CLIMBING HISTORY OF CASTLETON TOWER

Ingalls was especially enthralled with Castleton and Fisher Towers, but he lacked the partner to climb them with. In 1959, he met Layton Kor. “There was an immediate rapport between us, and the next day we climbed the Bastille Crack in Eldorado Canyon,” Ingalls wrote in 1989. “I was amazed, even shocked by his ability. Here was the man for Castleton Tower.”

In, 1961 they explored the base of Castleton Tower. After finding a good line on the southeast face, later known as the Kor- Ingalls Route, Kor was off leading the pitches. The rock turned out to be delightfully solid, composed of Wingate Sandstone. The climb went smoothly until a storm gathered on the descent. Kor rappelled to the ground safely, but Ingalls was struck by a lightning ground shock through the rope. He was shaken, but unhurt.

Such storms can be fairly common on Castleton, but amazingly, after thousand of ascents, the only fatality on Castleton occurred from a lightning strike in 2005.

Typical of the style of many first ascents in the desert of Utah, the endeavor was a bold and dangerous undertaking, rife with adventure. Not to mention obscurity.

Besides Kor and Ingalls, there were several other climbers making a name for themselves in the desert. One of them was Harvey Carter, a skilled climber from Colorado Springs. He had an affinity for sandstone, especially since Garden of the Gods was his home stomping grounds. Credited with climbing 40 new towers, including the Priest in 1962 with Kor and Fred Beckey, Carter climbed several first ascents with Kor and Ingalls. But he missed out on Castleton, as well as Standing Rock.

excerpt from many recounting a, readings, and magazines, and googling.

Photo Credit: + you should go share an adventure with him on one of these fantastic routes !

💜💜

14/02/2023

🥰💘🤟💌💕

Love is in the air and we wanna know….

HOW DO YOU FORM A GREAT BELAYTIONSHIP??

Recently we were asked about building trust with a belayer, which got us thinking, what factors are the most important to create and sustain a great belay-tionship?

Here are ours….what matters to you? 🤔

1. Attentive & Responsive: Keep your attention dialed in on your climber and stay alert to any environmental factors that may impact their experience. If necessary, make appropriate adjustments to allow them to stay focused on the climb.

2. Be open to feedback: Feedback is often the most valuable resource we can use to improve our skills. Do you feel comfortable giving your belayer feedback? We love it when a belayer actively asks about the belay! How was that catch? Was that too much tension through the crux? Do you want a spot?

3. Notice the details: There’s a lot of responsibility as a belayer. Of course, it's critical to pay attention to the details like clipping technique, body position, climber’s effort….but are you also knowledgeable of small nuances like weight differences, energy levels, and when to provide an enthusiastic ‘you got it!’ or ‘I’m with you!’ Those little details can make all the difference.

4. Gear & Partner Safety Checks: Pre-climbing partner checks are an incredibly simple tool allowing both climber and belayer to inspect the system they are using and establish communication. Additionally, as gear improves and industry standards shift, are you making a well informed decision on what gear & when/why to use it?

Lastly, it is important to always be learning! Accidents, close calls, & mistakes happen in climbing and they can be really scary. There is always inherent danger and risk in the sport. Please seek out professional guidance and education!!

08/02/2023

ANCHOR SERIES: community conversations

Part of learning is seeing and experiencing new things and then building an understanding of that event or in this case “thing”.

As we progress in climbing, creativity, problem solving, strength, patience, knowledge… etc help us, whether on a pitch or simply when building anchors.

We want this series to help in two ways, expose people to new anchors that we use guiding, offer context and allow a space for people to engage and question those systems.

Share your thoughts on the anchor: it’s strength, the angles, material, knots, distribution etc, and ask questions. These are meant to get to your core nerves- we did this in purpose. Please respect those feelings but also share comments nicely.

CONTEXT: Top Rope Climbing.

However there’s value in the thread when it comes to multipitch ice climbing also.

Sun/solar factors massively affect the strength of screws. As the metal heats up, a screw can melt out.

Incorporating a thread solves this problem and adds more- thus adding more security to an anchor if hot or build in the sun.

Play nice 💜

05/02/2023

ANCHOR SERIES: community conversations

Part of learning is seeing and experiencing new things and then building an understanding of that event or in this case “thing”.

As we progress in climbing, creativity, problem solving, strength, patience, knowledge… etc help us, whether on a pitch or simply when building anchors.

We want this series to help in two ways, expose people to new anchors that we use guiding, offer context and allow a space for people to engage and question those systems.

Share your thoughts on the anchor: it’s strength, the angles, material, knots, distribution etc, and ask questions. These are meant to get to your core nerves- we did this in purpose. Please respect those feelings but also share comments nicely.

CONTEXT: guiding 1:1 10’ WI2 steps. Ledge to ledge on a multi-pitch climb in between longer ice pitches.

This is a controversial one as single points often make people nervous, rightfully so.

We think context is key here, none of this climbing is hard, long, steep, or vertical. They’re short steps on very large un-rope-able ledges.
Note that the leader is not clipped into the system. Nor will the follower be anchored once there.

In rock we might call this class 3 or 4 terrain.

What are you’re thoughts. Also not that in true climbing terrain, we would build true climbing anchors. As shown in other posts.

Play nice 💜

03/02/2023

ANCHOR SERIES: community conversations

Part of learning is seeing and experiencing new things and then building an understanding of that event or in this case “thing”.

As we progress in climbing, creativity, problem solving, strength, patience, knowledge… etc help us, whether on a pitch or simply when building anchors.

We want this series to help in two ways, expose people to new anchors that we use guiding, offer content, and allow a space for people to engage and question those systems.

Share your thoughts on the anchor: it’s strength, the angles, material, knots, distribution etc, and ask questions.

CONTEXT: guiding 2:1 WI3. All of these systems use a system that is strong and easy to breakdown for the second. The GH central point has no knots and the long quickdraw clip the the locker central point also has no knots.

Have you experienced trying to untie anchor material while ice climbing?

Play nice 💜

01/02/2023

ANCHOR SERIES: community conversations

Next up is a classic… with a twist! The “quad” anchor set up has somewhat revolutionized how we build anchors now, and is almost exclusively what we see and use for two bolts or two screws. It’s a great tool for the job! But sometimes it’s nice to just toss in the ol’ 21cm to beef things up little bit!

Share your thoughts on the anchor: how are top rope anchors different from top belay anchors? What are the strength concerns for them? What else is there to consider??

CONTEXT: This anchor was set up after leading a WI 4 pitch with the goal of lowering and top roping a few laps. Started it out with two 17cm screws joined with a quad and a couple lockers, opposit and opposed for the turnaround point. The 21cm screw was added at the end and joined with a quickdraw to the left side of the anchor. The anchor was set up and lapped for a few hours with no exposure to the sun.

30/01/2023

ANCHOR SERIES: community conversations

Part of learning is seeing and experiencing new things and then building an understanding of that event or in this case “thing”.

As we progress in climbing, creativity, problem solving, strength, patience, knowledge… etc help us, whether on a pitch or simply when building anchors.

We want this series to help in two ways, expose people to new anchors that we use guiding, offer content, and allow a space for people to engage and question those systems.

Share your thoughts on the anchor: it’s strength, the angles, material, knots, distribution etc, and ask questions.

CONTEXT: guiding 1:1 WI3 pitch to WI3 pitch.

Play nice 💜

19/01/2023

SPLIT ROPE BELAY TECHNIQUE:

Climbing in a group of three adds a lot of margin of security in the mountains.

Oftentimes that’s why we see teams of three! 🤯

In order to move more efficiently in the terrain we belay both followers at the same time for a lot of the climb.

In some instances second’s climbing one at a time is important such as, the hardest sections of a route or narrow ice sections where shells the lower follower is likely.

Back to belaying two climbers.

Did you know- with a high degree of separation climber separation between the follower ( so they don’t knock ice down on each other) there can be a failure mechanism in the belay device if the ropes enter at those split angles?

Ropes entering the belay device at different angles may fail if one follower weights the rope and the other is still climbing. The device will not grab the falling climbers weight. There’s a lot of information about this, Petzl has good resources.

In ice you’ll often see us belaying with two belay devices to solve this problem. Each climber receives there own belay device at the top.

The benefits of this versatility extends past failure.

In the picture one climber is on the right, climbing a steep column of ice, the other is on the left.

Two devices makes it easy to belay both with comfort, keeps the ropes from twisting, and keeps the belay devices from failing.

💜💜

15/12/2022

SNOW OBS (EDUCATIONAL) : Full Pit Profile

Date: 2022-12-15
Time: 1030
Location:
13s 262192W 4197528N

Red Mountain Pass, NW aspect NTL ( near tree line )

Slope Angle: 24*
HS ( height of snow ) 93cm
Sky: BKN ( broken )
Precip: SN-1

Stability Tests:

🫣CT12 (SP) ; TD 93

Translated: A compression test failed on the 12th tap with a sudden planar fracture character occurring 46cm below the snow surface with a total depth of 93cm.

🫥ECTP14

Translated: An extended column test initiated a fracture 46cm below the snow surface that both initiated and propagated on the 14th tap.

😶‍🌫️ PST19/100 (end) @48 on 2022-11-29

Translated: A propagation saw test initiated failure in the weak layer that is down 48cm and was buried Nov 29th, 2022. The failure propagated to the end of the column after the saw had made a cut through the weak layer to 19cm of the total 100cm column.

So the question is, what does this evidence suggests right now?

Any thoughts 💭

09/11/2022

TOP ROPE SETUP: Ideal case, equal point length or fixed ring central point.

Top rope rigging is common across wide swaths of the climbing industry from large static rope rigging around natural features to simple QuickDraws.

When we decide on a technique, we try to solve for some common issues when possibles, strength, versatility, efficiency, among others.

In this cases the group is split between people which want to lead and those that want to top rope.

Instead of incorporating a locker into the system, which may fatigue a leader at the top when attempting to clip in, we chose a slight variation.

Three QD’s opposite and opposing each other to create a central point that allows rope to freely pass through, is easy to clip for leaders, and secure for those top-roping.

The next question would be, who feels comfortable only being attached by one ring?

This particular ring holds 25kn

Remember, the goal is to find a simple and effective solution to situation you’re in.

There’s many methods to accomplish the same task.

Why three QD’s instead of two? Any thoughts

💜💜

04/11/2022

Girth Hitch Central Rigging Point

“The Girth Hitch rigging technique is often referenced as the “South Tyrolean” method in Europe (Semmel, Würtl, Hornsteiner 2019), highlighting its Italian provenance.” ( 2021)

Did you know?

As a technique, we use this in addition to many other anchoring methods including fixed point belays (FPLB) and pre-disturbed fixed leg anchors, often what we learn when first building anchors.

It tends to be a useful tool as it’s material efficient, especially this is nice when low on rigging material when tying a central point becomes harder to manage.

It also eliminates the need for a knot, which can be of particular use when it’s cold and one is wearing gloves or when on longer routes we’re time is saved by not needing to untie.

I’m not without it’s faults though and before uses, consider that the GH central point does not meet the standard definition of redundancy. If a strand is cut, or a carabiner comes unclipped, the slip from the system could pull the remaining strands through the hitch, sending the entire party to the ground. A catastrophic failure.

Although unlikely, it worth understanding…

A counter to this point would be to remain aware of objective hazards and place the belay in a appropriate position. Something not always in our control. The other point would be the nature of this failure in the “real world” where an event that cuts part of the anchor but not all, would likely not be the case. It more common that an event such as rock fall would destroy an anchor regardless of rigging method. The party would be extremely lucky if not.

Another thing to consider is that the technique requires an extra carabiner or closed ring, some may prefer the weight savings of another system.

As a rigging method , we use it often, in a variety of terrain and have found it very efficient and effective for our needs.

Enjoy the process and explore this anchor on your own terms. 💜💜

03/11/2022

The Flatirons of Boulder boast a jagged skyline of rock, iconic for those traveling here regularly and mesmerizing if it’s your first time.

Classic slabs for a truly unique 1000’ climbing adventure.

Our shared experiences here are often a place of growth and exploration 💜

19/09/2022

Anchors from the past two days showing the variety of concepts that qualify what an anchor can be.

When building an anchor, are you considering the needs of the anchors first before building?

What are some of those considerations?

10/09/2022

Come Join Us In Our Last Seminar Of The Season.

Learn some new skills, brush up on old ones, and start to prepare for the winter season.

Hosted by Founder and AMGA Rock Guide, Jeffrey Mascaro.

💜💜

06/09/2022

PASSIVE PROTECTION

Wedges, stoppers, nuts, are common names which refer to passive leader protection.

When we rate this gear, we judge the quality of placement based on the strength of the piece of primary pull of the leader in a fall, the security of the piece or put another way, likelihood of failure and then the ease of removal.

Most of us rank strength as our top priority in gear placement but with passive protection we must consider how easy the piece can dislodge with a secondary pull from the side, upward pull from the belay, and even outward pull.

If the stopper fails, we’ll, strength is negated…

Also, consider the time is takes to remove a piece. If it takes longer on an average to remove tricky pieces, this, over a long route can add up to significant time loss.

Think about this, it takes 45 seconds to remove a tricky piece of gear, and if every piece is incredibly hard to get out, we can estimate about 7.5 minutes just in cleaning gear if we placed a reasonable 10 pieces in the pitch! 🤯

So, how do they work?

Well, they find purchase in the rock from being inset into a construction in the rock, or taper if that helps…

Some climber even give a tug on the stopper to “set” its position. Often a nice addition when a particular stopper is a critical piece to our leader protection. Just remember, yarding on a piece that doesn’t need it just makes in harder to remove.

Often a tiny adjustment to a stopper can make them fairly resistant to unintentional secondary pulls, just by finding a tiny lip on the rock or crystals inside the crack.

A strategy we employ often is incorporating a stopper into our traditional anchors. It saves a cam for the leader of the next pitch and because the follow is stationary at the anchor, ideally on a ledge, they can remove the stopper more easily before starting to climb.

🎥: our standard stopper set and removal tool for multi-pitch rock climbing where we do not intend to build descent anchors and the likelihood of bailing is low.

Enjoy💜

03/09/2022

Take a second to learn some topography!

Great to keep this in the pocket when out in the mountains 💜

01/09/2022

Did You Know?

The Girth Hitch, used in conjunction with a locking carabiner or other central point, has a shelf?

To clip the shelf, capture all the loops going to each piece of protection with a carabiner and then connect whatever you want to it.

Personally we find using the shelf nice to raise the height of the belay device which usually provides a better angle of pull for the leader.

Having some separation is also nice when performing rescue skills, just saying…

Small tweaks to a system, the details, are what starts to take everyone’s game to the next level 🔥🤣

And well- now you know!

Enjoy and share some thoughts ⬇️ 💜

13/07/2022

Come join and for a anchoring clinic at the MS Denver location, tonight, 6:30 pm💜

We’ll be covering foundational information for setting up and cleaning anchors at your local sport crags as well as a Q&A with the guides.

Only a couple spots left 🌈

Reach out to Mountain Strong Denver in their IG for registration 💯

30/05/2022

Growth & Exploration In The Mountains, sometimes gets shared with some furry friends too. 🇵🇪🇵🇪

22/05/2022

🦙🇵🇪Team and Friends 🇵🇪🦙

We’re headed into the mountain for the next 8 days. Tales to come!

See you all then. 💜💜

Monday	08:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 17:00
Thursday	08:00 - 17:00
Friday	08:00 - 17:00
Saturday	08:00 - 17:00
Sunday	08:00 - 17:00

Smile Mountain Guides