A New Journey Begins

Mountain Training School is broken down into three disciplines of skills: rock climbing, skiing, and Mountaineering. I decided that I wanted to pursue just the rock climbing discipline but the first rock course available to me wouldn’t start until September so I decided to complete the introductory mountaineering and ski courses to fill up some time until the rock class in September. Luckily for me MTS has basecamps in Alaska, Patagonia, and Spain so that meant I would be traveling to exotic destinations to complete my courses. First up was the Mountain 101 in Alaska.

Mountain 101 was a 21 day course highlighted by a 16 day back country trek through the Talkeetna Mountain Range. Our objective was to hike up the King’s river valley to access the King’s Glacier. From there we would traverse to the Chickaloon Glacier and descend the Chickaloon river valley. In total we trekked about 90 miles while carrying roughly 70 pound expedition packs. I had made a poor choice in selecting boots and by the time we reached the terminal end of the Chickaloon Glacier, I could barely walk and could no longer wear the boots. I ended up wearing flip flops for the last 50 miles of heinous bushwhacking. Both flip flops fell apart and I ended up sewing them together with dental floss then duck taping them to my feet; it was miserable, but not as miserable as wearing those boots haha! Anyway, I survived the course and had a 3 week break before attending Ski 101 in Patagonia!

Those three weeks off fell around the Fourth of July and I spent them in the North East. I spent some time in New York climbing at the Gunks and some time in West Virginia hanging around Morgantown and climbing at the New River Gorge. Summer was in full swing and I had an amazing time with friends new and old. Unfortunately three weeks were over in a flash but that also meant it was time to head south of the equator to Chile!

I would spend a total of 9 weeks in South America first attending a 3 week Ski 101 course and then a 6 week Mountain 201 course. For Ski 101 we stayed at a hostel in downtown Santiago and skied at various resorts in the surrounding Andes Mountain Range. The highlight was skiing at a resort called El Portillo which is nestled in the Andes on the Chile/Argentina border within shouting distance of Aconcagua which is the tallest mountain peak in South America. I learned to ski and then was quickly on my way to MTS’s basecamp in Coyhaique, Chile which is in Patagonia proper. I attended the 6 week Mountain 201 course which was highlighted by a 30+ day trek through the Northen Patagonian Ice field. The Patagonian Ice fields are the largest ice fields in the world outside of Antarctica and our goal was to traverse a 10 mile section of the ice cap proper. Unfortunately between foul weather caused by the El Nino and poor group dynamics, we did not achieve our goal. Regardless of that fact, we did spend 32 days hanging out in isolation in one of the wildest places on Earth. This course tested all of our physical and mental fortitude but we managed to survive. If you know me well at all, then you know I have an extreme dislike of winter, winter weather, cold, rain, and snow and the only thing that kept me going was the idea of starting my first rock climbing class in sunny and 75 Spain. I couldn’t believe I was giving up my North American summer for South American winter but in the end it would be a very positive experience. Besides, I am trading North American winter for Patagonian summer so it all evens out in the end!

From Chile, I stopped in Philadelphia for basically an extended layover and as quickly as I arrived, I was on my way to Spain. I planned to be in Spain a few days days early so I could take a day to explore Bilbao. While staying in Bilbao I recieved a sign that seemed like the world was saying “welcome to Spain, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.” I caught a bus to Potes, which is the location of MTS basecamp and where my course would begin. I was finally back in my element although it was now almost 6 months since I had been climbing regularly. I felt relieved to be in such a beautiful place at a much slower pace with an amazing atmosphere and even better food (the cheese is incredible!). The next 6 weeks were spent climbing various locations around the Pico de Europas as well as other well know destinations such as La Pedriza, near Madrid and Riglos, just south of the Pyrenees. A lot of class time was focused on technical rope skills and every day I was expanding my knowledge of climbing and becoming more proficient with rope skills. Overall it was an extremely positive experience and I can’t wait to get to Patagonia to climb Valle Cochamo!!!

Andrea over 600 feet up on the crux pitch of Mosquitoes and a group on "El Trono"

Where does that leave us? Well, currently I am writing this while sitting on a train bound for Madrid. My next rock class doesn’t start until the end of December and to fill the time in between I have a Professional Development class to attend which includes obtaining a Wilderness First Aid certification. Did I mention that we get to do our classes in exotic locations all around the world? Well tomorrow I hop on a plane to Marrakech, Morocco and then will take a 6 hour bus ride to Todra Gorge. Todra Gorge is a winter vacation climbing mecca for European climbers and we get to spend the next 6 weeks at the mouth of the gorge. I am not looking forward to completing actual school work (isn’t that why I chose to be a climbing guide? Haha!) but I am looking forward to pulling on the perfect limestone that makes up Todra Gorge.

Waking up under a 1000 year old chestnut tree

Two posts in under 24 hours...what's going on?

Morocco!

Turn and Face the Strange, Changes

“The summit is for the ego, the journey is for the soul.”