Golden State Guiding's Ambassador Family just grew again! We're pleased to announce our latest addition to the GSG Ambassador Family, Ash Gambhir (@verticalnomad). Ash joins the program with a heart full of adventure and an impressive list of achievements, especially in the alpine. Recently awarded the Live Your Dream Grant by the American Alpine Club in 2018, Ash has been at it non-stop ticking some classic alpine lines. From the striking ice climb, Liberty Ridge on Mount Rainier, to the beautiful line, Fishhook Arete on Mount Russell, to a very recent ascent of Thunerbolt peak in the Palisades, Ash has spent more time at elevation than many people we know! Ash is also working as an Apprentice Guide with Golden State Guiding and is currently pursuing certification through the AMGA as a Single Pitch Instructor and plans to enroll in the AMGA Alpine Skills Course this fall. Along with his thirst for adventure Ash also enjoys giving back to his community by being an active member of the American Alpine Club's San Diego Chapter. We're incredibly excited to have Ash join the GSG Ambassador Family, be on the lookout for more trip reports from Ash which you can follow by checking out his blog Vertical Nomads at verticalnomads.com
Mount Emerson // South East Face
Getting a client to the top of their first alpine route is always an incredibly satisfying moment. The progression people are capable of in such a short amount of time these days is impressive to say the least. We always make sure to assess our clients physical and mental capacities before putting them on an alpine objective but sometimes it's a no-brainer as was the case with Jake last week during his first alpine ascent of Mount Emerson's South East Face. GSG Guide Joshua Reinig had the pleasure of guiding Jake up this moderate alpine route in the Eastern Sierra just outside of Bishop and what an incredible day they both had. Technical climbing right off the deck followed by a long scree chute and rib hoping, ending with a knife edge traverse, we'd say Jake got the full value experience his first day in the alpine! Thanks to Jake for giving us the chance to guide him in our favorite arena and to GSG Guide Josh for facilitating the day.
Mount Sill // Swiss Arete // Palisade Range
Another successful outing into the Palisade Range went down this past weekend! These 3 badass ladies conquered the Swiss Arete (5.7, Grade III), during a 3 day outing in one of our favorite places to guide. Perfect temps, good vibes and an all around great time was had by all. Big congratulations to these 3 for summiting one of the more iconic peaks in the Eastern Sierra! Also, big thanks to GSG Lead Guide Josh Reinig for facilitating the outing and to GSG Guide Greg Davis for taking the time to be mentored by Josh. We couldn't do it without our awesome Guide Family!
Gym 2 Crag // July Series Wrap Up
We just wrapped up another Gym 2 Crag series for the month of July and had nothing but happy participants at the end of the course! Knots and Hitches, Top Rope Anchors and Rappelling skills were taught throughout the 3 weeks at our partner gym Vertical Hold then we took it to our local crag, Mission Gorge, where our students put their newly acquired skills to the test! Big thanks to everyone who attended the G2C for the month of July we couldn't be more pleased with your success! Also, big thanks to our newest apprentice Scott Iwamoto for helping facilitate the day out!
Beating the Heat // Holcomb Valley Rock Climbing
With California temperatures reaching all time highs at lower elevations we opted for cooler temps and took a short drive to Holcomb Valley just outside of the town of Big Bear, CA. The first good indicator was that we were able to find a close parking spot at the southern lot! Crowds were minimal, temperatures optimal, and good vibes were being spread among the guides and our two clients as we climbed up numerous pitches throughout the day. It's always a pleasure catching up with repeat clients and Lauren and AJ were stoked to get back out with us. Thanks for the great day you two and big thanks to GSG Guide Greg Davis for facilitating.
Sierra Single Pitchn' Event // Eastern Sierra
Another amazing weekend with great people in a beautiful place! We wrapped up our Sierra Single Pitchn’ Event in the Eastern Sierra and I think it’s safe to say we’re still coming down from a big high! We spent 2 nights camping in beautiful Rock Creek Canyon and ventured out each day into the Eastern Sierra, sampling some fine rock climbing along the way. Day 1 was spent at Clark Canyon where we climbed large formations composed of volcanic rock followed by a dip in Rock Creek Lake to round out the day. Day 2 we ventured north into the Mammoth Lakes Basin area where we spent the day climbing at Horseshoe Slabs, nestled between Horseshoe Lake and beautiful pine trees of all shapes and sizes. The Sierra is a very special place to all of our Guides, it’s a privilege to be able to introduce people to a place so near and dear to our heart. Thanks to everyone who attended the first annual Sierra Single Pitchn’ Event, this is just the beginning of more fun outings to come on the Eastside! Also, big shout out to GSG Guide Greg Davis for facilitating the weekend and to GSG Guide Tyler Dandurand and GSG Apprentice Guide Sarah Barille for helping along the way. Awesome team we have, couldn't do it without you guys!
To view the full gallery of photos click here.
Girls Leadership Wrapup
The Summer 2018 Girls Leadership Program with Golden State Guiding has officially finished! We’re proud to have supported this fine young group of girls over the course of the last 3 weeks at our local crag, Mission Gorge, as they broke through barriers they never thought imaginable! The girls were put into situations where team building skills were applied, the fundamentals of climbing systems introduced and the emphasis of safety was instilled through instruction of knots and best belay practices. We couldn’t be more pleased with how these girls progressed through the course of the last 3 weeks, great job to everyone! Also, as usual big thanks to GSG Guide @gregasaurus_flex and GSG Apprentice Guide @sarah___bee for facilitating all 3 weeks, couldn’t have done it without you!
Successful Summit of Mount Sill (14,154') // Sierra Nevada
We're pleased to share with you 2 clients, Jesse Felten and Angel Castaneda, successfully reached the summit of Mount Sill (14,154') via the North Couloir route on July 1st, 2018 with GSG Guide Josh Reinig. Mount Sill is 1 of 15 fourteener's in California and is considered a technical peak needing the appropriate skills to ascend and descend her slopes safely. Snow travel up to 50+ degrees is involved along with technical rock climbing up to low 5th class during the crux of the route. Jesse and Angelo both demonstrated the ability to keep it cool under pressure while ascending this beautiful peak in the High Sierra, also known as Nee-na-mee-shee, meaning Guardian of the Valley. Congratulations on your ascent gentleman and big thanks to GSG Guide Josh Reinig for facilitating a safe and fun weekend for our guests.
GSG Ambassador Jordan Cannon Slideshow
The psych is still high from last nights slideshow with GSG Ambassador @cannonjtc! Thanks for taking the time to spread the stoke throughout our local climbing community Jordan, everyone was thrilled to have you come out and share your adventures for the evening! Big thanks to @verticalhold for hosting and to our local climbing organizations and partners @sandiegochapter_aac and @officialacsd for coming out and supporting this great event. We also wanted to thank @samuelcrossley and @callenhearne for all the great photos and video they provided Jordan with for the show. You guys rock, keep up the good work! And lastly, thanks to @randyleavittand @maximropes for spreading the word about the evening! Looking forward to more fun nights like this down the road. #gsgambassadors
2nd Annual Girls Leadership Program // Day 1
The 2nd annual Girls Leadership Program is underway in sunny San Diego and what a great first day we had in the field at our local crag, Mission Gorge. These strong young women are back for their second year in a row with Golden State Guiding working on building confidence, working as a team in an outdoor environment and breaking boundaries they never thought possible. During the 3 days these girls are out with us they'll learn the necessary skills regarding safety checks with partners, rope skills, best practices for belaying, rappelling techniques and much more. Day 1 is complete and was a big success! Thanks to GSG Guide Greg Davis and GSG Apprentice Guide Sarah Barille for facilitating the day. Look for more updates as the program continues over the next couple weeks!
GSG Ambassador & Guide Jordan Cannon Slideshow
Golden State Guiding is excited to announce GSG Ambassador & Guide Jordan Cannon will be presenting a slideshow at Vertical Hold Climbing Gym San Diego on July 2nd, 2018 at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). Come hear Jordan speak to adventure, traveling, mentor-ship, training, living simply and dreaming BIG! Free admission for the slideshow, $10 discounted day pass for any non Vertical Hold member wanting to climb afterwards with Jordan. All proceeds go to our local climbing organizations American Alpine Club - San Diego Chapter and Allied Climbers of San Diego. Looking forward to a fun evening!
GSG Apprentice Guide Ash Gambhir & Team Climb Liberty Ridge
Apparently Liberty Ridge is the go-to route this season for GSG Guides. Apprentice Guide @verticalnomad just topped out Mt. Rainier via the famous Liberty Ridge route last week. This is our second Guide in two weeks to ascend the route. Ash was awarded the American Alpine Clubs “Live Your Dream” grant earlier this year and Liberty Ridge was the coveted route of choice. Congratulations Ash and the rest of your team! Stoked everyone made a safe and successful ascent!
Jesse Ray Joins GSG's Guide Family
Golden State Guiding is excited to announce our latest addition to the GSG Guide Family, Jesse Ray. Jesse comes to GSG with a wealth of knowledge in multiple disciplines of climbing as well as education. Jesse is a certified AMGA Rock Guide, Single Pitch Instructor and an Apprentice Alpine Guide and is currently holding down the role as Outdoor Leadership Development Coordinator at SFU! Jesse’s passion for education and mentoring is something we look for in all of our Guides which makes him the perfect addition to the GSG Guide Family, and he knows a thing or two about climbing! Please join us in welcoming Jesse Ray to the GSG Guide Family! We’re incredibly excited to have him on board!
GSG Guide Kelvin Nguyen // Liberty Ridge Ascent
Golden State Guiding's Kelvin Nguyen, along with 6 other team members successfully made the summit of Mt. Rainier this week via the Liberty Ridge route. Conditions were as good as they get, reported Kelvin once back to basecamp. Rangers reported this was the first successful ascent of the route all season, great job everyone! Big congratulations to Kelvin sending a long time dream, couldn't be more happy for him. Keep crushing Kelvin!
Jonathan Wachtel Joins GSG Ambassador Family
Golden State Guiding is proud to announce the latest addition to the GSG Ambassador Family, Jonathan Wachtel. Jonathan joins the GSG family with a wealth of knowledge regarding climbing and is highly respected throughout the climbing community. Co-founder of the San Diego Chapter's American Alpine Club, Jonathan has deeply rooted himself within the community helping grow this actively we love so much. Jonathan holds an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor certification, is a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy and as of more recent a new dad! Please join us in welcoming Jonathan to the GSG Family!
Campn' n Crimpn' Wrap Up!
Well the inaugural Campn' n Crimpn' event in Joshua Tree, National Park is officially over and what an amazing weekend we had! We chased shade all weekend long in the park and were rewarded with some fantastic memories. First outdoor climbs and rappels went down, gear and anchor clinics were facilitated and an overall fun time was had in the park and back at camp! We can't thank the Campn' n Crimpn' participants enough for coming out with us this weekend in Joshua Tree. It was a fantastic weekend and we look forward to the next CnC event in the future! Click here for a photo gallery of the weekend.
GSG 1 Year Anniversary!
Hard to believe today marks the 1 year anniversary of Golden State Guiding! This last year has been a roller-coaster of a good time and we’re just getting started! From our first guided outings at our local crags of Mission Gorge and Mount Woodson, to the inception of our highly successful Gym 2 Crag programs and the partnership we formed with @verticalhold Climbing Gym. We expanded our offerings throughout California to Joshua Tree nearly one year ago and most recently into the lichen streaked granite of the Sierra where most of our hearts reside. Our BBQ’s x BELAY’s x BEER’s events in the winter were beyond a good time and our first of many Ladies Weekend Out events was a huge success! And to top it off apprenticeship programs and scholarship funds were implemented to support up and coming Guides striving to further their careers in this exciting profession. We’d say it’s been a good first year at GSG!
Golden State Guiding is only as good as the Guides we have working in the field and the Ambassadors we have representing our company. We’d like to personally thank each and every one of these individuals for their dedication, loyalty, trust and time they’ve invested into the company and the friendship they’ve provided. You’re time in the field is valued more than you know and we can’t thank you enough for being a part of the GSG family! GSG Guides @gregasaurus_flex, @kelvin_artdoors, @allisonterray, @tytytheclimbingguy, @lolo_bach, @thefnanswer, @senseisplitter, @dbirddy, @amontillado1846 and @cannonjtc, thank you for being the best guides we could possibly ask for. GSG Ambassadors @orionisasian, @shane.mclimbing, @stantonotnats, @kormungus, @siwamotoand @dajagr, thank you for your continued stoke of climbing and support you’ve afforded GSG along the way.
Climb // Educate // Train // Inspire was our mission from the inception of Golden State Guiding and we’ve stayed true to these core values. The core of GSG’s business will always be slated in the mountains but the importance of educating our up and coming community of climbers will always take precedence. The support we’ve extended to the community has transformed into friendships we never thought imaginable. Thanks to all of the clients/ participants/ friends we’ve made this first year. We truly value the time we’ve spent with each and every one of you.
And lastly, where would we be without the support of all of our partners. Vertical Hold Climbing Gym, Shelta Hats, Saint Archer, Evolv, Outdoor Research, prAna, Black Diamond, The American Alpine Club, Traeger Grills, Arcade Belts and Riot Cake Co., thank you for everything you’ve done for all of our events! And a big thanks to photographers and friends Jameson Schultz, Albert Cheng and Chris George for capturing and supporting these events. We look forward to more great times in the future!
Cheers to a prosperous second year in business with everyone and getting into the mountains!
Advanced Gym 2 Crag // April Series
Another round of our Advanced Gym 2 Crag just wrapped in Joshua Tree, NP and what a great day out it was! All our participants built multiple Joshua Tree Anchors then rappelled into our climbs using their own anchors. From there we placed gear on mock leads, explained the fundamentals of gear placements and spoke to scenarios they may encounter when on the wall. All of our participants did a great job, we couldn't more pleased. Looking forward to our next round of the Advanced Gym 2 Crag program coming up in June!
Rock Climbing in the Eastern Sierra!
Golden State Guiding is proud to announce that we’ve officially been permitted to guide in the Eastern Sierra beginning June 1st! It’s been a long time coming and we couldn’t be more pleased to offer our clients a wide variety of climbing options throughout the beautiful Inyo National Forest. We’ve hand selected a number of routes and venues to accommodate all levels of climbers. From moderate alpine routes like the North Ridge of Lone Line Peak (pictured), Bear Creek Spire’s North East Ridge and the Swiss Arete on Mt. Sill, to multi-pitch outings at Cardinal Pinnacle and Crystal Crag to numerous single pitch venues throughout the Mammoth Lakes area and beyond, we’ve got you covered for whatever adventure you had in mind this summer!
Ladies Weekend Out // Spring 2018 Recap
Well the first ever Ladies Weekend Out event with Golden State Guiding is in the bag and what a success it was! We were blessed with an amazing group of talented women who came to the event ready to climb, learn and have a great time! Education was at the forefront of the weekend and all of our Ladies soaked up the knowledge our certified AMGA guides had to offer. Sport anchors were built, rappelling lessons facilitated, gear placement and anchor demonstrations provided and of course the ever so popular tape gloves were put into action because our Ladies got on some crack! The #Sladies were out in full force this weekend and really took home some great memories! Big thanks to everyone who came out for the first ever Ladies Weekend Out event with Golden State Guiding! It was an amazing event and we couldn't be more pleased with the outcome!
A special thanks goes out to GSG's head Guide for the weekend Lauren Breitenbachfor facilitating an amazing event. Big thanks to GSG Guide Tyler Dandurandfor helping out throughout the weekend and to GSG's newest apprentice/ SPI Aspirant Sarah Barille for keeping the girls safe and running her own lessons with the participants. Also, a large shoutout goes out to Oliver Dela Cruz for filming the entire weekend and to Margaret Chiu, Vertical Hold Instructor, for working with the Ladies on technique and movement both days, we couldn't have done it without any of these talented individuals.
And last but not least, a HUGE thanks to all our partners who supported this event, Aret Basewear, Saint Archer, Riot Cake Co., Vertical Hold Climbing Gym, Evolv, Shelta Hats, American Alpine Club, and prAna. The girls were given their goody bags at our party at Saint Archer Brewery Saturday night and they were beyond stoked to say the least, thanks for your support!
Keep an eye out for the next Ladies Weekend Out event this Fall 2018!