Sean Kristl's Posts

Lead guide Jaime Avila and Scott Ullem standing on the summit of Cotopaxi (19,347′ / 5897m) shortly after the team topped out. All the hard work of training and pre-acclimatizing paid off as this was only Scott’s third morning spent in Ecuador. Incredible effort!

It’s definitely unique to see climbers with respirators on the summit of Cotopaxi, but the sulfurous fumes coming from the caldera make them a necessary piece of gear to stay strong and healthy for the descent. Not to mention it makes for a cool photo!

Cotopaxi is the world’s highest active volcano, and…

Text & photos: Sean Kristl

“Cumbre for all! What an incredible climb, 7 hours up, we were motoring! The whole team crushed it (Jaime, Peter, Scott, Sean, Topo), more stories to come!”

Stay tuned for more photos and updates for their Rapid Ascent climb of Cotopaxi (19,347′ / 5897m)! And for questions on any of our expeditions or courses please contact us at info@alpenglowexpeditions.com and 877-873-5376.…

Text & photos: Sean Kristl

Day 3: “Rest day today in the incredibly beautiful Tambopaxi Hostel. Breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs and good bread fueled us up for a little more skills training outside the lodge. Topo will be joining us later this afternoon. We’ll eat dinner with him, rest for a few more hours and leave the comfort and warmth of the hostel around 11pm. Climbing starts at 12am!!”

Stay tuned for more updates on their climb of Cotopaxi (19,347′ / 5897m)! And for questions on any of our expeditions or courses please contact us…

Text & Photos: Sean Kristl

Day 1: The team arrived safely in Quito (9,350′ /2850m), already pre-acclimatized for the Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent expedition.

Day 2: “Awesome training today on the glacier. We went over crampon and ice axe skills, and pushed up to touch 17k. Everyone is in good spirits, and no issues with the altitude.”

For questions on our Cotopaxi Rapid Ascent Expedition or any of our expeditions and courses please contact us at info@alpenglowexpeditions.com and 877-873-5376.

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Text: Ben Weaver

“There are new updates to AIARE Avalanche education and training in the United States. Beginning in the 2017-2018 season, formal Avalanche education and training will have changes to the current courses offered and have additional courses available. A majority of the changes are on the “Professional” track of education, but there are changes to the “Recreational” path as well. In fact, the creation of proper “recreational” and “professional” tracks is a cornerstone of the new model. I encourage anyone consider a course of any kind to checkout the American Institute for Avalanche Rescue and Education, or…

Join us this season for some avalanche education. In addition to the Level 1 course, we are offering two new courses, the AIARE 2 and also a 1-day Avalanche Rescue course (which is a pre-requisite for the AIARE 2). See below for a brief description of all three AIARE courses we offer with Alpenglow.

AIARE 1 – This is a comprehensive, entry level avalanche course designed for those with basic ski / snowboard touring experience. There are no other prerequisites. This is a great course to take before heading out into the backcountry. This one day course will introduce you to the fundamentals…

Squaw Valley Ski Resort (our home ski resort) reported 13 inches of new snow on the upper mountain after the last round of storms. We’re gonna go ahead and call that a great start! Forecasts for the month of November are calling for a few more storms to swing through our region and by December we should be set and ready for a fantastic season of skiing and riding in the backcountry around Lake Tahoe and Truckee.

Whats New for the 2017/18 Winter Season at Alpenglow Expeditions

A skier harvesting fresh powder in the Tram Ridge zone of Squaw Valley’s backcountry.…

The cold temperatures of fall here in the northern hemisphere reminds us that the Aconcagua climbing season is coming into view. This season Alpenglow Expeditions has eight different expeditions to South America – 2 in Ecuador, 1 in Patagonia, and 5 separate teams heading to the tallest peak outside of Asia, the one and only Aconcagua. We love this time of year as our South American expeditions are truly special to our entire program.

Ecuador is Next on the tick list…

Our first team arriving in Ecuador aims to climb Cotopaxi (conditions dependent, more on that in a moment) in 5 days…

Pictured climbing is lead guide, Gaspar Navarrete, before the team summited Pequeño Alpamayo (17,482′ / 5329m). Like its famous taller neighbors in Peru, Pequeño’s face is technical yet reasonable. The team is safely off the mountain and prepping to climb two more peaks.
The expedition team is acclimatized and getting ready for the next peak, Huayna Potosi (19,975′ 6088m). Pictured below is the team climbing Tarija. This glacier sits just below Pequeño Alpamayo. The team visited it for a full day of skills training, including crampon practice, ice axe use, self arrest techniques, ropes travel, and crevasse rescue. More updates soon!

For…

Our expedition team summited Mount Elbrus (18,510′ / 5642m) yesterday morning. Elbrus is one of the seven summits and it is the highest point in Europe. Despite the lack of a view from the summit, the team still had a lot to celebrate! CHEERS to a strong team and a successful summit!

On summit day the team woke around 3 AM for a quick breakfast and hot drink. A snow-cat took them to their previous highpoint at Pastukhov Rocks (15,000′ / 4572m). From there it was almost 4,000 vertical feet (1,220 meters) to the summit of Elbrus, primarily on open moderately angled glaciers. They…