Trips Reports (All)
Below are our trip reports, in reverse chronological order. We also have an interactive map of our trip reports, if that's more your style.
Mount Buckner and Sharkfin Tower
Check out our latest video starring Toby Young in the North...
Mount Rainier / Kautz Route
Mount Rainier Climb - Kautz Route (by Andrew Gorohoff) On July 27, 2010 Martin Volken led me to my first summit of Mount...
The right overnight Alpine Pack
The right overnight Alpine climbing pack! We have been asked many times how our guides packs could possibly be so small even...
Mount Baker 1 day attempt
Mount Baker 1 Day Attempt June 29, 2010 - Easton Glacier. (Andrew Gorohoff) Back in March, while returning from a week of...
Short Bus April 2010
Short Bus 2010 A Short Bus Long on Adventure. Trip Report by Kiel LaFrance. What began as an incredible ski trip ended up...
Mount Baker orbit
Pro Guiding Service (Ben Haskell, Martin Volken, Jim Bailey and Mark Munro) completed an orbit of Mount Baker last week. I must...
The Declaration of Mountain Independance
The Declaration of Mountain Independance! (Volken) I have been in the guiding business for just about 20 years now. I would...
Short Bus 2010
Sun, Powder, Avalanches and Borat: The Short Bus 2010. by Joe Hoch. The 2010 Short Bus was a little bi-polar. It started at...
My First Mountain Video
Here is my fist mountain video from a recent AMGA Alpine Guides Exam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plww7ZZFbX0
Mont Blanc and then some
Mont Blanc and then some (by Nikolai Popov) With the permission of friend and client Nikolai Popov I am adding a link to a...
Mount Shuksan ski ascent
Mount Baker - I mean Shuksan Summit -- Quick and Simple (by Evan Wong) May 23rd and 24th, 2009 What a difference a year...
Mt. Baker - Boulder Glacier Paradise
A Limerick For Baker By M. Wheel Er There once was a group of skiers quite pooped who had skied from tip top of a...
When Valdez Becomes Whistler
Valdez becomes Whistler... Or Mountain House becomes the Whistler Restaurant Tour (As Told By Steve and...
The Million Dollar Ride (Text and photos by Jeff Montgomery)
“Million Dollar Ride” I have seen this route countless times at 500 feet and 500 MPH. The snowfields slide effortlessly by...
Haute Route 2009
THE HAUTE ROUTE TRIP REPORT APRIL 6-11, 2009 (by Mark Munro - our Man of the Law!) The following document (hereinafter...
The Haute Loop (by Holly Yokum)
The Amazing Haute Loop Tour by Holly Yokum and Peter Adamco All teams arrived in France with the hopes of completing...
Who is in charge?
Who’s in charge? When the undisputed King of the Cascades Fred Beckey penned “Challenge of the North Cascades”, he had...
Norway, better than ever
Untracked Line: The Fjords of Norway This region might be Norway's best-kept backcountry secret. by Berne Broudy,...
For all the right reasons
For all the right reasons (by M. Volken) Or hats off to many of my clients In the beginning it seems like most everybody...
North Ridge of Mt. Baker
The forecast had indicated that the showers - which were supposed to have a 30% chance of occurring to begin with - would taper...
North Face of Shuksan
The White Salmon Glacier Paradise seems right now to be anything but – I can feel a collection of pine needles gathering on the...
Fieldtest: MSR Reactor versus Jetboil
Field test: MSR REACTOR VERSUS JETBOIL When the Jetboil cooking stove came on the market a few years ago, things changed. The...
Skiing Rainier is not slack country
Mount Rainier with Pro Guiding Service May 26th to May 30th 2008 By Evan Wang "Well, this really bites!" "What was I...
Haute Route 2008
The first sound I heard that morning was rain hitting the skylight of the Hotel Gustavia. Lots of rain. Isn’t this April?...
The Short Bus 2008 (by Tim Fitzgerald)
The Short Bus The trip started with the crew meeting up at our first stop, Chamonix France, on Sunday afternoon at the most...
Article in the Seattle P-I: She Rocks the Alpine
All-women backcountry ski clinic leaves the lift noise and crowds behind By PHUONG CAT LE P-I REPORTER After a quick...
Chris Solomon writes about the Spearhead Traverse and Pro Guiding Service in the New York Times
Direct link to the Spearhead Traverse article:
In shallah - Morocco 2008
In shallah- Morocco 2008 Everything seemed so foreign and I was so tired; after all I had just flown half way around the...
January is Really a Great Month - She Rocks Report
It's true. January was an amazing month! The weather stayed cold, and we had a blend of snow and sun (remember, sun? It...
TGIF Chair Peak Circumnavigation
Pat Millegan and Gianluca Interlandi joined guide Ben Haskell for a TGIF tour on Friday 1/25/08. We took advantage of the clear...
Climbing skin selection research
This is not a trip report, but is might be of interest for the Ski touring crowd. Check it out. Out there with the right...
Chair Peak North Face direct
On September 20th we (Kurt Buchwald and Martin Volken) went to the Chair Peak North Face in the North Central Cascades of...
The Matterhorn (by Terry Jarrett)
Matterhorn Trip Report: August 13-18, 2007 Midway through our trip Martin said “We should talk about alternatives to...
Forbidden Peak NW Buttress
Forbidden Peak North West Buttress July 11 and 12,2007 An exceptional climb of purity! Fred – the undisputed Alpine King...
Mount Buckner North Face
The Branca trip on Buckner (by Mihai Iancu) WARNING: There is nothing exceptional in this trip report. There were no major...
Mount Rainier ski descent
We got off to a shaky start. Heck we were trying to be good husbands, dads, whatever. So we left a day later. The forecast...
Ski Mountaineering in the Pantheon Range
The Pantheon Range in Canada; I do not know much about Greek mythology, but this Sub Range of the mighty Waddington massif...
The Ortler Range
I was over-caffeinated already, and it was only 10 am. What’s a bella to do? Switch to hot chocolate, of course. Which I...
Snoqualmie High Route
We've been itching to get back to the Snoqualmie High Peaks ever since Martin pioneered his version of the Haute Route several...
Spearhead Traverse - Borat Route
Martin Volken Guided Chris Solomon, Andy Martin & Rob Morris. Our first attempt at this trip with a larger group back in...
Snoqualmie Powder
Just when you think it can't get any better, it does. John Rabel skied at Snoqualmie Pass and had a perfect blue sky powder day...
Thunder Creek
Powder skiing conditions have returned to the cascades. Tuesday Feb. 20 Mason Stafford and Ben Haskell Skied the Thunder...
Niseko Powder
I must admit, Skiing in Japan was not really on my radar. I guess I had heard that the northern portion of the island receives...
Wednesday Day Tour Snoqualmie Pass
What's that you say, it's Wed-nes-day? Here is a quick round of pictures from last Wednesday's tour up Mt. Snoqualmie....
Colfax South Face
On May 4th 2006 Martin Volken, Mason Stafford and Matt Schoenwald skied the South Face of Colfax Peak near Mount Baker. The...
Fjords of Norway
Our trip to the Norwegian Fjords exceeded my (and hopefully all participants) expectations. The lands along the Norwegian Coast...
McClellan's Butte
On March 13, 2006 Martin Volken skied the East Face of McClellan's Butte off the summit. He was accompanied by Dave Perkins who...
The Matterhorn via the Standard Route (Hornli Ridge)
Location: Swiss Alps
Starting elevation: Matterhorn hut at 3270 meters
Summit elevation: 4478 meters
Elevation...
South America
The Andes are wild, South America is too, both should be seen at least once in a lifetime, and dry powder in August can’t be...
24 Hours of Torment
On Thursday June 3, 2004 to Friday June 4, 2004 Martin Volken and Andy Dappen went in and skied the North Face of Mt. Torment...
Overcoat & Chimney Rock
On August 7-9 2003 Martin, along with Gregg Kimball and Tom Boehmer hiked from the end of Middle Fork Road to the Overcoat &...
Mount Formidable
On July 30th Martin Volken from North Bend and Kurt Buchwald from Snoqualmie completed the ridge crest traverse from...
Arachnophobia on Spider Mountain
Guide Martin Volken and client Peter Avolio skied a new line on the north face of Spider Mountain. Peter dubbed it...
Bonanza Peak
On August 21st and 22nd Martin Volken, Kurt Buchwald and Peter Avolio completed the ridge traverse of all three summits of...
Mount Buckner
In the spring of 2002 Martin Volken invited a few friends to come ski in his back yard, the North Cacades. They skied the north...
Falcon Route
Climbers: Martin Volken, Jeff Hansell Route character: Alpine Rock Route difficulty: Grade 4/ 5.9 Time during first ascent:...
