Pro Guiding Service - Ski Mountaineering

Trips Reports (Ski)

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 Baker 1 day attempt

June 29, 2010 | , North Cascades

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

June 10, 2010 | France, Italy, Switzerland,

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

May 09, 2010 - May 15, 2010 | ,

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

April 28, 2010 | everywhere,

The Declaration of Mountain Independance! (Volken) I have been in the guiding business for just about 20 years now. I would...

Short Bus 2010

April 05, 2010 - April 10, 2010 | France, Switzerland, Italy,

Sun, Powder, Avalanches and Borat: The Short Bus 2010. by Joe Hoch. The 2010 Short Bus was a little bi-polar. It started at...

She Rocks 2009 Video

January 11, 2010 - January 12, 2010 | ,

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North Cascades Impressions

September 08, 2009 - January 10, 2010 | North Cascades,

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Mount Shuksan ski ascent

May 23, 2009 - May 24, 2009 | North Cascades,

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

May 23, 2009 - May 24, 2009 | Boulder Glacier, Mt. Baker,

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

May 11, 2009 - May 16, 2009 | Whistler, BC,

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)

May 04, 2009 - May 07, 2009 | Snoqualmie Pass Region,

“Million Dollar Ride” I have seen this route countless times at 500 feet and 500 MPH. The snowfields slide effortlessly by...

Haute Route 2009

April 06, 2009 - April 11, 2009 | Switzerland and France,

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)

March 30, 2009 - April 04, 2009 | France -Switzerland-Italy,

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?

March 10, 2009 - March 12, 2009 | Snoqualmie Pass,

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

March 02, 2009 - March 07, 2009 | Romsdal Fjord,

Untracked Line: The Fjords of Norway This region might be Norway's best-kept backcountry secret. by Berne Broudy,...

Skiing Rainier is not slack country

May 26, 2008 - May 31, 2008 | Mount Rainier, WA,

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

April 21, 2008 - April 26, 2008 | Chamonix, France, Zermatt, Switzerland

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)

April 14, 2008 - April 19, 2008 | France and Switzerland,

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

March 19, 2008 | Snoqualmie Pass, Washington

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

February 28, 2008 | B.C. Coast Range,

Direct link to the Spearhead Traverse article:

In shallah - Morocco 2008

February 19, 2008 - February 28, 2008 | Atlas Mountain,

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

January 31, 2008 | Snoqaulmie Pass,

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

January 25, 2008 | ,

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

October 11, 2007 | Switzerland,

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...

Mount Rainier ski descent

June 03, 2007 - June 08, 2007 | Mount Rainier National Park,

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

May 14, 2007 - May 23, 2007 | Waddington Range in the BC Coast 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

April 02, 2007 - April 07, 2007 | Italy,

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

March 29, 2007 - April 02, 2007 | Snoqualmie Pass, Mt Daniel

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

March 26, 2007 - March 27, 2007 | Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia

Martin Volken Guided Chris Solomon, Andy Martin & Rob Morris. Our first attempt at this trip with a larger group back in...

Snoqualmie Powder

February 21, 2007 | ,

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

February 20, 2007 | Snoqualmie Pass,

Powder skiing conditions have returned to the cascades. Tuesday Feb. 20 Mason Stafford and Ben Haskell Skied the Thunder...

Niseko Powder

February 10, 2007 - February 16, 2007 | Niseko, Japan,

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

January 17, 2007 | Mt. Snoqualmie, East and South Ridges

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

May 04, 2006 | North Cascades, WA

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

March 26, 2006 - March 31, 2006 | Romsdalfjorden, Central Norwegian Coast

Our trip to the Norwegian Fjords exceeded my (and hopefully all participants) expectations. The lands along the Norwegian Coast...

McClellan's Butte

March 13, 2006 | I-90 (Exit 38), WA

On March 13, 2006 Martin Volken skied the East Face of McClellan's Butte off the summit. He was accompanied by Dave Perkins who...

South America

August 23, 2005 - September 30, 2005 | Chile and Argentina,

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

June 03, 2004 - June 04, 2004 | North Cascades, WA

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...

Arachnophobia on Spider Mountain

May 05, 2003 - May 06, 2003 | North Cascades, WA

Guide Martin Volken and client Peter Avolio skied a new line on the north face of Spider Mountain. Peter dubbed it...

Mount Buckner

March 22, 2002 - February 22, 2002 | North Cascades, WA

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...

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