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Smile Mountain Guides

@smilemountainguides

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🪢Mountain Guide Service & Climbing School
📍Ouray & Boulder Colorado, PNW Washington, Moab Utah, EPC Mexico & Cordillera Blanca Peru
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FUNDAMENTAL ICE MOVEMENT TIPS 💜🦄 ✅ Weight over your feet comes from the hip driving toward the ice and pressure in your toes, but without locking out the knee. Try it! ✅ Long arms and strong arms. This is your rest in ice climbing. Having a bent arm that is locked off burns energy faster. ✅ Hips need to pull away from the ice to 👀 at your feet. Imagine putting a big beach ball at your center when playing around. Ice is coming to the San Juan’s and we have advanced movement and ice leader programs happening in Ouray Colorado. Starting in January! Personal coaching, video movement feedback, access to fantastic ice climbers and educators, feeling inspired. What more could you ask for? Enjoy💜 by @smilemountainguides
Haaaapppyyyy Birthday to @jeffreymascaro (& happy halloween!) Send Jeff some love, do something spooky, or both!! 👻👻 #candles #climbing #castleton #smiles #hbd by @smilemountainguides
Ice Thread Tips: Considerations for thread orientation and what we’re really looking for in a solid rappel or anchor thread. With knowledge and practice, ice climbing is an extremely fun way to enjoy winter. Connect with us this season in Ouray, Colorado. Enjoy 💜💜 by @smilemountainguides
Knotted, the ends of this 70m dynamic climbing rope hang off the ground, but with stretch it reaches as a climber rappels. That’s static elongation: the slow, steady stretch of a rope under body weight. It’s different from dynamic elongation, which is the stretch that absorbs the energy of a fall. Dynamic climbing ropes are built to do both, but you only see the first one on a rappel. A rope can stretch several feet under a hanging climber’s weight. When rappelling, it is very important to manage the ends of the rope! So here’s the math question: do you think a 60m rope would have made it? #mountainproject comments say...yes 🤔🤔 #climbing #rope #smile #seekqualifiedinstruction by @smilemountainguides
The Hedden Hitch. Today is a reminder: stay inquisitive, become a lifelong learner, and let curiosity keep you engaged in climbing 💜🦄 by @smilemountainguides
💜🦄 AdVEntUres DeSiGneD To InSpirE 🦄💜 There’s ice in the mountains, time to sharpen your tools’ Captain Roos WI4/5 Eureka Canyon, Silverton Colorado DM us with your winter dreams, and we’ll provide the inspiring guides and beautiful places by @smilemountainguides
Moab, you were amazing!! 🌵❤️🧗‍♀️ What an incredible few days in the desert with one of the best crews imaginable! We climbed, practiced yoga, laughed, shared stories, ate amazing food, and soaked up everything that makes these retreats so special. The weather was perfect, the sandstone was beautiful, and the energy of this group was just awesome! With our fantastic guide-to-client ratio, we were able to get the whole crew out for a multi-pitch adventure, including a little desert tower climbing! So fun to see everyone getting after it, learning new skills, and supporting one another. And our community dinner? Such a highlight! Great food, great conversations, and a whole lot of laughter. These are the moments that make it about so much more than just climbing. A huge thank you to @jeffreymascaro of Smile Mountain Guides! It’s always such a pleasure working together. So much experience, great teamwork, and plenty of laughs along the way! And then came the grand finale… ANCIENT ART! 🏜️ Two of our crew stayed on for one last adventure, and what an adventure it was! With rain forecast for 10 AM, we got an early start, hiked in under headlamp, and had the entire climb to ourselves. Such a wild, beautiful, and exciting way to finish our time in the desert! To everyone who joined us, thank you for showing up with such wonderful energy, enthusiasm, and openness. You made this trip what it was, and I couldn’t have asked for a better crew. This is what Earth Play Retreats is all about. Adventure, growth, connection, and the amazing people we meet along the way. Until next time, Moab! ❤️🌵 #climbing #rockclimbing #desertclimbs #climbingworld #moabutah by @smilemountainguides
Forget your algorithm and experience it for real!! There's nothing like our trip to EPC - full days, up high, connected group, great food, cute dogs & cats 👀 November 14-19, 2026 With a low climber-to-guide ratio this trip is intensely personal. Real-time feedback on every climb, immediate adjustments to technique and strategy, space to ask questions, reflect, and try again. You’re not one of many—you’re the focus. https://www.smilemountainguides.com/el-potrero-chico #travel #climb #inspo #friendsforever❤️ #uphigh by @smilemountainguides
Guidelines for where to go when you don't know... 1. Seek out protection - follow features that offer gear placements or follow the bolt line. If neither of these are obvious, what looks more travelled, less lichen, plants, choss, etc. 2. Stay the grade - know the difficulty of the climb you are on and follow terrain that matches Skills and intuition grow with use! Time and mileage in an area or on a type of rock, can allow you to feel more comfortable. The best replacement for time/mileage is a guide or partner who is familiar with the route! Do your research and stay safe! #climb #smile #learning #mountains #fallvibes by @smilemountainguides
MOAB FEMMES AND THEMS ADVENTURE NETWORK Do you see yourself… Crack climbing in the desert with a smile… Learning new skills with a group of badass people… Great guides… Beautiful settings… Then… YOU’VE FOUND YOUR PLACE! ENJOY OUR JOURNEY HERE FOR SOME MUCH NEEDED INSPIRATION AND SEND US A DM IF YOUR READY TO BE IN THE PICTURES 💜🦄 by @smilemountainguides
BASELINE: The rotary tool (maybe a Rolodex!) for selecting rescue skills. Remember, this is ONE option and only a sliver of information in the rescue world, if it’s not your thing, that’s okay. If you think it’s preposterous and unsafe-please share why. However, be kind… Take note of all the other little subtle learnings, such as adding security to the system before taking security away. This can be an invaluable way of thinking about keep things ordered in complex systems. Sometimes we need more clarity in a complex situation. Baseline can be that starting point. Im sure you will note, and we agree,! there are more efficient ways to complete tasks, but if you’re in doubt, Baseline can get you back to a place where making decisions is potentially easier and you may now have more gear afforded to you. Baseline, technically is a load releasable system known as the Munter Mule Overhand and allows for us to place a person on the system, weighted, while still allowing us to release the system, still weighted, when needed. Usually we create this load releasable system because our partner cannot help in their own rescue and is staying weighted/hanging in the system. Where can baseline take you, share 👇 Enjoy 💜 by @smilemountainguides
HAULING A LIGHT PACK: Hauling for a hard pitch of climbing on a long route, or hauling because of a tightly spaced climbing section such as a chimney. This is a skills for you. Note, this is not a setup to haul larger bags in places like Yosemite and this is not the only way to haul a pack. It’s one way we like to setup this system with considerations as to why. Be nice, ask questions. We’re happy to chat about the video and other options you’ve used. Enjoy 💜 by @smilemountainguides

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