Yash! Thanks for following up after your course with us. I had a great day out with your group for the first day of your mountaineering program; we certainly got to cover more ice techniques than snow techniques that day, because of the "firm" conditions out there! But regarding the minimized self-arrest practice--that's really on me for not making it especially clear to the guide you had for Days 2 and 3 that we HADN'T had a chance to go over self-arrest in more detail on Day 1, as he would have expected. If youre back up in this area of the White Mountains, I'd be happy to head out with you guys again for a solid clinic with some good hands-on self-arrest practice at no charge. If that's difficult for you to arrange, I have some great resources I can suggest to fill in the gaps. Ill send you an email as well. Thanks again, and I hope we'll see you out there in the mountains before too long! - Charlie at Synnott Mountain Guides
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We did a 3 day mountaineering course. Charlie was really great. He managed to take our request to change the dates after we had done the booking. He was also the guide for the first day and taught us lot of mountaineering basic skills on the first day and talked about common mistakes that hes seen over the years. First day was very useful. Self arrest practice was delayed to second day due to terrain conditions on Willies slide. Our guide changed for the Washington summit on the next 2 days. We didnt do the self arrest practice on second day as the guide decided to practice the crux of the Lions head trail with us which was useful the next day to do the crux faster. The winds were 60-80mph on summit day so the decision was made to go just up to Lions Head on summit day which is totally understandable. Self arrest wasnt done on the final day too. The 3 stars are mostly because we werent taught self arrest neither did we have a chance to practice it (in our 3 day course) and this was crucial to our main learning objective of being able to do winter/shoulder season hiking across high passes safely and confidently.
Incredible experience hiking Washington with a great group this weekend. Our guides were Joe and Jim and they were both fantastic. Fortunately had great weather and visibility on Saturday's ascent for some beautiful views from Lion's Head and the Summit, and a challenging trip down in more typical Washington weather conditions (60 to 70 mph gusts, -30F wind chill) to round out a complete experience of Mt Washington. We took Lion's Head Trail up and down the mountain. Given the opportunity, spend the money and take the overnight trip, staying at MWOBS; you'll get a great meal from the volunteers at the observatory and a nice tour of the weather operations they conduct there, plus the chance to chance out the museum which is otherwise crowded during the open season. Our guides did an outstanding job accommodating a variety of skill levels shared valuable tips and experiences they've gain throughout their impressive careers. All in all it was a outstanding trip, to summit up!
I would give a 6 star rating if I could. My climbing partner and I had an excellent ice climbing experience this week with Jim Surette of Synnott Mountain Guides. Jim was everything a novice ice climber could ask for: incredibly patient, clear in his instruction, very knowledgeable of the local terrain, and safety-conscious. I highly recommend choosing SMG if you want a great experience in the White Mountains or Mount Washington.
Charlie took my cousin and I up Standard Route on Whitehorse ledge. It was one of the BEST experiences of my life. Most of my rock climbing experience was top roping / sport climbing / gym climbing and Charlie took great care to not only take us up safely, but also to explain everything he was doing so we learned a ton. It was 100% worth the money. Charlie was super knowledgeable, safe and really fun to be around. (plus he took some great pics of us!) Thank you Charlie and Synnott Guides!
My family (my father, sister, and I) skied Tuckerman's Ravine yesterday and had a fantastic time. Our guide was Nick and he was awesome. Super knowledgeable and friendly. We would highly recommend him. Thanks again for all your help
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