Week 9 Matt Dooley SWS Mountain Guides

7-19-11
My week begins with an exciting trip with 33 kids from all over the states on Mt. Shasta. I have a group of 8 girls who's ages are from 15-18. These girls are mostly from the south so altitude is going to be a problem. Today we are going to 50-50 at 9600 feet to set up base camp. Good news the marian has melted out enough so TIM and i will not have to dig the tents in. saves a lot of time and energy. Also, note to future self. this is a crazy trip, but make sure you check all tent bags to make sure they have fly, body and poles, don't go off of weight. We have one tent at base camp with no poles. We are lucky this is a big group and there are extra spots available in tents. I teach my very first ice axe/ crampon clinic today all by myself. covered the basics and went over everything pretty fast but i felt like everyone in the group understands and everyone can self arrest and self belay which is the biggest thing. Put the girls into bed at 7:30pm. Tim and i talk about my role for tomorrow and snow conditions.

7-20-11
summit day. Wake up at 2am. breakfast is ready for the girls at 2:45am. I have to put all the girls crampons and harnesses on. Sweet southern bells are very needy this morning. Tim has me stay at base camp to take another groups campers down the hill to Horse Camp. 2 bad cases of altitude sickness. Tim decides to short rope right out of camp to make it easier on the girls. Tim is wise and this allowed the girls to be dragged along at a slow pace to begin the process of truly waking up. As i am walking down to Horse Camp with these girls, one from Ohio and the other from Mississippi they begin to feel better. One sprains her ankle in her boot so the trip becomes even more slow. They are troopers! Tough, tough girls. I drop them off at Horse Camp to some of there camp directors who stayed there over night. Time for me to go back up the hill and possibly still summit today... its going to be a very long day if I have to go up the mountain above base camp.
Once i get back to base camp Tim is there and tells me to take a quick nap to recharge and than when i wake up we will pack camp and split. This is music to my ears! One of our girls is in another group going for the summit, the rest are at base camp due to altitude. Tim took the girls up to 12,400 feet and they were done. Watched the sun come up and headed down. One brave girl says she will take all of the sag bags down, i feel she will soon regret this.
Down to Bunny Flat at 4:00pm and i have to wait around for other groups to get back so i can collect gear and make sure if anything is missing we give JH a bill. Back at SWS office at 5:30 put stuff away and get the hell out of dodge.

7-21-11
organize back room to make sure all the gear is labeled and put in the proper place. I detailed the back room as the climbing season is winding down pretty fast now. Looks spic and spam. One tent (my group) that didn't have the poles i now have to either find poles or make and chop a set of poles to fit to make due. I am a lucky dog today as i was able to find a set of poles, they are supper stiff but will work for this tent. set up tent outside to ensure poles will work. Tim K arrived so I was able to install a shower curtain, towel hooks, and entry way strip to cover the tile/carpet seem.

7-25-11
Start to go over every single tent in the inventory (about 30) making sure there are no holes and all poles are in working condition. Clean back room and organize helmets and ice axes.

7-26-11
more tents, and brought my screw gun down to put a few holes in the tile to mount the all important toilet paper dispenser. Put one more coating of tile sealer on the floor. I am getting very excited that i only have one more week to go.