Sierra Mountain Center

What a fantastic trip put together for us by the Sierra Mountain Center. From the start Emma was fantastic and professional in the coordination efforts for our Palisade Traverse trip. My son and I had a 1:1 guide ratio and the guides, Dave Stimson and Tyler Logan, were exceptional. Exceptional in their knowledge of the route, their efficiency with rope craft and their trailside manner - despite the exhausting climb we had such a fun time. We are already planning next year's outing with SMC. You can see a video of the trip here: https://theearthbeneathyourfeet.com/Hikes/HikeDetails/5574743739453848794f31484538675743512b3472513d3d

A buddy of mine and I took a Snow Travel Skills course in May 2023. Tyler was the main instructor, along with Larry and Colin. These guys have a wealth of experience and obviously enjoy sharing their knowledge. We learned a ton of stuff in short order from the various steps used for ascending and descending, changing directions, use of crampons and ice axe, anchoring devices and belaying. We got to practice everything including about an hour spent on self-arrest using the ice axe both feet first and head first, on our back and on our stomach. 7 hours went by quickly. Well worth the cost and effort to drive up to Bishop from our home base in Southern California. The only complaint I have is that we wished we knew about the River Crossing course the next day. I emailed Emma several times for different things but that never came up. SMC should offer a 2 day combined Snow Travel and River Crossing course so it would automatically pop up if you search for one of them. Also avoid Mother's Day.

Backpacking curious? Want to hike way into the backcountry without weighting down your pack with trepidation? Then lighten your load and sign on with team SMC, who not only know what the heck they're doing but do it with aplomb.

How do I know? My teenage son and I recently completed SMC's Mammoth to Yosemite backpacking trip, led by expert guides Lauren and Larry, whose deep knowledge and serious backcountry prowess made for an adventure that was not only achievable (think: excellent and extremely attentive instruction for stream crossings, pacing, snow stepping, getting the most of out of hiking poles, responding to weather, fueling our bones, more) but also thoroughly pleasurable (think: invaluable education about trail flora, fauna, geology, history, weather patterns, camping tips, plus killer meals and more).

I am immensely grateful to Larry and Lauren for their leadership: gracious, patient, sociable, and profoundly inspired, as their respect for, knowledge about, and love of the Sierra is patent--and infectious. They are the real deal, and because of this helped me achieve my goal, which was to hike with my kid going "wow"--without woe.

Also: a big shout out to Emma, who was super responsive to emails and all queries. Gratitude, SMC!

Overall, It was a great experience. Very comforting to have everything sorted and just focus on the movement. The weather was great. Almost too hot but better than too much snow.

Our guide, Dave was EXCELLENT. Social, made great food, and paced us very well. We all had a wonderful time!

My teenage daughter and I took a weekend backpack to Hilton Lakes with Sierra Mountain Center in June 2021. I had been talking to SMC for some time - as I I really wanted to get my daughter out on her first backpack. The SMC office was incredibly responsive and accommodating. They were able to put together a short trip for us - with a great guide named Michelle.

The trip was short - but really excellent. Michelle was a great guide - with such appreciation for the area and backcountry skills that made our trip quite memorable. We had some weather come in during the evening - high winds - snow flurries - and Michelle did a great job ensuring that we were camping in an area that would be safe from falling trees/debris. She was very focused on safety - which we really appreciated - and did a phenomenal job on the food! She gave me some great ideas for future hikes!

I would highly recommend SMC for a guided backpack. I am looking forward to backpacking with them in the future.

Had an awesome trip up the mountaineers route to whitney and we attempted Russell but weren't able to finish becuase of time and weather system coming in. Thanks so much to our awesome guide Anouk for getting us up and back safely.

I took the Snow Travel Skills and River Crossing Skills courses in advance of an upcoming PCT attempt. Both provided me with valuable information and practice in snow travel, ice axe use and river crossing techniques. The client-to-instructor level was appropriately low for the skills taught (6:1 and 2:1), the instruction was clear and practical, there was apple time allowed for student practice, questions and instructor feedback, and the instructor (Larry Gumina) was knowledgeable and engaging. Both courses were definitely worth the time and money spent and will be very helpful in my negotiating the Sierra Nevada in a high snow year. Also, the support staff (office manager Emma Gasman) was very helpful and responsive with administrative matters. I fully recommend SMC and will return for other services.

My husband used the services of SMC twice, once for a two day ice climbing session and most recently a climb of Crystal Crag in Mammoth Lakes, and he is very pleased with his experiences. He found the booking process to be streamlined and Emma always responded promptly in answering questions. The guides are first class all the way. For Crystal, Louie did an awesome job. Punctual, professional, friendly, and detail oriented. He made the climb great and my husband really appreciated it. He felt safe and engaged the whole time. Looking forward to continuing to climb more Eastern Sierra classics including Whitney with SMC.

I took two trips this summer with Larry and was so impressed with him!

Throughout the journey he was continuously caring and encouraging and made the whole hike better. It is so clear that this is his calling!

I cannot speak highly enough of him and will recommend him for anyone looking take a trip.

I hiked the JMT from Red's Meadow to Yosemite Valley with Sierra Mountain Center in July 2022. This was a backpacking trip with mule support, so we carried a lighter day pack each day.
This was the most incredible travel experience I have had in years! Emma was fantastic helping with scheduling and answering all of my many questions. Our guide, Larry, was fantastic and made the trip so memorable through his knowledge of the surrounding areas, as well as his enthusiasm and cooking skills. He knew we wanted to experience a bit of safe rock scrambling during our rest day and took us to a spot outside our Cathedral Lakes campground with amazing views of Clouds Rest and Half Dome in the distance. He is very helpful explaining backpacking and camping since I was new to the experience. His energy is contagious, and he was as excited for all of us to experience this trip as we were. I loved that he anticipated the group's needs for breaks or when we could push on to make the next day easier. All of our camp spots were incredible, and our cowboy, Tom, was wonderful with the mules.
Overall, a wonderful team and experience, and I would love to join another SMT trip!