Another awesome season at Exit Glacier Guides is drawing to a close. This year was a special one for us here at the climbing shop, because we had a few new faces on the roster, and we also had a brand new shop to operate out of.
The new digs are great. It has been really nice to be able to spread out the outfitting process in the morning — people no longer feel crammed into the shop space, and crampon fitting has become a breeze with the extra room.
I would like to say congratulations to Shawna, Matt, Pyper, and Bailey. These four worked really hard for us during their first season as part of the team and every single one of them finished the summer as stand-out trip leaders. We're really proud of the reviews that we've had from all of their trips, and it's been great to watch everybody's progress as guides.
Of course, Julian, Trevor, Keith, and Cody continued doing a phenomenal job as return guides — we can't thank them enough for the focused and intuitive work they have done with clients over the last several seasons.
The glaciers themselves were fantastic this year. By early July, Exit Glacier had opened up into one of the best climbing arenas that we've ever seen during our eight years in operation. There have been pure blue ice climbs everywhere over the last three months, and the diversity of the types of climbs that we've been able to choose from this season has made guiding on Exit Glacier a distinct pleasure.
Godwin Glacier has changed so dramatically in the last year, it's hard to wrap your head around. We had so much snow accumulation this winter, that the waterfall next to the glacier had six times as much water volume moving through it as in prior years, and as a result, the depression that we call the Witches' Cauldron has slowly imploded in on itself and now has massive icebergs swirling around in it. It's stunning.
Once again, thanks to everybody in the shop and all those who came out with us for making 2012 a truly wonderful season. For all of those staying in Seward — it's almost time to ski!