Aspen Expeditions

It was an amazing experience for me and I learned so much. Josh was very patient and taught me much more. I will continue my journey in climbing because of this adventure.

By Ruby H. on September 26, 2023

Trip: Short Day Rock Climbing

Guide: Scott E.

Scott was great! He was really helpful and supportive. We had a range of abilities in our group and he seemed to know how much support each person needed. We loved where he took us, and look forward to climbing with him in the future. “Rock on dude!”

By Adam Z. on September 23, 2023

Trip: Short Day Rock Climbing

Guide:

By Amy W. on September 22, 2023

Trip: Full Day Hike

Guide: Zach B.

Can’t wait for our next adventure with Aspen Expeditions

By Kristin R. on September 22, 2023

Trip: Custom Trip

Guide: Zach B.

Wow! We loved all four days of hiking and especially the back packing overnight with our excellent guide Zach. Cannot wait to come back for more adventures with you all. 5 stars. Amazing

By Kristin R. on September 18, 2023

Trip: Crested Butte Hike

Guide:

By Chris C. on September 18, 2023

Trip: Mount Sopris (1-Day)

Guide: Mike P.

Mike Poleto was wonderful! He was the consummate professional guide. We discussed my concerns about the hike (loss of appetite at high altitudes/ distended abdomen, insufficient fluid intake) and was able to make and implement recommendations that allowed me to summit without bonking or generally falling apart. He was able to match my pace the entire way. Wonderful conversations during the hike as well. I would definitely request Mike again for my next adventure.

By Marcia K. on September 18, 2023

Trip: South Maroon Peak

Guide:

Scott is an excellent guide. Great trip and everything worked out as planned.

By Mark S. on September 10, 2023

Trip: Full Day Hike

Guide: Zach B.

Great hike to grizzly lake with Zach!

By Charles md S. on September 09, 2023

Trip: South Maroon Peak

Guide: Scott E.

I’m giving this 4 stars because the person I brought with me (Mark Alderton) was able to complete the climb. And it was very enjoyable for him. I also want to stress that the other two climbs I have done with Scott (N Maroon and Pyramid) were both very enjoyable and special, and I think he is an awesome guide. Very knowledgeable, confident and friendly. Everything about those two climbs was “5 star”. As for this one, I ran into a personal issue that jumps up and bites me once every year or two on a hike; I did not get any sleep the night before the summit attempt. It’s something I’m always aware of, and in my experience the earlier the start needs to be, the higher the risk is. With 1-3 hours of sleep I am good to go. No sleep means that I cannot do a safe climb and thus I opted to back out and allow Scott to take Mark up. The sleep issue is my problem and I own it. However, for this trip, knowing the nature of the task, I went to a fair amount of trouble to reserve Campsite #10 by Crater Lake, reserve parking for 2 days, hike 2.7 miles to the campsite and set up camp overnight, to eliminate the need for a start time like 4 am which Scott chose, and also to try to prevent exactly what occurred; me getting no sleep. Also, unlike the other two climbs I did with Scott, in which we discussed circumstances and arrived at a start time together (for the most part), I felt that this decision was more unilateral and communicated somewhat late, and via text, as we were nearing Aspen Expeditions to pick up our harnesses. When I saw him at Maroon Lake after he returned on summit day (since I had to wait for Mark) I did raise an inquiry as to the 4 am start and his explanation was that he needed to plan for 12-13 hours for me to summit from Campsite 10. I completely disagree with that. From there, with some sleep, I’d have been 3 hours up the green monster, 2 hours to the summit and 4 hours down. 9 hours. I would not have even taken 12-13 hours from Maroon Lake. I’ve struggled a bit this year but I’ve been very consistent on steep climbs with just under 1 hour per 1,000 feet on the ascent. Slightly faster on the descent even though I realize Maroon is not an easy peak to downclimb. Again, from that upper campsite, 9 hours is what I’d have been at. I worked hard to condition for this climb, I did communicate some of these estimates to Scott, so I am lacking understanding in how he came up with a 12-13 hour frame for me to do 4,500 feet / 3.3 miles. Had this estimate been communicated to me prior to the climb, I’d have corrected it promptly. I did pay for this hike willingly, I was happy for my friend Mark to achieve a difficult summit and I communicated that to both Mark and Scott. But I was not really satisfied with the decision to start at 4 am, as well as the justification of that decision to a 12-13 hour pace by me (in reality, 3-4 hours more than what I know I’d have been at). Again, I really enjoyed the two summits Scott did help me reach and can’t overstate that enough. I really like him as a guide and I’ll always treasure those two climbs. I just feel like in this particular situation, had there been a bit more give and take, and agreed on a slightly later start time like 5 or 6 am, we could have achieved a different outcome here in terms of me being able to complete it. We’d all have been back in our cars by 4 pm which is not unreasonable. Again, I’ve enjoyed all of my experiences with Aspen Expeditions, Amos and Scott, but as the person who paid for this trip, and was not completely satisfied, I felt the need to communicate that here. It’s been a fun ride with you guys, on peaks that I couldn’t have climbed on my own. I’ll always deeply appreciate that. - Jeff Roska

By Jeff R. on September 09, 2023