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badsanta
Jul 28, 2006, 6:49 AM
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I'm looking into this Seattle based company, Himalaya inc, aka SummitClimb.com. Its run by Daniel Mazur. The staff are Phil Crampton, Arnold Coster, Elselien te Hennepe, Jay Reilly, Felix Berg, Jon Otto, Ryan Waters, Jeffrey Justman, Murari Sharma, Durge Tamang.
The trip prices seem too good to be true.
Any feedback on them?
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majid_sabet
Jul 28, 2006, 7:08 AM
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If you are going to Nepal let me know, I could set you up with the best local sherpa, every where else you are on your own.
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mdavid01
Aug 2, 2006, 6:06 AM
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The same Dan Mazur from the Everest Lincoln Hall incident?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Mazur
You only need to read up and use google to see what an ethical and awesome guide he would be.
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deleted
Deleted
Aug 2, 2006, 6:46 AM
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I climbed Ama Dablam with them and they were great..We even got our own tents in base camp, camped out next to the Mountain Madness guys who were paying twice as much..don't expect a lot of handholding on the climbing itself, a sherpa will sweep at the end of the day, but you'll be on your own most of the time, even on the technical ground, which is a better experience anyway..
I thought Jay (Australian guy) was a bit of a punk, I think it was his first high altitude experience (guiding or otherwise), he got sort of sick at Camp 2 but just wouldn't admit it, in the morning he just sat and did nothing..
So I got out of the tent and melted a pot of snow, which I intended to use to fill my bottles and get on my way to Camp 3 as soon as possible, I filled one bottle and turned around for a split second to grab another bottle, only to find Jay swooping in from out of nowhere to pour the rest of the pot into his bottle without even asking..I asked him what the f*ck he thought he was doing, to which he replied "I don't know what you're going on about.."...Anyway, it's been a few years so maybe things have improved...
Dan on the other hand was outstanding, even went out of his way to help me months later with getting reimbursed for some gear that was stolen..offered a free trip to Rainier a few months before heading to Nepal..
Hard to believe there are still people like that these days..
All the other guides and sherpas other than Jay were also very strong...
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jay_reilly
Sep 10, 2006, 11:20 PM
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Well, well Christian. We meet again!
I think I really need to tell the truth to all the people on this forum that you've misled in your last post RE your Ama Dablam trip in 2002.
I'm glad you had a great time and yes:- Dan is a great guy and Summitclimb is a very good company with a great reputation, so that's all true.... It it also true that that trip was indeed my first high altitude guiding experience. I had only guided to 3000m in NZ beforehand. And yes - I did have a headache at Camp 2, but I certainly wasn't making any attempt to hide the fact!
But let me point out some lies you told -
Firstly - you did not climb Ama Dablam and you cannot claim to have. You climbed only to Camp 3.
Secondly - If you recall correctly, the pot of water, you so fiercely defended at Camp 2 did NOT go into my water bottle - it was in fact making us breakfast. Remember? We had Swiss miss hot chocolate and apple and cinnimon porridge.
And thirdly - not so much a lie as blatant slander - you claim the other leaders and Sherpas were strong and I was not.
Allow me to point out that I summited (and have done 3 times since that trip) and YOU did not! You turned around about 10 minutes after leaving C3 for no apparent reason. I do respect your descision to do so however - too many climbers die because they don't want to admit when they've reached their limits.
Allow me to also point out that I summited and one of the other leaders did not.
So I fail to see where you can make an accusation that I was not strong. Who indeed were you comparing me to I wonder?? Certainly not you!
I hope this clears the air and allows the other members on this forum to see the real truth. Have a nice day mate.
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badsanta
Sep 10, 2006, 11:37 PM
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My only interaction so far was this: I was invited to do a free weeklong mountaineering training session in late august / early september with Dan in washington state. He changed the intinerary from what the website listed, a each day being moderate, to one that included a 16+ hour day which I declined. He seemed unwilling to compromise. I attribute that to wanting to weed out clients before they get to the high altitudes, which is fine by me.
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deleted
Deleted
Sep 11, 2006, 12:13 AM
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Sorry Jay, never did I say I summited...
No that water was not for breakfast, but I'm not surprised you remember it differently..
No on that trip you were not as strong as the other guides in my opinion..you were hardly moving at Camp 2, but you did get better and summit, which is admirable..if one of the other guides didn't summit I'm thinking that was planned?
And of course that doesn't say anything about your guiding/high altititude skills now, 4 years later..but my opinion of that particular trip remains the same
Cheers
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mtnfr34k
Sep 11, 2006, 3:23 AM
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In reply to: I climbed Ama Dablam with them... Sorry Jay, never did I say I summitted...
You did claim to have climbed Ama Dablam, implying you climbed the whole thing to the summit; Jay did call b@llsh!t; and b@llsh!t it is. Go back to your cocktail party...
*****
Dan Mazur straddles a fuzzy line between trip organizers and guides. In the states, Dan advertises his trips as "self-led", where he simply organizes the logistics components and orgainizes a team of qualified people. He charges a fee for his time and experience.
But does he guide? And what's the distinction? Honestly, I don't know where to draw the line. If he's charging you to participate in a clinic, seminar, or "weeding out" trip in the Cascades, or offers you a free trip on Rainier to compensate for another trip that you have paid for, then according to U.S. regulations on USFS and NPS lands he's guiding, and doing so unlawfully, since I'm not aware of him having a permit.
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jay_reilly
Sep 11, 2006, 4:25 AM
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And of course that doesn't say anything about your guiding/high altititude skills now, 4 years later..but my opinion of that particular trip remains the same
Fair call mate, and I appreciate it. Perhaps we'll meet again on a mountain somewhere - and hopefully NOT allow the distorted memories of half a litre of water to continue to affect our opinions of one another.
Jay
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deleted
Deleted
Sep 11, 2006, 2:05 PM
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Fair enough Jay, if I at least made you think a little bit more about that situation, that's good enough for me..everybody gets a little cranky at high altitude and small things can seem more annoying than normal..
Regarding the comment above about the climbs on Rainier with Dan, no they were NOT offered as rewards for other trips or for weeding-out purposes..It was a trip between friends, and I'd be glad to testify to that before the park service.
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deleted
Deleted
Sep 12, 2006, 12:44 AM
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Yeah I get that cocktail party thing a lot, after I pulled out this barrel down in Puerto, all the people on the beach were asking me "what the hell kind of cocktail party surfer are you mate?" Bastards :evil:
[img:dfc8cf37b7]http://www.mountainproject.com/images/87/17/105858717_large_5fea5d.jpg?1158021745[/img:dfc8cf37b7]
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cchas
Sep 14, 2006, 1:39 PM
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I was with Jay and Dan last year on Ama Dablam also (had to return early to the states, which was a really hard decision for me, and I'll probably question that one for a long time).
As for Jay, he has a strong personality and I could very well see how he could be difficult to get along with (as you say "a punk"), but he does know what he is talking about. He has a personality that you either like or you don't, but as for organizing the trip, he is pretty good. The safety record of the organization speaks for itself. He (Jay) had some of the team members going up and down the mtn probably more then they wished, but when I was there no one had altitude sickness (unlike the russian outside my tent who I thought was going to die and took about 5hrs to go from ABC to Camp 1). Now isn't that what high altitude guiding is about, keeping your clients alive. Now if you hit it off thats a HUGE bonus and a guide to keep going back to.
As for Dan. He is a quality individual, and initially appears to be a complete opposite in personality as Jay. He comes off more quiet and reserved, but more of a Zen master type of individual. To me, the two personalities are complimentary.
As for going with them. I would. They took responsibilities on the mountain and ensured that the lines that all the expeditions on the route (I think 32 expeditions last year in all but Jay could correct me) used were not the cheapest shit you could find in Kathmandu, and would be a ticking timebomb to all of the expeditions.
Will I? Probably not in the near future, but just because I learned that the Nepal "expedition" thing is not my deal at this time in my life (long "hard" -in the 5.11/.12/M6ish range) routes in Peru, the Alps, Canada, Alaska is what get my heart beating now a days). When I get a bit older, say 50, I'd probably go back to them for Cho Oyo though.
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badsanta
Nov 27, 2007, 2:20 PM
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bump
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divnamite
Nov 28, 2007, 3:27 AM
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Are you still waiting for more feedbacks? Try www.summitpost.org, probably better audience.
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