Website: idahooutdoor.net

Basil and I first met in 1986 and have climbed together often since. He has extensive knowledge of the mountains surrounding his Ketchum home. He is a certified ski instructor who has extensive experience skiing backcountry routes in Central Idaho and is an outstanding photographer who has contributed photos to this site. Check out Basil’s web site.

Brian and his wife Toni contributed route information for Peak 11332 in the Lost River Range. Their climb in the early 2000s was the first confirmed ascent of this peak.

Dan grew up near Seattle in the shadow of Mount Rainier. He spent many hours hiking the glaciers as a teenager but it’s only in recent years that he’s gone back to summit the Pacific Northwest giant. Dan’s climbing career in Idaho started in 2009 when he spent 3 months knocking off Idaho’s 12’ers. Not a true “peakbagger,” Dan finds more joy in helping others, less confident, in overcoming their fears and climbing these peaks. As a result, as of this writing he has now climbed Mount Borah (8 times), Leatherman (2 times), Donaldson Peak (5 times), Mount Church (3 times), Lost River Mountain (3 times), Diamond Peak (2 times), Hyndman Peak (3 times), Mount Breitenbach (3 times) but Mount Idaho only once. So far. He says he will continue to return to these peaks as long as someone asks him to help. Every climb is different even if it’s the same mountain, he says.

Dan has climbed a handful of other Idaho peaks such as Cobb Peak and Jacqueline Peak just to name a few. His life-time climbing exploits have been a bit scattered from Gannett Peak in Wyoming, Mount Whitney in California to Mount Shuksan in Washington. He is always eager to climb something. He is currently preparing for a Denali climb in the Summer of 2016.

His greatest experience was on the summit of Mount Borah when a previously, stay-at-home divorced mom decided to climb with a hiking group to get her confidence in life back. She trained for a year. Dan led the climb but, from behind, helping people across Chicken-Out Ridge. When he finally made the summit himself, she was waiting at the top, hugged him and wouldn’t let go as she sobbed in joy. That’s what climbing is all about for Dan.

Website: idahosummits.com/index.php

Dan Robbins was born and raised in Idaho and has become one of the state’s most prolific climbers and ambassadors for Idaho mountaineering. Since 1998, he has climbed more than 1,350 peaks across the United States and abroad, including Huayna Potosí in the Bolivian Andes at nearly 20,000 feet. He was the first Idahoan to summit all 44 Idaho county high points.

His website rockymountainsummits.com features extensive route information, trip reports, and photography from his many adventures in Idaho and beyond. For nearly two decades, Dan also organized spring and fall group outings that together with his Idaho Outdoors Message Board, helped build a strong community of climbers and forged lasting friendships.

Dan now lives in Montrose, Colorado, where he and his wife spend their summers in the alpine terrain of the vast San Juan Mountains and their winters exploring the redrock deserts of southeast Utah.

You can also view Dan’s video blog of his climbs at: https://www.youtube.com/@rockymountainsummits8257

 

Dan Saxton is a dedicated peakbagger, always chasing the summits where they’re at. He grew up in New York and, as a kid, scampered all over the Catskills, Adirondacks, White Mountains and the Maine Woods. Since then, his journeys have taken him to California and now to Montana, where he has made Missoula his base for the last couple of years. Dan is particularly interested in prominence peaks and plans to climb all the important summits in the Northern American Rockies. He also favors out-of-the way locations that do not have much information, heightening his sense of exploration.

Since moving to Missoula, most of Dan’s peaks to date have been in Montana, but he has ventured into Idaho a few times and especially loves the Lemhi Range. Dan climbed Borah Peak in 2000, which was the highest summit that he climbed for almost a decade until he went to California and the Sierra Nevada. It is still one of his most memorable accomplishments! Dan hopes to further explore the Lemhis, Lost Rivers, Pioneers, White Clouds, Sawtooths, Salmon Country and other interesting corners of Idaho. He  maintains a peak list under his name at Lists of John.