Kris leading Bill up Stanley North Face

All of the guides listed here are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, but certification alone does not make a great guide. The best guides combine certification with experience, a positive attitude and a desire for success.

I have worked with many different guides and instructed on professional level guiding courses for many years. This has given me the opportunity to observe other guides in the field and see students during their training. As a result I have been able to ask the most talented guides to partner with me. These guides exhibit strong decision-making and technical skills, are fun to be with in the mountains and are highly motivated to create a safe and successful experience. No other mountain guiding company in Canada uses these criteria in choosing their guides and partners.

Students on a guide exam

When hiring a guide, make sure they are a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and hold the appropriate ACMG certification for your trip. No other climbing or ski guide training programme in Canada has the same rigourous standards, extensive scope of practice or the international recognition afforded to ACMG guides.

Within the ACMG there are several different types of certification, including climbing instructors, hiking, alpine climbing, skiing and rock climbing. Guide candidates may choose to become certified in one or more of these disciplines.

Applicants must have extensive personal experience before they are accepted into the guide training programme. Then they attend training courses and an examination before beginning their apprenticeship period. After two or more years of apprenticeship they must pass a final exam.

Mountain Guides are trained in alpine climbing, rock climbing and skiing. They are the only internationally qualified (IFMGA) guides in Canada. Once finished their training, all ACMG guides must maintain their skills through a continuing professional development programme.

In addition, guides teaching avalanche courses must be members of the Canadian Avalanche Association. Avalanche courses provided by the CAA are an integral part of ACMG guides’ training.

Conrad after a big day in the mountains

Conrad Janzen is a fully certified ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide living in Banff with his wife Coralee.

He started climbing and skiing in 1994, and graduated with a Degree in Kinesiology and a Minor in Outdoor Pursuits from the University of Calgary in 1999.

Guiding climbing, skiing and paddling trips since 1997, Conrad has experience throughout the mountain regions of Alberta and British Columbia, and into the Yukon and Northwest Territories. In 2011 Conrad and I made the first ski traverse of the high route through the Lake Louise group and previous to that he has made first ascents of ice, rock and mixed climbs throughout the Rockies.

Conrad is as well-rounded as it gets, taking his clients on privately guided rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering and ski touring adventures. He also heli-skis in the winter.

Erica on the North Rockies Traverse

Erica is an ACMG Apprentice Mountain Guide, certified in rock, alpine and skiing disciplines. She also is a CSIA Level 2 ski instructor and an Associate Member of the CAA. She lives in Canmore, Alberta.

Erica grew up in Britain, the Middle East and Asia. She has been skiing since childhood and climbing since university. She is known as an excellent rock climber.

She worked as a ski patroller for several winters and has been guiding since 2005. In the winter Erica guides heli-skiing and ski touring, and instructs our AST 1 courses. In the summer she guides on the rock and in the alpine. Erica and I have done many climbs and ski tours together, including the first ascent of the Carcajou Glacier on The Vice President and the first North Rockies Highline ski traverse.

Partway through her apprenticeship, she is close to finishing her Mountain Guide certification. Our guests always enjoy her energy and instructional abilities!

Greg at the Lyell Hut

Greg is a fully certified ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide who lives in Banff with his partner Mischi and their three children, Hunter, Bryce and Thea.

“G.G.” grew up in Montréal and speaks both French and Russian. He rode a motorbike across Canada in the mid-eighties and ended up landing in Banff, where he discovered the mountain life and hasn’t left since. He quickly became known as one of the better ice and rock climbers in town. Over the years Greg has made many first ascents including scores of sport climbs and the first winter ascent of Mt. Bryce.

Greg and I started guiding together in the late ’80s and have shared many an adventure together since then. Presently he is the Lead Guide for Great Canadian Heli-Skiing. He also leads rock climbing and mountaineering trips in the summer and works as an instructor for the ACMG mountain and ski guide certification courses.

Kris hamming it up

Kris is an ACMG Apprentice Alpine and Apprentice Rock Guide. He’s neighbours with Conrad in Banff, where he lives with his partner Ellen and their dog Ruby.

Kris has been climbing in the mountains at home and abroad since 2004. He feels at home on the classic rock, alpine and ice climbs in the Rockies. Kris is an excellent instructor who always gets rave reviews from his guests.

Sarah making it look easy

Sarah is a fully certified ACMG Alpine Guide who lives in Canmore. She is one of the few women to hold this certification in Canada.

After taking an Outward Bound course at the age of 15, Sarah pursued her passion for rock climbing and has made many difficult ascents in places like Red Rocks, Devils Tower, Sinks Canyon, Wind River Ranges, Cochise and the City of Rocks. More recently she has also become a strong ice climber and mountaineer, traveling throughout the US, Mexico, South America, Europe and Asia to explore the mountains of the world.

Ice and mixed climbing fill Sarah’s winters and rock and alpine adventures compose the summer months. The majority of her work is private guiding, but she also runs women-specific rock, ice and alpine camps every year with the emphasis on building the confidence and judgment required to be out front.

Grant in the Adamants, 2007

Grant Carnie is a special case! We did our first climb together in 1999 and since then we have climbed 50 different peaks.

Grant grew up in Calgary, Alberta but now lives in Denver. He has been climbing since he was 14 years old. By the time we met, all of his old partners had fallen by the wayside but he was still as motivated as ever. Every year I look forward to our climbs, which are usually big alpine days in the Rockies. We’ve shared many an adventure together! Some of our highlights have to be the northeast ridge of Mt Bryce, the first traverse of the Rogers Pass Horseshoe, and the Frontier Ridge of Mont Maudit in the Alps. Here’s what Grant has to say:

“Mark has always been confident, safety oriented and extremely knowledgeable concerning all aspects of the climb. Mark has a real passion for his profession and is proud of being a world class certified guide. I recommend spending time with Mark by enjoying a range of mountain adventures. On a personal note I want to thank Mark for his assistance in helping me climb again after having a disc removed from my lower back, six months after the operation he had me climbing and enjoying big Canadian peaks.”

Brian about to shred another line in Rogers Pass

Brian is the fittest senior I know. Every year this Calgary resident comes out once or twice and cranks! It can be climbing mountains in the summer or big days skiing in Rogers Pass in the winter – he is always having the time of his life while being as agile as a mountain goat.

We’ve been doing stuff together since 2006. Most years we will do a scramble in the summer (often accompanied by his wife Ada) and a few days of ski touring in the winter, both in Rogers Pass and the Rockies. We’ve climbed Mt Temple and Mt Whyte together, and were turned back on My Lefroy recently in a raging summer blizzard! Connaught Creek in Rogers Pass is one of Brian’s favourite places to ski.

Loir and Mike on Le Soulier, a rock climb a short walk from their house in Banff!

Lori and Mike live a few blocks away from me in Banff. They usually come out for a few days mountaineering or rock climbing every year. Lori grew up in Jasper with a mountaineer for a father so has been climbing since she was a kid. Mike is a more recent convert!

Their annual goal usually centres on an iconic peak in the Rockies. Our highlight trip has to be Mt Assiniboine, which we climbed with Sarah in 2008. We also do some of the fun local rock climbs every fall.

Eric and Felix on Day 1 of the Bugaboos-Rogers Pass Traverse

These two Banff locals are hard-core. We have skied the entire Great Divide ski traverse together, from Jasper to Bow Lake. We completed this project in 2011, dividing the traverse into three sections over three separate seasons. The last trip was the kicker – with Erica we found a new high route through the northern section of the Great Divide, passing over 11 cols and in 8 days.

In 2009, Eric, Felix, Erica and I also skied the Bugaboos-Rogers Pass traverse. I hope we get to do more trips together in the future! I’ve got some plans for them…

How Erica puts up with these guys I don't know!

These guys have been coming out for a week of powder skiing every season for awhile now. The group changes a bit from year to year but Eric is the ringleader and the other regulars are Trond, Don, Jon, Jamie and Lindsy. Over the years we have done several trips to Rogers Pass and more recently Sorcerer Lodge. Our 2011 week is to Whitecap Lodge.

The only real problem with these guys is that they are from Boston so I know it will be quite insufferable on the up track this year with them gloating over the Stanley Cup! So I will just have to remind them about when the Pats lost just one game all season – too bad it was the Superbowl, gents.