The Adventure Consultants International Expedition Guiding Team
Adventure Consultants guides are NZMGA and / or IFMGA qualified mountain guides or equivalent. They are professional mountaineers and operate to the highest industry standards. The New Zealand Mountain Guides Association is NZ's professional guiding association affiliated to the International Federation of Mountain Guides or IFMGA. NZMGA guides become IFMGA guides when they have completed their training in all disciplines. Read about the history of mountain guiding in New Zealand for an interesting overview of more than 100 years of guiding in the Southern Alps of NZ.
Being a great climber alone is not enough to work with us, our standards demand that trip leaders are great guides as well. You will find your guide friendly, approachable and focused on providing a safe and enjoyable trip in line with your objectives and comfort level.
A-Z
Paul Aubrey, Mark Austin-Cheval, Lydia Bradey, Sean Brooks, Ray Button, Adrian Camm, Guy Cotter, Johny Davison, Tony Donaldson, Anna Gillooly, Callum Grant, David Hamilton, Tibor Hromadka, Mark Johnson, Anna Keeling, Gary Kuehn, Michael Madden, David Marchi, Jason Martin, Steve Moffat, Mark Morrison, Paolo Pieroni, Matias Prieto, Davie Robinson, Mike Roberts, Tim Robertson, Paul Rogers, Mark Sedon, Ang Dorje Sherpa, Stefan Sporli, Dean Staples, Victor Saunders, Andy Taylor, Dylan Taylor, Andrew Wexler
Guy Cotter - New Zealand, Director of Adventure Consultants
Fourteen years after he first climbed Mt Everest, he then finished climbing all the Seven Summits with ascents of Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Kosciusko, Carstensz and Denali in 2005. His skills are in demand as a high altitude cameraman, running film projects in the Southern Alps (or on the Seven Summits), training corporate groups and meanwhile ensuring the list of exciting destinations for Adventure Consultants' clients is always growing!
Mike Roberts - New Zealand / USA
Mike is an IFMGA International Guide from New Zealand. He currently lives in Colorado and his experience is vast. He has summitted Mount Everest four times and led expeditions to Aconcagua in South America, McKinley in Alaska, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Gasherbrum I & II in Pakistan, Cho Oyu in Tibet and Muztagh Ata in Western China. He has also managed to fit in 14 seasons mountain and ski guiding in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, 12 seasons in Antarctica as a Field Leader / Guide to the USA Antarctic Program, has worked as a Professional Ski Patroller / Avalanche Forecaster and is a qualified Physiotherapist.
Add Mike's calm and welcoming personality, and attention to detail to the picture and you have a very personable and experienced Guide and Expedition Leader. In 2005 Mike lead our Everest and Cho Oyu Expeditions, and in 2006 our Gasherbrum II Expedition as well as Mera Peak, and in 2007 Everest, Denali, Cho Oyu, Vinson and Aconcagua (phew!). He led our Everest 2008 team to a successful summit and then Denali, Baruntse and an Ecuador Volcanoes expedition. In 2009 he has been guiding on Denali, Elbrus and in Europe and next up is guiding on Cho Oyu, in Antarctica and then in New Zealand. Mike was the Expedition Leader for our successful Everest 2010 expedition.
Dean Staples - New Zealand Chief Guide for New Zealand
Dean is a super friendly guy, with great patience and leadership skills and he's a huge asset to the AC team. He guided on our Everest and Vinson 2006 Expeditions and led our Carstensz Aug 08 and Alpamayo 2008 expeditions. Dean led our Vinson 2009 expeditions and then embarked on a personal trip to the Antarctic Peninsula in Feb 2010. In 2010 is is guiding our Mongolia Mt Khuiten expedition and leading our Ama Dablam expedition.
David Hamilton
- Scotland
David Hamilton hails from Glasgow in Scotland and is recognised as one of the most experienced high altitude guides around with a very long list of Himalayan achievements to his credit. David has led expeditions to Everest 8848m (four times), Hidden Peak 8068m, Gasherbrum II 8035m (three times), Broad Peak 8047m, Shishapangma 8012m, Masherbrum 7821m, Tirich Mir 7708m, Chogolisa 7668m, Muztagh Ata 7564m (five times) & Spantik 7027m (three times).
He has also led numerous mountain projects in the European Alps, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Scandinavia, Russian Caucasus, Greenland, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Alaska, Argentina, Chile, Antarctica, Nepal, Pakistan, Mongolia & China.
David has a particular affinity for the mountains of the Karakoram Himalaya and has climbed there every single year since 1987. He has worked guiding in Antarctica for 5 seasons, making 8 ascents of Mt Vinson and leading 3 ski trips to the South Pole.
Mark Sedon - New Zealand
Mark is another of our senior Kiwi guides based in Wanaka. He works as an international mountain guide for Adventure Consultants and also as our Operations Manager. He has traveled the world extensively, from skiing seasons in Utah, Europe, Japan and Canada, to kitesurfing in Vietnam, Hawaii, Australia and Ecuador and big wall climbing in Yosemite, Zion and Australia. Mark has led and guided several successful expeditions to Nepal including 3 trips to Ama Dablam, Everest, Cho Oyu, Lobuche East, Island Peak and Mera Peak. He has also guided the volcanoes in Ecuador, Aconcagua in Argentina, Denali in Alaska, on our Antarctic Peninsula yacht based ski and climbing expedition and most recently on Elbrus, Carstensz and Vinson. He also runs many of our winter ski and snowboard courses and often sneaks out of the office to heliski guide and run avalanche courses during the winter months. He led our Cho Oyu 2009 expedition.
He is an active writer and photographer and also organises the annual New Zealand Mountain Film Festival. He is a qualified IFMGA climbing and ski guide.
Steve Moffat - New Zealand
With years of climbing and skiing experience in New Zealand and personal climbs in South America, Steve is a qualified NZMGA Climbing and Ski guide working for Adventure Consultants year round. He is one of our senior guides with considerable Himalayan experience both as expedition leader and expedition guide. In 2006 he guided and summitted on our Everest expedition and this follows successful expeditions to Ama Dablam, Island Peak and Lobuche East. Steve, a fantastic rock and ice climber, also has experience guiding in Canada and on Aconcagua in South America. He is always busy between his expedition schedule guiding our NZ ascents, instruction, ice climbing and ski touring trips. Steve has recently guided on our Cho Oyu and Three Peaks Nepal expeditions and guided on Vinson this past summer as well as in NZ.
Victor Saunders - UK
Victor has climbed extensively in the Himalayas achieving many first ascents including the North Pillar of Spantik. His ascents list is predominantly on climbs of a remote and desperately hard nature and Victor is still bubbling over with enthusiasm for the peaks and peoples of the Himalayas after 20 years of climbing. In addition to being an IFMGA guide, Victor is a recipient of the Boardman Tasker prize for mountain literature. He summitted Mount Everest in 2004, and guided and summitted on Everest for AC in 2006. He summitted again in 2007 as well as many of the Seven Summits and guided Australian mother and daughter team, Cheryl and Nikki Bart, on our 2008 Everest expedition - his fourth Everest summit. He led our Carstensz March 2008 expedition and has just summitted Everest for the fifth time.
Victor is based in Chamonix, France and is our Chief Guide for our European Alps guided ascents and course programmes.
(Editors Note: I am very proud of this photo as it took three Everest expeditions to achieve this portrait and get Victor to stand still long enough to take his picture!)
Ang Dorjee Sherpa - Nepal / USA
Summiting Everest initially with us in 1992, Ang Dorje has moved on to achieve 17 ascents of 8000m peaks! His skills as a climber are legendary. Frequently we consult his mountain acumen to ensure the smooth operation of an expedition. Ang Dorjee has held the Climbing Sardar role since 1993 proving himself to be a fine Sherpa leader and a motivator on the mountain. He took on the role of Assistant Guide on our Aconcagua 2002 & 2005 trips and has been Climbing Sardar on every AC Everest expedition since 2003. He has now climbed Everest 14 times! In 2008 he joined our guiding team on Everest. Ang Dorjee is originally from Pangboche Village in the Khumbu Valley of Nepal, but he now lives in the USA. He guides on Mt Rainier, and recently led Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro expeditions for Adventure Consultants and guided on our Everest 2008 Expedition. He led our Aconcagua Jan 09 expedition and guided Everest again in 2009 for AC as well as Island Peak. He guided alongside Mike Roberts on our Everest Expedition 2010.
Paul Rogers - New Zealand
Paul has an extensive background in the climbing, outdoor education and guiding industry. His track record goes back to an ascent of Uli Biaho (6109m) in Pakistan with AC Director, Guy Cotter, in 1989. He works for AC both in New Zealand and overseas, and has directed our winter ice climbing program. One could call Paul's home the great outdoors, when he isn't guiding around the globe he can be found at his favourite rock climbing retreat in the Darren Mountains of NZ's Fiordland National Park establishing new alpine rock-climbing routes.
Paul joined our Gasherbum I and II Expedition in 2003, went to Antarctica again the following summer, guided and summitted Island Peak and Ama Dablam in 2004, then Aconcagua in January 2005 and guided on our Everest 2005 Expedition. Paul did a lecture tour to Australia in September 2005 for AC and Macpac. In 2006 he lead our Aconcagua and Elbrus expeditions and guided Cho Oyu and Island Peak, and recently lead our Mera Peak and Three Peaks expedition in Nepal. Paul is guiding on our Ama Dablam expedition in 2010.
Paul Aubrey - New Zealand
Paul has been mountain guiding since 1979, and gained his international IFMGA qualification in New Zealand. In his early climbing he made first ascents in the Southern Alps and became a paragliding specialist for a time. He has guided in Europe, Canada and on Denali and is now based in Wanaka. When not teaching outdoor education or heli-ski guiding in the winter he guides our Private Instruction Courses and ascents of Cook, Tasman and Aspiring and he guided on our Aconcagua Expedition in January 2005. In 2006 he guided on our Vinson Massif Expedition.
Lydia Bradey - New Zealand
After years of personal climbing expeditions in New Zealand and the Himalaya (including being the first woman to ascend Mt Everest without oxygen in 1988), Lydia is now mountain guiding with Adventure Consultants. Her strong personal skills and breadth of experience are a real asset on any trip into the mountains. She is also a qualified physiotherapist and she recently guided on Cho Oyu, Aconcagua, Alpamayo, Lobuche East and in Mongolia. In 2008 she guided on our Everest 2008 trip, and successfully summitted again, 20 years after her first summit! She recently guided Ama Dablam and a summer season in Canada.
Mark Morrison - New Zealand
Mark has been climbing since he was a youngster, and throughout his twenties has built up considerable guiding and instructing experience. From several seasons guiding in NZ's Southern Alps, instructing at the Outdoors Pursuits Centre in Taupo, guiding summers and winters in Canada, working as a Field Trainer in Antarctica to travelling in Europe and South America, Mark certainly gets about the place! Mark has been on expeditions to Ama Dablam with AC and to Kyrgyzstan where he climbed 9 peaks including Khan Tengri and a new route on Pik Karona (4860m). Mark guided our Ama Dablam 2007 Expedition, Aconcagua 2007, Three Peaks Nepal 2008 and Three Passes Nepal 2008 and 2009.
Tim Robertson – New Zealand
With years of climbing and skiing experience in New Zealand, Europe and North America, Tim is now a qualified NZMGA Climbing and Ski guide and works for Adventure Consultants in our busy summer and winter operations. Tim guided on our Three Peaks Expedition in Nepal in 2007 as well as our Ama Dablam 07 expedition and led our Island Peak 2008 expedition. He is leading our Three Peaks Nepal 2010 expedition.
Dylan Taylor - USA
Guides in the Cascades, Red Rock, Sierra, Alaska, Canada, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile. Dylan's climbing has taken him from the rock and glacier environments of the Cascades, to craggy summits of the High Sierra, sandstone towers in the Southwest, the Italian Alps, and the remote alpine walls in Patagonia. Dylan recently completed his masters degree in geology with a focus on the formation of the Cascades. Dylan is an IFMGA guide. Speaks Spanish.
Andrew Wexler - USA
Guides in Canada, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. Andrew equally enjoys ice and rock climbing, and he has done numerous difficult big wall routes in Yosemite, Colorado, the Cascades, Patagonia and the Bugaboos. He is also a keen skier and has spent many days swooshing throughout the Canadian and Alaskan backcountry including a few mega traverses that are unrepeated. His academic background is in international political economy. Speaks Spanish and Canadian. Andrew guided on our Ama Dablam 2007 Expedition and led our Alpamayo 2009 trip.
David Marchi - USA
Highly talented ski and climbing guide David Marchi is based in Mt Shasta in California, and has years of guiding experience on this peak as well as a background in ski patrol and skiing for the United States Ski Team. He has guided on our Ama Dablam expedition in 2006, and also guides on Denali and Carstensz. In 2009 David is guiding on our Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro expeditions.
Paolo Pieroni - Italy
Our European guided ascents and private instruction couses are often guided by Paolo. He is an IFMGA guide who lives in Courmayeur, Italy, but he is never far away from Chamonix and all the action there and in the Swiss Alps. Paolo has spent two months guiding in New Zealand's Southern Alps in 08/09 and we have very much enjoyed having him as part of the team at AC Headquarters downunder. Our pasta cooking skills are now much improved thanks to his input.
Ray Button - New Zealand
As well as being a fully qualified IFMGA alpine and ski guide, Ray has years of experience in the outdoor industry. Ray’s quiet, good nature is a perfect match for his huge depth of experience in instructing mountaineering skills and on guided ascents. Ray has been going to Borneo for the past three years doing the rigging for a multi sport race, and he guided on our Nepal Three Peaks Expedition in November 2005. He is based in Christchurch and is usually found in the surf or his kayak, or on the end of his golf clubs when not in the mountains.
Sean Brooks - New Zealand
As well as being a fully qualified IFMGA Climbing and Ski guide, Sean builds high quality houses in Wanaka & Queenstown. Sean is a Kiwi who has been mountain guiding for more than a decade and spent his formative guiding years in the Mt Cook region. He has guided in Europe and regularly guides trips on the Antartic Peninsula. Not many come as tall and handsome as our Sean!
Tibor Hromadka - Slovakia
Tibor is a fully qualified IFMGA Mountain Guide from Slovakia who joins us in New Zealand over our busy summer season. He has been climbing for almost 20 years including four expeditions to the Himalayas. He summited Cho Oyu in 1995 and attempted Kanchenchunga in 1997 (reaching 7000m) and Everest in 1998 (reaching 8000m).
Tibor’s guiding has brought him to New Zealand for the past four summers and when he is at his home in Slovakia he guides the mountains of the High Tatras. He made several successful ascents of Aoraki/Mt Cook for Adventure Consultants each summer and, including Zubriggens Ridge twice! He is looking forward to returning to his ‘other home’, the Southern Alps.
Anna Gillooly – New Zealand
Anna lives in nearby Lake Hawea, the sister of Lake Wanaka, and joined the Adventure Consultants summer guiding team from the summer of 2004/5. She has been guiding for several years and brings a huge amount of alpine experience from climbing throughout New Zealand, Australia and South America; including guiding the majestic Alpamayo in Peru. She also has a Law degree and speaks Spanish.
Andy Taylor - New Zealand
Andy, a.k.a Frog, is based in Queenstown, New Zealand and spends his summers mountain guiding and his winters ski guiding. In addition to all this he is a qualified builder. He climbed Ama Dablam with Adventure Consultants in 2002, and guided on the North side of Everest in 2005. He is now a fully qualified IFMGA guide.
Mark Austin-Cheval - New Zealand
Mark joined the AC team four summers ago. Living in Queenstown he comes over from the dark side to work for us in our busy summer operations and occasionally guides on winter trips. A ski patroller and self proclaimed gear freak he is never short of a conversational topic. Mark has climbed extensively in Canada and France as well as New Zealand, and is a qualifed teacher.
Mark guided on our Ama Dablam 2008 Expedition.
Callum Grant - New Zealand
Callum has climbed extensively throughout the Southern Alps and has been guiding on our New Zealand programs for the past five years. Prior to that he spent 7 summer seasons as an NZMGA Glacier Guide - most of his time he was based at Franz Josef Glacier on the West Coast of NZ. He knows how to cut steps - really well. Callum's laid back style and lcaonic Kiwi sense of humour makes him a popular guide. He professes to be too busy working, but Callum is often seen blazing a trail on his mountain bike, or hanging out at the rock climbing crags at Wanaka.
Winter sees Callum working at Treble Cone ski area as a ski patroller. According to him it's a great spot for skiing fresh powder, and lobbing bombs about (aka avalanche control). He has an avalanche dog Zeppelin, who has been making headlines recently winning awards.
Gary Kuehn - New Zealand
/ USA
Gary has joined the AC team after many years of skiing and climbing around the planet. He is a keen and enthusiastic ski mountaineer with years of experience in remote places like Antarctica, Alaska, South America, the Karakoram, Europe and NZ. Gary is American but lives in Australia and works in New Zealand - a true global citizen, and he has a masters degree in Engineering. His most rencent trip was personal ski mountaineering trip to India this past northern spring. Gary guided Baruntse and Ama Dablam expeditions in 2008 for AC and our Three Peaks Nepal 2009 trip.
Michael Madden - New Zealand
Mike guides in Alaska and New Zealand and calls the beautiful township of Wanaka his home. Mike is a passionate mountaineer, rock climber, and backcountry skier, and has climbed and skied extensively throughout the high mountains of New Zealand's Southern Alps. His favorite climbing memories include ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies and climbing and ski mountaineering in the Swiss and French Alps. Mike is also a keen sailor and originally discovered adventure at the height of a storm while sailing his yacht, Kairangi, single-handed and attempting to circumnavigate the Nth Island of New Zealand. Mike guided on our Three Peaks Nepal 2009 expedition.
Johnny Davison - New Zealand
Based in Wanaka, New Zealand, Johnny guides in New Zealands Southern Alps and Alaska. He recently worked for the New Zealand Antarctic Program and guided on Denali, and believes the setting and friendships forged in the hills to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of a mountain lifestyle. Johnny enjoys all styles of climbing, from water ice routes in the Canadian Rockies and alpine routes in the French Alps through to bouldering at Castle Hill at home in New Zealand. Other interests include yoga, cooking (most recently spinach and feta ravioli), and appreciating the experiences of traveling to amazing places around the world.
Davie Robinson - New Zealand / Scotland
Hails from bonny Scotland and has never lost the accent, but definitely now a local of Wanaka, New Zealand. Davie is an NZMGA Climbing and Ski Guide and has guided extensively in New Zealand after his formative years spent climbing in the European Alps. He is a veteran of several Antarctic seasons as a Field Guide and a decade of ski patrolling.
Tony Donaldson - New Zealand
Tony is now full time mountain guiding after years of glacier guiding on the west coast of New Zealand, ski patrolling and extensive personal climbing in our Southern Alps. In Nepal he has climbed Island peak, Lobuche East and attempted Cholatse and he says his other favourite destination is the rockclimbing in Krabi, Thailand. Now another enthusiastic Wanaka local, we are very pleased to welcome Tony on to the AC guiding team.
Stefan Sporli - New Zealand / Switzerland
Stefan has spent much of his life in the mountains, starting out on Mt Ruapehu in the North Island of New Zealand with regular sojourns to Switzerland as a child. Most of his climbing has been in the French Alps and western USA and he describes his wildest trip so far as a month long ski touring trip in Mongolia. He is now mountain guiding full time after years of ski patrol work in NZ, the USA and France. He has a visual arts degree and speaks French, German and Kiwi English.
Anna Keeling - New Zealand / USA
Anna is an IFMGA mountain guide from New Zealand who is often found living in the USA. When we can lure her home again she guides on our courses and guided ascents in the Southern Alps. Aside from climbing, her passions are ski mountaineering and adventure racing, as Anna has competed at international level in multisport races for most of her adult life. She has climbed and guided in NZ, Canada, USA, India and Nepal and she has a degree in Parks and Recreation Management.
Matias Prieto - Chile
Much of the success of our Aconcagua expeditions is based on Matias' care of our groups and his guiding leadership on the mountain. Matias has been a mountain guide in Chile for 12 years and he guides throughout South America. He has also lived and climbed in New Zealand for two years, where he perfected his english and explored the Southern Alps thoroughly.
Adrian Camm - UK / New Zealand
Adrian's climbing career began with a typical British apprenticeship on the gritstone outcrops of Northern England, working through Scottish winter climbing and European Alpine mountaineering before moving to NZ in 1996 where he started his guiding career. He has climbed and skied extensively around the Mt Aspiring and Aoraki / Mt Cook National Parks as well as enjoying trips to Canada and back to Europe. His favourite climbs in NZ include the South Faces of Douglas and Hicks and the SW Ridge of Aspiring. Places he's itching to get to include Antarctica, a return trip to Corsica and ice climbing in the Pyrenees.
Mark Johnson - USA
Guides in the Cascades, Red Rock, Joshua Tree, Canada, Ecuador, and Bolivia. A gifted instructor, Mark has climbed and guided throughout the U.S. as well as in the Andes. He has been noted for his difficult water ice ascents and alpine climbs in Colorado and the Cascades, but he has equally enjoyed his rock climbing in Colorado and the desert Southwest. His formal training is in music education. Speaks Spanish.
Jason Martin - USA
Guides in the Cascades, Red Rock, Sierra, Joshua Tree, Canada, Bolivia and Ecuador. Jason is a playwright, screenwriter, film critic, and outdoor adventure writer. He authored the guidebook, "Washington Ice: A Climbing Guide" and has written for Climbing Magazine and the Northwest Mountaineering Journal. Jason has a background in education and has taught at both secondary and university institutions. AMGA certified Rock Guide. Speaks Spanish.
THE AC SHERPA TEAM
Adding strength to our expeditions, our core Sherpa staff from the Nepalese highlands help to make our expeditions fun, safe and successful. Almost always the strongest climbers on Himalayan expeditions, these highly skilled Sherpas are an integral part of our operation.
(pictured on right: Dawa Jangbu Sherpa, Phu Tashi Sherpa, Lhakpa Dorjee Sherpa, Sankey Dorjee Sherpa, Ama Dablam 2006. Photo www.claudialopezphotography.com )
Ang Tshering Sherpa
As Sardar for our Himalayan expeditions since 1993, Ang Tshering co-ordinates much of the logistics to enable us to reach our climbing destination within Nepal. He is a colourful character who helps maintain hygiene and order in the base camp and his cooking skills in remote situations are legendary.
Chuldim Sherpa
Having been an integral member of most of our Himalayan expeditions Chuldim is very much part of the Adventure Consultants extended family. He is a gregarious character with a fine sense of humour and with many years of experience on the highest mountains is a valuable team member. Chuldim is our Climbing Sardar for Cho Oyu expeditions and has summited it 3 times, as well as summiting Everest in 1990. He now acts as our South Col support on Everest and has been there on 9 expeditions.
Passang Tenzing Sherpa
Having summited Mt Everest six times, Passang Tenzing in an integral and long serving member of the Adventure Consultants climbing Sherpa team. Passang Tenzing is also one of the lead climbing Sherpas on Cho Oyu and Ama Dablam, and now Everest as our Climbing Sardar. He's well known for his legendary strength and good humor and recently been guding in Alaska and livng in the USA.
Phu Tashi Sherpa
Summiting Everest six times and Cho Oyu and Ama Dablam on numerous occasions, Phu Tashi is another one of our highly experienced Sherpa crew. When not working as a high altitude Climbing Sherpa, Phu Tashi works as a carpenter in the village of Pangboche where he lives with his wife and family and owns a lodge.
Nuru Gyalzen Sherpa
Nuru Gyalzen has sucessfully Summited Everest from the North and South sides and is a strong member of the Adventure Consultant's Sherpa team.
Chhongba Sherpa
Chhongba has received high praise for his skill as Base Camp chef. He has worked with us since 1992 and has never failed to please and impress with his range of gourmet fare. Chhongba produces an incredible array of tasty western cuisine from his basic, yet efficient cook tent and he trains our up and coming Sherpa cooks. He shares and contributes to Adventure Consultants' passion for providing wholesome and nutritious expedition meals.
