Head Office Support Team

Adventure Consultants is directed and owned by Guy Cotter, an IFMGA Mountain and Ski guide with a wealth of experience in all things climbing, especially high altitude mountaineering at a professional level.

Guy's whole life has been spent in the mountains - in New Zealand, the Himalayas and many other mountain ranges around the world.

He has been the director of Adventure Consultants since 1996 and prior to that he had been intricately involved with the company since its beginnings in 1992.

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" There are now a lot of expedition outfitters and you can choose an expedition to suit your requirements, and let's face it - not everybody wants the same from an expedition. Adventure Consultants trips are designed with state of the art Himalayan techniques in mind, and geared towards success. I like to run the kind of trip I myself would like to go on, hence our trips are small, personable and friendly with the highest possible guiding standards. The Adventure Consultants Expeditions are, as always, geared to provide that little bit extra to make your expedition a whole lot better."

Much of the quality of our expeditions and the way we go about things here at AC is owed to the attention to detail which Suze applies in her role as General Manager for Adventure Consultants and in overseeing the administration and planning that our team does for each trip. Suze has a postgraduate science degree and she has been coordinating the office at AC headquarters since 1996.

An active outdoors person, when not in the office she's off skiing, mountain biking, fishing, trekking and climbing.

Suze was our Everest Base Camp Manager on expeditions in 2000, 2006, 2007 and 2008. She has enjoyed climbing in NZ's Southern Alps, Nepal, Thailand, Australia and the European Alps and spent ski seasons in North America and Europe. She has climbed Mt Kenya, Kilimanjaro (x4), Island Peak, Mt Cook, Mt Aspiring, Aconcagua, and also Lhotse in 2013. She was attempting Everest in 2015 and was at Camp 1 with the AC climbing team when the earthquake occurred on April 25. She then spent the next three weeks in Nepal helping to clean up at Base Camp and supporting the staff and families of the AC Sherpa team who were affected by the earthquake. She has been working on fundraising and coordination for our Sherpa Future Fund ever since and returned to Nepal to lead a trek to Everest Base Camp in 2016 and 2018. She joined the AC team on Everest again in 2017 and reached the summit on 22 May 2017. Capping off the 2017 year, she climbed Vinson in December.

Caroline Ogle (nee Blaikie) joined the AC team in 2008, initially as a Client Liaison, before moving into the nuts and bolts of our business co-ordinating expedition logistics. Caroline is our Assistant General Manager and Operations Manager, overseeing the operation, logistics and planning across all of our trips as well as having an integral role in the day-to-day management our overall operation and staff.

Originally from Scotland, Caroline has an honours degree in Physiology and wealth of personal climbing and skiing experience in the Southern Alps of New Zealand and a passion for skiing, climbing and travel in general. Her time with Adventure Consultants has seen her frequently working in Nepal for AC, initially as Everest Base Camp Manager in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, and then since 2015 co-ordinating the set up for each climbing season at Everest Base Camp. She has also guided a number of Everest Base Camp treks in 2016 and 2017.

A Wanaka local for many years, Kelly originally hails from Oamaru in the South Island. Kelly first worked for AC from 2004 then popped in out and out of the office, whilst caring for her three, now teenage children. We're excited to have Kelly return on a more permanent basis, bringing her exceptional customer service, wealth of travel industry knowledge and wicked sense of humour!

Her role as Expedition Liaison sees her taking care of you when you are climbing with us across the globe. With her degree in Zoology and vast knowledge of AC expeditioning, Kelly will help you get organised and ready for your trip on time as well as answer all your queries. 

"The level of support was exceptional! We really liked the fact that we were able to deal with one person right through the preparation. Kelly was very helpful and prompt in answering any questions."

Hayley joined the Adventure Consultants team in April 2017 taking up the role of Expedition Liaison and Sales. She has worked in the tourism and hospitality industry for many years, embracing the lifestyle that comes with working in tourist hot spots around the world such as Les Gets in France, the Whitsunday Islands in Australia and now, of course, Wanaka, which has been Hayley’s home for the last twelve years.

Originally from Australia, Hayley's love of travel has seen her explore parts of South East Asia, Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa, and when not working (or travelling) she can be found snowboarding, downhill biking, tramping, wakeboarding and occasionally climbing.

"From the moment we began working with Hayley from Adventure Consultants with the special care that we received, my husband and I looked at each other and said "we chose wisely". We cannot say enough good things about her customer service and making the impossible, possible." Pamela and Scott Pyle, USA

"Hayley was simply fantastic. Knowledgeable, responsive and super nice!" Evan McKeith, USA

Anita returned into the AC fold in 2016 after a long term hiatus raising her family. Originally joining AC in 2004, Anita oversees our Product Management, as well as being part of our sales team. She comes from a background working in many aspects of the adventure tourism sector and has degrees in both Psychology and Recreation and Tourism Management.

She has an affinity with the mountains having lived much of her life in and around the Southern Alps, and enjoys travelling and spending time with her kids in the outdoors.

Karoline is from North Wales and moved to Chamonix in France when her husband qualified as a guide. She has since made it home and now has a bilingual toddler, baby # 2 and a Jack Russell! She is an avid rock climber but also enjoys the local skiing and summer hill walking.

Tim spent 20 years in big corporate IT in various parts of the world before opening and running his own bicycle store in Auckland for 7 years.

With the arrival of a son, he and his wife decamped from the big smoke to Wanaka, where he keeps all AC IT systems running smoothly and helps to develop the Customer Relationship Management software.

Sophie works for AC in the capacity of our Medical Adviser, as well as our Expedition Doctor at Everest Base Camp in 2014, 2017 and 2018. She is an experienced emergency physician, currently based at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia. Originally from the United Kingdom, Sophie has a passion for the outdoors and has trekked, travelled, dived and worked in remote high altitude locations around the world. This experience is invaluable in her roles at AC, providing advice to our guides and climbers both in the field and prior to departure, ensuring our medical systems exceed industry standards and of course making sure that our climbers and Sherpa team are well cared for at Base Camp. Check out the AC Blog for an in-depth interview with Sophie about her work with AC at Everest Base Camp.

Dr Sophie Wallace  MRCS MBBS BSc FACEM

A qualified ski guide, ski patroller and trekking guide, Bronwen has built a career out of guiding around the world, having previously guided expeditions to Mera Peak, Everest Base Camp, Kilimanjaro, Bhutan and the Altaii Tavan Mountains in Mongolia, including an ascent of Mt Khuiten. She has also worked as a ski guide and ski patroller for numerous seasons in New Zealand, Canada, Norway and Japan. A regular face on the Everest Base Camp trail, this year Bronwen is making herself at home on the Khumbu Glacier as our Everest Base Camp Manager 2020.

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