 
mountain adventures
MOUNTAINEERING IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES |
||||||||||
|
|
Mountaineering, Climbing, and Skiing In The Canadian RockiesYamnuska Guides
Guide Certification, Training & QualitiesYamnuska guides and instructors are certified as described below. In addition to certification, which only relates to a guide's technical competence, they need many other skills and qualities. They need to be endowed with patience, empathy, and a sense of humor. They must also be effective communicators and great coaches. Yamnuska guides and instructors are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) or other member associations of the International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations (IFMGA) of which the ACMG is a member. Yamnuska guides and instructors operate within the certification and terrain guidelines of the ACMG. They are also certified in Wilderness First Aid and in Avalanche Safety. In addition guide and instructor certification must meet the standards dictated by the various Land Managers who license our operations. Where jurisdictional standards are low (British Columbia) Yamnuska follows the higher ACMG standards.
Guide profilesThese guide bios will allow you to meet some of our key guides and instructors. Not all guides are featured here yet though it is our intention to profile as many as possible. Listings are arranged alphabetically. David Begg, Steve Blagbrough, Barry Blanchard, James Blench, Steve Holeczi, Richard Howes, Sarah Hueniken, Conrad Janzen, Matt Mueller, Jesse de Montigny, Brett Lawrence, Grant Meekins, Alf Skrastins, Dave Stark, Mike Stuart David Begg
David particularly enjoys guiding ski mountaineering and introducing beginners to mountaineering in the summer where he especially appreciates seeing his clients discovering the mountains the way he did 30 years ago in New Zealand. He lives in Canmore with his wife Maria and children Kate and Nick. Steve Blagbrough
Steve has been active in the outdoors for the past twenty years, most as a professional instructor, not only in mountaineering but also in many related pursuits such as kayaking and sailing. He has a particular interest in avalanche safety and is one of the main instructors on Yamnuska's avalanche safety courses. Barry Blanchard
Canadian Mountain Guide and alpinist, Barry Blanchard, was born in Calgary, March 29, 1959. Twelve years later three boys navigated the Bow River through the western side of the city on a raft of nailed together railway ties, Barry was at the helm steering the adventure. He found mountain climbing in the books of his high school library, some of which are still in his possession. A six month trip to the French Alps in 1980 set the course of Barry's life: to climb the steepest and most complicated faces of the world's great glaciated peaks. Barry has enjoyed some success: the first ascent of The Andromeda Strain, 1983; the North Ridge of Rakaposhi, 1984; the first ascent of the apocalyptic North Pillar of North Twin; the West Ridge of Mt Everest, 1986; surviving the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat, 1988; a solo first ascent on the North Face of Kusum Kanguru, 1991; an attempt on K-2, 1993; first ascents in the St Elias mountains; M-16, a first ascent -in winter on the East Face of Howse Peak, 1999; the third ascent of the Infinite Spur on MT Foraker, 2000; the first ascent of Infinite Patience on the Emperor Face of Mt Robson, 2002. More importantly Barry has enjoyed all of his outings, even the ones not included in the narrow definition of "success". Barry moved to the mountains in 1982 to pursue his Mountain Guiding career (he is an internationally certified -IFMGA- mountain guide) and has included making Hollywood features such as "K-2", "Cliffhanger" and "The Vertical Limit" in his professional life. Barry lives in Banff, Alberta, with his wife Catherine Mulvihill, whom he met on a Mt Everest expedition in 1994, their daughter Rosemary, who arrived in 2004, and their dogs, Finnegan and Seamus. more info on Barry James Blench
James is an fully certified international Mountain Guide (IFMGA), he guides and instructs all aspect of mountaineering including avalanche safety programs. He obviously derives great enjoyment from being in the mountains as his clients can attest. He lives in Canmore with his wife Leslie and son Simon. Steve Holeczi
A member of a dynamic group of
leading edge climbers Steve manages to combine a passion for Steve is originally from Prince George, B.C., and has been climbing for 15 years during which time he has climbed in the Himalayas (Ama Dablam), S. America (a new ice route on Cerro Marmolejo in Argentina), Europe and throughout the US and Western Canada. He has a large appetite for new ice, mixed and alpine routes in the Rockies. Steve has numerous first ascents in the Rockies including the 1st free ascent of the Lowe/Hannibal route on the North Face of Mount Geike, and the first ascent of the NE Face of Mt. Assiniboine. Steve has been instructing rock, ice and alpine mountaineering for Yamnuska since 1998. Richard Howes
Sarah Hueniken
Sarah works year round for YMA guiding ice, alpine and rock programs as well as helping out with the semester. Having been an avid rock climber for 11 years, Sarah feels fortunate to call Canmore home and to be able to share her passion of the mountains with others as a career. Conrad Janzen
Matt Mueller
Jesse de Montigny
Jesse's favorite personal trips include many overseas rock climbing areas, such as: Thailand, Australia, Greece, Mexico and throughout the United States. He lives in Canmore year round with his wife Christine. Brett Lawrence
Grant Meekins
Born and raised in the Yukon
Territory, Grant lived above the Arctic Circle for several years and spent
most of his youth in the mountains and on the rivers of northern Canada.
Involved in sports from an early age, he was Yukon's "Athlete of the Year"
in 1979, for his performances in Cross Country Skiing, Table Tennis and
Wrestling. Alf Skrastins
When he is not skiing (every month of the year) he lives in Calgary (average 3 days a week in winter?).
Dave Stark
Dave's guiding interests these days focus on avalanche safety training, ski mountaineering and team building for management groups. He lives in Canmore with wife Carole and son Taylor. Mike StuartMike Stuart decided to pursue a career in guiding after coming to visit Banff and realizing the potential for outdoor adventure to be found in the Canadian Rockies.
As a guide Mike loves taking people into the mountains and enjoys watching them learn and grow through personal challenge and self-discovery. “Watching people make that personal connection with themselves and with nature through their climbing pursuits is very rewarding and being able to share in that experience is one of the many reasons I have chosen guiding as a profession”. As a climber his focus is on pure lines and big peaks in the alpine and meeting the challenge of the technical demands that this style of climbing inevitably entails.
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
The experience and training of the
guides and instructors is integral to the quality and enjoyment of your
experience with Yamnuska.
The Director of Yamnuska Mountain Adventures, David
grew up in New Zealand where he began a life-long commitment to
mountaineering when he was 16. New Zealand's Southern Alps were a perfect
place to develop as a serious mountaineer. Upon graduation from University
in 1975 he abandoned academia in favor of a mountain lifestyle. Between
forays to climb in Europe and Alaska he also began working as a guide in
New Zealand's premier mountain region, Mt. Cook. After qualifying as an
internationally certified mountain guide in 1983 David emigrated to Canada
where a few short years later he found himself at the helm of Yamnuska
where he has stayed ever since.
'Stevie B' is a fully certified international
Mountain Guide from the UK who joined us 4 years ago from a position at
prestigious Glenmore Lodge in Scotland. Steve's strong commitment to guiding and instruction has
produced great benefit to Semester students and anyone else lucky enough
to have him as an instructor or guide.
Barry is an Associate Director of Yamnuska involved
in promotion of Yamnuska and mentoring of junior guides.
James is something of a legend in
guiding circles. One of the original 'Yam' guides, he was involved in its
founding and has been involved in the founding of the company and has been
an active guide and instructor since the late '70's. James was a member of
the small group of young climbers that put ice climbing and the Canadian
Rockies on the map in the '70's and early 80's. He participated in many
seminal first ascents including the first free ascent of Nemesis. He
participated in the successful ascent of the W. Ridge of Everest in '86
climbs and made the first ascent of the S. Face of Gangapurna in '81.
He has also climbed extensively in Peru. To this day James is an active
high-end climber.
hard
technical climbing with excellent guiding and instructional skills. He is
a talented teacher with the knack of identifying simple techniques that
allow students to quickly progress. 
Richard is perhaps our most cosmopolitan guide. An
Australian/Canadian resident in Germany, Richard spend many of his
northern summers guiding for Yamnuska in the Canadian Rockies. Richard is
another guide who works extremely hard for guests and is consequently in
much demand. Richard has been instructing rock and alpine mountaineering
for Yamnuska for 10 years. His primary residence is near Munich in Germany
though you may also find him guiding in New Zealand from time to time.
Sarah
came to Yamnuska Mountain Adventures four years ago with an extensive
outdoor education background. Following a degree in Outdoor Recreation,
Sarah worked for several Outward Bound schools and the National Outdoor
Leadership School throughout the United States and Canada, as well as
creating a climbing program for St Lawrence University. 
Conrad grew up in Northern Alberta
and has been passionate about the outdoors from an early age. After
graduating from the Yamnuska Mountain Skills Semester Conrad went on to
forge a solid outdoor career with Outward Bound before returning to the
Bow Valley to concentrate on high guiding and instruction. A gifted and
talented instructor of rock and ice climbing and alpine mountaineering,
Conrad has worked for Yamnuska for the last four years and has added
particular value to the Semester program. He lives in Banff with his wife
Coralee.
Matt had
spent the last 15 years climbing, skiing and being tent bound in some of
the best mountain scenery the continent has to offer. A few years ago he
decided to turn his passion into his profession and began the trip down
the Mountain Guide certification road. Since then he has spent the
majority of his time in the mountains, either as a professional guide, or
on his own trips. His travels have taken him from the granite coastline of
Nova Scotia to the remote ranges of Alaska and most places in between. As
for the future, Matt plans to finish his UIAGM certification and use his
profession to travel the world and see what the possibilities are.
Originally from Campbell River, BC, Jesse moved to
Canmore 10 years ago to take part in Yamnuska's Three Month Mountain
Skills Semester. He stayed in Canmore to pursue a career in the
outdoor guiding industry and is now a Full Ski guide and Assistant Alpine
Guide. Jesse has been working for Yamnuska for the past 5 years and
has been a valuable addition to the Yam team! 
Growing up in Eastern Ontario Brett
has always been passionate about the outdoors. Early adventures in the
Adirondacks were followed by the Yamnuska Mountain Skills Semester after
which the die was cast and Brett moved to the mountains to focus on
building the experience which ultimately allowed him to gain guide
certification. An expert mountaineer, Brett has been a mainstay of our
rock climbing program for several years and is now spreading his wings to
join us on ice and alpine programs.
Alf in his day job is the program director of the
University of Calgary Outdoor Centre. In his other identity he is likely
the most active ski tourer in Alberta if not BC. Alf is very well known as
a leader and host of backcountry ski weeks and will be joining us on many
ski touring programs this upcoming winter, notably at Monashee Chalet
where he would be perhaps the person most familiar with this intricate
area, and at Ruby Creek over the New Year Holiday.
Dave, Yamnuska's
Director of Operations, is in charge of guiding operations at
Yamnuska. Dave grew up, like so many guides, back East. Initially qualifying as
a diver Dave eventually found himself in the West where he quickly gained
skills and experience working as a ski patroller, Outward Bound Instructor
and as Park Ranger. After working on and off for Yam Dave joined full time
in 1989 to take charge of the Semester Program. Over the years Dave took
on more and more responsibility to the point where today he supervises all
aspects of guiding and instruction including recruiting and training
guides and brings a personal interest to risk management..
It was perhaps due to his
exposure to those Manitoba winters which resulted in Mike choosing ice
climbing as his first climbing experience and that soon became his sport
of choice. His skills and knowledge rapidly accelerated following his move
to Canmore and it wasn’t long before he was climbing Grade 6+. Having
climbed many of the Rockies “classics” such as the Weeping Pillar, The
Sliver, French Maid, Sea of Vapours, Nemesis, and the Replicant,
Mike is happiest with tools in his hands and spikes on
the ice.
Yamnuska Mountain
Adventures
