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Steve
is a professional mountain guide living in Mazama,
Washington who,
through training
and hard work, has risen to the top of both his
respective fields; alpine climbing and mountain
guiding. Through North Cascade Mountain Guides
and his IFMGA Certification he leads climbs in
the North Cascades, Canadian Rockies, Alaska,
the Alps, and the Himalaya. If you want to climb
with a guide who is at the top of both the guiding
and climbing fields, you will want to climb with
Steve.
The Professional
Guide
Steve began
his guiding career in 1991, as a summer job,
during his college years at The Evergreen State
College in Olympia, Washington. Having just graduated
with his B.S. in Ecology, he participated in
one of the first professional guides courses
ever held in America.
That course, and others like it, led Steve through
an eight-year process to obtaining his IFMGA (International
Federation of Mountain Guides Associations) certification.
He passed all three guides exams: Alpine (1992),
Rock (1998), and Ski Mountaineering (2000). By
passing the Ski Mountaineering Guides Exam he became
the seventh American to complete this rigorous
international standard of mountain guide certification
underneath the umbrella of the American Mountain
Guides Association.
After working
with several of the countries largest and best-known
guide services, including Exum Mountaineering
and the American Alpine Institute, Steve has
joined North Cascade Mountain Guides to pursue
the flexibility of private guiding.
North Cascade
Mountain Guides operates under permits from North
Cascade National Park and Okanogan National Forest.
Steve's IFMGA certification, still one of only
14 in America, permits him to guide in the Canadian
Rockies, European Alps and around the world.
Through an affiliation with Alaska Mountaineering
School he also offers climbing trips to the Alaska
Range and Mt. McKinley.
The Professional Climber
Steve has been
on the leading edge of the development of American
mountaineering since the establishment of his
first new route on Mt. McKinley in 1995. With
the addition of two more new routes (one solo)
in 1996 and 1997 he has made a record three new
routes on Mt. McKinley.
In 1997 Steve
made the fourth ascent of the very remote and
serious King Peak (16,971') by the unclimbed
7,100' southwest face with Joe Josephson. The
pair carried 30 total pounds of equipment, food,
and clothing, which enabled them to make the
ascent in 35 hours roundtrip from the Mt. Logan
basecamp.
Other notable
firsts include the slower, but very difficult
ascents, of The Gift that Keeps on Giving (ED+)
on Alaska's Mt. Bradley (OE97) and M-16 (ED++)
on the East Face of Canada's Howse Peak (OE99),
both in wintertime. Steve is the veteran of 29
Alaskan expeditions and four Himalayan expeditions.
In 1990 he climbed to 22,000' on Nanga Parbat.
Later he organized a two-man expedition to the
Northeast Pillar of Thalay Sagar. In 1999 Steve
participated in an attempt to ascend the (still)
unclimbed Southwest Ridge of Gasherbrum 4, twice
reaching 7,100 meters. In October of 2001, Steve became the first
American to climb an 8,000 meter peak in one
day; completing the ascent of Cho Oyu, the sixth
highest peak in the world at 8,201 meters, in
just 20 hours.
Steve's proudest
ascent was in Alaska with Mark Twight, and Scott
Backes. This
trio made the third ascent of the Czech Direct
Route on Denali's South Face in June, 2000. They
started with 55 pounds (including 18 lbs of water)
divided between the three climbers. They made
4 stops to melt water, rehydrate, and eat some
food. They did not sleep except for 30 minutes
spent in the morning sun at the last break. The
9,000 foot route took them 60 hours to climb
to the foresummit of Denali (6,100m), where they
descended via the normal route to the 14,000' camp
in two and a half hours.
Steve's renowned technical abilities on mixed terrain, deep motivation,
and forward-looking attitude have earned him the moniker, "the
great white hope" of American alpinism.
Patagonia, Black
Diamond and Gu sponsor Steve's climbing. He holds
up his end of the bargain by attending grass-roots
climbing festivals, teaching clinics, presenting
slide shows of his adventures, and contributing
his feedback to the development of climbing equipment
and clothing. You can find him at other places
on the Web including:
Rates for Private Guiding
For non-expedition
climbing in the Lower 48 and Canada the following
per-person/per day rates are based on the number
of guests. (These rates are not the same as the
standard North Cascade Mountain Guide fees.)
- 1:1 $345
- 2:1 $225
- 3:1 $195
2002 Schedule
January, February and March: Winter Programs in the North Cascades.
April, May: Nuptse
Expedition, Nepal (booked.)
June: Scott
Boughton and Steve will attempt the Cassin Ridge
on Mt. McKinley. (booked.)
July: North
Cascades programs.
August 1 - September 15. French and Swiss Alps; for info on this
program, e-mail Steve at: steve@ncmountainguides.com
Sept 15 - October: Teaching AMGA courses and exams.
Shop
around. Visit websites of the bigger guide services
and schools. Due to their large volumes these
companies mostly employ guides with comparably
little experience and no professional guide training.
And many of them charge comparable rates.
Book Early.
The majority of Steve's time is spent with guests
who return season after season, year after year.
Because of this, his schedule may be full several
months in advance. While Steve encourages you
to book early, cancellations happen and things
change, so check in with an email to start planning
your climbing trip today. (Steve's email address
is: steve@ncmountainguides.com)
We'll make it happen.
Policies,
Inclusions, and Exclusions Guiding rates include guide service, team climbing
gear, camping and trailhead fees, permits,
meals on overnight excursions, and local transportation
within the North Cascades. They exclude personal
clothing and equipment, transportation to and
from the climbing areas, and lunch food. For
programs in the Canadian Rockies these fees
also exclude transportation within Canada.
To reserve the
dates for your climbing or skiing trip a 50%
deposit is due 40 days before the starting date
of the course, with full payment due the first
morning of the first course date. Payments should
be made to North Cascade Mountain Guides by check
or credit card.
Steve House
steve@ncmountainguides.com
North Cascades
Mountain Guides
HCR 74 Box A5
Mazama, WA 98833
(509) 996-3194
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