“I really would like to express just how stoked I was with the amount of work and passion you put into this trip. You went above and beyond on so many occasions to enable us to get the most out of the trip. The quality of training was very high, and your passion and enthusiasm for mountaineering, for safety and for building team camaraderie was greatly appreciated. Even when the conditions were terrible, you spun it into a positive for the group in that they were experiencing such a diverse range of possible scenarios in the mountains and getting us to learn how to cope in each of them. The trip has well and truly exceeded my expectations and I have not stopped talking about it to others.”

Born and raised in Kansas (where he was most reliably found high in a tree) Robert’s family built a sense of adventure with frequent trips to Colorado and bedtime stories of great Himalayan climbs from an early age.

Always seeking out new challenges he started rock climbing at 13 and first started guiding with a whitewater rafting outfit in California when he was 19.

Since then he’s worked as a sea kayak guide, instructor for college outdoor programs, volunteer search and rescue with the park service, and spent 7 seasons guiding on Rainier.

Robert has over 50 summits of Rainier to his name, has climbed high on Manaslu, has guided our Vinson program, is the Senior Guide for our Alpine Academies in both the USA and Australia and is joining us on Everest.

When he is not in the field, Robert, is a vital part of the CTSS team as our Operations Manager.

Robert now lives in Washington state where he enjoys easy access to climbing and skiing year-round. When he’s not in the mountains you’ll likely find him tinkering with some broken piece of machinery, or building in his woodshop.