Don hails from Port Ludlow in Washington, USA and is one of the most sought after senior guides in the world with over 23 years of climbing experience leading over 1,650 commercial trips across the globe.

His calm, cool, even keeled demeanour paired with an extraordinary work ethic, patience and kindness has seen him excel in the high mountains and become a client favorite. Always willing to go the extra mile to help those around him be safe and successful, Don has a natural ability at extreme altitude, a deep commitment to client care and a passion for the high Himalaya. In a previous career Don was a whitewater guide and a teacher and holds a Masters Degree.

Raised in the mountains next to Bend, Oregon, Dani began her guiding career when she was still in high school, teaching her classmates how to backpack, rappel, white-water raft, and more. After leaving Oregon, she sought out other beautiful, mountainous areas and has lived or guided in New Zealand, Colorado, Alaska, Argentina, and New York. She graduated from Western Colorado University with her BA in Psychology & Sociology and currently lives in South Lake Tahoe with her partner Shelby and their dog Mongo.

Dani is an AMGA Apprentice Mountain Guide, a certified Wilderness First Responder, and has her AIARE Level II with hopes of becoming an AIARE Instructor. She believes the mountains can be a humbling yet empowering context. Through guiding, Dani loves using her skills to instruct and encourage others, especially those from marginalized communities, to become stronger, bolder versions of themselves. When she is not guiding on Komo Kulshan (Mt. Baker) for CTSS, you can find her instructing avalanche and backcountry ski clinics in the Carson Range, taking groups of women up high peaks in South America, or leading kayak trips on the beautiful Lake Tahoe. Off the clock, she enjoys working on her motorcycle, frequenting her local bowling alley, and taking extended vacations to surf in warm water.

“Kat and Dani are great instructors and guides. It’s not often you can come across guides who have done this so many times that they don’t naturally lose their “patience” when rookies like myself are clueless!

They deserve recognition, not only for this trip but for their experiences and expertise. From a personal standpoint, I was naturally a bit anxious to meet on Day 1. I think we can all agree that the Gear Check phase of an expedition can be stressful for everyone… but I didn’t experience that. Not once did I feel like I wasted money or was dumb for not having something, which is a first for me.

Kat and Dani set an immediate first impression of understanding and an approachable environment. No one was uncomfortable with them, which speaks to their character and professionalism but more so to their personal and natural leadership ability.”

– Adam F.

Washington-born and raised, Willie loves the mountains, rivers, and forests of the Pacific Northwest. An avid backcountry skier and ski mountaineer, Willie travels to the Alaska Range for ski recreation and guiding on Denali. Throughout the winter, Willie can be found in the mountains of Washington, teaching avalanche safety and wilderness first responder skills and working for the Northwest Avalanche Center. During the spring and summer, you may find Willie on the volcanoes of Washington, observing the firnification of the snowpack or rafting the beautiful rivers of central Washington.

Originally from upstate New York, Mike grew up playing sports and spending time outside running, hunting, fishing, and participating in Boy Scouts. Mike ran his first long-distance event in high school and still considers himself an avid runner today. When Mike joined the Marine Corps, he discovered mountaineering while stationed on the West Coast. Today, Mike resides in Colorado, where he climbs, skis, and runs as much as he can while working to advance his guiding career through professional courses. Mike has climbed all over the United States and has high ambitions to continue climbing bigger and more technical mountains worldwide. 

Get to know Mike a little better in his Guide Spotlight on our blog.

Meet Stephanie, originally from the heart of the Midwest, whose journey spans from Indiana’s cornfields to Utah’s desert canyons. With over a decade of experience teaching environmental and outdoor education, from Chicago’s south side to the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico, Stephanie transitioned into the expedition and guiding realm with an open heart, ready for the adventure that lay ahead.

Though no longer in a formal teaching role, Stephanie remains a lifelong educator at heart. Her unwavering desire to inspire others serves as her guidepost. There is no doubt that she has a deep passion for helping others explore their potential in the outdoors.

But for Stephanie, it’s more than just getting outside. It’s about experiencing nature to its fullest. It’s opening up to the sights, sounds, and smells of the land, water, and air. It’s connecting with different cultures and ways of life. It’s finding time to look inwards and outwards. And finally, maybe even most importantly, it’s inspiring others to become stewards of our environment so future generations can fall in love with the same places we cherish.

When Stephanie isn’t typing up website copy or answering your most pressing questions about an upcoming expedition, you can find her hiking, backpacking, and paddling through some of the Colorado Plateau’s finest canyons. Every once in a while, she gets to dip her toes into the ocean and take advantage of her Advanced Open Water scuba certification – one of her favorite ways to fully immerse herself into the outdoor world.

Dani grew up camping, climbing, canoeing, and snowboarding with her family in Minnesota. She quickly fell in love with the outdoors and pursued an operations, management, and logistics career in the guiding industry. Dani has years of logistical experience for all Seven Summits and has worked on location in Argentina, Antarctica, and Alaska managing logistics for climbing and skiing expeditions.

Dani now lives in Wyoming and loves being a part of the incredible team at CTSS. She also works part time as a personal trainer, helping others reach their own mountain fitness goals. In her free time, Dani enjoys rock climbing, traveling, training, cooking, and running with her friends and family.

Mike grew up backpacking and climbing in the southern Appalachian mountains. He has led expeditions on 5 of the 7 continents and is looking forward to completing the final two. After 16 years of carrying heavy packs at high altitudes and walking hut to hut, Mike still enjoys being in the remote parts of the world with people who seek out different cultures and physical challenges than come from living in the mountains. He lives in Washington with his wife and daughter. Mike teaches wilderness medicine courses and works as a carpenter when not guiding.

Sunny Stroeer was born and raised in Germany but now resides in Kanab, Southern Utah, when she is not on a big expedition.  She has been a back-country guide in various capacities for almost twenty years, even though she holds two degrees (BA & MBA) from Harvard University and spent her twenties working in finance and as a strategy consultant.

Sunny has spent many seasons leading teams on Aconcagua, on Nepal’s popular 6000 meter peaks, in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca, on Kilimanjaro, and on some of the high peaks in the US.  She is passionate about making the big mountain realm more accessible to women, which is what led her to start her women-only expedition company AWExpeditions in 2018.

On the personal front, Sunny is both an ultra runner and a big wall climber but her speciality is the high altitude endurance realm; she has set various speed records among the Great Ranges including on 22,838ft Aconcagua and along the 136-mile Annapurna Circuit. You can find out more about her at www.sunnystroeer.com.

Kat was grown and raised in the foothills around Komo Kulshan in northwest Washington state where her love and admiration for the natural world started young and wildly. She has a BA in Environmental Education and spent her formative outdoor leadership years working as an instructor for Outward Bound Colorado. She has worked with AMGA accredited guiding companies since 2016, including work on Denali, rock climbing in the Southwest deserts of the US, and extensively in the Cascades. Kat focuses her guiding efforts on working women-specific trips and seeks to empower her clients with as much instruction and education as possible.

Kat’s personal climbing ambitions include many of the Northwest’s classic moderate alpine routes. She spent a fall season in Yosemite enjoying some of the moderate big walls, including Lurking Fear on El Cap. She deeply loves glaciated volcanoes and the thrill of skiing deep powder or spring corn. In recent years, Kat has become a licensed massage therapist specializing in abdominal therapy. She and her partner live on their sailboat and are working to complete a sail around the Pacific Ring of Fire.

“Kat and Dani are great instructors and guides. It’s not often you can come across guides who have done this so many times that they don’t naturally lose their “patience” when rookies like myself are clueless!

They deserve recognition, not only for this trip but for their experiences and expertise. From a personal standpoint, I was naturally a bit anxious to meet on Day 1. I think we can all agree that the Gear Check phase of an expedition can be stressful for everyone… but I didn’t experience that. Not once did I feel like I wasted money or was dumb for not having something, which is a first for me.

Kat and Dani set an immediate first impression of understanding and an approachable environment. No one was uncomfortable with them, which speaks to their character and professionalism but more so to their personal and natural leadership ability.”

– Adam F.

Porter started guiding in 2017 after learning how to climb on the steep sandstone where he grew up in Alabama. He’s had the opportunity to climb in multiple countries and explore climbing areas across America. In the winter, he spends over 100 days a season clicked into skis patrolling at Big Sky Resort where he serves as a technical rescue trainer and touring around the mountains near his home in Bozeman, Montana. He has guided extensively in Grand Teton National Park in the summer and worked in the Alaska Range on Denali. He considers every day spent in the mountains a privilege and never gets tired of early mornings and strong coffee.