Guides

With over a decade of climbing experience and six years dedicated to guiding, Anzhela’s journey through the mountains has been characterized by personal growth and an unwavering commitment to sharing the thrill of outdoor adventure while making the outdoors accessible and inclusive.

In addition to her training in the mountains, Anzhela holds a doctorate in environmental science. This academic background equips her with a unique perspective on the interplay between nature and science, emphasizing the importance of preserving the environment and sustainable practices in the mountains.

Anzhela’s dedication goes beyond the peaks; it extends to reshaping the very landscape of the industry. As an instructor mentoring upcoming guides, she is deeply committed to erasing the gender disparity within every aspect of mountain craft.

In the realm of mountaineering, Anzhela understands that sometimes the summit must take a backseat to safety. She emphasizes the importance of making well-informed decisions in the mountains, opting for caution in hazardous conditions. Anzhela believes in instilling this wisdom in those she guides.

Dominic was born and raised in New Jersey where he quickly fell in love with the nature and forests around his home. Soon after thru-hiking the Appalachian trail, he began his guiding career and never looked back. Guiding based in the Northeast, the Rockies, and now mainly in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

Dom has been guiding for over a decade now and has led 6x Denali’s, 7x Aconcagua, Vinson, Manaslu and over 70 summits of Mount Rainier in Washington. He now resides in North Bend, WA with his wife and two dogs and loves exploring the local trails and mountains by trail running and alpine climbing. Dominic has a bachelor’s degree in Physics, maintains his AMGA and Avalanche Level 2 Certifications, and enjoys the process of professional development.

Patrick has been traveling the world for nearly 30 years. Beginning with a stint in London, he worked as a tour manager in Europe before starting his own travel business helping both business and holiday travelers.

Over the past 10 years, his travels have taken a distinctly adventurous turn, including Antarctica, the Atacama Desert, completing the Everest Circuit in 2018 and then returning to Nepal for the Annapurna Circuit in 2023. His next adventure will take him to Africa before pursuing a summit of Lobuche with CTSS in 2025!

When he’s not traveling or helping clients book their next expedition with CTSS, Patrick is learning to play the guitar and working on his German.

Check out Dallas’ Guide Spotlight on our blog!

Dallas Glass, hails from Seattle and has guided all over the world, from the summit of Everest in Nepal, Cho Oyu in Tibet to being a regular on Denali in Alaska and Rainier in Washington. He is an extremely qualified, tenured and popular guide with over a decade of big mountain experience. He is also the Deputy Director and Lead Forecaster for the Northwest Avalanche Centre.

Having graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Forest Resource Management, he moved west to pursue a master’s in Hydrology and Soil Physics at the University of Nevada. After completing his master’s degree, he began splitting his time working in Alaska as a wilderness ecologist, at Mt Rose Ski Tahoe as the avalanche forecaster and as an international mountain guide.

Dallas is extremely well certified with the following formal qualifications:

American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE)

• Level 1, 2006
• Level 2, 2008
• Level 3, 2012
• L1 Instructor Training Course, 2003
• L2 Instructor Training Course, 2012

American Avalanche Association, AVPRO, 2010

Emergency Medical

• Wilderness First Responder, 2006-present

American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA)

• Alpine Skills Course
• Ski Guide Course
• Single Pitch Instructor Course

Quique (pronounced Kee-Kay) hails from Argentina and is a true international guide. He is fully UIAGM-IFMGA certified since 2011 and holds his IRATA technician level 1 qualification.

Quique is currently the Director of the Argentine Association of Mountain Guides.

He has over 50x summits of Aconcagua from both the Normal Route and the Polish Glacier Routes. He has summited both Everest & Lhotse and guides all over the Seven Summits for CTSS. He is a crowd favorite and if you are lucky enough to climb with Quique you will know why. He is friendly, professional, calm and hugely competent.

Experienced expedition climbing guide & Uphill Athlete Mountaineering coach Mark Postle is an avid technical rock climber and mountaineer who thrives on ultra-endurance challenges.

He spent his teens as a competitive road cyclist in the farmlands of Ohio, racing to state championship podium finishes in both road and cyclocross disciplines as a Junior. Once his father introduced him to climbing, his love of cycling was quickly eclipsed, and he began spending more and more time on the sandstone cliffs of the Southeast.

After earning a B.S. degree in chemistry, Mark migrated out west to be closer to the mountains, where he pursued a career guiding and climbing.

He has led over 50 expeditions worldwide, including ascents of Denali, Aconcagua, Mount Vinson, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. He has tallied 150+ summits of the Grand Teton and numerous guided ascents of the Grand Traverse.

During the down time between guiding seasons, Mark turns to long-distance trail and mountain running to stay in top shape for expedition guiding. He has notched a sub-24-hour Leadville Trail 100 Run finish, done a full-moon R2R2R Grand Canyon double crossing, circumnavigated Mount Rainier via the Wonderland Trail, and run across the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the Appalachian Trail.

Now settled on the east side of the Sierra Mountains in Bishop, California, Mark splits his free time between coaching, training, doing home-improvement projects, and tending his bonsai tree.

A native of Washington State, USA, Aaron was introduced to the outdoors at an early age by his parents, who often took he and his sister skiing, backpacking, and boating.

He attended the University of Puget Sound, where he graduated with a degree in International Political Economy.

He has been a professional mountain guide for nearly a decade and in that time has guided over 100 trips to the summit of Mount Rainier, several trips to Alaska, Antarctica, South America, and the Himalaya, including Mount Everest.

He has a passion for ski mountaineering and has skied throughout Washington, Canada and Alaska, including first descents on Rainier, Shuksan, and Denali.

He is an IFMGA Certified Guide through the American Mountain Guides Association, holds an AIARE Level 3 Certification, is a Wilderness First Responder, AIARE Level 1 Instructor, and Leave No Trace Trainer.

Testimonials:

“Firstly, thanks for being such an amazing guide and genuinely kind person; your passion for the mountains and helping people achieve their goals is incredibly inspiring to watch. You have taught me not only about how to climb mountains but also how to push people beyond what they though was possible in a very positive environment.”

“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 Everest & Manaslu, and has guided our Aconcagua, Vinson, and Ecuador programs.

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 wood shop.

A Montanan, Josh spends much of the year working as a fly fishing and hunting guide when not leading climbers in the mountains. Josh has recently been specializing in our Aconcagua and Vinson programs and leads the annual Tiger of the Snows Fund charity climb to raise money for education for outdoor tourism workers and their families in under-served communities. Josh has worked as a lead guide on Mt Rainier for over 10 years where he has over 100 ascents.

Here are a few of Josh’s accomplishments:

• 103 Summits of Mount Rainier on the Kautz Glacier, Ingraham Glacier, Emmons Glacier and Liberty Ridge
• 8 Aconcagua expeditions
• Summited Vinson Massif in Antarctica
• 15 Ascents of Mount Adams with 5 of those summits being ski descents with clients via the Southwest Couloir
• 5 Ascents of Mount Shuksan via the Sulphide Glacier and Fisher Chimneys
• 6 Ascents of Mount Baker via the Easton Glacier, Coleman-Demming Glacier, and North Ridge
• 1 expedition to Denali
• Lead Instructor, Aerie Backcountry Medicine, Missoula, MT — 2008-Present
• Education Coordinator and Avalanche Forecaster, Missoula Avalanche Foundation, Missoula, MT — 2015-2018
• Colorado Mountain College, Emergency Medical Technician
• 2007 University of South Carolina, Bachelors of Political Science, 2005

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

Brenton Systermans is an expedition doctor and guide who loves nothing more than getting his clients up and down a mountain safely and with all their digits intact!

As a doctor, Brent has volunteered at the Himalayan Rescue Association’s famous high-altitude clinic, Everest ER, and the Pheriche Clinic. He’s had stints with the Australian Army and the Australian Antarctic Division as an ExMO (expedition medical officer) and currently works with Australia’s high-performance winter athletes at the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. He’s also involved in training the next generation of expedition medics as the Course Coordinator for the Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environments program at the University of Tasmania.

Having grown up in regional Victoria, he spent his youth trekking, climbing, and skiing in the Victorian High Country and Grampians National Park. Before commencing medical school, he worked as an Outdoor Instructor at Falls Creek Ski Resort.

Brent primarily practices medicine in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, at Thredbo, the trailhead for our Kosciuszko climbs. He has also worked as an expedition doctor and/or guide in Australia, Antarctica, Europe, Tanzania, Nepal, and China.

Brent loves exploring our fantastic planet and sharing his knowledge of mountain medicine.