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 during a webinar, 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 in 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.

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