Caitlin Palmer

Co-Founder, Manager, Guide


Caitlin is the one of the founding and managing members of AMS. She has been guiding and teaching in the mountains since 1991 and has climbed in 17 high-altitude expeditions in Alaska, Argentina, Peru, and Tanzania. Her first Denali expedition was in 1994 with a small team of women climbers called “Babes for Boobs,” who raised money for Alaskan breast cancer survivors. During that expedition, she spent 35 days on the mountain, climbed Denali’s north and south summits, and was hired by NPS mountaineering rangers to help rescue distressed climbers. She has been seen climbing on television and she teaches, guides, and manages the AMS headquarters and oversees field operations. She also lectures, writes, and illustrates on the subject of climbing in Alaska. Caitlin studied wilderness leadership at Prescott College and fine arts at the University of Alaska Anchorage. and studied avalanche forecasting with the legendary Jerry Roberts in Red Mountain Pass, CO. While working at AMS she balances motherhood, trail running, horseback riding, gardening, skiing, and international travel. She is an active advocate of arts education in public schools and lives in Talkeetna with her husband, Colby Coombs, and their daughter.

  • Hometown: Kennebunk, Maine 
  • Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Trainer; certified in NRA Shotgun Safety 
  • Helicopter Training: LAMA short haul rescue techniques, Bell 212, Bell 6, Jet Ranger, Pavehawk 
  • Climbed throughout the Alaska Range, US, Argentina, Peru, Tanzania, South Africa 
  • Contributor and Illustrator for Denali Mountaineering guidebooks 
  • Loves stormy weather