The military brought Ben to Alaska, where he was stationed in Fairbanks. After serving, Ben transitioned to mountaineering and alpine climbing to pursue mountain guiding as a career. A lifelong skier and avid rock and ice climber, he joined AMS in 2021 and is a guide on Denali and an instructor for a wide variety of our mountaineering courses. Ben lives in Bird, Alaska, and his lifestyle revolves around mountain activities, specifically in Alaska. He finds significant meaning and purpose in the mountains and takes pride in sharing the mountain experience with others. Climbers remark that they appreciate Ben’s approachability and technical competence. His quiet leadership and climbing prowess are an asset to any team he joins.

Hailing from “My Old Kentucky Home” and residing in Lexington, Nickel lives with his wife and partner, Cara, and their two kids…a chocolate lab named Rubye and a tortoiseshell cat named Miriam (Midge). Nick says: Guiding found me in 2007 with a job in Skagway, AK, and since then, it has taken me to the top of four continents (North and South America, Africa, and Antarctica multiple times for each of those). I’ve also guided extensively on Mt. Rainier and in the North Cascades, and I spend time each year in the Tetons and New England. I love climbing ice and x-country skiing, and when I’m not working, I love listening to audiobooks and training with kettlebells or practicing yoga and tai chi.

Ben comes to AMS from Salt Lake City, Utah. His childhood in Lake Tahoe fostered a deep love for mountains and led him to a guiding career. His climbing and guiding pursuits have led him to Denali, Nepal, Chamonix, the Peruvian Andes, the Canadian Rockies, and trips throughout the Western USA. When not guiding for AMS in the summer, Ben climbs in the Tetons. Ben has also traveled to the Alaskan Arctic, Mongolia, Andes, and Himalaya for videography and photography.

Tad McCrea is an experienced mountain guide, passionate climber, and creative soul with a deep love for the alpine. With over a decade of guiding experience in some of the world’s most iconic ranges—including the Alaska Range, the Andes, the Cascades, and the Sierra Nevada—Tad brings both technical expertise and an infectious enthusiasm to every expedition.

A dedicated Denali guide since 2012, Tad has built his career around high-altitude adventure. Tad’s journey into the mountains began early—backpacking and scrambling in California’s Sierra Nevada and climbing Mount Rainier at just 15 years old. He later earned a degree in Geography from the University of Washington, further grounding his connection to the natural world.

Driven by a deep passion for the alpine and a calm, confident leadership style, Tad helps climbers of all levels find challenge, growth, and joy in the high places of the world.

Beyond guiding, Tad is a freelance photographer, skier, and musician who enjoys capturing the raw beauty of the mountains and sharing it with others. When not on the move, he can be found boating, fly fishing, or enjoying good company and good music with friends.

Born and raised in Wyoming, Tate has enjoyed access and adventures in mountains all his life. His guiding career began in college, where he led trips for Utah State University’s Outdoor Program while completing a degree in Journalism and a minor in Outdoor Adventure Leadership. Along with his guiding experience, Tate has worked for the US Forest Service, helping maintain the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the National Park Service as a volunteer Ranger on patrol on Denali. When not guiding, you can often find Tate skiing, rock climbing, ice climbing, kayaking, writing, or capturing his next peak ascent with a camera.

Kirby is a lifelong Alaskan who makes his home in Eagle River, Alaska. His climbing career began at age 9, rock and ice climbing along the Seward Highway outside of Anchorage. He spent 26 years teaching outdoor recreational skills and high school physical education in Eagle River. As a guide for AMS since 2003, Kirby leads Denali expeditions and teaches mountaineering courses. He has also been a National Park Service volunteer mountaineering ranger doing patrols on the West Buttress. Kirby has spent more time snowshoeing in the Alaska Range than he cares to admit, but became a backcountry skier in 2015. In his retirement, he spends time at the Alaska Rock Gym on rainy days and takes former students ice climbing.

Nicolas Bakken-French is an avid environmentalist who is most content in the fresh air and motivated by the humbling beauty of Mother Nature in all her forms, but especially in ice! His work and education have taken him from the glaciers of Iceland to the now-gone glacier of the Trinity Alps in California. In addition to studying glaciers he is a ski patroller and has guided throughout Alaska. And, he is also a professional photographer but says, “Glaciers are truly the greatest artists of the natural world.”

Emma is originally from California and comes to AMS from Oregon. Her love of backcountry skiing and mountaineering began after working a season in Alta, UT and it has been uphill (and then downhill) ever since. She has pursued skiing and climbing in Canada, Japan, Utah, California, Alaska, and across the Pacific Northwest. In her free time, you can find her poring over maps to plan ski mountaineering objectives, doing pottery, sewing ski packs, and mountain biking.

An avid splitboarder, Meredith began her mountaineering career looking for the best line down the mountain. After leaving her first career as a Coast Guard Officer behind her, she began teaching for NOLS as a ountaineering and backcountry skiing instructor in Alaska and the Tetons. She taught Avalanche courses in Montana and Alaska before joining AMS in 2022 as a Denali expedition guide. When not guiding in Alaska, Meredith lives in California where she is a massage therapist and water sports enthusiast.

A lifelong Alaskan, Hannah was born and raised in Seward: the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. A Stanford graduate, Hannah organized and led educational multi-day trips while completing a BS in Atmosphere/Energy Engineering and an MS in Environmental Science. She has worked as a Backcountry National Park Ranger, Ski patroller, Search and Rescue member, and Biological Aid for expeditions in Northwestern Alaska, Antarctica, and Switzerland. Hannah joined the AMS team in 2021. For the school, she primarily guides high-altitude expeditions and teaches mountaineering courses. Hannah first summited Denali at the age of 15 with her father.

Coming to Alaska by way of the Army, Chelsey fell in love with our state’s endless opportunities for adventure and began guiding for AMS in 2018. She is originally from northern New Hampshire, where she first cultivated her backpacking, skiing, and climbing skills. Since moving to Alaska and leaving the military, Chelsey has logged countless weeks exploring the Alaska, Brooks, and Chugach Ranges via skis, packraft, and on foot. Chelsey lives full-time in Alaska, and when not in the mountains she can be found fishing, mountain biking, speedflying, and working as a freelance writer.

Blaine has been guiding and teaching in the Alaska Range since 1989 and working with AMS since 1996. He was born and raised in Alaska and enjoys sharing this beautiful landscape with others. Blaine teaches and speaks at the AMS yearly staff training on such topics as guide professionalism and the physics of climbing systems, and he leads AMS custom courses. The depth of his climbing and guiding experience combined with his easygoing personality give Blaine the unique qualities it takes to be a life-long mountain guide. Besides summiting Denali 12 times, he has climbed hundreds of peaks in other mountains in Alaska and Canada, including Mt. Blackburn, Marcus Baker, Mt. Logan, King Peak, and Mt. Sanford.

His travels have taken him to Yosemite, Ecuador, Mexico, and Argentina. Blaine is also busy as a carpenter, and as a poet. Blaine is the AMS resident engineer, scientist (mad), and mathematician, to name just a few. Blaine is an instructor and board member at Alaska Avalanche School and is certified as Wilderness First Responder and Leave No Trace Trainer.

He has been an instructor with Rigging For Rescue and is keeping very busy in his retirement from his work with the Alaska State Parks. He lives with his wife at the end of the road in Eagle River, Alaska.

Born and raised in southwestern Colorado, Alma grew up skiing, climbing, and playing in the San Juan backcountry. Support from a vibrant mountain community inspired her enthusiasm for pursuing the outdoors however she could. A jack-of-all-trades and thrift shop enthusiast, “ultralight” is not a word in her vocabulary. Alma was introduced to ski mountaineering and winter alpine climbing in the rugged southwestern United States, whose landscapes provided a great training ground for climbing in the larger ranges of the world. She spent significant time in the higher grounds of the Weminuche Wilderness, Cordillera Blanca, Peru, Torres del Paine, Patagonia, and the Alaska Range. Alma’s love of winter sports and sharing the outdoors led her to begin ski instructing for Telluride Ski School at the age of 16. Alma graduated with a degree in Recreation and Outdoor Education from Western State Colorado University, where she was a student ice climbing and backcountry skiing instructor. Fueled by big-mountain dreams, she came to Alaska in 2015. Alma currently lives in Ouray, Colorado and began working with AMS in 2018.

Dan is an IFMGA/UIAGM certified mountain guide with experience all around the globe. Skiing is Dan’s greatest passion, but he greatly enjoys all aspects of mountain travel. He especially loves any opportunity to combine climbing and skiing into one grand adventure.

Dan’s career began in New England, working for the US Forest Service as a backcountry ranger and guiding for the International Mountain Climbing School. In 2007 he headed west to guide on Denali for Alaska Mountaineering School and to work for Exum Mountain Guides in the Tetons. Currently a senior guide at Exum, he continues to lead trips for AMS and has also spent time heli-ski guiding for Valdez Heli-Ski Guides, Tordrillo North, Powder South, and the Eleven Experience. He also works for the American Avalanche Institute, teaching avalanche courses around the Northern Rockies. From 2015-2017 Dan took a break from full-time guiding and worked as a climbing ranger on Denali for the National Park Service patrolling the highest peak in North America and doing high altitude rescue work.

Some of Dan’s accomplishments include having received the Hans Saari Exploration Grant for an early attempt to ski the South Face of Denali; the first descent of the South Face of Mt. Moran; skiing multiple routes off the Grand Teton; climbing the first ascent of the Intimidating Bicycle Ride (NEI5+) on Cathedral Ledge; and a free ascent of the Rainbow Wall (V 5.12) in Red Rocks. Mountaineering ascents in the Himalaya and Alaska round out his experience. Dan also received a valor award from the US Government for work on a significant rescue in the Tetons in 2010.

Dan is always psyched to spend time in the mountains, helping you learn and guiding you to achieve your climbing and skiing goals.

Pat started working with AMS in 2007 and leads Denali expeditions and technical climbs. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Pat attended the University of Washington, where he was a member of the UW’s 1997 national champion crew team. Pat grew up skiing, climbing, and hiking in the Cascades. He started mountain guiding in 2000 and became a full-time guide in 2004. When not working with AMS in Alaska, Pat guides in Colorado and in Wyoming’s Teton Mountains. Pat spends time climbing and skiing, with some guitar thrown in to mix it up. He calls Ouray, Colorado, his home where he lives with his wife, Dawn, who is also a professional mountain guide and climber.

Our AMS admissions manager since 2011, Bobbi moved from western Pennsylvania to Trapper Creek, Alaska with her husband Paul in 2010. She retired a from Merrill Lynch, where she worked for 23 years as a senior registered client associate. Not the type who likes to sit at home, Bobbi was hired only a few months after moving to Alaska to be part of the office team. She loves her job and all that is involved with a growing small business, the mountains, and the climber’s life. Bobbi brings a high level of organization, efficiency, and professionalism to the team at AMS headquarters. In her off time, she gets out to explore the wilds of her backyard and the Alaska State Parks and spends time with her family. She is also a highly valued member of the pet-sitting team at AMS.

A part of the AMS family since 2001, Rob is one of AMS’s fundamental guides who handles our toughest guiding and teaching assignments. He has been a full-time climber and backcountry skier since 1989, and a professional mountain guide since 1995. Rob is highly organized; he was our field staff and operations manager from 2005 to 2012. He can also be found working in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Moab, Utah, teaching rock climbing, ice climbing, and avalanche courses. He is a backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering guide and has led successful expeditions, both skiing and climbing, in Alaska, Ecuador, Peru, and Patagonia, where he climbed Fitzroy in 2001. He has worked as a snow safety/avalanche forecasting and high-angle rescue for the World Free Skiing Championships in Valdez, Alaska. A Spanish speaker, Rob has led over 15 expeditions to Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America. He is often in far-off lands, flying in his paraglider, piloting his drone, or surfing. Rob draws on his extensive expertise to work for film production companies filming and managing a myriad of risks in remote wilderness locations across the planet. He writes, “I love AMS and feel extremely privileged to work for the best.”

Curtis has been working with AMS since 2014 and guides on Denali, teaches courses, and leads technical climbs and film production assignments. He began guiding in 1980, working with Northwest Outward Bound School in the North Cascade. He also spent three years working in the backcountry of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness for the Forest Service. Climbing since he was in his teens allowed for quick growth into bigger climbs within the North Cascades and along the West Coast of the US, from Joshua Tree in winter to the Sierras in summer. Over the years, Curtis has accomplished many free climbs and walls in Yosemite, on the south face of Argentina’s Aconcagua, and on Mount Cook in New Zealand. Curtis has worked on a variety of projects, including a longtime Grand Canyon raft guide, construction, start-up companies, and as a remote field safety manger in Oman. When climbing with Curtis, people draw from his quiet confidence, strength, and extraordinary depth of mountain knowledge.