A long-time AMS guide and instructor, Greg has been with the school since 2005. A seasoned Denali and Aconcagua guide, Greg currently instructs mountaineering and wilderness courses and workshops for AMS. He has also assisted on film production assignments for the school. Greg lives in a remote cabin near McCarthy, Alaska, where he is the Search and Rescue Team Leader for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Greg has worked multiple seasons for the National Science Foundation as a safety guide and instructor for scientists in Antarctica. Previously, he was a ski patroller at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. When not guiding or instructing around the world, Greg is hard at work on his two cabins in the McCarthy area.

Lexie brings a wealth of technical climbing and enthusiasm to AMS expedition and courses. A climber since 2011, she has climbed in Utah, Wyoming, Alaska, and works in Talkeetna and Valdez, Alaska and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She lives in Wilson, Wyoming, and her previous work in the outdoor industry as climbing equipment manager and remote hotel manager is a solid foundation to her guiding career. A natural athlete, Lexie backcountry skis extensively in Valdez’s Thompson Pass and the Tetons. She is known for her positive attitude and unrelenting motivation for climbing and mountain travel. She knows how to decorate a cake like a boss and you might even get to hear her play the flute!

Mark is a core AMS guide and has been working with AMS since 2006. He leads our Denali expeditions, teaches custom mountaineering courses, and works on film production assignments. A climber since the late 1980s, Mark has been instructing and guiding mountaineering since 1994. Based in California, he splits his guiding year between Argentina, Alaska, and as lead guide and staffing manager at Jackson Hole Mountain Guides in Wyoming. Between those jobs, he is an international adventure traveler and photographer. He has climbed and guided in Antarctica (Mt. Vinson), the European Alps, and the Himalaya Range, ascending both Lhotse (8,516 m) and Ama Dablam (6,812 m) in Nepal. An avid technical climber, Mark has climbed over fifty 5.13s, including the Smith Rock test piece, White Wedding (5.14a). We are proud to say that Mark is a regular here at the AMS compound. What he loves the most about guiding on Denali is showing people from all walks of life the skills they need to succeed in the sometimes-harsh mountain environment.

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.

A year-round mountain professional from Madison, Wisconsin, Nate began working with AMS in 2014, guiding custom and scheduled Denali expeditions and teaching Alaska Range mountaineering courses. Nate’s guiding career started in 2004, and he has been climbing since 1994. Nate is based in Boulder and Aspen, Colorado, and when not in Alaska, he mainly guides in Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, and Las Vegas’s Red Rocks and internationally on Argentina’s Aconcagua. Come winter, he works as a Diamond Ski Pro and resort trainer at Aspen Highland. He holds a strong commitment to training, from which he has been able to climb 5.13; win a 100-mile ultramarathon; and ascended Aconcagua’s Polish Direct in a week without mules. Most of his best outdoor days are spent with his son, fishing, skiing, or climbing.

Originally from New Jersey, Laura has lived in Talkeetna since 1996. She has managed admissions for AMS periodically since 2010. Having participated in most of our mountaineering programs and expeditions, Laura has first-hand answers to participants’ questions and emails. She is chief motivator for “skiing lunch breaks” and guardian angel of all pets here at AMS. She works hard keeping up with all the paperwork for courses, expeditions, and workshops. In the summer Laura works as an interpretive park ranger in Denali National Park and lectures on the topic of climbing Denali, and she is a certified Wilderness First Responder and Leave No Trace Trainer. Laura enjoys skiing and exploring the entire state of Alaska by ski “joring” (skiing with her husky dog team as they pull a sled loaded with gear). She also continually works on her cabin and enjoys an active life in a small northern Alaskan town.

Bace has been working with AMS since 2013 and guides our Denali expeditions, mountaineering and wilderness courses and skills-intensive workshops, and works on film production assignments. Bace grew up with Wisconsin winters, enjoying adventure racing, Nordic skiing, and trail running. In 2010 he began his climbing career in Alaska’s Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains. Bace is about the most easygoing and happy person you will meet––combined with mental and physical strength, this makes him a great person to have on your side in the mountains. His persistence and work ethic is evident in his other life’s work as an Alaskan commercial fisherman.

A truly global explorer, Adam has been a guide with AMS since 2012. He regularly leads Denali expeditions and teaches mountaineering courses for the school. His enthusiasm for and dedication to outdoor education is evidenced not only by his work at AMS but also through guiding for Exum Mountain Guides in Grand Teton National Park and teaching for the American Avalanche Institute. A passionate skier, he accomplished the first ski descent of Denali’s West Rib (2013) and has also amassed an impressive resume of first ski descents on other big mountains in the Western United States, Canada, New Zealand, Antarctica, Chile, and Argentina. Along with these accomplishments, Adam has completed both the Teton Cathedral Traverse and the Rocky Mountain Glacier Gorge Traverse.

Andy is an emergency room physician at Providence Hospital in Anchorage and an important member of our medical consultant team. With a long history of guiding and wilderness travel, Dr. Elsberg has a unique perspective on wilderness medicine and extreme-cold, high-altitude medicine. Andy began teaching mountaineering and skiing courses in Wyoming for NOLS in 1990. He first came to Alaska to climb the north and south summits of Denali in 1993 and the following year instructed the 30-day mountaineering courses for NOLS in the Chugach and Alaska Ranges. From 1997 to 2002, Andy taught courses for AMS and guided Denali expeditions for Alaska Denali Guiding and NOLS. He has led river and hiking trips in the Brooks Range for Arctic Wild. For many years he lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, where he trained and raced sled dogs in mid- and long-distance races including the Copper Basin, Percy de Wolfe, and in 2003, the Yukon Quest. Andy now lives in Anchorage and is married with two children; the whole family are avid skiers.

Brian co-founded Alaska Denali Guiding (ADG) in 1983 and directed the company until 2001, when the company merged with Alaska Mountaineering School, LLC. From 1983 to 2000 Brian oversaw more than 60 expeditions to Denali. He continues to be a mentor for AMS guides and serves as a lecturer and resource for a broad range of topics concerning the Alaska Range. For over three decades, he has climbed and guided around the world and throughout Alaska. His favorite stomping grounds are near his home in Talkeetna, where he has traveled many miles by foot, ski, and dog sled exploring Alaska’s backyard. Brian’s name is referenced in nearly every Alaskan climbing guidebook, with numerous first ascents to his credit. Renowned Denali climber and photographer Bradford Washburn said it best: “Brian has as much or more history in the Alaska Range and Alaskan mountains than anyone.” He is known for his annual dog sled explorations in Alaska’s Brooks Range and his photographs, which can be seen and purchased at the AMS Mountain Shop in Talkeetna.

Diane co-founded Alaska Denali Guiding (ADG) in 1983, directing the company until 2001 and overseeing more than 60 expeditions and hundreds of climbers to Denali and the Alaska Range. Her responsibilities ranged from managing the busy office to purchasing provisions to guiding yearly Denali expeditions and backpacking trips into the remote Brooks Range. Diane and Brian sold the company in 2001 to Colby Coombs and Caitlin Palmer, who had started Alaska Mountaineering School. The two companies merged, eventually becoming Alaska Mountaineering School, LLC. Diane’s love of Alaska’s wilderness and wildlife, combined with her background in natural history, makes her an asset on any backcountry expedition. She is also known for her annual Brooks Range dog sled explorations. After mountain guiding life Diane has spent summers working for Alaska Fish and Game, contributing data for scientific research on walruses on Round Island in northern Bristol Bay and hiking extensively in Europe. She lives in Talkeetna, and continues to be a source of inspiration to AMS mountain guides and instructors for her knowledge of client care, wilderness travel, and remote Alaskan locations.

Wes has a deep affinity for high and wild places, and his experiences and skills are varied and global in scope. A professional mountain guide since 1993, Wes began at AMS in 2013. He’s skied and climbed all over the world, but says Alaska is his favorite—especially Denali. He brings a lifetime of experience and a broad mountain sense to the expeditions and courses he leads, sharing it all with a joyful and clear communication style. When Wes isn’t skiing or climbing in faraway places, you can usually find him in Jackson, Wyoming, riding his bike on a remote dirt path or sitting in front of a coffee shop with human and canine friends.

In 1996, Colby co-founded AMS with Caitlin Palmer and the help of many friends. In 1985, at age 18, he climbed Denali with legendary guide Brian Okonek. It was this epic climb with storms, rescues, and an unlikely summit day that has led to over 40 expeditions and counting. A past NOLS instructor for 10 years and AMGA board member, Coombs roots are grounded in outdoor education and guiding. Coombs is an active board member of The Ritt Kellogg Fund at Colorado College, which gives grants to wilderness expeditions. He co-authored Denali: A Climber’s Guide with Dr. Bradford Washburn and Alaska: A Climber’s Guide with his climbing partner, Mike Wood. Colby went to university in England where he climbed in Scotland, Wales, and France.  He currently volunteers on NPS Denali patrols and specializes in programs for active-duty and wounded veterans.