Sawback Alpine Adventures

Mountaineering and Adventuring since 1995

Trips offered

Rock and ice climbing (easy intro routes to high-end technical climbing)

Ski touring (single day, multi-day, hut and tent-based expeditions)

Instruction (rock and ice, glacier travel, rock rescue, climbing technique)

Mountain hiking (single and multi-day)

Helicopter-accessed climbing and skiing

All guides are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and operate within their terrain guidelines with current permits and insurance.

History

We started operations in 1995, running mountain hiking trips for groups. Since then we have expanded our programming to offer just about any mountaineering adventure you could imagine.

Sawback was founded by Tom Wolfe, who is an ACMG Mountain Guide and member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA).

What is an IFMGA Mountain Guide?

Here's a quote from the IFMGA's website (see the IFMGA's website for more information):

"Highly competent guides with a high level of training, the highest in existence, is required in four different disciplines in order to become a certified IFMGA mountain guide: rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering and ski mountaineering. IFMGA training gives a guide the ability to work on any mountain range whether they already know the mountain or not. It takes five to 10 years to become a mountain guide, from the moment they start serious mountaineering to the moment when they receive their guide diploma.

"Experience shows that the harmonious development in mountain guide activity, necessary for the safety of the public, is favoured by a legal status or strict regulations. Indeed, to obtain a valid IFMGA diploma requires a very long and very intensive investment on the part of the guide. Inversely, in the absence of rigorous guidelines, few guides put themselves through sufficiently high enough levels of training, giving the entire profession a confused image which does not bode well for the development of the profession or for the question of security. It is therefore sometimes difficult for the public to distinguish between the highly competent IFMGA guides and the lesser competent guides who have little or no qualifications."

How can I book a trip?

Email us or phone us to enquire about a trip you'd like to do. We'll offer suggestions and find you a guide for the days you're interested in.

Are you a Guide's Service?

In other words, are we a middle man taking a cut from a guide's daily wage? No. First and foremost Sawback is a small one-man operation. While there are guides who work with large operations in Western Canada there is also a small, co-operative community of independent guides who pass work they can't do on to others who can. If Tom can't join you in your mountain adventure we will find another independent mountain guide who is available, with no "finder's fee" whatsoever.