Albert was a great man. He was loved by so many people (and animals). He was always very genuine and looked out for others. Albert started at SYMG as a seasonal guide intern and worked his way up to a full time year round position as our General Manager. Albert was a great listener, great climber and a real professional. Albert always volunteered to cook, clean, organize and help other's get their jobs done when they needed a little extra help. Albert also mentored the new guides and was instrumental in our successful internship program. Beyond the business relationship, Albert was a great friend and I could always count on him. He was close to my family: Julia, my wife, as well as Olivia, 11 and Anna, 8. He also was close to his family and always spoke fondly of them. Albert was a tremendous athlete and rock climber and ran our rock climbing department. He conducted all of the guide's trainings. Albert also served as the Professional Climbing Guides Institute's first president and helped create the standards used today to insure that aspiring guides have safe, affordable training. In addition to working hard Albert also played hard. On his days off he was always found climbing throughout the West and seeing live music, two of his favorite things to do. In the off-season, he was always traveling internationally to climb. Thailand was his favorite. I miss Albert a lot and there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought of him. I know I speak for everyone around here, when I say, "we miss you man!" Sincerely, Ian

I can still remember the day that SYMG was formed. We signed a napkin, had a drink, and toasted the passion and desires that years in the mountains had nurtured within us. And so it is nearly 2 decades later, each of us in different places in life, but similar to the tributaries of a mountain stream, we flow together in what we call Southern Yosemite Mountain Guides. None of us could have predicted our good fortune or our paths as we struggled through the early years of tight living quarters and eating quesadillas three times a day. I miss those early years because life was so much simpler to me then. My life consisted of throwing on a backpack for ten days at a time and sharing the most beautiful mountain range on earth with truly wonderful people. I can still see the smiles, feel the high fives, and remember the glow on faces around the fire. Life altering experiences are etched deep in my soul as I now wake up and sit at a desk on more days than I care to admit. I take comfort in knowing that my favorite spot with the waterfall coming out of the lake is still going to be there. Sometimes when I really need a good memory, I close my eyes and remember a friend and client sitting in an open meadow, butterflies fluttering around, and tears streaming down his cheek. I remember him saying to me, "I am crying because I didn't think today could be more beautiful than yesterday. The Sierra Nevada is the greatest gift I have given to myself." I have to agree and I think you will too. Though now residing in San Francisco, Dan currently is one of the founders of the re-made historic Evergreen Lodge in Western Yosemite.

An international legend and Yosemite climbing pioneer, Doug is one the countries first Certified Rock and Alpine Guides of the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and served as the Association's first president. Doug was dubbed "The father of Clean Climbing," by Climbing Magazine for his 1973 first clean ascent of the NW Face of Half Dome, which was chronicled in National Geographic, June 1974. The climb changed the face of the sport as we know it today. After 45 years, Doug has amassed dozens of first ascents on ice, rock, and alpine terrain. Doug cut his teeth on Yosemite granite during the Valley's Golden Age in the sixties, a time when all the climbers in Yosemite could fit around one campfire. Doug made the first ascent on Dark Star on Temple Crag, the longest alpine rock climb in the Sierra. As well, his first ice ascents of the V-Notch and Lee Vining Icefall with Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and his first ascent of Ice Nine, the hardest alpine ice climb in California all still stand as Sierra classics. His second ascent of Ama Dablam (22,495') in Nepal, 1979, was filmed for ABC Sports. His love of Ski Mountaineering led to the first continuous ski traverse on the John Muir Trail, 250 miles, in 1970 as well as the first telemark ski descent of Mt. Rainier 1980. When not climbing or skiing Doug is writing. "John Muir meets Jack Kerouac"-is how William Broyles, Jr. (who wrote the screenplays for Apollo 13 and Cast Away), summed up Doug's book, "A Night on the Ground, A Day in the Open" (1996). Doug is still leading first ascents in the Sierra and we look forward to having you come and join us for a unique adventure with one of the world's mountaineering legends.

Simply put, I still love to guide! Spending over 25 years as a guide has been the best way to spend my life. I love the beautiful places we go, sure, but it’s the great people we share those with that make the lifestyle so rewarding. I have walked the entire John Muir Trail with you, climbed in the Peruvian Andes with you, scaled the Mexican Volcanoes with you, mountaineering in Argentina, rafting and kayaking Costa Rica, Fly fishing in Montana and Utah, and of course thousands of hiking days in our backyard of Yosemite and California’s High Sierra! I enjoy giving back to the community by offering trips and programs for charities and school groups. I enjoy the challenge of the logistics of having dozens of trips out in the backcountry (sometimes hundreds of people across the Sierra) all at the same time. I find great pleasure continuing to fulfill SYMG’s mission statement on a daily basis including providing fulfilling employment and lifestyle for all of the guides and aspiring guides in our organization. Someone recently asked me, “still doing that camping thing?” I smiled and proudly said “ Yep, still doing the camping thing…”

I have probably spent more of my life outdoors than indoors. Growing up in the Bay Area, I explored the local mountains, gaining an early appreciation for time outside. My love of the wilderness began as an undergraduate at CSU Monterey Bay, where I volunteered with the Ventana Wilderness Alliance clearing brush and doing trail maintenance in the backcountry of Big Sur. Eventually, I made my way to the Sierra Nevada, leading trips with Outward Bound, Yosemite Institute, and other organizations, earning a Master's in Environmental Studies at Prescott College along the way. After a five year stint in Chile climbing and backpacking extensively in the Andes, I finally followed my heart back home, and am excited to be leading a team of wilderness professionals in my favorite place on earth. In my free time I enjoy music, chess, gardening, reading, writing, and continuing to explore the granite wonderland that is the Sierra Nevada.

In the summer of 1983, my eyes opened to the southern Yosemite area.When I was younger, I had hiked, fished & camped with my family in Yosemite and many other national parks, but it was that visit to southern Yosemite in 1983, as a young adult that was to guide my career and lifestyle. I love what I do; today, and just as I did the day I wrote the SYMG mission statement in 1991. The mission statement reads, "SYMG is devoted to creating and operating the highest quality adventure travel trips available while at the same time providing a place of employment based upon shared dreams, fulfilling work, community, and a lifestyle of living and working where each's passion for wilderness adventure is also one's work." On this page you'll see the perspectives of each of the our directors, and how what we all believe relates to our companies mission. On the Featured Guides page, you can read about some of our guides, what wilderness and guiding means to them, and what experiences have brought them here. All of the words, thoughts, memories, experiences and goals touch upon one thing; one thread that runs through all of us at SYMG. We love the mountains. and we find great joy in sharing the mountains with others. Mike has recently retired from SYMG and the guiding industry but continues his mountain lifestyle as the owner of The HUB Mountain House in McCall, Idaho.

Growing up in Manhattan Beach, Southern California, I developed a passion for the outdoors from a young age, spending my time swimming, surfing, skiing, and fishing. My love for adventure led me to train in the LA County Fire Department Lifeguard Academy, where I competed in long-distance rescue paddle competitions before moving to Santa Barbara to pursue my professional career. My diverse background spans high-end hospitality, event operations, and founding The Venture Fellowship, a nonprofit organization for adventurous teens in Southern California. I studied hospitality management at the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, which has given me a solid foundation in managing complex operations and managerial accounting. Grateful to work with my amazing team at SYMG- they make this beautiful place extremely special!