With his permanent smile and unbridled enthusiasm for the Wrangells (and the outdoors in general), it’s no wonder that Ryan is one of the most “gushed” about guides on staff. On any given week during the season, we get several Trip Advisor reviews about “Canadian Ryan” from happy glacier hikers and ice climbers. And yes, he actually is Canadian, meaning he’s great with his metric conversions, and is just as comfortable on a pair of ice hockey skates as he is with crampons. Not too bad, eh?
Ryan’s favorite trips to lead are ice climbing seminars on the Root Glacier, where he gets to teach proper technique and get folks out of their comfort zone, lowering them down into a thundering moulin to climb out. And with that friendly smile encouraging you from the top, you’ll be sure to climb out strong. When he’s not out guiding, he covers as much ground in the Wrangells as he can, hiking and climbing his way through the local mountains on his days off. He also spends a lot of time practicing and perfecting his ropework and haul systems for ice climbing and glacier travel.
In the winters, Ryan has been guiding snowcat backcountry skiing trips in British Columbia and completing multi-day mountain range ski traverses on his days off. So whatever he’s doing, he’s certainly not sitting still. We’re glad to have Ryan back for another year in the Wrangells, and know you will too!
