About our adventure travel company…

Shannon Harris

For twenty-seven years I’ve guided small groups of hikers in the Alps on hundreds of trails through alpine meadows and glacier carved valleys and high up where there is almost no vegetation. Through the years there has been one constant with the groups something that must happen for me to consider it a successful trip – our guests have a fun time! I enjoy hiking with those who are just getting into hiking and enjoy doing 15 mile hikes with 4000 feet up and down. I enjoy helping people get to places that takes effort but is amazingly rewarding. I enjoy seeing the friendships made during the trip and the look on faces when they see the views. Each group is unique as is each hiker something that keeps us having fun year after year. I’m also thankful for all the people i’ve met over two decades. Hiking and traveling are what I enjoy and sharing it with others makes it even better!

Carrie Carlquist

Carrie is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, rock climbing, and skiing both inbounds and backcountry. She expresses her love for the mountains by: supporting conservation and preservation of natural lands for future generations, volunteering as a leader and/or instructor for organizations such as the Spokane Mountaineers, and engaging in friendships with others who share her enthusiasm. Carrie continually seeks to broaden her outdoor experience and knowledge base for the safety of her students, peers, hiking guests and friends. She is Wilderness First Aid-certified and has graduated from the Spokane Mountaineers backpacking, mountaineering, lead climbing, and high angle rescue courses.

John Wigington

Hiking and camping as a boy in the North Georgia mountains triggered his love of the out of doors and mountains.  So much so, that decades later, he did a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.  John has hiked in Alaska, the Northwest, the White Mountains and the Rockies, including a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail.  He has led hikes with his local hiking club in Tennessee and has hiked over 545 miles of the 900+ miles of trail in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  Abroad John has hiked in Patagonia and, with Alpine Adventure Trails Tours, in Switzerland, Italy, and Austria.   Each spring, he volunteers several weeks to help build the Cumberland Trail through Eastern Tennessee.  So, he has appreciation for what it takes to build trails and has great admiration for those who built the trails he has and will hike, particularly those in Europe.  He loves the challenge of hiking, the stunning scenery, and the comradery of hiking with like-minded folks.

Todd Case

Todd grew up in central California “The fruit basket of the world “. His family farmed in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Kings Canyon National Park, home of the Giant Sequoias. Growing up hard work and helping Nieghbor’s was a way of life. He spent his free time riding dirt bikes, bicycles, go carts and exploring the foothills and High Sierras.  His love for cycling grew as he managed a bike shop, began racing bikes and experiencing his first (and only) triathlon. Through his bike buddies he was invited on his first seven day Trans-Sierra backpack trip, this opened his eyes and mind to the beauty of the high Sierras. This trip has been annual highlight for him going on 30 years. He has participated in many group rides over the years including trips to The Tour de France, also Paris -Roubaix , The Tour of Flanders and several years raising funds and participating in The Ride for the Roses in Texas for cancer survivors. His bike adventures include mountain bike trips to Moab Utah, Sedona Arizona, Ensenada Mexico and California’s central coast.  Sharing his love of cycling and the outdoors is a big part of who he is, as he believes “ life is about what you can give and share with others “. He enjoys supporting Veterans groups in the area with bike rides and bbq’s. More recently he began an annual three day trip with disabled friends . The reward from these outings far outweighs the effort or as he likes to say “ the juice is worth the squeeze “. His life is a collection of these experiences, friendships and adventures as he will often say “ I just wanna ride bikes with you “.

Cristiano Berta

Cristiano grew up in a family of mountain guides with a long tradition of mountaineering. He comes from a little mountain town nestled somewhere in the Italian Alps close to the French border. The Alps are his natural environment, having hiked, mountaineered, skied and climbed since a tender age, and whenever he spends a few weeks away from the familiarity of his peaks, he begins to long for them. He is convinced that mountains are more than just elevations of the earth’s surface, and that hiking is more than a sport. He firmly believes that the combination of majestic mountain scenery and the act of hiking bring a sense of uplifting and self-awareness, contributing to personal growth.

He is very knowledgeable about the Western Alps, particularly about the lesser known regions of Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. In recent years he has started exploring new mountain ranges across Europe, namely the High Tatras in Poland and the Transylvanian Alps in Romania, where he went through some memorable experiences, such as encountering brown bears or being caught in a snowstorm in the middle of the summer.

He enjoys the company of others, and is always happy to share some of his personal stories and knowledge of the Alps.

Lynne Laflamme

Lynne is an outdoor enthusiast and adventurist. She leads an active lifestyle embracing all seasons. In addition to day hiking and backpacking trips, she enjoys sailing, multi day sea kayak trips, road and mountain biking, Nordic, alpine and back country skiing. Having spent time in various mountain chains including the Atlas, the Alps, the Pyrenees & the Canadian Rockies, she has acquired a deep appreciation for the humbling nature of the mountains, and their inspiring energy. She enjoys organizing excursions and sharing with others the privilege of the uphill experience. She is bilingual, and has a healthcare background which includes Wilderness Advanced First Aid. She also has Avalanche skills (AST) and Crevasse Rescue training, and puts safety at the forefront of every adventure. Another skill she has is a sunny personality that brings brightness to all her hikes.

Daniela Höfers

Daniela was born in the plain lands of Northern Germany. It wasn´t until she tried her first hiking adventures in the Dolomites that she completely fell in love with the high mountains. Daniela feels a deep connection with the South American continent and culture. This love has driven her to make several mountaineering trips to the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, among other Latin American countries. Daniela is fluent in Spanish and English as if they were her mother tongue.

In 2020, she immigrated to Mendoza, Argentina pulled by the magnetism of South America ‘s highest summit, the Aconcagua. Between high mountains and sunny vineyards, she graduated as a Trekking Guide, and has taken additional mountaineering courses that complement her technical abilities in rock, snow and ice environments. She is also a certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR).

The most wonderful thing about being a guide in Argentina, is the ability of safely giving access to impressive landscapes and sceneries to people who might otherwise not get to know them. People can live a wilder trekking experience, compared to the same activities in Europe, following tried and true procedures that work in Latin American.

In her private sport expeditions she enjoys the hidden peaks of the Andes, where silence reigns over everything. She also enjoys technical climbs in the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes as well as skiing and ice climbing. And when she is not in the mountains, you can most likely find her at the gym.

Gastón Rizzi

Gastón was born and raised in Mendoza, Argentina. He first graduated as a Translator of English-Spanish and began working in the tourism area of the wineries of Mendoza. His passion for trekking came to life organizing day trips with his friends to the local mountain ranges on weekends. When walking the mountain, he privileges sharing with others and taking it calm because, as people say in Mendoza, “ the mountains will always be there” so there’s no need to rush. Each trip is crowned at the end either with a visit to a local mountain bar or an “Asado” (argentinian barbecue).

Gastón started taking the Trekking Guide training two years ago, to be able to share his love for the outdoors with even more people.

Gastón is very caring and brings a genuine interest in the wellbeing of others. Before you know you need something, he will probably have it ready for you.