OUR GUIDES

We are a group of dedicated, well-trained and qualified, local professionals. Everyone listed here has a passion for the mountains and the deepest commitment to safety and enjoyment on every SMG program. Each is AMGA trained and/or certified to guide within the terrain they work, and each has the technical expertise to deliver you the highest quality experiences we can dream up. We know that you will enjoy your experiences with all of these fine professionals, and we hope to create long-lasting friendships with all of you. Let's go to the mountains!   - The guides of SMG

 

Neil Satterfield

SMG Lead Guide & Owner

UIAGM/IFMGA Ski & Mountain Guide

    
Neil is a second generation mountain guide. Born in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Neil began climbing when he was six years old. A 20 year+ resident of the Eastern Sierra, Neil enjoys the close proximity to backcountry skiing, rock climbing and alpine peaks. "After guiding and climbing in many different countries I am still in awe of how cool the East Side is. I still have more than a lifetime worth of climbing to do in my backyard." Neil is an international UIAGM & AMGA ski and mountain guide. In addition, he is an avalanche and snowboard instructor, as well as a local ski patroller. Neil has climbed extensively in the United States as well as in South America, Mexico, Europe and Africa.

"Seriously, my humblest congratulations go out to Neil. I have known Neil for nearly 20 years and, despite that baggage, would trust my life to his backcountry skills anywhere, anytime and in any situation." - Kreighton Bieger

 

   Winter touring with Jimmy Carter

Howie Schwartz

SMG Lead Guide & Owner

UIAGM/IFMGA Ski & Mountain Guide

Howie is an international UIAGM & AMGA ski and mountain guide. He was fortunate to learn to ski as a toddler and discovered alpine climbing in 1988 on a trip to the Tetons. The highlight was climbing the Grand Teton via the upper Exum Route with climber and guide Chuck Pratt. Since then, Howie has climbed and skied worldwide. Howie has been guiding since 1993. One of the co-designers of the AIARE Avalanche Course Curriculum, he teaches Level 1-3 Avalanche Seminars and is involved with the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center locally as a Board Member. Howie is also an instructor/examiner for the AMGA Training and Certification Program and serves on the Technical Committee as Ski Discipline Coordinator. He is also a Leave No Trace Trainer. Howie enjoys flatpicking guitar and can be seen jamming with string musicians throughout the Eastern Sierra. Howie’s wife, Karen, is owner of a retail store in Bishop, CA called Sage to Summit. They live in a geodesic dome in Big Pine.

 

       

Trevor Hobbs

Lead Guide

AMGA Certified Rock Guide

A guide with SMG for seven years, Trevor has lived and played in the Sierra Nevada since 1993. He has climbed throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico. Spring and summer find him guiding alpine rock and snow throughout the High Sierra as well as the granite big walls of Yosemite National Park. As the colors change and the temperatures drop, ice climbing and backcountry skiing become the winter activities of choice. Trevor is an AMGA certified Rock Guide, has taken both the Alpine Guide Course as well as the Advanced Alpine Guide Course, and recently took the AMGA Ski Guide Course so he's your man for anything the Sierra can throw at you!

 

Annie Trujillo

Trekking Guide

Office Manager

Annie is a native Californian and a lifelong High Sierra devotee.  She has had guide training with the National Outdoor Leadership School and the AMGA (as a top rope site manager) , is a certified Wilderness First Responder and has taken an AIARE Level II avalanche course.  She has guided backpacking and rock climbing since 2002, and taken personal trips all through the Sierra since she was a teenager.  Guiding, backpacking and climbing have taken her to Alaska, Argentina, Chile, Greenland and around the Western US.  Her forte is preparing incredible backcountry food and polishing climbers’ movement on the rock.  If all that wasn’t enough, she has made herself a competent backcountry skier almost exclusively without chairlifts.

 

Jed Porter

Trekking, Climbing and Ski Guide and Marketing Director

Jed completed his first solo backpacking trip in the mountains of upstate New York when he was just 13 years old. At the University of Maine he led the schools outdoor club, learned to telemark ski, and still managed to get a degree in soil sciences. Since then Jed has shaped his life around climbing, skiing, and backpacking. He has been trained by the AMGA as a Rock Instructor and Ski Guide, holds a Wilderness First Responder certification and has taken an AIARE Level II avalanche course. He moved to Bishop in 2003 and has been guiding people in the mountains of California for three years. Climbing, canoeing and canoodling have led Jed to Arctic and Sub-Arctic places for four complete summers.  Jed makes a mean salsa, he comes equipped with an internal compass, and he is a beautiful backcountry skier. As if all this wasn’t enough, he taught Annie how to be a competent skier in the backcountry almost exclusively without chairlifts.

 

                

 John Kear

 IFMGA Guide  

 

 

John is a professional  mountain guide and zealous all-around climber. He is one of only a small group of American guides to become a fully certified UIAGM mountain guide. Nineteen years of mountain experience has taken him all over the world for work and play. From the high Alpine peaks of Alaska, the Alps, the Andes and the Himalaya to the desert crags and towers of the American Southwest, John is equally at home seeking out beautiful and challenging ascents. Specializing in demanding and technical routes he guides as Co-owner of Suntoucher Mountain Guides, instructor and examiner for the AMGA, and occasional work for other top notch guide services. His passion for first ascents and adventure climbing was born in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico, an enchanting little range of granite fins, towers and walls just outside of his home in Albuquerque. When not away climbing and guiding in the world's greater mountain ranges, John is home in New Mexico continuing to seek out challenging new routes and sharing the classic climbs with friends and guided clients.

Larry Goldie

IFMGA Guide

Larry has been climbing for 20 years and guiding professionally for 16. He guides and instructs rock climbing, mountaineering and backcountry skiing. He has climbed and guided extensively in the Cascades, with additional experience in the Alps, Sierras, Rockies, Alaska and Canada. With a passion for skiing, Larry holds PSIA certification in the Nordic, Alpine, Telemark and Backcountry disciplines, and is an AIARE trained instructor.Larry is an internationally (IFMGA) Certified Mountain guide.

 

Mark Grundon

AMGA Rock Guide training

Mark has been guiding –from Alaska to Colorado- for the last four years.  He currently guides trips in the Eastern Sierra, Mt. Shasta, and Joshua Tree.  He recently retired from ski patrol after seven winters to follow his deeper passion: climbing.  Mark is a strong believer in “living the dream”, and following your passions whatever they may be.  Mark enjoys sharing a rope with everyone from Yosemite rock stars to first time climbers. He has made one day ascents of El Cap and Half Dome in Yosemite. Mark has his EMT, a Leave No Trace trainer certification, and is an Outdoor Emergency Care Technician.  He has completed the AMGA Rock Instructor and Rock Guide courses and is preparing for the exam.

 

Scott Brown

AMGA Certified Rock Guide

A certified Rock Guide through the American Mountain Guide Association, Scott is in the process of becoming an international UIAGM certified guide. Scott has a Bachelor's Degree in Recreation Administration with a minor field of study in Business from Humboldt State University. He has led 10 international expeditions in Bolivia, Mexico and Peru and works throughout the year teaching rock climbing, ice climbing and mountaineering. He has three years as an integral member of Yosemite Search And Rescue and is currently a Wilderness First Responder.

 

Richard Bothwell

AMGA Ski Guide Training

Richard, one of our top backcountry splitboarding guides banishes the idea that snowboarding is just for the 30 and under. In his 12 plus years of guiding he has climbed and guided 4 of the 7 summits; Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Denali, and Elbrus, and surfed off of four different continents. Richard is a certified AMGA Top Rope Site Manager and has completed the AMGA Backcountry Ski Guide course. He is also a certified Wilderness First Responder and has completed an AIARE Level 2 avalanche course. Having lived in San Francisco for the past 12 years, Richard also has deep understanding for the “finer” things in life. Feel free to quiz him on which wines go with which cheeses or the art of cooking and eating oysters, and make sure you do an overnight trip with him so you can taste his incredible gourmet backcountry cooking. With Richard, you will always feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth.

 

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