Wilderplaces: Our Guides

Robbie Fenlon

Robbie is the director of the company and has been a UIAGM guide for the past 11 years. He now lives permanently in the Chamonix valley in the hamlet of Tacconaz. His main interests are skiing and trekking in Nepal. He is originally from Dublin and still returns to Ireland regularly each spring and autumn.

Linus Kulstad

Swedish born, Linus qualified as a guide through the Swedish system in 2007. When he is not guiding he works as a musician, plumber and illustrator . Linus is passionate about his rock climbing; his next adventure is to make a trip to Yosemite to climb some big wall routes. He lives beside Sweden’s best climbing area; Bohuslan in Uddevella.

Neil Hitchings

Moved to the Chamonix valley in the late 70s and first worked as ski- patroller at the Brevent ski area. This work involved evacuating injured skiers, maintaining security on the pistes and avalanche control. Neil also ran his own rope access business before becoming a guide. He has been working as a guide now for 10 years.

Ric Potter

Ric started climbing as a teenager in 1980, and since then has climbed and mountaineered all over the world, extensively in the Alps, other areas of Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, and has made first ascents in the Andes and the Himalayas. Ric has worked as professional mountain guide and climbing instructor since 1991, has been a UIAGM Guide since 2002 and an MIC holder since 1994.

Graham Frost

Graham has been climbing and skiing for the past 20 year. He moved to Evolene, Switzerland 18 months ago. He has since bought a 200 year old Swiss Chalet which he is in the process of renovating. Apart from climbing and skiing Graham is also a very keen mountain biker.

Jimmy Halvardsson

Since 1996 Jimmy has been working in the mountains, mainly based in Sweden- in the Are ski town- and Norway's Lofoten Islands. He has climbed in the USA, Australia, South America, the Alps, Mexico, to name a few, and is now living in Tromso, northern Norway, enjoying the superb skiing of the Lyngen Alps. Some of Jimmy’s ascents include: Aguja de la Esse, Patagonia, Salathe Wall, Astroman and Half Dome(in 1 day),Yosemite, Space Shot, Zion, Blåmann, Kjerag, and Mongejura Norway.

Pete Mason

Pete grew up in Preston, New York, he started skiing and hiking at the age of 14 and was introduced to rock climbing when he started at Bates College. Pete began his mountaineering in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Adirondacks of New York. After graduating his love for the mountains brought him to Boulder, Colorado, where he still loves to climb. Pete is the second American guide to achieve the guide certification through the French system. He has been living in France since 2003.

Jeff Banks

Jeff's a yank UIAGM Guide who splits his time between Crested Butte, Colorado and Chamonix. He's been an avid skier since he could walk and got hooked on climbing at university. A former national champion in randonee racing and junior champion in cross country skiing; now he spends his free time climbing in sunny places and doing yoga. He's a big fan of curry and "Little Britain" as a way to better understand his POME clients and aspires to master the English language one day.