Our Dedicated, Adventerous Guides
San Juan Outdoor Adventures leads trips into the San Juan mountains with extreme care and respect for our natural surroundings. Our mountain staff is highly qualified and expertly trained in making these excursions fun, educational and low impact and they will provide you with a wealth of information about the Telluride area.
Josh has been guiding year-round for a living for 20 years. He possesses a strong knowledge of the San Juan Mountains and believes that the Telluride area has endless outdoor recreation opportunities. He grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where he was introduced to climbing, paddling, mountaineering, and skiing.
Tara’s education includes a bachelor of science degree in adventure-based recreation program management and an associates degree in outdoor recreation. Some of her certifications and training include WEMT, (AIARE) Level 2 avalanche training, and CPR for the healthcare provider.
In his late teens he moved to northern Norway, where he started picking up outdoor skills. He attended an outdoor school, where he would spend a year learning the ins and outs of the arctic outdoors and going on long trips in extreme conditions. After the school year, he continued using his new skills on his own trips around northern Scandinavia and Svalbard.
After recently moving to back to the US, Lane made the move to southwestern Colorado to be around high-quality wilderness, and to work with things he likes to do.
Jayci is currently pursuing his AMGA Rock Guide certification and also intends to attain his Alpine guide certification. When not guiding, he can be found high off the ground in the desert or in his favorite climbing area, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.
working as a lift operator and a raft guide she made her way to Telluride and then Ophir and has never felt more at home. She worked as a hutkeeper at the Opus Hut for 3 years year round. She splitboarded to and from work with heavy packs and helped with remodeling projects, stocking the hut, and managing the business. The winters at 11,765’ taught her invaluable lessons about the San Juan snowpack and winter patterns. Splitboarding has taken her to Canada, Alaska, and New Zealand, and finally to return to Alaska in 2021 to take on Denali via the West Buttress. In the summer Ashley loves to run up local technical peaks and compete in endurance mountain bike events. Ashley has been a member of Search and Rescue since 2017. She is certified in Rigging for Rescue, and Wilderness EMT and has been a WFR since 2014. She has her AIRIE Avalanche Pro 1 as well as the Canadian Avalanche Association Level 2.
Garrett graduated with a PhD from the University of Arizona where his research focused on using ecological and sociological methods to study recreational activities and recreational users to help better inform public land management decisions. When he is not guiding Garrett works as an outdoor educator and runs his own research consulting firm in Telluride. He is a Wilderness First Responder. While he prefers the simplistic nature of running and traveling light in the mountains, he is trying to broaden his horizons into other outdoor endeavors, particularly winter activities, though it is sometimes hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
He enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for the mountain environment and helping people push their limits— whether it’s gaining a summit or completing a difficult climb or great hike. When not guiding you might run into him hiking a fourteener or climbing near Telluride.
A professional patroller with Telluride Ski Resort since 2008, Karl enjoys the challenge of that job, applying high angle rope rescue skills, skiing steeps and (sometimes) deeps, and forecasting with the TSP Snow Safety team. He volunteers with San Miguel County Search and Rescue team as well as teaching the Telluride Avalanche School AIARE Level 1 and Rescue Courses.
His travels to the summits of Alaska, Colorado, Wyoming, Nepal, New Zealand, and France are life highlights, especially as a guide. Besides walking uphill and skiing down, Karl can be found paragliding the skies over Telluride. He has worked with San Juan Outdoor School since 2009.
- Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician
- Wilderness First Responder / First Aid Certification
- Low to High Angle Rescue
- Outdoor Emergency Care Technician
- CPR for the Healthcare Provider / Professional Rescuer
- Avalanche Courses Level I -III
- AMGA Certification & Membership
- American Avalanche Association Professional Membership
They gave much of their time and effort to San Juan Outdoor Adventures. Their influence will stay with us for a lifetime.
PETER INGLIS
1959-2015
Peter’s roots went back to Vermont where he grew up at the base of the state’s biggest mountain, Mount Mansfield, hiking and skiing. He earned a bachelor of science degree in outdoor recreation and resource management at the University of Vermont and has worked in recreation ever since. In 1987, he relocated to the San Juans where he guided for more than 20 years.
Peter’s guiding and personal adventures took him on wild rides, including three winter seasons spent in the Alps, skiing and climbing in India, mountaineering in Peru and Nepal, and a first ascent in China (peak 5,965 meters), Another was a complete climb and partial ski of Mount St Elias, the second highest peak in the United States, not to mention 14 trips up Denali.
Peter’s favorite passions were backcountry and ski mountaineering; ice climbing; and rock climbing, preferably in the warm, desert sun. When not guiding or adventuring, he worked for nearly 20 years as an avalanche technician in the Telluride ski area.
“I love the outdoors. What can I say?” he said.
JACK ROBERTS
1952-2012
Jack Roberts climbed for 39 years, more than 30 of them in Colorado. He was a published author with the second edition of his ice climbing guide to Colorado, “Colorado Ice,” which was a finalist in the guidebook category at the 2006 Banff Book Festival. He was a frequent contributor to Climbing and Rock and Ice magazines, and the American Alpine Journal. He was awarded recognition at the Banff Book Festival as having written the finest article of the year in the 1997 Canadian Alpine Journal. His last article was published in Alpinist No. 20, under the Mount Huntington story.
Jack was frequently requested as guest lecturer, presentor, and clinic instructor at the Ouray Ice Festival, Pont Rouge (Festiglace) ice festival, Bozeman Ice Festival, Cody Ice Festival, and many others.
His climbing career began in 1968 in Southern California where he climbed at Tahquitz, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite. He eventually became a part of the influential Stonemasters Climbing group and went on to ascend big walls in Yosemite. Many of them were second ascents—The Shield, Zodiac, Tangerine Trip, Tis-Sa-Ack, Cosmos, Gobi Wall, El Cap Towers Right Side, Mescalito. Later, he gravitated to alpine climbing in Europe, Canada, and Alaska where he established first ascents on Mount Huntington, Denali, Mount Lewis, Mount Kennedy, and others. With Dale Bard, he did the first free ascent of Polar Circus and with Tobin Sorenson did the first winter ascent of the North Face on Mount Robson and the first winter ascent of the Central Couloir on Mount Kitchener.