Ascending Path's Climbing and Hiking Guides
Read about our professional staff and guides who happily faciliate your wilderness experiences!
Our guides are sincerely enthusiastic and motivated to share Alaska’s wilderness with you.
And, in case you were wondering... all guides are allowed to accept, and are very grateful for gratuities.
Matt Szundy: Co-Owner/Climbing Guide
Matt has been skiing for 35 years and climbing for over 25. He is an Eagle Scout and first tied into a rope in 1987. In 1995, Matt founded The Ascending Path LLC and has been guiding full time ever since. Highlights of his experience include: Walls in Yosemite, M6 in Canada & 5.12 in CO and a 10-pitch first ascent in New Zealand (back in the day). He has mountaineering ascents in Nepal, Peru, Argentina, New Zealand, Antarctica and Alaska. Matt has climbed Denali 10 times (5 summits). He has WFR certs from SOLO and WMA, Avalanche 2, ASA 103, White Water Rescue 3 Technician, and is an AMGA Certified Guide (SPI).
Matt has a passion for managing risk. He worked for 3 years as Field Safety for the US Antarctic Program. He was the SAR Team Leader for the USAP 04/05, attended 2 Rigging for Rescue Courses and volunteered for 2 seasons on Denali as an NPS VIP/Search and Rescue Ranger. He has helped produce many climbing film projects and contracts his Field Safety services and Science Support to several return clients. Matt holds a BA in Philosophy. He reads a lot of Integral Philosophy and lives in Anchorage with his wife Heather and their poochers, Chaya.
Heather Szundy: Co-Owner, Glacier & Naturalist Hiking Guide
Heather has been an athlete almost all her life: climbing, skiing & teaching since 1993. Born in the desert of Tucson Arizona, little did she know her first trip to Alaska at 14, would change her life forever! Her patience, keen observation skills and compassionate attitude lend very well to mountain skill instruction. She has a wide range of climbing & high altitude experience from Aconcagua to Denali, desert rock to Alaska ice. She has over a thousand client days guiding. Her technical climbing includes routes in the North Cascades, Bugaboos, The Gunks, Squamish, The Ruth Gorge, Joshua Tree, Thailand, New Zealand & Antarctica. With Ascending Path, she has assisted & lead mountaineering expeditions to Peru's Ishinca Valley & Nepal's Ama Dablam & Island Peak. However, Alaska and Denali have been her love since working in the bush at the base of the Alaska Range at Chelatna Lake Lodge since age 15. She flew over Denali base camp at 15, and (the desert rat who had barely ever seen snow) became determined to learn to rock & ice climb, ski, “mountaineer” to one day climb Denali. She has climbed Denali twice, once as a volunteer for the NPS as an NPS VIP/Search and Rescue Ranger. She spent 2 seasons in Antarctica helping manage the Crary Lab & worked on the secondary SAR team at McMurdo Station. Heather has a WFR, Level 1 Avalanche, ASA 103, a Yoga teacher training, and has taken the AMGA's single pitch instructor course & exam. She holds a BS in Microbiology/Pre-Med. Heather was integral in growing AP into the lively business it is today. She runs the office, keeps the books, works on film projects and guides as well. Her passions include: wilderness, naturalism, climate change, friends, organic gardening, travel, yoga, knitting, making jewelry and Naturopathic medicine; she thrives in Anchorage with her husband, business partner & soul mate, Matt and their poochers, Chaya.
Molly Liston: Yurt & Guides Manager/Naturalist Hiking Guide
Molly graduated from the University of Alaska - Anchorage with a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education - Adventure Leadership. She has worked as a guide throughout Alaska for the past 5 years with most of her attention focused towards college outdoor recreation programs. Molly was lucky enough to grow up in Alaska and Oregon and after living various places throughout the U.S. she can't imagine living anywhere other than beautiful Alaska. Her winters are filled with backcountry skiing, cross-country skiing and winter camping while her summers are filled with backpacking, rafting, sea kayaking, and enjoying the endless hours of Alaska's Midnight Sun. As passionate as Molly is about outdoor education and recreation, she can also be spotted perusing the latest fabric and yarn selections at various craft stores to fulfill her creative pursuits.
Ryan Davis: Senior Guide/ Assistant Operations Manager
Rock, Ice, Glacier and Ski Guide
Ryan is a committed mountaineer and has been climbing rock and ice for over 20 years. While telemark skiing is his favorite sport (he Ranked 3rd in the World in the 2010 Extreme Comp!), he chooses first and foremost to teach the basics of mountaineering and all else that is Alpinism. With over 17 years of emergency medical experience Ryan is currently a certified Wilderness First Responder. He is a world ranked telemark extreme skier, PSIA certified ski and snowboard instructor and a ski race coach for the Alyeska Ski Club. With extensive rescue experience he has been on 4 different "Volunteer in Parks" National Park Service search and rescue patrols on Denali. His training and certifications includes: EMT II, PSIA Level I Adaptive Ski Instructor, OEC, WFR and Avalanche classes. Having over 10 year's snow safety experience he spends his spring in Haines Alaska as a helicopter ski guide. "Helping people become more comfortable, safe and efficient in the mountains is what I do best." RD. 2011 is Ryan's 7th season with AP and we are just thrilled to have him around.
Amy Beaudoin: Glacier Hikes and Ice Climbing Guide
Amy, born and raised in Alaska, has made this vast wilderness her playground and prepared her from a career of guiding and outdoor education. She has been guiding and teaching for 18 years. She is a passionate backcountry skier and snowboarder, and spends a great part of her winters volunteering for Challenge Alaska, an adaptive ski and snowboard program. Before the deep Chugach powder arrives, she also spends her time climbing ice and mixed routes on alpine peaks. Her adventures have taken her over to Asia, where she has spent several winters rock climbing in Thailand, Taiwan, Laos, and Hong Kong and trekking in Nepal. An avid mountaineer, she has been a part of many, sometimes multi-week expeditions travelling, by foot, skis, splitboard, snowshoes, and sometimes snowkites, in the Chugach, Alaska, and Talkeetna Mountain ranges. She has spent a summer sea kayaking in Prince William Sound, exploring the glaciers, bays, and islands in this protected area of Alaska coastline. Her professional training includes a current wilderness first responder, avalanche and rescue, expedition and high-altitude guides training, and small craft water safety. Her favorite adventures are those with her two sons, Sage and Forrest.
Joe Butler: Senior Guide
Mountaineering and Ice Climbing Instructor/Guide
Joe began climbing in 1994 in the Southeast. After a long hiatus he fell in love with the mountains all over again. He packed up and left the Southeast looking for bigger mountains to climb. Alaska was a perfect fit. Joe became a guide in 2003 and started guiding Denali in 2004. Since then he has guided successful ascents of Denali, Kahiltna Dome, and Middle Troll. He has lead two overland exits from the Alaska Range and has taught hundreds of people how to ice climb with Ascending Path. Teaching and climbing have taken him to Chile, Antarctica, Argentina, Nepal, Thailand, and all over Alaska. When Joe isn't working, he is out in the Chugach Mountains or climbing ice around Southcentral Alaska. Joe is a full time Alaskan and lives in downtown Anchorage with his wife Amara. He weaves great Rope Rugs from retired climbing ropes!
Joe Stock: Senior Guide
Rock, Ice, Mountain and Ski Guide
Joe has been climbing and skiing around the world for 24 years. His highlights have been long alpine climbs in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, limestone rock climbing in Thailand, mixed climbs in Colorado and spring ski mountaineering in Alaska. At the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, Joe began his undergraduate degree in geology then finished in physical geography. Later he received a graduate degree in watershed science (snow science focus) from CSU in Fort Collins, Colorado. He became a certified alpine guide in 2003, ski mountaineering certified in 2008 and rock certified in 2009. In addition to guiding, Joe works as a writer, photographer and hydrologist. He lives in Anchorage with his wife Cathy and their boxing cat (RIP) Jinxy.
Bill Billmeier: Senior Guide
Rock & Ice Instructor
Bill has been an outdoors man since as long as he can remember. He spent high school learning the basics of mountaineering in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and then thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 1999 before moving to Alaska. He completed the famous Outdoor Studies program at Alaska Pacific University in 2003, where he graduated with honors. Alaska introduced Bill to climbing in general in all its varieties: glacier mountaineering, alpine rock and ice, sport climbing, snowy ridge climbing and all things in between. Bill loves exploration and discovering new climbs and areas, the process of which often finds him skiing through heavy brush, floating endless glacial rivers or crossing open water at forty below zero. Bill guides and instructs mountaineering for AMS and Mountain Trip, and has put in 9 trips on Denali's West Buttress, as well as many mountaineering courses in the Alaska Range and Chugach mountains. He holds certifications in WFR and Avy 1. He leads M6, long vertical ice and crumbly alpine rock if he can't find anything better. Most of all, Bill loves teaching people anything about climbing and he enjoys sharing his love of Alaska.
Dusty Eroh: Ice Climbing Instructor & Guide
Originally from Pennsylvania, Dustin (or Dusty as he prefers) came to Alaska in 2007 seeking bigger and better back country ski terrain. Well... he found it and has made this his home ever since. He returned to school and graduated from Alaska Pacific University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Studies and a Minor in Environmental Science. Shortly after starting at Alaska Pacific, Dusty began directing his focuses on alpine climbing. Starting as an intern with AMS, Dusty has now been working with AMS for three years and has guided several trips up Denali’s West Buttress. You will also find him teaching climbing and mountaineering classes as an adjunct at APU and UAA. Dusty has an intense passion for climbing, skiing and everything outdoors and loves to teach this to anyone willing to listen. Dusty also is WFR certified and has an avalanche level II equivalent.
Todd Jensen: Naturalist Hiking Guide
In 1993, Todd came to Alaska and started his own guiding company, renting canoes and guiding trips into the Kenai Wildlife Refuge on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. He has spent the last fifteen seasons working as a naturalist and guide in Alaska. His passion is to teach and share with others, the wild lands of the world. His adventures have taken him rafting, hiking and canoeing in most of Alaska's National Parks including, the Gates of the Arctic, Denali, Wrangel-St. Elias, Katmai and Kenai Fjords National Park. Todd's most recent adventures were 12-day journeys on the Kongakut River (the northeastern most river in AK.) and the Canning River (the western boundary of ANWR), rafting and exploring Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He graduated San Diego State University in 1986 with a Bachelor's of Art in Recreation Administration with an emphasis in Outdoor Education. Todd currently spends his winters in San Diego, CA where he continues to guide for his Alma Mater and lead trips into Baja, Mexico and will always seek out new and adventurous places.
Sean Simmons: Hiking & Aspirant Glacier/Climbing Guide
Born in Montana, Sean found in the mountains and rivers an inspiring playground. Brought up riding horses, fishing, camping, and skiing, all it took was a trip to Alaska as a kid to see that life in the 49th state could be one big adventure. Once finished with school it was time to trade in the desk for an office with a view... After talking his wife into spending their honeymoon camping the way to Alaska, they spent another six months of camping until settling in Girdwood with their two dogs. Sean has worked as a rafting guide, fishing guide, and in the winter works at Alyeska as a ski patroller. Sean is a certified EMT I, OEC, swiftwater rescue 3 technician.
Kim Van Sickle: Hiking Guide
Kim was born in Juneau, Alaska and grew up nearby on Chichagof Island. She considers living in remote Alaska at an early age the foundation for her love of all things outdoors. Some of her summertime pursuits include back packing, camping, kayaking, mountain biking, flying, and trail running. During the snowier months she spends her time downhill and cross country skiing as well as exploring the mountains by snowmachine. When forced to stay inside she can be found with a good book by a warm fire. She will forever consider Alaska her home and will always enjoy showing off this great state to the people adventurous enough to make it there vacation destination. Kim also works with our friends at Alpine Air.
Gunner Deery: Hiking and Apprentice Climbing Guide
Gunner grew up in Northern Michigan and spent most of his life cultivating an appreciation for nature in the ‘Superior State.’ After seeing enough pictures in ski and snowboard magazines that all said Valdez, Cordova and Haines, and an extensive read of Calvin and Hobbes epic Yukon Ho, he decided to move to Alaska to pursue adventures and big mountain snowboarding. He has been living up here off and on since 2003 with a brief hiatus for a little grad school in the continental mountainous regions. He teaches writing and philosophy at a few of the local colleges so that he might spend his days snowboarding and mountain biking. He has also guided sea-kayaking trips in Valdez for several years and has paddled the eastern half of Prince William Sound extensively which encouraged a deep respect and interest in natural history. His love for snowboarding and mountain biking in Girdwood has provided him with intimate knowledge of the area.
Chaya Szundy: Mountain Dog
Though fairly new to the climbing scene, Chaya has taken quickly to the activity. While this Husky mix prefers a good game of stick for Yummy Chummies (Alaskan Salmon Treats), she nonetheless has many ice climbing and backcountry ski trips under her collar. She absolutely loves packrafting. A 2 time graduate of the Anchorage animal control center, Chaya holds certifications in Rabies and is an Anchorage Licensed Dog…. And yes she has her WOFR. Chaya recently founded the AMDA (Alaska Mountain Dogs Association) through which she intends gain dog access to National Parks and ensure lots of Salmon for all AMDA's. Chaya, (which means "shadow" in Nepali) supervises our Yurt in the summers and enjoys ski-jouring daily in the winter.
