OUR MISSION STATEMENT:

Our mission is to inspire and cultivate personal and environmental responsibility, introspection and integrated thinking by providing superior wilderness guiding services in Alaska.
To this end, members and employees of Ascending Path LLC are sincerely and authentically committed to engineering inspiration and facilitating educational, fun and managed outdoor adventure experiences to locals and visitors in Alaska.
Furthermore, we are dedicated to educating our guests and recognize that through climbing and hiking folks can discover personal balance, centeredness, success, enthusiasm and harmony. We inspire AWE through adventuring in the wilderness.

WHAT DRIVES US:

We are driven to share the splendor of Alaska with visitors and other locals- Our simple goal is to provide an awesome Alaska wilderness experience by facilitating your direct experience. We love our jobs- and it shows! Our guides value Autonomy, the urge to direct your own life. Mastery, the desire to get better and better at something that matters, and and Purpose, the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves. Our employees are extremely well vetted and naturally principled. We are all adventurous vagabonds, intentionally choosing to pursue a life of passion and people over profit.

WHY HIRE ASCENDING PATH GUIDES:

For over 20 years, Ascending Path has been facilitating wilderness adventures with an outstanding safety record. We carefully manage risk by mindfully calculating the dynamic formula of probability and consequence. By hiring a qualified guide you are getting a sincere wilderness enthusiast with local knowledge of current conditions, climbing and wilderness industry standard risk-management. Many of our guides hold multiple professional certifications and advanced degrees. We know how to use our equipment properly and we happily teach the right way to climb, paddle and hike in Alaska’s wilderness. Some guides know the Latin names of nearly every plant on a trip and we may even know a few stupid jokes…
A professionally guided trip should be an educational experience with a patient, experienced, fun leader who can not only take great photos of you, but who knows Alaska inside and out.

ECOTOURISM GUIDELINES:

1. We seek environmentally sustainable economic growth while minimizing visitor impacts on wildlands, wildlife, Native cultures, and local communities by offering literature, briefings, leading by example, taking corrective action or other appropriate means.
2. Travel modes and facilities used maintain a low impact on the natural environment; tour use is sustainable over time without significantly altering the resource or negatively affecting the experience.
3. We provide direct benefits to the local economy and local inhabitants thereby providing an incentive for local support and preservation of wild areas and wildlife habitat.
4. We seek appropriate means to minimize their effects on the environment in all phases of their operations including office practices.
5. We ensure that managers, staff and contract employees know and participate in all aspects of company policy to prevent impacts on the environment, Native cultures, and local communities.
6. There is an educational emphasis and purposeful desire for travelers to learn about the natural and cultural history of the places they visit.
7. There is a formula for the business and guests to contribute to local non-profit efforts for environmental protection.
8. The travel is in the spirit of appreciation, participation, and sensitivity. At some point, a tour group becomes too large to be considered “ecotourism.”