Mountain Madness Style

Ever since our first guid­ed trip in 1984, we’ve pri­or­i­tized find­ing spe­cial places for our clients to rest com­fort­ably, eat like gourmets, and expe­ri­ence the coun­tries we vis­it in ways that oth­er trav­el­ers don’t. Our expe­ri­ence shows not only on the moun­tains, rock faces, and trails we guide, but also in the office, where the ideas and prepa­ra­tion for your trip begin. Our close rela­tion­ships with our guides and over­seas oper­a­tors are built on decades of expe­ri­ence and trust. This helps build a sol­id foun­da­tion for your trip, so that you can focus on your sum­mit bid, expe­di­tion, or trek, and not on logistics.

Mission Statement

Moun­tain Mad­ness strives to pro­vide the high­est qual­i­ty expe­ri­ence for begin­ner and advanced moun­taineers, trekkers, and skiers alike. Every trip we offer pro­vides high­ly qual­i­fied guides (expert in their spe­cif­ic des­ti­na­tion), and the oppor­tu­ni­ty for cul­tur­al exchange, wilder­ness skills devel­op­ment and self-discovery.

No Hidden Costs — All Inclusive

At Moun­tain Mad­ness, our trip price cov­ers the whole enchi­la­da! We elim­i­nate the ​“hid­den costs” asso­ci­at­ed with many expe­di­tions by offer­ing more ser­vices for the same price. We pay for vir­tu­al­ly every­thing, from the moment we pick you up at the air­port to the end of your trip. OK, there might be a day or at the begin­ning or end of the trip where you’ll be on your own for a meal, but if some­thing is not includ­ed, we let you know so you can plan for it. We want you to keep your wal­let in your pock­et, relax, and enjoy your trip.

Happiness through Eating

Food is love and we love food! Sam­pling local cui­sine is an inte­gral part of any Moun­tain Mad­ness trav­el expe­ri­ence. We hand­pick the restau­rants in the cities we vis­it and include the meals in your trip pack­age so that you can relax and enjoy the expe­ri­ence. Have a dietary restric­tion or food aller­gy? No prob­lem! We will hap­pi­ly work with you in advance to cre­ate a plan. Come share our expe­di­tion mot­to: Hap­pi­ness through eating!

Guides among the best in the business both in the US and Abroad

Moun­tain Mad­ness guides are among best in the biz. Their exper­tise and pas­sion for what they do is unmatched. They are the essen­tial part of our com­pa­ny com­mu­ni­ty — our backbone.

We hold our guides to high stan­dards. Our Amer­i­can guides either hold full cer­ti­fi­ca­tion with the Amer­i­can Moun­tain Guides Asso­ci­a­tion (AMGA) — the high­est lev­el of guide train­ing avail­able in the US — or are in the process of achiev­ing cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in the AMGA Rock, Alpine, Ski Dis­ci­plines, or all three.. Ful­ly cer­ti­fied guides have reci­procity with the Inter­na­tion­al Fed­er­a­tion of Moun­tain Guides Asso­ci­a­tions (IFM­GA), enabling them to work in Europe and oth­er mem­ber coun­tries through­out the world. 

Our Inter­na­tion­al guides are based in their home coun­tries and pro­vide ser­vice on our trips in Africa, Asia, Europe, Mex­i­co and South Amer­i­ca. Many of these trip lead­ers are IFM­GA cer­ti­fied and all have been cer­ti­fied as Wilder­ness First Respon­ders and trained in tech­ni­cal res­cue and haz­ard assess­ment. Moun­tain Mad­ness guides are high­ly expe­ri­enced climbers and trekkers and know the moun­tains, weath­er, and envi­ron­ment bet­ter than any­one. They also offer insights into local cul­ture, lan­guage, cus­toms, and nat­ur­al his­to­ry, which makes for unfor­get­table trip experiences.

We engage the best guide for each trip based on expe­ri­ence, tech­ni­cal pro­fi­cien­cy, qual­i­fi­ca­tions, and most impor­tant­ly, char­ac­ter. Our guides all have a sto­ry to tell and have back­grounds in a vari­ety of fields, includ­ing envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence, out­door edu­ca­tion, social work, and teach­ing. They are skilled team-builders and lead­ers. Many of our guides have made first ascents on major peaks in the North Cas­cades, Alas­ka, the Andes, and the Himalayas. 

Accreditation with the American Mountain Guide Association

The AMGA accred­i­ta­tion pro­gram was devel­oped for guid­ing pro­grams, schools and ser­vices to ensure the high­est qual­i­ty ser­vice avail­able. Accred­i­ta­tion exam­ines such things as oper­at­ing guide­lines, per­mits, insur­ance, employ­ment and busi­ness prac­tices, and guide train­ing. We oper­ate on fed­er­al lands and accred­i­ta­tion ensures we oper­ate with the nec­es­sary per­mits and com­ply with reg­u­la­tions set forth by the US For­est Ser­vice, Nation­al Parks, the Bureau of Land Man­age­ment, and oth­er oth­er land use agencies. 

Many of our guides hold full cer­ti­fi­ca­tion with the AMGA and the IFM­GA – the high­est lev­el of guide train­ing avail­able in the U.S. and inter­na­tion­al­ly rec­og­nized cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. The end result is that accred­i­ta­tion pro­vides a con­sis­tent and mean­ing­ful stan­dard by which to judge the reli­a­bil­i­ty and pro­fes­sion­al­ism of a climb­ing service.

Excellent Overnights

When we’re in the city, we stay at four- and five-star accom­mo­da­tions that we’ve care­ful­ly cho­sen and that often have cul­tur­al or his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. Most offer all the ameni­ties you would expect, includ­ing room ser­vice, laun­dry ser­vice, wire­less inter­net, etc. They are often close to local points of inter­est, unique shops, and col­or­ful mar­kets, and offer you a com­fort­able place to relax at the begin­ning and end of our trips.

Camping Mountain Madness Style

Camp­ing Moun­tain Mad­ness style on treks means that you might find your­self in a tent, cozy tea­house, moun­tain hut, com­fort­able lodge, or in a charm­ing inn. We plan out your entire culi­nary expe­ri­ence. All meals on Moun­tain Mad­ness treks are a com­bi­na­tion of the best local and region­al fare. We under­stand that famil­iar foods can be a com­fort at times, too, so we also incor­po­rate a few tried-and-true meals that you may eat at home. Oh, and we’ll set your tent up for you, too! 

On our climb­ing trips, once you leave the city behind and trav­el high­er into the moun­tains, you might stay in hacien­das or high-coun­try lodges that are com­fort­able, homey, and have great food. As you move even high­er toward your sum­mit bid, high-camps will be either moun­tain huts, where your guides will be your host, or tent­ed camps where our staff will tend to your culi­nary needs. Camp­ing with us will sure­ly allow you to have the best expe­ri­ence possible.

Non-dis­crim­i­na­tion pol­i­cy: In accor­dance with Fed­er­al law and U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture pol­i­cy, Moun­tain Mad­ness is pro­hib­it­ed from dis­crim­i­nat­ing on the basis of race, col­or, nation­al ori­gin, sex, age or dis­abil­i­ty. To file a com­plaint of dis­crim­i­na­tion: write USDA, Direc­tor, Office of Civ­il Rights, Room 326‑W, Whit­ten Build­ing, 1400 Inde­pen­dence Avenue, SW, Wash­ing­ton, D.C. 20250 – 9410 or call (202) 720‑5964 (voice and TDD).