At Sawtooth Mountain Guides, your experience is what matters most. We pride ourselves on providing a mountain adventure that exceeds your wildest expectations. Don't take our word for it, read what others have to say!
Big thanks to Sawtooth Mountain Guides for an amazing ski mountaineering camp in the Sawtooths. I was a beginner at ski mountaineering and they taught me so much! Each day we learned a new skill that we were able to apply right away. I was able to meet my objective of ascending and skiing a couloir in the backcountry. The guides are were so knowledgable! To top it off, the food was amazing. I highly recommend this course to those with some backcountry experience who want to expand their ski mountaineering skills.
Very knowledgeable staff that was fun and approachable. Course content is sobering, as it should be, but by the end Drew, Chris, and Matt had empowered us to feel much safer about travel and play in the back country. I would recommend this course to anyone in the back country and my wife and I plan to take the level two course very soon.
These guys put on a really good Avy 2 course. The guides are very skilled and have great communication skills that allow students to easily absorb the information they're providing. The terrain they teach the field parts of the class in are traveled heavily by ID backcountry users, and make applying observations to ski terrain choice really useful.
The Williams Peak Hut is a GREAT backcountry hut. The yurts are in great shape, and the proximity to incredible ski terrain is next to none. I've never been to any of the other huts in the Sawtooth Range, but would have a hard time trying a different hut after seeing the options available from this hut.
All the people at SMG should great professionalism, knowledge and enthusiasm throughout the class. I would recommend anyone who wants to spend more time in the backcountry take this class or hire SMG as guides.
I have nothing but great things to say about all three instructors that I was fortunate enough to meet and learn from. Genuine, salt of the earth kind of people that were able to educate me on a human level with sincerity. I feel that these instructors take great pride in what they do and it showed throughout the coarse, additionally they were extremely respectful and patient to all of the students who varied in skill and understanding.
When you are learning from people that "live" in the heart of some of the most dangerous and magnificent mountains and terrain in the United States you really get the sense that you are learning from top level professionals and it showed.
I will be recommending this course and set of instructors to everyone I meet that may be interested in furthering their backcountry education or experience.
I look forward to taking more courses from Sawtooth Mountain Guides and running into their awesome staff in the future.
I drove up to Stanley to take SMG's annual spring ski mountaineering course. An incredible trip from beginning to end. The staff at SMG delivered a first class experience. The guides have an incredible level of expertise and proficiency in backcountry skiing and avalanche safety. I'd absolutely recommend SMG's ski mountaineering trip.
Such a fantastic weekend away in the Sawtooth with Sara, Chris, Drew, and Mike. The course was very thorough and I walked away achieving my objective for the weekend: to feel more confident identifying and assessing the dangers of avalanche terrain. It was so great to have such a sincere and passionate group of instructors sharing their knowledge with us. Mike is a fantastic chef and photographer! I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in learning about avalanche safety/getting out in the great mountains around us!
Extremely knowledgeable instructors/guides. The combination of classroom and field work was perfect. We even got some blue bird powder turns in. Highly recommend!
SMG provided a great overall experience for our Redfish Lakes - Super Slab climbing day.
Erik, co-owner, was our first contact via phone and gave a good first impression of professional competence during the discussion. He offered good insights and options for a group of teenage guys who wanted to combine climbing and backpacking in the Sawtooth Range.
Rachel was our office contact as we worked through the reservations and logistics. She was always upbeat and easy going in her communication, with quick answers to our questions, providing a sense that she had things under control.
Drew Daley's laid back personality almost belied his professionalism at first, but turned out exceptional in providing a relaxed atmosphere and keeping the adventure light while engaging well with the four teenage climbers. His professional skill and knowledge were readily apparent during his intro training at the slab. Our respect for Drew increased even more after reading a recent online article that briefly explained the personal efforts that are needed for AMGA certification, and quoted Drew on his take on becoming AMGA certified. It's nice to know he is the real deal, as are the other AMGA certified guides with SMG. Drew even took a minute to chat with us when we crossed paths again a couple day's later on our way back to Redfish Lake from Cramer Lakes area (backpacking). He was guiding again at the Super Slab.
Walker Nosworthy, our other guide, had been with SMG for a short time and was very polite, demonstrating good technical skills too Walker instilled the necessary confidence in his two teenage clients and made a valued contribution to the adventure.
We were very pleased with our first experience with SMG. We would absolutely use them again. Great company.
