Mountaineering & expedition guiding, since 2009
Cairn is a small, deliberate guiding house. We run a short list of expeditions each year — Denali, Aconcagua, Ama Dablam, and a handful of others — so every climber on the rope gets a guide who has been to the top more times than they can count.
Three commitments guide every trip we run, from the first acclimatization hike to the summit push.
We cap most expeditions at nine climbers and three guides. Nobody on the mountain is a face we learned on day one.
Our schedules build in rest and altitude days that other outfits cut for speed. Summit day should be routine, not a gamble.
We turn climbers around before conditions turn dangerous. Our success rate reflects judgment, not pressure to push on.
A deliberately short roster. Each route below runs on a fixed seasonal window with a dedicated guide team.
Every Cairn expedition is led by IFMGA-certified guides who climb our routes every season, not once a career.
Sixteen Denali seasons. Rasmus builds every itinerary around weather margin, not the calendar.
Grew up in the Khumbu valley. Pema has summited Ama Dablam nineteen times without a serious incident.
Former mountain rescue captain. Camille runs our shorter, technical routes and all first-expedition trips.
Tell us which route you're considering and your rough climbing background. A guide — not a booking agent — will reply within two business days.