About Sandy Allan and Team Ascent

Thanks for logging on to my web site here at Team Ascent. At Team Ascent we provide a customized private mountain guiding and instructional service.  We operate world wide, although our main courses and private guiding take place in Scotland and the European Alps. All levels of ability are catered for from the beginner to the experienced.  We provide services for walkers, beginner rock climbers, ice climbers, skiers, ski mountaineers and high altitude mountaineering expedition climbers and adventurers. 

Should you need a mountain guide or assistance with a project in the mountains or for industrial work at height, safety and rescue, we at Team Ascent have the expertise to assist you.
Our principal office base is now in Newtonmore, Inverness-shire. Team Ascent is a Scottish registered  limited comany.

Directed by Sandy Allan:  I am a qualified IFMGA/ UIAGM  Mountain Guide and has been climbing since my late teens.  I was born in the Highlands of Scotland  and have first ascents of peaks and technical climbs around the world. As well as guiding Mount Everest , and other 8000 meter peaks including Lhotse west, Cho Oyu, and Nanga Parbat, I have led many new technical climbs in Scotland and in the eighties and ninties was responsible for some of the hardest technical mixed winter climbs in Scotland .  I still climb some new routes now and then and still climb a great deal for mysef. I have been involved in many Himalayan expeditions, including Mustagh Tower, the unclimbed ridge of Everest, The Scottish Direct Route on the South face of Pumori, Monzino Ridge of Nanga Parbat, South Face Lhotse and many others.

Here at  Team Ascent  all our guides are qualified and are members of the International Federation of Mountain Guide Association (IFMGA). This body sets the standards for training and assessment of mountain guides world wide. The IFMGA badge worn by guides has become the assurance of the highest professional and technical standards. We use IFMGA guides in all our Technical Scottish Winter, Alpine and Himalayan Expeditions.  Our guides all climb well  and also will share their years of mountaineering experience and skills with you.

Sometimes for UK based walking and less technical climbing courses we employ UK Mountain Instructors. Sandy selects these instructors with care and all hold qualifications governed by the United Kingdom Mountain Training Board and many of these are members of the Association of Mountain Instructors( AMI). For walking holidays in the Alps we also employ international mountain leaders. In Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet we utilise the services of local people, and in almost all cases employ our very experienced team of  Nepalie Sherpas, many of whom have worked on Everest , many having summited many times and  have worked at High Altitudefor most of their lives and are truly the back bone of all our commercial high altitude expeditions.

We provide a range of services which include walking/trekking, scrambling, rock climbing, winter mountaineering, ice and mixed winter climbing, survival skills, ski mountaineering, alpine and greater ranges climbing.

For the industrial sector we provide Industrial Work at Height consultancy, rescue and safety services, training and IRATA assessments.