ABOUT TEAM ASCENT

Team Ascent is directed by Sandy Allan, a qualified international Mountain Guide.

Team Ascent courses are led by qualified leaders. In almost all cases these 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.

Sandy Allan was born and raised in Dalwhinnie in the Highlands of Scotland, and has been climbing since his teens.  He qualified as an IFMGA/BMG guide in 1993. Since the 1980s he has established many hard new winter and mixed climbs in Scotland and in the Himalaya. He has guided clients to the summits of many of the highest mountains in the world including Mount Everest and Cho Oyu.  As well as guiding in the Himalaya, he has been involved in many expeditions including Muztagh Tower, Lhotse West and the Scottish Direct Route on the south face of Pumori. In 2012 he completed the first ascent of one of the Himalaya’s most coveted, unclimbed climbs – the Mazeno Ridge of Nanga Parbat and was awarded the Piolet d’Or in 2013.

Sometimes for UK based walking and less technical climbing courses we employ qualified UK mountain instructors and leaders. We select these instructors with care and many of these are members of the Association of Mountain Instructors (AMI). For walking holidays in the Alps we employ international European mountain leaders to work on non glaciated terrain. In Nepal, Pakistan and Tibet we utilise the services of local people, and in almost all cases employ our very experienced team of Nepalese Sherpas, some of whom are IFMGA guides and many have worked on Everest and other 8000m peaks.They have worked at high altitude for most of their lives and are truly the backbone 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, filming and industrial work at height safety advice.

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

Sandy’s Book

Sandy’s acclaimed book “In Some Lost Place” giving his account of his ascent of Nanga Parbat’s Mazeno Ridge is now available. The book is available in bookshops or online at Amazon.  It is now available in French, Italian and Polish.