Our guides are the core of Pikes Peak Alpine School.  We guide mountains: rock, snow, and ice.

Our guides are patient, knowledgeable, and qualified to share their experience and love of the mountains. Our guides customize each trip or course to the needs, wants, and objectives of the individual or group.

Our guides maintain current Wilderness First Responder certifications and are very active in the disciplines they are instructing, with a minimum of 5 years experience in each discipline (alpine, rock, and/or ski).

ALL of our climbing and ski guides have training or full certification from the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA). We believe in training and certification through the AMGA to raise the standards of working professional mountain guides and to provide a more productive and safer experience for our guests.

Gretchen Merten

PPAS Operations and Guide Manager

Born in Laramie, Wyoming, Gretchen has degrees in History from Northern Arizona University. Her previous job experiences include weather forecast broadcasting for NOAA, entomology research for the USDA, research and teaching at the University level and work in the outdoor retail industry since 2005. Her outdoor passions are backcountry telemark skiing, backpacking and trail running. After having experienced amazing adventures in the Colorado Rockies and North Cascades with PPAS, she looks forward to facilitating training and trips for novices and experts alike while managing the day-to-day operations of Pikes Peak Alpine School. Gretchen enjoys British humor (James May is her spirit animal), cooking, reading, looking at rocks, craft beer and hanging out with her best friend/husband Lance. She dislikes being inside and sitting down.

AIARE Avalanche Level 1, 2

Pete Lardy 

PPAS Director/Owner

Pete climbs and guides worldwide and currently resides Colorado Springs with his lovely wife, Crystal. For Pete climbing is many things. He strives for the technical, physical, and mental challenges that comes with mountain climbing but also sees the mountains as his escape from the hustle of life below. For Pete, the mountains give him that one “something” we all have but cannot quite explain. Alpine rock and ice routes are where he loves to be, teach, and learn. Over 25 years of climbing, skiing and split boarding have taken him to the Himalayas, Andes, Alaska Range, Alps, Cascades and the Rockies. From fast and light one-day ascents on Mount Rainier’s Liberty Ridge and Mount Huntington’s Harvard Route to 30 and 40 day expeditions on Denali and Himalayan 8000m peaks, Pete loves all facets of climbing and the friendships fostered in the mountains.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
AMGA Apprentice Splitboard Guide
AIARE Avalanche Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Trainer

Karsten Delap

Born and raised on a farm in Indiana, Karsten has found his home in the mountains. Embarking on his 15th year in the guiding profession, with 20 years climbing experience, he has climbed extensively throughout the United States and abroad. He has delved into all aspects of climbing from bouldering and sport climbing to alpinism and ski mountaineering. His guiding experience includes AMGA Certified Rock Guide and AMGA Certified Alpine Guide. He has taught AMGA Single Pitch Instructor and Climbing Wall Instructor Programs. He is also a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT-B), has his Swift Water Rescue Certification, and has worked as a SPRAT Level 1 Technician. When at home in North Carolina, he volunteers for several local Rescue Teams and works as an EMT for an ambulance service. As a professional athlete representing several national companies, he has also worked on product design and testing for his various sponsors. Karsten has immersed himself in the climbing world with both work and play. He is currently based in North Carolina where he owns and operates Pisgah Climbing School.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor/Provider 
Full Avalanche Certificate
Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT-B)
Swift Water Rescue Certification
SPRAT Level 1 Technician
Leave No Trace Master Educator

Phil Wortmann

Phil is an experienced climber and guide, who not only gets after it almost everyday, but also shows a high amount of integrity and respect for the mountains which he endures. Phil has a strong resume of ascents and first ascents in the Rockies, Cascades and Alaska. Although he is adept in any terrain, he excels at mixed climbing. His attention to finer details and high standards for safety make him one of the best guides in the Rocky Mountain region. His all-around abilities in the mountains, his strength, and focus speaks bounds for the passion he has for the mountains in which he plays on. Phil approaches each environment with deep respect to preserve and protect for the next climbers.With a true passion for climbing and alpinism, we are pleased to have Phil’s energy, ability and professionalism at the core of the Pikes Peak Alpine School. When Phil is not climbing, you can find him doing figure fours while running up Pikes Peak. And when he isn’t doing either of those, he is teaching English at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs. Phil is pretty dang amazing!

AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide 
AIARE Avalanche Level 1, 2 
American Avalanche Association Member
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Awareness Course

Sebastian Grau

Seba is a professional Mountain Guide and Geographer. He has been guiding since 2001. Seba  grew up in Chile and has been living in the US since 2009. Seba has a great amount of experience guiding high altitude mountains and expeditions- between Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, New Hampshire, Antarctica and South America.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
Full Avalanche Certificate
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Awareness Course

Steve Banks

Steve is an American Mountain Guide based in Crested Butte, Colorado.  Two decades of guiding have taken him around the American West, Europe, Asia, Canada, South America, and Iceland.  He is a member of the American Mountain Guides Association National Instructor Team helping to train the next generation of professional and certified guides.  Skiing is his passion and you will find him in the powder filled mountains of Hokkaido in the heart of winter, skiing over the fjords of Iceland in the spring, and in the backcountry of Colorado in between.  As the snow melts, Steve turns to rock and alpine guiding in the Rockies, Tetons, and Cascade mountain ranges while still managing to find time for rock climbing and mountain biking.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Program Provider
AIARE Avalanche Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B)
Swift Water Rescue Certification

Jayson Simons-Jones

Jayson has been guiding full-time since 1999 and today is one of a handful of American IFMGA/UIAGM Licensed Mountain Guides.  These days he typically can be found splitting his time between Boulder, Colorado and Chamonix, France. Throughout Jayson’s 20+ years of mountain guiding experience, he has successfully guided alpine climbing and skiing expeditions throughout the world on five of the seven continents, with multiple expeditions to places such as South America, Alaska, Iceland, Europe, Africa, and Nepal.  Between mountain guiding and working in the professional avalanche education realm, he is currently pursuing a M.S. in Organizational Leadership and Group Development.  At one time, Jayson was the owner/operator of Crested Butte Mountain Guides in Crested Butte, Colorado from 2007-2014.  He has been a member of the Crested Butte Ski Patrol and is a former Avalanche Forecaster and Board Member for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center.  He is an athlete/ambassador for Adidas Outdoors, Julbo, DPS Skis, and Hyperlite Mountain Gear.  Jayson’s writing and photography has been featured in such publications as The New York Times, The Denver Post, Outside Magazine, Ski Magazine, Climbing Magazine, and Backcountry Magazine.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
AIARE Pro Level 1 and 2 Avalanche Course Leader
AIARE Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
Instructor, NOLS Wilderness Medicine Institute
Wilderness First Responder Certified

Wade Curtis

Jared Reene

Jared grew up in Michigan, where he surfed the Great Lakes’ fresh water “third coast” while studying Political Science, Philosophy, and Arabic.  After working for the United States Government and living throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Asia for over a decade, discovering the mountains of Colorado changed his life. While living in Washington DC, Jared frequented Seneca Rocks (West Virginia) and made regular ascents of Mt Rainier in Washington before finally moving to Colorado Springs in 2015.  Since then, Jared has become an accomplished climber, backcountry skier, and mountaineer, exploring many of the hidden gems throughout the Pikes Peak region.  When not in the mountains, you can find Jared playing his guitar, endlessly tinkering with his ski mountaineering setup in the garage, or planning new adventures with his wonderful wife, Whitney.

Micah Lewkowitz

Micah began his guiding career in 2006 in New England and it has since taken him on multiple international expeditions and throughout 10 states in the USA.  He is a passionate climber who embraces the changes of the seasons by rock climbing in the desert sun during the spring and fall, venturing in the Alaska Range, Rockies, and Cascades for alpine climbing and mountaineering during the summer, and ice climbing throughout the winter.  Micah enjoys the challenge of moving efficiently through vertical terrain and sharing his accrued mountain sense with his guests.  With a background in outdoor education, Micah is always excited to help climbers learn safe and practical climbing techniques while fostering a community of mentorship, self-reflection, and growth.  After a day of climbing in the mountains, Micah enjoys spending time in Ridgway, Colorado with his wife Hilary and forever puppy Shakti.

AMGA Certified Alpine Guide
AMGA Certified Rock Guide
Full Avalanche Certificate
Wilderness First Responder Certified

Matt Sellick

Matt is a well-rounded climber and guide.  He works year around in the rock, alpine, and ski disciplines and has guided in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Mexico, and Canada.  He has also climbed in just about every state that has rocks to climb.  Matt is as passionate about nutrition as he is about mountains.  He cares deeply about the indigenous knowledge of the plants in the areas in which we recreate and is working towards a M.S. degree in Dietetics.  When Matt isn’t guiding, you can find him foraging, cooking, fly fishing, or developing climbing routes.

AMGA Certified Alpine Guide
AMGA Certified Rock Guide
AMGA Apprentice Ski Guide
AMGA Single Pitch Instructor Provider
AIARE Avalanche Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
Wilderness First Responder Certified

Danny Ozment

Danny was born and raised in Texas, but that did not keep him from getting on skis at the age of 9 in New Mexico and Colorado, where he would try to spend as much time as possible exploring the mountains.  After graduating from Texas A & M University, Danny spent the next decade teaching skiing and developing a passion for ski mountaineering.  This lifestyle naturally progressed into guiding.  Beginning in 2011, Danny began guiding in the North Cascades of Washington (including Mts. Rainier and Baker) as well as ski guiding in the Wallowa (Oregon) and San Juan (Colorado) Mountains.  Danny has also guided expeditions to Denali and Aconcagua.  When he is not guiding, Danny spends his time skiing and climbing throughout the western United States, Alaska, British Columbia, and Europe.  Some of his favorite trips include ski expeditions into the Wrangell and Alaska Ranges (Alaska), multiple adventures to Chamonix, and fall climbing excursions to Red Rocks (Nevada).  Now that Danny and his family live in Colorado Springs, he looks forward to guiding and continuing to progress through the AMGA certification program.

AMGA Certified Ski Guide
AMGA Apprentice Alpine & Rock Guide
AIARE Avalanche Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
PSIA Level 2 Ski Instructor
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Awareness Course

Mike Coyle

Mike began skiing and climbing after moving to Taos, New Mexico when he was 18, but he first fell in love with the outdoors by spending time in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia as a kid.  Skiing, climbing, canyoneering, and whitewater rafting have taken him all over the Western United States and have helped to define who he is today.  Mike went to college in Durango, Colorado and began mountain guiding after earning a BA in Adventure Education from Fort Lewis College in 2013.  He is currently living in Boulder, Colorado where he spends his free time skiing, climbing, and taking his dog Yonder into the mountains.

Mike loves spending time in the mountains because of the physical and mental challenges provided, the amazing people he gets to meet, and the beautiful places he gets to visit.  He is very passionate about teaching and sharing outdoor experiences with other people and he is continually striving to become the best educator and guide that he can be.  The things that get him the most psyched are powder days, sticky ice, rock climbing in the sun, beautiful views, good food, and great company.

IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide
AMGA Certified Alpine & Rock & Ski Guide
AIARE Avalanche Course Leader
Full Avalanche Certificate
American Avalanche Association Pro Member
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Trainer

Kristen Buckland

The first week after moving to Colorado from the flat Midwest, Kristen was walking in the Garden of the Gods, saw people rock climbing and thought, “I don’t know what that is, but I need to do it.”  Kristen then immersed herself in everything outdoors related, spending the last ten years learning all she can about climbing, mountaineering, and skiing.  She has climbed and skied all across the United States and internationally as well, with many climbing adventures to the North Cascades.  She enjoys the educational side of guiding and loves sharing knowledge with her clients.

Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Awareness Course

Danielle Piscatelli

Danielle is a native of Boston and spent many years hiking and skiing in and around the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine before relocating to Phoenix.  While in Phoenix she enhanced her hiking and backpacking skills exploring many parts of Arizona and Utah, including several trips into Grand Canyon National Park.  In addition to Pikes Peak Alpine School, she currently guides for Colorado Mountain Expeditions, based in Colorado, and nationally based Fitpacking.  Outside of guiding Danielle teaches outdoor education for Colorado Mountain College and trail building skills for the Outdoor Stewardship Institute.  She currently lives in Denver and is excited to explore all that the Centennial State and Rocky Mountains have to offer.  In her spare time, she is actively involved in the community as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Women’s Wilderness, leads trail crews for Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, is a Peak Steward with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, and is the Colorado Volunteer Programs Manager for Camber Outdoors.

AIARE Avalanche Level I
Wilderness First Responder Certified
Leave No Trace Trainer

Ryan Hammes

Ryan Hammes, Director of Outdoor Education at Colorado College, has been an active member of both the AORE and AMGA community since 2006.  He is a certified Rock Instructor, CWI Provider, and SPI Provider for the American Mountain Guides Association.  A Wisconsin native, Ryan received his Master’s of Science degree in Adventure Education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and has had the opportunity to teach academic courses, instruct for Colorado Outward Bound School, volunteer as a backcountry National Ski Patroller, teach wilderness medicine, publish a number of works related to rock climbing and adventure education, and volunteer as an EMT/Firefighter for Manitou Springs Fire Department running their high-angle rescue team.  His main passions revolve around climbing, backcountry skiing, bluegrass music, and fly-fishing.