Aili Farquhar
I left New England for Jackson, Wyoming the week I turned 20. I worked for the National Forest and Park Service as a wilderness and climbing ranger for 4 years, then financed an Environmental Science degree from The Evergreen State College as a deckhand on commercial salmon and crab boats in Alaska and Washington. I never stopped climbing, and began work as a guide on the glaciers of Washington’s Cascade Range after college. I took my first personal trip into the Alaska Range in 2010 – 36 days of climbing ice and mixed routes, building an igloo at 14 Camp, and reaching the North Summit of Denali. Since then I have gone into the range 23 more times, both for work as a guide and to explore the granite, ice and snow of these beautiful Arctic mountains. Climbing and guiding have inspired travels all over the western US as well as Mexico, Argentina, New Zealand and Canada. The Wind Rivers, Tetons, Olympics, North Cascades, California granite and Red Rock sandstone remain my favorite places to climb and guide.
I call the Idaho side of the southern part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem home. I guide in The Tetons and Wind Rivers, and explore the Gros Ventre and Snake River Ranges on foot and skis. I love traveling through country wild enough to be watching for grizzly bears or moose to reach the incredible rock climbs, alpine traverses and canyons. When I’m not exploring the northwestern corner of Wyoming I teach avalanche classes and guide in the Front Range of Colorado. I am a full time RV’er and an avid gardener – both are possible! I spent 9 years as an MWD Field Engineer on land-based oil drilling rigs in the winter between guiding seasons on Denali and the Tetons, mostly in the Bakken Basin in North Dakota. I found my semi-feral black cat Cade as a kitten on the Cade 24 oil rig in Greeley, Colorado. She travels the country with me in the RV as I migrate with the guiding seasons and pursue full certification with the American Mountain Guides Association.
I love sharing the knowledge I have gathered from two decades in the mountains. Giving people the tools to move through and live comfortably in the mountains is by far the best part of being a guide. I’ve also been known to teach impromptu yoga classes at night in camp!
