Staff + Guides

As the founder and owner of Alpinehikers, Troy Haines is intimately involved in every detail of our tours. Troy first visited the Alps while studying in West Berlin in 1989. On a break from his studies, he made the first of many trips to these wonderful mountains. The rugged, imposing power of the surrounding peaks combined with the peace of the villages below formed a powerful attraction. It was love at first sight. After many return trips to walk the trails, meet interesting people, and envy the lifestyle of those lucky enough to live in such a beautiful setting, Troy made his move to the Alps. He lived and worked in the hotels in Mürren, and spent many happy summers wandering the trails to discover new places.

Troy has a degree in linguistics from Stanford University, previously taught 1st Aid and CPR classes for the American Red Cross, and led rock-climbing, hiking, and cross-country skiing trips. He also owned a bakery for two years (which helps explain his love of Swiss pastries) before moving to Switzerland in 1997.

“When not with the tours, I love being a dad and hanging out with my two young kids. I’m also an enthusiastic trail runner, and have competed in a few of the excellent trail races in Switzerland, including the Jungfrau marathon twice. I love meeting and walking with new people in beautiful places, and always look forward to meeting others on these tours who share the same love of life and discovery that I do.”

Troy and JJ currently live in Prescott, AZ, and still travel to Switzerland (almost) every summer to organize tours and keep up-to-date on the lastest.  Also to hike. Their daughter Sidney and son Owen have both spent many happy summers in Mürren.

Abby Strauss-Malcolm believes in dynamic balance — stretching comfort zones — life as an experience of change and growth. She’s always willing to get out there to experience things for herself, and she’s ready with an outstretched hand and quick laugh to encourage anyone who wants to join her.

Abby’s approach to leading a fulfilling life: “Time spent sharing incredible places with a group, moving through the landscape on foot, enjoying good conversation and food, and inspiring people to reach their goals and attain new heights.”

After years of travel, being ready to root, Abby now calls Gloucester, Massachusetts home. She works in our office heading up sales, designing tours, scheduling guides and helping create seamless logistical flow for our private guided, guided and self-guided tours.

Being able to guide professionally has given her the opportunity to explore widely from Israel and Jordan, to Mexico, Canada, Alaska, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, and much of Europe.

Before talking with Zach Dahlmer, you might not know there’s world-class surfing to be had off the coast of Nova Scotia. As one of his first adventure playgrounds, those waters gave Zach some of his most significant encounters with the sheer strength of nature — and the meaning of responsibility. Now, as a professional outdoor guide, Zach calls on that responsibility and those life lessons on a daily basis.

Zach focused his degree in Adventure Education on the educational and interpersonal aspects of outdoor adventure with small groups. “It helps me understand students and clients needs on many levels; to know when to offer a challenge. They’re at a point of stretching, of growth, while they’re out there. My job is to have fun with people and meet them where they are.”

Certified as a Wilderness First Responder and trained in a wide range of skills such as backpacking, climbing, sea kayaking and wilderness navigation, Zach spent the last three years guiding in the mountains and canyons of the U.S. Southwest and the nine years prior to that as a sail charter guide. His favorite part of leading a group is the chance he gets to share his passion for wild places, “to offer them the chance to interact with the world and each other in a very real way.”

Deborah Charlap manages administrative operations and marketing for Alpinehikers. She explores new opportunities to make our office an effective, engaged workplace and celebrates the ways that everyone’s adventures contribute to our company’s story. “I’ve never considered myself an explorer and now I work surrounded by professional guides… Their enthusiasm is contagious! It’s made me more eager to find the adventures in everyday life and just get out there more.”

Some of Deb’s adventures include homesteading in rural Arizona and training companion and working dogs. A magical trip to Switzerland in the summer of 2013 marked her transformation from occasional hiker to avid adventurer, and further travels have only solidified this.

“There was this Sound-of-Music-style moment — alone in an alpine meadow, surrounded by yellow globe flowers and towering white peaks… It’s an incredible place to stretch your boundaries.”

Deb is also our in-house designer… gathering photos, designing maps, obsessing over fonts, color, mood, message, and pulling everything together just so.  She is the reason your tour packet consists of more than just a few pages of paper stapled together (our early “tour packaging”).

Mike Cullen took forever to sit down and write this blurb about himself! In fact, he’s too busy answering email questions, editing, printing, and shipping your tour materials to think about himself enough to write any more than what you see here!

He does love fly fishing, watching English Premier League matches, hiking, tinkering in his garage, and traveling with his lovely wife, Layla and young son Jack.

Mike is meticulous and detail-oriented, quick to notice something amiss in a hotel confirmation or in need of polishing in a tour packet.  It might feel seamless, but when you arrive at your hotel, your luggage is there, the host is expecting you, and your room has a gorgeous balcony… that’s Mike at work.  His travels to the Alps have given him to chance to hike the trails and meet the innkeepers that he communicates with so much during the year.

Koeun Buck, originally from Seoul, finds herself fortunate to have lived in so many beautiful places surrounded by mountains. She lived in Hokkaido, Japan where she met her husband and fellow Alpinehiker guide Hayden Buck, and they travelled and hiked together in Nepal, Tibet, Northern Africa and the Canadian Rockies. Having lived in Munich for 7 years, Koeun has hiked in many beautiful places in the Alps and is excited to share her knowledge and memories with other hikers.

Koeun lives in Squamish, BC and heads over to the Alps every summer to support our self-guided trips, answering questions, helping with any unforeseen events. She loves meeting new people and hearing about their trips and stories. In her free time, you will find her snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking and camping in the West Coast mountains of British Columbia.

Growing up in British Columbia, Hayden Buck spent his youth exploring the temperate rainforests of western North America. Once the snowboarding bug bit him in 1995, it was extremely rare to find him anywhere but in the mountains. After taking a break from completing his studies in Criminal Justice to travel Australia and New Zealand, his lifelong dream of being a police officer shifted and his dreams of guiding began. From hiking in the Himalaya to living in Hokkaido, Japan for almost 12 years, to Munich, living abroad has become a way of life.

Hayden now calls British Columbia home, and his heart lives in the mountains. The Alps are some of Hayden’s favorite peaks, not just for their majesty, but also the historical significance of places like Lagazuoi in the Dolomites, and Grindelwald in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, where some of Canada’s first mountain explorers made their mark.

That’s where you’ll find him guiding – with a permanent smile and a commitment to help his guests gain grins of their own!

Bruno Yates considers himself extremely lucky to have grown up on the beautiful island of Jersey, part of The British Isles, but only a stone’s throw from the coast of France. Long summers spent playing on the beaches, swimming and sea kayaking, led to a lasting fascination with the outdoors and consequently a degree in Sports Science and Physical Geography. While on the mainland of Britain, he also discovered the fantastic mountains of the Lake District, Snowdonia and the Highlands of Scotland.

Bruno is an International Mountain Leader and a British Mountaineering Instructor. These qualifications have led to a variety of interesting work including guiding groups in far flung places (Greenland, Japan, India and Namibia to name a few) and teaching rock climbing and mountaineering in the United Kingdom. He worked at an Outward Bound School for several years and then as a college lecturer in Outdoor Education before becoming a freelance guide in 2011. He’s still an Associate Instructor at Outward Bound and also works for a charity which uses the mountain environment to help veterans struggling with PTSD.

“I love my job because of the variety of beautiful places it takes me to and the variety of people I get to work with, all age groups, nationalities and backgrounds. I’m blessed to live on the shores of the stunning Lac d’Annecy in France with The Aravis Mountains on the doorstep and Mont Blanc only an hour away. In my free-time you’ll find me either running, climbing, canoeing, swimming, cycling or skiing. The mountain environment is a unique place to escape the hum drum – a place to be grounded and re-connect with some of life’s simple pleasures.”

Jakub Doubic brings an irresistible sense of fun to every adventure. Born and raised in the Czech Republic, Jakub is a global citizen. Traveling from Europe to the US and Canada, north Africa, and Asia, he has made the whole world his playground for mountain biking, rock climbing, mountaineering, ocean windsurfing, kitesurfing, and diving. His masters degree in computer engineering certainly did not keep him from his passion for the outdoors and his gift with group leadership.

“Life is a never ending learning process for me. New places and guests make it interesting every summer. New challenges to approach and solve, new people to meet. I am inspired by our bigsmall planet – how can you get bored?”

Jakub’s depth and breadth of experience comes from many years as a guide and instructor helping people of all ability levels with hiking, skiing, biking, and rock climbing.

“My favorite part of leading the group is sharing the great outdoor places worth visiting with our guests. With the right approach, everyone can enjoy it!”

Emmanuel Roux has been guiding in the Mont Blanc, Grand Combin and Haute Route regions for 25 years.  Emmanuel is from les Houches, and Mont Blanc is his home so he has stories and insights that only a local can provide, and he loves to share them with his guests.

Beyond the Alps, Emmanuel has also guided in Norway, Iceland, Sicily, Cinque Terre and Madeira, but when he has free time, he likes to spend it at home with his family.

For Emmanuel, hiking provides a pathway to feel good about yourself, to feel strong in your mind and confident in your body.  Fast or slow, you will reach your goal, with accomplishments to celebrate and time to relax.  Emmanuel has a great sense of humor, is always positive, patient, and just plain fun to be around.

Alistair Crompton was first introduced to the Alps on a school skiing trip at the age of eleven and has been in love with mountains ever since. He is a qualified international mountain leader, Wilderness Medical First Responder and yoga teacher, and has been living in the Chamonix Valley for nearly 7 years.

A visit to the Grosglockner glacier in Austria in 2008 made him realize the seriousness of global climate change, and selfishly he wanted to indulge his passion for skiing before snow and winter sports became a thing of the past, so in 2012 he quit his job in London, packed up his life and moved to the Alps, and has been here ever since. Realizing we all have a personal responsibility to lessen our impact on the planet he now eats a plant-based diet, has not owned a car for over 6 years and has gone from a career of traveling the world incessantly to staying in one place and connecting with nature that can be accessed from his home.

Having used yoga as part of his training plan for the Sydney Marathon in 2014, Alistair saw how complimentary yoga could be in maintaining strength and flexibility for outdoor sports. He qualified as a yoga teacher in 2015 and has been teaching ever since, helping mountain sports athletes and enthusiasts in the Chamonix valley.

Alistair is an expert on the flora and fauna of the Alps, with his latest obsession being the world of fungi. Alistair’s interest in the environment encapsulates climate change and the effect this is having on the landscape that surrounds us. He exudes a passion for the mountains and a simple life and loves to encourage people to reconnect with nature, with the mental and physical health benefits this brings. Working as a hiking guide provides a perfect outlet for this.

Originally from the South of England, Wendy was introduced to a outdoor pursuits by an inspiring PE teacher in college.  She spent 6 years in North Wales combining a degree in environmental biology and then a PhD in cellular physiology with hiking, climbing, mountain biking and playing rugby for Wales.  Her passion for the mountains in all seasons brought her to the Vaudoise Alps of Switzerland, where she has been based for the past 15 years.

Wendy has guided and worked with students on expeditions for over 20 years often giving them their fist taste of multiday hikes, and of course guides hiking tours throughout the Alps where she is an attentive and knowledgeable guide.  She loves being able to share her ‘back garden’ with others.  In addition to the Alps, Wendy has travelled extensively to Canada, Norway, the US, Japan and throughout Europe, recently completed a New Zealand bikepacking trip over 1600 km from top to bottom of the South Island.

Mountains are in Brant Kilber‘s blood. Growing up in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, as a child and young adult he scrambled through much of the neighboring Cascade Range from Mt. Hood to Mt. Rainier, Mt. Olympus, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Baker. On his most recent trip to Switzerland, Brant and a fellow guide climbed Monta Rosa, the second highest peak in Europe, a highlight for him.

He is also very familiar with European customs with a cultural understanding that runs deep. Brant spent four years living in Germany, both of his children were born there, and he describes his wife Beate’s hometown in southern Germany like a romantic thread that ties them both to the Alps. “When it’s clear, you can look across Lake Constance and see the Alps. Her father was a mountain climber and they spent a lot of time hiking around there together.” Brant is truly at home in the Alps and is always at ease, whether chatting with a local farmer or savoring a gourmet meal in a 5-star hotel, leading a leisurely hike or rising before sunrise for the chance to explore a new trail.

A carpenter and cabinet maker in Portland, Oregon in his off-season, Brant is also a well-informed naturalist and photographer ready to share his knowledge of birds and wildflowers with interested guests. Many of his photos grace the Alpinehikers’ website. He started guiding with Alpinehikers in 2000 and has led tours in Switzerland almost every summer since then… and he is always excited to go back. “I just find it fascinating being there. There is still so much to explore, to do and see. I love going to new places, but I love going back to places, too. I look forward to every single one of them.”

Born in Tres Cantos Madrid (Spain), although of sentiment, born in the Pyrenees, from a family with clear contact with the mountains, Fernando started skiing at the age of 3 and has never looked back from a life the mountains.  As a young man, he wanted to be a police officer, but first decided to serve his country as a marine, after three years, discovered that his place was in the mountains.

A current resident of Chamonix, he came to climb Mont Blanc and never left!  Fernando is a mountain guide, photographer, avalanche specialist, drone pilot, former marine, explorer and writer.  Fun-loving and adventurous, he has traveled, photographed and guided in many places around the world… Ushuaia, Lapland, Chile, Iceland, Jordan and all over Europe.

Let’s share together an incredible experience that will make us connect more with nature and with each other.

Born and raised in Ireland, like many of his countrymen, Ryan has itchy feet and an insatiable appetite to explore new places, try new things and meet new people. He has prioritized travel and adventure throughout his life, rarely missing an opportunity to enrich his understanding and appreciation of the world around us in ways that only travel can. Whether it be ski-mountaineering the highest peaks of the Alps, volunteering in Nigeria or motorbiking across Asia, Ryan rarely stays still for long and is always thinking about his next adventure.

After gaining a Masters degree in Physics, Ryan initially pursued a career as an Engineer working in Renewable Energy in Scotland. A land of immense beauty and limitless adventure opportunities, naturally it inspired his interests in the environment, sustainability and adventure sports. But exciting plans were soon hatched and it wasn’t long before he had packed his life onto the back of a motorbike and was riding east as far as his bank balance would allow. Across Europe and through much of Asia he made it as far as Mongolia before returning to Europe. However, he never went back to his old life in Scotland and instead made a new home for himself, deep in a little known corner of the Austrian Alps, in East Tyrol. Here he lives with his wife and dog, exploring the valleys, trails and summits of the local mountains which includes Austria’s tallest, Grossglockner.

Ryan believes that the Alps are unlike anywhere else he has explored, with phenomenal diversity, unrivalled accessibility and vibrant culture. Training to join the Mountain Rescue, guiding hikes as an UIMLA International Mountain Leader and teaching as a ski instructor, Ryan works full-time leading groups in his Alpine home. Whether it be sharing his broad knowledge about the Alpine environment, making discerning menu recommendations or simply sharing a sunset schnaps at the end of a great day, Ryan will ensure you have a safe, rich and enjoyable experience as you embark on your next adventure!

Martin grew up in Berner Oberland where he naturally developed his passion for hiking, climbing, skiing and biking all over the Alps.  He traveled back and forth and between North America and Europe through several positions in his career in the tourism industry. He has promoted Alaska cruises for a Swiss tour operator, presented motorhomes to European visitors in the Canadian Rockies and he represented the glamourous resort of St. Moritz all over the US.  Then he transferred to Switzerland Tourism, based in New York City and became sales and marketing manager for the Swiss trains and mountain excursions during 5 years in the US.

With the mountains now being distant, he used every opportunity to combine his business trips across the continent with camping and backcountry skiing adventures. His favorite playground became the deserts and red rocks of the Southwest and the Sierra Nevada.  Finally, in 2024 he moved back home to Switzerland to follow his passion and become a hiking guide.

Tom loves an adventure, and being out in nature in the French Alps where he has lived for the past 13 years. Originally from the UK, he has competed in various endurance events on foot and on bike, but now he enjoys a slower pace of life, hiking, mountain biking and sleeping out under the stars in his spare time.

As well as working as a mountain leader, Tom is a personal and professional coach, and also runs retreats. He has a meditation, QiGong, and nature connection practice which helps him to stay balanced, centered, and joyful in his life and work!

Born in Derbyshire, England, close to the mountains of north Wales and the Lake District National Park, Jon has spent many years pursuing his passion for trekking all around the world, in the Himalayas, Chile, Argentina, Morocco, the Canaries, and in all the European Alpine countries. Following a degree in German and French and a Masters in Business Administration, Jon has lived in several European countries enjoying a career as teacher, airborne soldier, credit analyst, export sales manager, translator, musician, and in more recent years mountain hiking guide.

Jon now lives in the Three Valleys ski area in the northern French Alps, leading snowshoe tours in the winter, groups of contenders for the UK’s National Three Peaks Challenge in the spring, and trekking groups in the French and Swiss Alps in the summer. Jon is never happier than when in the mountains and is always keen to share his broad knowledge of Alpine culture and the Alpine environment.

Alex is an International Mountain Leader, Polar Guide aspirant and photographer based in St. Moritz, Switzerland. When she’s not in the mountains, she works as an Expedition Guide in the Arctic and Antarctica.

During her ‘7 Summits’ project, she climbed the highest mountain on every continent, completing the quest on the summit of Mt. Everest. This journey inspired her to become a guide and share her passion for the mountains. She runs private snowshoe tours in the winter, hiking & mountain biking adventures in the summer across the Alps.

She also works as a professional photographer, and she uses photography as a tool to support environmental projects and explore the polar regions.  Her favorite subjects are mountains, polar history, female explorers, the environment, and photography (Instagram: alex7summits).  In her free time, Alex enjoys backcountry touring, mountain bike racing and trail running.