Indigo Alpine Guides

Custom Trekking

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RATIO

6:1 guest to guide ratio

Porters may be available on some trips.

LENGTH + CONTENT

Day trips to expeditions we’ve done it all.

Straight up guiding or full learning / coaching mode — up to you.

PRICING

Varies significantly by location.  

 
 

Private Guided Treks

We’ve spent our lifetimes in the mountains. We go to the mountains for joy, awe, spiritual reflection, thrill. We love sharing wild places with people.

Alaska is our backyard. Nepal is our second back yard. The skills of backpacking and expedition planning, though, cary over anywhere.

 
 
Hikers hiking a worn out trail in Nepal

Private Seminars & Instruction

We’ve spent years teaching people how to move through the mountains. From 1 day skills seminars to weeklong expedition learning, we’ve got you covered. Wherever you are in your backpacking journey we can take you to the next level. As guides we’ve been honing our craft to perfection — so we’re sure to have tips and skills that make your time in the mountains safer, more fun, and more stylish.

 
 

ALASKA

Below are all areas we guide and instruct. If you’d like to book us for any of these areas, please reach out.

 
Denali National Park

Denali

Whale’s Tail - South Side
Check out our Whale’s Tail Page for more info!

North Side - Lotery
The Whale’s Tail is an epic place to be… but Denali is vast… not to mention The Whale’s Tail is often inaccessible unless you’re booking well in advance. The north side of the park is every bit as beautiful as the south side, but you never really know what you’re going to get because permits are only issued the day before departure and you never can know which areas are maxed out until you show up. This is a pretty awesome way to backpack really, but you’ve got to be flexible and open to the experience.

Minimum 4 day trips.

Lake Clark National Park
Looking out at blue lake from bush plane window.

Lake Clark

Telaquana to Twin
Check out our page on the Lake Clark high route.

Turquoise to Twin
If Telaquana to Twin is a bit to much, consider shortening your mileage by half with a drop off at Turquoise lake. Turquoise Lake to Twin gives you all the high country of the High Route with less days of walking. 4 day trip.

Two Lakes — Neacola Backountry
For folks wanting to get way out into the Alaska Backcountry and who aren’t afraid of some mild mountaineering. We’ll fly into Two Lakes and work our way through mountain passes and across many massive glaciers to a pickup at Twin Lakes.

Any of these trips can end with a stay at Windsong Wilderness Retreat or The Farm Lodge for a gentler return to civilization.

Wrangel - St. Elias National Park

Wrangell St. Elias

The largest protected wilderness in the world.

The Goat Trail
The classic route in the Wrangels. It is stunning. But then again, the Wrangels are massive — so don’t be shy about exploring other options.

Seven Pass Route
A longer 7 day trip stringing together some of the most beautiful terrain the Wrangels have to offer.

 

NEPAL

Below are some Nepal trekking Highlights. We’ve spent hundreds of days exploring Nepal. if you’ve got a different location, we’ve got the connections and knowledge to help you make it happen.

 
Upper Dolpo
Nepali shrines in the mountains.

Upper Dolpo

Upper Dolpo is one of the only places in Nepal relatively unchanged over the past decade. Check out our Upper Dolpo trip page for more info.

We can guide trips up here at a minimum of 8 days. 20 days is the average length of expeditions to this region due to remoteness.

Manaslu Circuit
Manaslu with temples in the foreground.

Manaslu Circuit

Like the other classic Nepal Treks but with way less crowds. With Nepal trekking becoming increasingly popular, the Manaslu Circuit is something of a hidden gem.

We guide these as fast packs, fully self supported over 12 days staying in beautiful, fully equipped tea houses.

Everest Base Camp
Snow capped peak with temple in foreground

Everest Base Camp Trek

The most popular trek in the word. In the peak season, we recommend avoiding this area due to the swarms of crowds. But in December most of the tourists have filtered out and you can have the place almost to yourself.

We can arrange guided December trips as short as 5 days as long as 20.

 WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

 
Jack listened to our desires and put togther the perfect trip for us. We called a lot of companies, but more than any of the rest Jack really took the time to understand our vision and bring it to life. We couldn’t be more thrilled about the trip we ended up getting to experience with him.
— Sammy T.
I have travelled the entire world, every continent, with dozens of high-end guide services and this was hands down the best trip of my life. The place worked it’s way into my soul. And Jack was the best guide i’ve ever had! It was hard, but so so worth it.
— Jona R.
Jack had me cracking up the entire time! Alaska is no joke. If you’re willing to put in the effort it’s absolutely worth it. And if you go you might as well laugh the entire time while you’re at it. I can’t recommend Indigo Alpine Guides or Gates of the Arctic highly enough.
— Marian E.
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BOOK A CUSTOM ADVENTURE

Step 1. Send us a quick note with what you’re interested in. Step 2. We’ll get back to you to discuss your trip.

Step 3. Fill out some info and send a trip deposit. Step 4. Adventure :)

 

BOOK A CUSTOM TREK

Fill out the form below and we’ll make it happen!

FIND OUT MORE

Have questions? Reach out below or text / call us.

 

 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Check out the FAQ’s below, or text or call us at 845-661-3008 to talk it through! Or send us an email. We love hearing from folks.

 
  • Yes! All the places we guide are rugged. But we can almost always create itineraries that work for folks first or second time in the backcountry.

    • Professional Mountain Guide with over 17 years climbing experience around the world & advanced wilderness medical training.

    • All group gear: tents, group shelters, cooking equipment, water purification, first aid kit, emergency communication device, maps, compasses, GPS, Bear spray, bear-safe food storage.

    • Airfares to or from your home city, whether on scheduled or charter flights.

    • Personal gear: clothing, backpack, etc

    • Food and accommodations.

    • Guide’s travel (for custom international trips or certain custom Alaska trips.

    • Tips for guides.

  • If backpacking isn’t your thing, no worries — for Alaska trips we can basecamp and never switch sites. For trips in Nepal or elsewhere this isn’t an option.

    For Alaska basecamp trips we’ll fly in, transport our gear to a beautiful site and then spend the days in camp, cooking beautiful meals, going on day hikes to cool vistas, crafting, playing cards, reading, in good conversation…whatever the moment calls for.

  • We’ve been teaching people how to move through the mountains for over a decade. Anything you want to learn we can help you get there! Even if you consider yourself an expert backpacker, we can likely teach you a bunch of useful tools to smooth out your systems.

  • In Alaska, almost all backpacking trips we guide start and end with a plane. Alaskan bush pilots are some of the best on the planet and they’ll put us down either on the tundra (with massive tundra tires) or on a lake (with floats). From there we’ll go on our way and the plane will take off out of sight and sound.

    We’ll arrange a pickup spot with the pilot — but thanks to modern technology we can text via satellite from the field to change plans if needed. Way better than the old days when you just had to hope everything worked out.

  • We have people come on our trips by themselves all the time! There’s nothing like travel through remote wilderness to build community. Our prices are based on double occupancy of rooms. if you’re traveling alone we’ll ask you to pay a one time solo - travel supplement to cover the extra cost of the room. Please inquire for updated pricing.

  • Indigo Alpine Guide trips are most often run by the owner Jack Bynum and his closest and most trusted friends. All the people who work for IAG have over a decade of experience guiding trips in the most remote places on earth, have wilderness medical training and advanced guiding certifications.

  • For Day Trips:

    If you cancel for any reason prior to 30 days before the course start, you may rebook a later date for 100% credit, subject to availability, or receive a refund. If you cancel between 7 and 30 days prior to the course start, you may reschedule subject to availability. Between 7 and 30 days there are no refunds. If you cancel inside of 7 days from the course start, there are no reschedules or refunds available. This includes, but is not limited to:

    – Injury/illness (positive cover exposure excepted)

    – Weather, mountain and travel conditions (please see #4 below)

    – Personal scheduling changes

    For Multi-day Trips:

    You may cancel up to 120 days of the scheduled travel date and receive a full refund minus a $500 per-person service fee. If you cancel between 120 and 60 days of travel, there is a 50% cancellation fee. Within 60 days of travel, there is a 100% cancellation fee. We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance as we are not able to make exceptions to this policy in cases of family/medical emergency or of the trip being canceled.

  • We always encourage folks to purchase trip cancelation insurance in addition to the mandatory medical evacuation insurance. We require that you have at least $200,000 in medical evacuation insurance. Your insurance policy should cover hazardous sports and we recommend that your policy cover search and rescue. Since we cannot confirm each client’s policy individually, it is your responsibility to make sure your policy will cover you while you participate in your activities of choice on the expedition.

    For US citizens, we recommend Global Rescue. You will have a choice of purchasing it with or without the cancellation coverage–so make sure to select the one that gives you the coverage that you need. Other commonly used companies include World Nomads and Squaremouth.

    You are welcome to seek out other insurance options, as these are only recommendations. When selecting a policy, please make sure they insure all the activities you’ll be participating in (many don’t include roped climbing, skiing, mountaineering, etc).

 

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

We’re always happy to talk through anything on your mind. Oftentimes the quickest way to get it all done is by phone or zoom. Hit us up at the button below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can (we’re often in the mountains.)

 
 
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