Client Comments

Words can't really say how good Roy was. He gave good and clear instructions and was enjoyable to spend downtime with. Without Roy, I never would have come close to achieving my goal, and I loved every minute of it, even the sore feet.

Great people, great guides, great venues, resourceful people, great organisation and so on! I enjoyed the time on the mountain. We would have liked to spend more time up there but weather conditions dictated otherwise. That did not prevent Tai from instructing us tons of things. I really liked how he listened to our personal objectives (he asked that at the start of the course and half way through the course) and managed to fit it all in! He managed to cover what we wanted and what we didn’t know we wanted!

Andrea was the best guide we could have asked for. Was extremely knowledgeable and tirelessly and happily answered a constant barrage of questions from us at all hours of the day and night. I liked the methodology of learning a technique the night or day before and then practicing it out in the field the following day. I really liked that he also referred to certain techniques or standards from Europe and America as well as NZ and I felt that I got a really broad knowledge and learnt a hybrid of the best international techniques.

This trip was a huge deal for us... a trip of a lifetime for Warwick and I - to take our daughters out to do something so different and challenging! Then with Andrea’s excellent support, we were able together to: summit Single Cone, experience a night in a snow cave, gain a real insight into mountaineering and have three wonderful dinners / evenings together. All up, just a fantastic trip. Thank You Andrea.

MAD AS! I would absolutely recommend this course to any aspiring mountaineer and ice climber needing to improve their technical proficiency and experience on steep ice. This course teaches you to climb smarter not harder. A lot of focus is put in to being able to identify safe climbing routes on the ice fall, good axe and foot placement and body positioning. This course has helped me develop more efficient techniques and safer climbing habits necessary to pursue the larger mountaineering objectives.

The course exceeded my expectations. It was a great experience. My favourite parts were the ridge climbing on day 2 and the Single Cone ascent. Dan did a great job through his extensive knowledge and experience and with his approach to guiding and interacting with course participants. Dan and Aspiring Guides would be my first call for any future guided activities in the area. High standard of guiding as above, but also very good administration and office support. Carla and Ross were great to deal with and very welcoming. Service was personalized. Clients were clearly valued and appreciated.

The guide I can not speak highly enough! I was pushed within my comfort zone, every bit of knowledge and skill was explained from the book you provided to how it is used when in the mountain.

(Brent was) very professional, gave time to each of us, as and when needed. Very patient, always joined in for a laugh, knew when to be serious and looked after us really well. Always positive and friendly. All staff were fantastic. I enjoyed all of it. Brent really catered to us in every situation. When the weather sucked, we did theory and practiced what we could. When the weather cleared, we went for it. Helpful, friendly staff. Well run courses and well run trips.

Exactly what I needed.

I had an awesome time on Aspiring, and the walk out on the Bonar glacier over the Quaterdeck pass on to French Ridge Hut and down to Aspiring Hut through the west Matukituki Valley was the icing on the cake. I highly recommend the walk out as I got see see a part of the NZ alpine environment that I have never seen before. I would do the walk out again in an heart beat, after another climb of course.

Everything has been super organised and the whole Aspiring team has been super helpful. Definitely one of the most well designed and professional mountaineering training experiences I have had. Beauty of this course is it can be tailor made for all levels, and the flexibility it offers.

Favorite part: Camaraderie with clients and guide, initial crag climbs/intro, helicopter trips, hut stay, glacier walks, hard snow/ice climbs, climbs at the Remarks. Hard to choose, so many.

I wanted to learn the skills of alpine travel and not just have someone do all the work for me and just get me up a mountain. It pushed me just enough and taught me the skills to know that I need to learn a lot more.

That feeling inside when you’ve summitted and you’re nearly back down, and you see the Colin Todd hut and can relax feeling you’ve done it... Met my very high expectations, and exceeded them really. An amazing experience. Andrea was again a dream guide – patient, calm, calming, very chatty without being in your face. I feel supported and guided and I know he has my back both in terms of safety, but also in terms of expecting me to do things I can do even if I don’t particularly believe I can myself.

I have been with Aspiring Guides twice before. On both occasions I had a rad as time and had no questions whether or not I was coming back with Aspiring Guides. As always the information that I received prior to and leading up to the course was more than adequate. The staff made a real effort in answering any questions I had about the guide available and equipment necessary for the course. Was totally stoked I got to do some lead ice climbing and practice multi pitch climbing. Definitely improved my ability to identify and assess avalanche terrain and the best path to avoid maximum exposure. It gives you some good exposure to the alpine environment that you are likely to encounter on the more aggressive alpine routes. Improved my multi pitching ability, mixed rock and ice climbing ability including the ability to make solid anchors. The least favourite part of the trip was the ending. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end.

Tai was fantastic. He was thorough, patient and extremely knowledgeable. He was always safety conscious and provided excellent feedback both during and after the climbs. He also got us to practise some skills such as ice anchors and ice screw placement. This really demonstrated how much more there was to learn and how to better our ice climbing skills.

Would recommend you guys to all my friends and family as the premier guide company of New Zealand. The ice climbing was definitely a highlight, especially seeing how quickly you progressed. But the heli ride in and out was also fantastic. Even walking up and down that hill every day was a highlight. The whole trip was fantastic. Vastly exceeded my expectations. Thanks guys for a wonderful experience I will never forget!

A well structured, well-paced course.

We had the freedom to be on our own rope teams but with the right level of supervision and guidance particularly when doing our practice scenarios eg crevasse rescue - go at our own pace and steps, but Andrea was there and watching and stepped in when we needed it. I feel like I have a sound understanding, and appreciation to practice everything before heading back out, on what I need to do for basic mountaineering adventures to build my skill set. Were still able to get great learning on bad weather days. Andrea was really personable and worked with us. A very professional, entertaining and fun course to give us the basics and confidence to mountaineer.

Grey's Peak was identified as a suitable goal. Tai kept a tight rein on us initially, and as he saw our level of skill, he released his grip. I never felt too restricted or completely out of my depth. I really appreciated his experience in this regard. His level of knowledge was amazing, he quickly assessed where we were at, and was flexible in setting goals for each day. I felt in very safe hands, and appreciated his efficiency in getting us out of the hut each morning. We traversed glaciated terrain, climbed a peak, did some skills work and the weather was mostly kind to us. Loved the helicopter in and out, and enjoyed the drive to the west coast. The whole package came together very nicely. Just being up in the mountains on the glacier was incredible. The landscape blew me away.

I was in Wanaka and had a free day, weather was perfect so a day of rock climbing sounded like a good idea. Individual lesson, so it was tailored to my needs and wishes. I wish I had more time and spent a few more days climbing ... I enjoyed all of it.

This was a life-changing experience! Having been with Aspiring Guides for 3 other adventures, I was very confident you would be the best company to lead us on our most challenging project to date. Apart from climbing Aspiring, I knew we would be well looked after in terms of food and every possible comfort, based on most recent experience on the Gillespie. Carla and the rest of the Team at Aspiring Guides were great in terms of providing the information / reassurance of our ability / and clear understanding of the challenge ahead. Also very helpful advising us on training before arriving in Wanaka, which proved to be invaluable on the climb, and meant we got up to speed with our guides on the 2 training days we had. The climb was a stretch even though I was very fit, I gave it my all and had an amazing climb. I learnt a new meaning of ‘exposure’. I thought it related to wind and rain, but now see it is more about ‘drop’…. The pre-training ensured we were safe, but equally importantly so were the guides. The tranquillity of the mountains, so peaceful and surreal when you’re up there. Still hard to believe I achieved my goal! Now I believe I can do anything if I put my mind to it!Check out this video of Gary and Graham reaching the top : click here