Dylan Taylor

Dylan Taylor

Guide: Alaska, Washington, Alps

Dylan lives with his partner Marine and their cat  “Jonesy” in the boulder-strewn forests immediately below the Bossons Glacier on Mont Blanc’s north side. The Chamonix Valley has been Dylan’s home since 2009, and before that, he spent a decade in Western Washington after growing up in the Front Range of Colorado. Dylan has been climbing and skiing for over 3 decades, and has been guiding since 2000. Since finishing a Masters in Geology (and eschewing a potentially lively career as a researcher or perpetual PhD student), Dylan has used mountain guiding to combine a love for all things alpine with the satisfaction of sharing it with others. Working as a guide has provided many fun travel opportunities as well as fueling the wanderlust to seek adventure in even more exotic destinations during the off-season.

In 2007, Dylan completed his training with the American Mountain Guide Association to become America’s 37th IFMGA internationally licensed Mountain Guide, and now works one or two months a year as an instructor and examiner for the AMGA – training the next generation of professional guides in America. When back at home in France, Dylan, Marine, and occasionally “Jonesy le Chat” go on brief adventures to lush forests (Jonesy is leash trained) or to Mediterranean limestone destinations, with the most recent being to the French Calanques, and the most memorable being an autumn road trip to Sicily where fresh fish were bought and grilled nightly, and the quality of the gelato was inversely proportional to the hardest grades climbed.

Significant Ascents

Significant achievements in cold, snowy, and rocky places include:
• 10 Denali expeditions (8 via West Buttress, 2 via West Rib)
• A rare ascent of the true summit of Mount Waddington (British Columbia’s highest peak) via the Bravo Glacier, followed by witnessing the most snowfall I’ve ever seen in my life (10+ feet in 30 hours)
• West summit of Mooses Tooth
• Traverse of Mt Thor in Alaska’s Chugach range, from the Columbia glacier to the Sylvester Glacier – an admittedly obscure peak that no one’s ever heard of, but the memories are indelible.
• Unsupported multi-day (and multi-week!) ski traverses – with fun summits and couloir descents thrown in – during ascents of various remote ranges of Alaska, including the Central Chugach, the Tordrillos, the Neacolas, and the Wrangells. Came very close to bears at times – and wolves.
• First ascents and some early repeats of long alpine rock climbs in Argentine and Chilean Patagonia – Aguja Poincenot W face, Cerro Domo Blanco N face, Cerro Mascara, Torre Norte, etc
– 3 ascents of Aconcagua via 2 routes
• 3 ascents of the Vinson Massif (Antarctica’s highest peak), one ascent of Mt Sidley (Antarctica’s highest volcano), several first ascents of various Antarctic peaks that shall not be named, one ski traverse to the south pole, and several days spent on the summit of Mt Erebus (Antarctica’s highest active volcano) dodging pyroclastic debris and airborne lava bombs, trying not to breath the gasses, and trying to keep a handful of brilliant volcanologists happy and safe.
• 10 seasons of field support in the Antarctic (having adventures outside of the ones listed above)
• 1 season supporting polar bear researchers in their efforts to plant surveillance cameras just outside of Mama (Polar) Bear dens in Svalbard
• Dozens of summits of the Mont Blanc in France (my backyard), along with several dozen more summits of many of the surrounding peaks
• Approximately 20-25 Matterhorn (Switzerland) summits
• Assorted adventures on a myriad of other 3000m and 4000m peaks in the French, Swiss, and Italian alps, with the occasional paragliding flight back down from a summit
• Many amazing pitches of rock climbed on 6 out of 7 continents (I’m still missing Africa as a rock venue!)
• Nearly climbed the Scottish Pillar on Bhagirathi III (Gharwal Himalaya) in 2 days, then spent 4 storm-bound days in a tent just below the summit wondering how to get out of that one…
• First ascent of a 6000m peak in Afghanistan’s Pamir Mountains, involving 18 pitches of fun ice climbing followed by an elegant ridge traverse.
• Ski mountaineering expedition in Afghanistan in late winter/spring, had a Snow Leopard walk right behind us…
• Several guided ascents of Mt Aspiring on the South Island of New Zealand
• Ski guiding from a beautiful 72-foot sailboat in Norway and Svalbard

Dozens of obscure ascents in the North Cascades as well as many ascents of the classic routes on the Cascades Volcanoes, numerous rugged peaks in North Cascades National Park, and the excellent alpine granite of Washington Pass and Index

Certifications

IFMGA/AMGA Mountain Guide
AIARE Level III
AMGA Instructor
Wilderness First Responder & CPR

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