Eli Helmuth has been certified by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) as a Rock Guide since 1991, Mountain Guide since 1997 and Ski Mountaineering Guide since 2003.  He has worked as an instructor and examiner for the AMGA since 1999 in the rock and alpine programs and previously was an instructor and technical trainer for the Pacific Crest Outward Bound School (PCOBS) where he started his professional guiding career in 1989.   Eli enjoyed more than 1,000 days of guiding expeditions around the world with the American Alpine Institute (AAI) before moving to Colorado in 1999 to work full-time as a guide and instructor with the Colorado Mountain School through 2008. located in the mountain paradise of Estes Park.   

Eli leads many expeditions to the great mountain ranges of the world, specializing in the Alaskan Ranges, the Andes, and the Himalaya;  he has had great success with team members in reaching many of the loftiest summits on the planet and his safety record is unparalleled in the guiding profession.

In more than three thousand days of climbing and ski guiding and on more than one hundred successful expeditions around the world for high altitude, technical climbs and ski mountaineering, Eli has safely led thousands of clients without an accident or injury (one broken finger) on some of the highest peaks and biggest cliffs of the "lower 48", Alaska, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Patagonia, Canada, and in the Himalaya.  Training and mentoring climbers of all ages and helping to realize their goals are Eli's professional passions.  Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   if you would like to arrange a specific training, expedition, or climbing program or for advice on who to best contact in your local area.

Among the thousands of diverse climbs that Eli has previously guided, some of his favorites would include: Denali, West Rib (3x) and West Buttress (2x); Mooses Tooth, West Ridge (3x);  Mount Waddington, South Face (2x), Liberty Bell, Liberty Crack (2x), Longs Peak, Diamond (Casual, Yellow, D7 - 15x total); Mount Baker, Coleman Headwall; Forbidden Peak, West Ridge.  These are just some of a list which would include the  many hundreds of classic routes in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado as an employee of the Colorado Mountain School, the sole concessionaire in the park.  Eli also enjoys climbing rock on his days off and he has made numerous first ascents of short to big-wall free climbs in traditional and sport styles in Alaska, Washington, Colorado, Ecuador, Patagonia, Peru and France up to WI5 and 5.13 in difficulty.  He is also active in trash clean-up projects while on expeditions and with the replacement of old bolts and faulty anchors on cliffs at his home crags.  In 1996, he was awarded the Denali Pro Award for his clean-up work that year on Denali in numerous sites on the upper mountain.

In South America, Eli has summited Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador more than three dozen times with guests and made numerous ascents of  Illiniza Sur, Cayambe (20x) and Antisana.   Peru is one of his favorite climbing venues and he has climbed to the summit of Artesonraju in the Cordillera Blanca and completed a mixed route with guests on Tsacra Chico in the Huayhuash Range.  In Bolivia, Eli has summited Illimani and Huayna Potosi along with numerous remote summits above the Maipo Valley in Chile.   Eli has also guided numerous ascents in the Torres del Paine of Patagonia and enjoyed  7 unique expeditions with partners and guests in the Annapurna and Khumbu regions of Nepal both climbing peaks and ice climbing. 

Eli regularly teaches all facets of climbing and ski mountaineering from beginner to leader.  Technical rescue skills, trad anchoring clinics, guide training courses along with expeditions and classic ascents of all difficulties are some of the spectrum of experiences available each season and year.  Rock, alpine, ice and skiing are all an equal part of Eli's passion and experience in the mountains and he is equally capable of teaching all levels of these diverse yet interrelated arts.  Please contact him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to set-up a training program which will perfectly meet your needs and abilities.

As an active avalanche educator since completing his AMGA certification in ski mountaineering and following training with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE)since 2002,  Eli is intimate with snow having spent many thousands of days in snow covered mountain ranges making professional decisions in regard to snow stability and group risk management.  He teaches more than a dozen Level 1 and Level 2 avalanche courses each year out of Estes Park, Colorado.

Eli,  his wife Joanne, and son Finley live at the 8,700' elevation nearby Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado in a straw bale house that he built after moving to Estes Park from Washington State in 1999.   He climbs and skis in Rocky Mountain National Park and throughout the world at least 300 days a year for work and play and enjoys eating ice cream and lying in the hammock in his "off" time.