Comments from our students, guests and friends:

Colonel Foster Traverse August, 2010.

Rich is a very skilled and extremely capable guide who I learned a lot from and without whom I would never have been able to complete this trip. It looks like we were the first party to summit both the SouthWest and the Main peaks this year according to the registry. We stayed at the excellent bivvy shelter on the main summit and had a great sunrise. Everything went according to plan and there was a great mixture of mixed climbing, route finding moving on snow, excellent rock and not so excellent rock. Overall an extremely intense and exhilarating experience and worked out well with the 4-day time period. Next summer may be Rambler Peak or some other interesting adventure. I shall be in contact.

Rod Szasz, Tokyo, Japan.

Complete Mountain Skills Fly-in August, 2010.

Thanks for an awesome trip. I've gained an immense appreciation for what you do and a thirst to continue on.

Carol Ann Patterson, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Intro Rock and Long Week end Mountain Skills June/July, 2010.

I recently went through the Intro to rock course and then did the Long weekend mountain skills course with Jan from Island Alpine Guides.  What can I say?  Both were excellent!  Jan is a great mentor and has a ton of experience. I have since put many of the skills that I learned to use on a week long hiking trip in Strathcona Park.  Doing these courses with Jan has certainly taken my hiking skills "up a notch".  I plan on doing more courses with I.A.G in the future.

Russ Henry, Nanaimo, BC.

BC.Mount Arrowsmith Alpine Skills Long Week end, June, 2010

I can't wait to get out again!  It was an incredible course and I am so glad to have taken it, definitely ignited something.

Anna Clark, MEC staff Victoria.

AST1 Mount Cain 6-7 February, 2010. 

You did a great job with making the course professional while keeping it entertaining and fun.  I felt you did a great job of balancing the safety and technique messages while keeping it realistic and relating it to real situations and decision making.  I would and have recommend the level 1 Avalanche course to anyone who wants to explore any out of bounds areas whether they are skiers, boarders, snowshoe or hikers.  I really liked the layout of the course and how you used what we were actually seeing (good and bad techniques) and experiencing as learning tools instead of just using theory. I am eager to get out and put some of my new skills to practice and continue learning in the outdoors!

Tod Gilbert Nanaimo BC

Mount Matchlee: Mountain Skills Course July 24,25 and 26 of 2009

Thanks again to Jan Neuspiel of Island Alpine Guides for an amazing experience! In the last couple of years I have taken various climbing instruction, an avalanche course and a guided mountain hike/climb on Vancouver Island. All three outdoor educators/guides (Cliff, Karen and Jan) have been outstanding!

My most recent adventure was a helicopter fly in to Matchlee Mountain. Three days of excellent instruction at a magical location, all under blue skies and warm weather; and to top it off a climb to the summit!

My climbing partner (Albert Pozar) and myself looked forward to this trip as a once in a life time adventure?now we say a helicopter fly in mountain experience with IAG will be an annual event!

Dale Combs; Duncan BC

"I have been the educational coordinator for the Vancouver Island Section of the Alpine Club of Canada, for the past two years and Cliff Umpleby has been the instructor of choice for all of our winter educational offerings. He is by far the most knowledgeable mountain guide that I have ever met, when it comes to avalanche safety training, crevasse rescue and backcountry ski technique."

Peter Rothermel, Qualicum Beach BC

......."From an initial top rope rock climbing course, through to a wild expedition in the Waddington range, Jan has provided me with solid instruction and guiding to the highest standards"

Mort Allingham, Comox B.C.

"Great trip, great company and outstanding guiding"

Georg Woernle, Chemainus, BC.

"Over the years I have done a number of trips with Jan on Vancouver Island and in the Coast Range. Jan's enthusiasm for mountains is infectious. He is great fun to have adventures with and he has helped me push my limits in a safe way. For our first trip together he guided an all woman's snow and ice school that I had helped to organize. His teaching abilities and interpersonal skills were exemplary."

Dr. Erika Kellerhals, Quadra Island BC.

"We had an excellent multi-day ski tour around the Mystery Creek area with Cliff. He is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, eager to share experience and making sure everyone was having a good time. One of his particular strengths is to quickly judge the skills and experience of the group and provide a trip that is both challenging and exhilarating but within the group's capabilities. The trip was well planned, we had a beautiful campsite and excellent days of ski touring. We are definitely planning to do our next ski tour with Cliff, beyond being an experienced and professional guide he is simply a great guy to be on a trip with."

Suzanne & Andrew Humphreys, Vancouver

"For several years my daughter's birthday present for me was a guided trip with Jan Neuspiel to one of the higher local peaks on northern Vancouver Island or in the Bute Inlet area. Without exception, the climbs were enjoyable and successful, and the memories remain with me as some of my most enjoyable mountaineering trips. At the start of a trip the objective always seemed to be higher and more difficult than anything I could reasonably expect to climb safely. Yet once we got going I never had reason to fear or worry, it was simply lots of fun in spectacular surroundings. If it wasn't for very arthritic knees, the birthday present tradition would, hopefully, still be going on."

Rolf Kellerhals, Quadra Island BC. Author of many first ascents in the BC coast range in his younger days as a pioneering mountaineer.

"I have taken a half dozen treks with various companies around the country climbing in Africa, Canada, Italy, Switzerland as well as a variety of places in the US and have had a number of guides who have assisted me in these ventures. None of them came close to holding a candle to the experience we had with Jan. Thank you. We will treasure our memories forever."

Dan Stephenson, Temecula Califorinia.

"I've been climbing with Jan since our first trip in Nepal in 1989. We've climbed together almost every year since then in the European Alps, Yosemite, the Tetons, and both the Coast Range and on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.. On every trip I have put my life in Jan's hands, and I've been comfortable doing so. He's very careful and very knowledgeable as a guide. He really does make my safety in the mountains his first priority. Jan is also always sensitive to my limits, both in thinking through each route (and sometimes each move on a section of a route), and in thinking through when he can push me a little to get past my fears, when I really am able to follow him. Beyond the question of safety, we've become good friends. You need someone you can talk to, in all moods, when you're sharing a tent for days. Jan can get along well with, and encourage, a very wide range of people."

Ken Cohen, Boston Massachusetts.

"I have skied all over the world in Europe, Canada, South America, Greenland, Alaska, Russia and the Himalayas. Some of the best days I have had have been skiing with Jan."

Joaquin Folch, Barcelona Spain.


"I have had the benefit of Jan's guiding on four separate occasions over the years. From an initial top rope rock climbing course, through to a wild expedition in the Waddington range, Jan has provided me with solid instruction and guiding to the highest standards. Jan's friendly nature and wide ranging conversational interests make his trips all the more entertaining. I recommend Jan without hesitation as a guide to your adventures."

Mort Allingham, Comox B.C.


"I started lead climbing after a three day course taught by Jan Neuspeil. We covered gear placement, anchors, rope management and multi pitch climbing techniques. This professional instruction proved priceless to me on so many levels. I noticed my base technical skills were at a higher level compared to more "seasoned" climbers. There is just so much ground level knowledge I gained that would have been impossible to replicate without professional instruction. As I progressed in my climbing, I teamed up with Jan as a climbing partner four years later on a 3000ft big wall on Baffin Island. I highly recommend this training to anyone serious about climbing safely and effectively."

Guy Ridler, Courtenay B.C.


"It really was one of the best courses I've ever taken - it was perfectly structured and well taught. Thanks! It's proven especially useful; I've been planning all kinds of trips all around here!"

Erik Peterson, Nanaimo, B.C.