Sawback Alpine Adventures

We’ve been offering incredible mountaineering and ski touring trips for over 20 years. Here’s a look at some of the great ski trips we’ll be offering for 2018!

Svalbard Ski & Sail on the s/v Rembrandt van Rijn

Book Now - limited space! The most exotic guided ski touring trip possible: backcountry ski touring and sailing along the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Greenland sea, a thousand kilometers north of Norway, in the Svalbard archipelago of over 60 (mostly unpopulated) islands. It is a wild and remote place, and at a latitude of greater than 78º, high in the Arctic, it is level with Canada's Ellesmere Island, or the northernmost end of Greenland. Yet it easy to access -- with three-times daily flights from Oslo -- and offers the supreme comfort of a luxury sailing yacht.
Trip Details

Burnie Glacier Chalet Jan 25 to Feb 1, 2019

Just three spots left, book now! - Burnie Glacier Chalet is located near Smithers in northern British Columbia. It has spectacular, rugged alpine terrain with beautiful ski runs that range in nature from gentle glacier runs that can be done in most conditions to steep tree runs for high hazard days, to incredible ski mountaineering trips high into the alpine.
Trip Details

Svalbard Ski & Sail May 2019

Book Now - limited space! The most exotic guided ski touring trip possible: backcountry ski touring and sailing along the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Greenland sea, 2000 km north of Norway, in the Svalbard archipelago of over 60 (mostly unpopulated) islands. It is a wild and remote place, and at a latitude of greater than 78º, high in the Arctic, it is level with Canada's Ellesmere Island, or the northernmost end of Greenland. Yet it easy to access -- with three-times daily flights from Oslo -- and offers the supreme comfort of a luxury sailing yacht.
Trip Details

Burnie Glacier Chalet March 22-29, 2019

Fuly booked Burnie Glacier Chalet is located near Smithers in northern British Columbia. It has spectacular, rugged alpine terrain with beautiful ski runs that range in nature from gentle glacier runs that can be done in most conditions to steep tree runs for high hazard days, to incredible ski mountaineering trips high into the alpine.
Trip Details

Bonnington Traverse

The Rockies are known for the great glaciated hut-to-hut traverses: the Wapta Traverse and the Yoho Traverse (or the "Bow-Yoho" Traverse as it's also known). Deep in the Kootenays is a completely different kind of trip, the Bonnington Traverse. This is a 3-day (with heli-drop) or 4-day traverse that links alpine and sub-alpine ridges from Ymir all the way to Porto Rico, just a few minutes drive south of Nelson.
Trip Details

Selkirk Lodge Jan 5-12, 2019

Fully Booked - Selkirk Lodge provides exceptional access to an endless variety of tree skiing and big glacier runs providing excellent backcountry skiing and snowboarding options. Sitting at 2,165 metres (7,100 ft) on a small sub-alpine knoll, Selkirk Lodge enjoys grand views of high summits, nearby ice fields and the deep wild valleys of the Albert Range of B.C.’s Selkirk Mountains.
Trip Details

Mount Carlyle Lodge Feb 24-March 3, 2019

Fully booked. Sitting at 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) on a small sub-alpine knoll, Mount Carlyle Lodge enjoys grand views of high summits, nearby ice fields and the deep wild valleys of B.C.’s Kokanee Range. In the winter, Carlyle provides exceptional access to an endless variety of awesome backcountry skiing and snowboarding options.
Trip Details

Svalbard Ski & Sail on the s/v Noorderlicht

Book Now - just 2 spots left! The most exotic guided ski touring trip possible: backcountry ski touring and sailing along the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Greenland sea, 2000 km north of Norway, in the Svalbard archipelago of over 60 (mostly unpopulated) islands. It is a wild and remote place, and at a latitude of greater than 78º, high in the Arctic, it is level with Canada's Ellesmere Island, or the northernmost end of Greenland. Yet it easy to access -- with three-times daily flights from Oslo -- and offers the supreme comfort of a luxury sailing yacht.
Trip Details

Wapta Traverse April 29-May 3, 2019

The Wapta Icefield is an incredible destination for ski mountaineering. Really, it has it all: an excellent hut system, perfect terrain for traverses, and easy access to excellent ski mountaineering objectives. The best time of the year is late March to late April when the snowpack is settled and you can still count on dry powder runs; this trip is right in that perfect window.
Trip Details

Sorcerer Lodge, April 20-27, 2019

Fully booked. Contact us to get on our waiting list.
Trip Details

Sawback was founded by Tom Wolfe in 1995, running mountain hiking trips for groups. Since then we have expanded programming to offer just about any mountaineering adventure you could imagine. Tom is a trained and internationally certified Mountain Guide and a member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and the International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA).

We work with a variety of other certified guides. See our Guides and Partners Page for some photos and brief bios.

How can I book a trip?

For existing trips, simply use our Book Now link to fire off a quick booking request. We will follow up quickly with you to confirm the booking with you.

If you are looking for a custom trip – e.g. a day of ski touring or ice climbing or a multi-day trip that we don’t offer – email or phone us or use our contact form. We will offer suggestions and personally help you organize the best possible trip for you .

Are you a guide’s service?

Sawback is primarily a small one-man operation. While there are guides who work with large operations in Western Canada there is also a small, co-operative community of independent guides who pass work they can’t do on to others who can. If Tom can’t join you in your mountain adventure we will refer you to another independent mountain guide who will.