Featured trips

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 the 2019/20 season.

JaPOW – Jan 25-Feb 1, 2020
JaPOW - Jan 25-Feb 1, 2020
Three spots left - book now!
Japan has formed a legendary reputation for deep powder skiing in January and February. The saying "Don't Leave Powder to Find Powder" is common in western Canada - why leave Canada when we have the best skiing in the world? Well, Japan is a strong contender, and when you add the incredible cultural experience to the mix it rises to the top of any serious skier's bucket list.
Trip Details
Svalbard Ski & Sail on the s/v Noorderlicht – May 2020
Svalbard Ski and Sail 2019
We are offering two ski and sail trips during the prime season for Arctic ski touring
The most exotic guided ski touring trip possible: backcountry ski touring and sailing along the west coast of Spitsbergen in the Greenland sea, 1000 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
Bow Yoho Traverse – April 4-10, 2020
Toe of the Des Poilus Glacier
All 8 spots available, book your group now!
We are the Wapta Deluxe experts. For years we have offered the very finest Bow Yoho traverses. Our clients have confirmed that this is the closest you'll get to a luxury Euro-style traverse in Canada and certainly on the Wapta. Find out why! Book now!
Trip Details
Selkirk Lodge Jan 2020 & Feb 2021
Selkirk Lodge
Sold out for 2020, now booking for 2021!
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
Valhalla Mountain Lodge – Jan 2021 & Feb 2022
Valhalla Mountain Lodge at night
All 11 spots available for Jan 2021, book your group now!
Vallhalla Mountain Lodge was built in 1987 before most other backcountry lodges in the Koots were imagined. Best terrain, epic snow fall and perfect temperatures = heaven!
Trip Details
Burnie Glacier Chalet
Ski Touring Teslin's at Burnie Glacier Chalet
Sold out for 2020; booking for 2021
One of Canada's very best ski touring lodges, Burnie is surrounded by towering glaciated peaks with epic 1500 m runs, and 700 m tree skiing behind the hut!
Trip Details
Wapta Traverse March 28-April 1, 2020
Wapta Traverse March 28-April 1, 2020
Booking now for 2020.
This is the Classic Wapta traverse. An excellent hut system, perfect terrain for traverses, and easy access to excellent ski mountaineering objectives. By March the snowpack is settled and the travelling is easy, but with great low-density powder skiing still.
Trip Details

More About Us

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.

Member Associations

Sawback's guides are members of the following associations:

Canadian Avalanche Association members are dedicated to upholding the highest standards of avalanche safety, and are committed to life-long learning and pursuit of excellence in their fields.

The International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA/UIAGM), founded in 1965, is the international umbrella for mountain guide associations from more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania, representing a total of almost 6,000 guides.

Avalanche Canada aims to minimize public risk in avalanche terrain by providing leadership, development, communication, coordination and delivery of public avalanche safety education, warnings, products, and services.

The Association of Canadian Mountain Guides has been the voice for all aspects of mountain guiding and instruction in Canada for over half a century and the first guides outside of Europe to be recognized by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations.