Avalanche Skills 1

Sawback is owned and operated by Tom Wolfe, a professional mountain guide living in Canmore, Alberta. Sawback employs a number of other guides, all chosen for their expertise and experience in the mountains. See our Guides and Staff page.

We are based in Canmore, Alberta. However, we run trips across Western Canada, and to many far flung and beautiful locations around the world. Some of our guides are based in Golden, British Columbia, along with other locations.

Absolutely. Please contact us to inquire about doing something that isn’t listed on our website. We are always keen to help organize custom trips. Apart from skiing, we can also organize and guide trips involving ice climbing, mountaineering, rock climbing, and hiking!

It depends on the trip! We can accommodate total beginners on some, and there’s always the option of creating a custom trip. Many of our trips have more than 1 guide, which allows the group to be split to accommodate different levels. The difficulty of each trip is rated - see our Trip Rating page. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about your experience or fitness.

All of our guides are certified by the ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) and/or the IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guide Associations). These certifications represent the highest level of training in mountain / ski guiding and risk management in the world. Becoming fully certified as a mountain guide requires many years of experience skiing and climbing, before embarking in a rigorous training and exam process that takes between 4 to 8 years to complete.

Yes, all guests, or their parent or legal guardian for guests under 18, are required to review and agree to Sawback’s Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement (the “Waiver”) as a condition of participating in any trip or activity with us and will apply to your participation in the trip. If the Waiver is not completed, the individual will not be permitted to participate. The Waiver will apply to all your activities with us for a period of 24 months from the date you sign it. By signing the Waiver, you will waive or give up certain legal rights, including the right to sue for negligence, breach of contract, or breach of the Occupiers Liability Act or claim compensation following an accident. The form of Waiver can be viewed and downloaded here. PLEASE READ THE WAIVER CAREFULLY PRIOR TO BOOKING ANY TRIP!

Our Booking Terms & Conditions can be viewed here. When you book a trip, you are deemed to have accepted our Booking Terms & Conditions on behalf of yourself and all individuals who wish to participate in your booking. Our Booking Terms & Conditions contain important terms about the booking, including our payment and cancellation policies and waiver requirement. Please review these carefully before booking.

Every trip in the mountains involves certain hazards and not all hazards can be mitigated or avoided. Our waiver outlines many of these. The safety of our guests is our absolute number one priority. Every day, the guide(s) on your trip will go through a formalized process to discuss and identify hazards, along with planning risk mitigation strategies. This process sets the stage for ongoing risk assessment through the day as new information is gathered. We strive to communicate this to our guests as much as feasible – a morning briefing about current conditions at a minimum. If you have any questions about safety at any point before or during your trip, please don’t hesitate to speak up!