Hi I'm Tom, I'm a climber, skier and IFMGA British Mountain Guide. I am qualified to take people climbing, mountaineering, and skiing worldwide.

I grew up in the Lake District, and have been walking in the hills (or fells as we call them up there) for longer than I can remember. I have been rock climbing since my early teens, which progressed to Scottish winter climbing, and then climbing in the Alps, and beyond. I skied a little as a kid, but took it up seriously in my early twenties, initially as a way of accessing alpine winter routes, but then, as I got to understand snow more, as a sport in itself.

I now live in Les Houches in the Chamonix Valley, France.
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When I'm not guiding I'm normally either climbing, or skiing for myself. I also write gear reviews and articles for UKClimbing.com. Before I started training to be a guide I worked in the outdoor kit industry.
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To give you a flavour of who I am, and the sort of climbing and skiing I enjoy I have listed some of my best experiences, both personal and professional, below. Ask me again tomorrow and the list will have probably totally changed!

To see what I've been up to most recently follow me on Instagram: @tomripleyguiding

• Swinging leads with my Dad on Kipling Groove at Gimmer Crag, after school, on the last day of the summer term.  
• Spending a week in the CIC Hut, on Ben Nevis, climbing blue ice, under a cloudless, windless sky. 
• Guiding Poachers Falls and Umbrella Falls on Liathach, whilst working for Martin Moran. 
• Two weeks in the Alps, starting with the North Face of the Piz Badile, and finishing on the summit of Mont Blanc after climbing the Central Pillar of Freney.
• Climbing Crimson Chrysalis at Red Rock, Nevada with Nikki. Sustained 4c climbing from bottom to top, for ten pitches. Incredible.
• Guiding John along Skye’s Cuillin Ridge, the first time either of us had traversed it.
• Every time I climb Troutdale Pinnacle, or Heaven Crack at Stanage.  
• Staggering to the top of Denali, totally wasted, after having made a two-day ascent of the Cassin Ridge.
• Spending seven days climbing Mount Kenya with my wife, carrying all our gear and supplies because we were too tight to pay for porters. 
• The Westgrat on the Salbitschijen, thirty pitches of granite cracks with JR.
• The Whillans Ramp on Aguja Poincenot with Ollie and Phil, the day after we arrived in Patagonia. It stormed for the rest of our trip.  
• Guiding John and Rob up the Old Man of Stoer, Am Buachaille, and the Old Man of Hoy, during a week long road trip around Scotland.
• Pushing going 'light and fast' a little too far on a new route on Chichicapac, a remote mountain in Southern Peru, with Hamish. Thankfully nothing went wrong.