Meet the team

Mike Elges

Mike grew up in a small Colorado town at 9500ft surrounded by mountains. At 18, a passion for snowboarding and desire to stay away from a “real job” landed him at Colorado Mountain College pursuing a degree in Outdoor Recreation Leadership. During this time, he discovered climbing and joined a community of people pursuing mountain craft as a profession and way of life. 

Zack McGill

Alyssa Young

Alyssa grew up in Northern California and now calls the North Cascades her home. She is a dedicated backcountry skier and has worked throughout the West as an avalanche educator, outdoor educator, and naturalist. As the Operations Manager at CMA, she works closely with guides and guests to support stellar experiences in the mountains.

Phil Straub

Matt Lubar

Whether in mountain boots, rock shoes, or on skis, Matt is a deep believer in the ability of movement through mountain landscapes to enrich our lives, and thoroughly enjoys sharing the mountains with all his guests. Besides mountain travel, Matt’s passions include soul music, ice cream, and street tacos, preferably all at once.

Lyra Pierotti

Lyra started her career as a mountain guide in California’s Sierra Nevada, guiding numerous peaks and rock climbs from Yosemite Valley to the High Sierra, before venturing into the complex and beautiful North Cascades. Various adventures, both for work and play, have taken her climbing in the French Alps, South America, Mexico, Baja, and all over the western states, as well as trekking in the Dolomites.

Jodi Redfield

Jodi was born and raised in rural Montana where the mountains were her backyard. She grew up going on horse pack trips in the wilderness and going skiing with her dad wherever it fit in around ranch chores. She has a background in Horticulture, a love for education and spent the last 10 winters in the snowiest places of Montana teaching and skiing before migrating further west to explore the glaciers and wild corners of the Cascades. Jodi loves sharing the mountains with people eager to explore, and is always scheming up the next best adventure snack to take on a summer running trip.

Matt Sellick

Matt is a well-rounded climber and guide. He works year-round in the rock, alpine, and ski disciplines and has guided in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Mexico, and Canada. He has also climbed in just about every state that has rocks to climb. Matt is as passionate about nutrition as he is about mountains. He cares deeply about the indigenous knowledge of the plants in the areas in which we recreate and is working towards a Masters’s degree in Dietetics. When Matt isn’t guiding, you can find him foraging, cooking, fly fishing, or developing climbing routes.

Patrick Herrmann

Patrick grew up in Eugene, OR, where his family fostered his love of skiing from the time he could walk. After time in Colorado and Montana, he returned to Cascadia, drawn by the deep maritime snowpack and glaciated peaks of the North Cascades and BC Coast Mountains. Now based in Bellingham, WA, with his wife, he spends winters teaching avalanche education and chasing turns. When he’s not on skis, Patrick explores the islands of the Salish Sea, mountain bikes Bellingham’s renowned trails, and rides motorcycles—all while waiting for the snow to fall again.

Nick Vincent

After a short stint in corporate America, Nick “Vince” Vincent moved to Vail, Colorado, and embraced the life of a ski bum. Seeking quality time in the mountains, he soon found himself as an intern at the Colorado Outward Bound School. After 7 seasons as an instructor, staff trainer, and semester proctor at COBS, Vince transitioned into guiding, with backcountry skiing and avalanche education being his passion and focus. Moving to Washington in 2018, Vince now calls Bellingham home and is excited to share the Cascades with his guests.

Lindsey Fritz

Lindsey grew up in Philadelphia where she found her love for the outdoors in a tight knit climbing community. While attending the Pennsylvania State University she was able to explore her love of rock climbing, skiing and mountaineering across the US. After school she found herself working for the Colorado Outward Bound School before moving to Washington in 2020. The Cascades instantly felt like home as she climbed and skied throughout them and began guiding Tahoma (Rainier) and Koma Kulshan (Baker). She now guides throughout Washington and Alaska.

Ryan Pedersen

Ryan has climbed extensively all over the United States in places such as Yosemite Valley, the Colorado Rockies, the North Cascades, the desert sandstone in Utah, and all over the Northeast. He has also been fortunate enough to travel abroad to experience new places and cultures that offer a variety of climbing opportunities. Most recently, Ryan traveled to climb in the Peruvian Andes, the jungles of Cambodia, and the tall granite walls in Canada. When Ryan is not climbing for work or pleasure, he loves growing veggies in his garden and hanging out with his awesome border collie Lula!

Jan Osobov

Adam Gellman

Adam is originally from the mountain mecca of Jersey City, NJ. While he always felt more at home on dirt than concrete, it was through Boy Scouts that Adam found mountain travel and discovered that outdoor instruction could be a path in life. Adam studied Environmental Science at the University of Vermont where he deepened his love for functioning ecosystems as well as technical rock and ice climbing.