Our guides are professionals who work in the outdoor industry, most year round. They have various outdoor qualifications, from UIAGM and AMGA professional mountain guides, to certified ski instructors and professional ski patrollers. Additionally, they have completed medical certifications including EMT and Wilderness First Responder. At a minimum all guides have current first aid and CPR. We encourage our guides to continue their education with additional coursework in all areas of outdoor study, including avalanche school and advanced guiding courses through the AMGA and similar organizations.

Of course certifications mean nothing if you don’t know where you are going! Our new hiking guides apprentice under a head guide before they lead a trip themselves. You will find your head guide very familiar with the local terrain, regional culture, food and customs, and conversational in at least one of the principal languages of the region. Second guides accompany most hiking trips (except those with very low group numbers) and work under direction of the head guide. They often offer alternative hikes or lead at a different pace to meet the needs of hikers of different aptitudes. Because our guides are knowledgeable and our guide to client ratio is so low-- usually 1:5 or less-- we can accommodate all levels of ability and sometimes provide exciting and impromptu options along the way, including opportunities to scramble to unmarked summits, or rope up to take in a Via Ferrata.

Beyond their professional qualifications, our guides are widely traveled and experienced in outdoor pursuits. In their free time you will find them mountaineering, hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, backcountry skiing and exploring wilderness mountain areas around the globe. Some of our guides have participated in extraordinary adventures and expeditions. Ask them where they have been!

Our guides are great people to be with. All the certifications, experience and knowledge in the world do not make a great guide. Personality does. Our guides are adventuresome and free spirited individuals who will share their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to enhance your adventure and enjoyment of your travels. Our guests consistently compliment us on our choice of guides, and their scores on our review sheets regularly reconfirm our faith in them. We are proud of our staff and committed to building a real “dream team” of adventure leadership professionals! Allow us to introduce them to you:

Mountaineering and Ski Mountaineering Guides

Peter Walker

Peter founded Ryder-Walker in 1984 after working seven years guiding hiking trips in the Alps. He is an AMGA professional mountain guide and, in addition to leading hiking trips, guides rock, ice, mountaineering and ski mountaineering trips. He is a PSIA fully certified alpine, telemark and snowboard instructor and has completed EMT and professional avalanche training.

Peter Ingles

He has worked in the adventure travel industry for years, primarily with the International School of Mountaineering. He is an AMGA certified Guide and a professional ski patroller and snow safety instructor.

Hiking Guides

Ken Fuhrer

Ken has lead hiking trips in Switzerland and Austria since 1996. He has completed the Wilderness First Responder course and is a PSIA full certified ski instructor and a certified level II snowboard instructor. During the winter he teaches skiing and guides trips into the backcountry at the Telluride ski resort, and in his free time climbs big alpine peaks and skis down them with wienerschnitzel in his back pocket. He has an uncanny ability to meet local people, wherever he travels.

Daniel Sundqvist

An engineer by training, an internationally certified ski instructor and examiner by trade and a Swede by birth, Daniel contributes a unique perspective to our guiding team. He is an avid hiker and climber and has traveled extensively throughout Europe. His fun-loving hijinx and cool head make him and ideal hiking companion and trip leader. He is fluent in English and German in addition to his native Swedish and speaks some French. He is also a certified AMGA Guide.

Chris Pranskatis

Chris P., as he's known around the Ryder-Walker office, joined our company nine years ago. He holds degrees in Public Relations and French, and like most Ryder-Walker guides, he spends most of his spare time traveling and exploring wild places. He is a Wilderness First Repsonder, a certified Switzerland Network Specialist, an accomplished hiker and backpacker, a cyclist, and a paddler. Before Ryder-Walker, Chris led 300-mile canoe trips through remote wilderness regions of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. He also taught snowboarding for 11 years and attended school in France. Chris handled the day-to-day operations of the Ryder-Walker office for 7 years, in addition to guiding, and now he heads up our special communications, outreach and promotional projects.

All guides working in Euorpe are conversational in German, French, Italian and some Spanish.