About
A small, local guiding company
Wasatch Guiding started in 2020 with a simple idea: help people enjoy the mountains right outside Salt Lake City, safely and without fuss.
Our story
We are Salt Lake City locals who spend most of our free time in the Cottonwoods — touring in winter, climbing granite in spring and fall, and chasing ridgelines in summer. After years of introducing friends to these places, we started Wasatch Guiding in 2020 to do the same for anyone who wants a knowledgeable partner for the day.
We have stayed deliberately small. That means you will usually be communicating with the person who is actually guiding you, plans can flex with conditions, and groups stay intimate.
What we value
Judgment over objectives
Summits and lines are optional. Coming home is not. We pick terrain with a margin and will change plans when conditions say so.
Teaching as we go
We explain the why behind decisions — route choice, snowpack observations, rope systems — so you build your own skills.
Respect for the canyons
The Cottonwoods are busy, shared, and part of the valley’s watershed. We follow Leave No Trace and local regulations, and keep groups small.
Our guides
Our guides are experienced Wasatch skiers, climbers and mountaineers. They are trained in avalanche safety and wilderness first aid, and they keep that training current. Just as importantly, they are patient teachers who enjoy sharing these mountains.
If you have questions about a specific guide’s background or training for the trip you are planning, just ask — we are happy to share details.
Where we operate
- Big Cottonwood Canyon
- Little Cottonwood Canyon
- Other areas of the central Wasatch, depending on the trip and season
Some areas and activities require land-management permits; we only run trips where we are able to operate.
Photo credits
The photos on this site come from photographers who share their work under free licenses on Wikimedia Commons. Thank you to them. Images have been cropped, resized and compressed for the web.
- Superior Peak above Little Cottonwood Canyon (home page, page previews) by Derrellwilliams, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Mount Superior from Albion Basin, Alta (home page, intro to backcountry) by Sumanch, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Spring powder skiing, Snowbasin backcountry (ski touring) by Doug Wewer, U.S. Forest Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Little Cottonwood Canyon (rock climbing) by GyozaDumpling, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Lake Blanche and Sundial Peak (hiking) by Z3lvs, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Big Cottonwood Canyon in winter (private & custom trips) by GyozaDumpling, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Salt Lake City skyline and the Wasatch (about page) by Invictus323, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Pfeifferhorn from the Mount Superior trail (contact page) by U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Region, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Planning a day in the Wasatch?
Tell us what you have in mind, roughly when, and who is coming. We will reply with honest advice on conditions, a suggested plan, and an estimate.