West Coast Mountain Guides

Professionally delivered mountain guiding, winter & summer mountaineering, climbing, hiking & walking courses in Scotland & Norway

  • Book private guiding or small group courses
  • All of our guides and instructors are fully qualified, and members of The Association of Mountaineering Instructors or British Mountain Guides
  • Options from guided walks to advanced climbing courses
  • Available all year round
  • Operating within Scottish Government Coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance click here for more details

5 Stars - Based on 915 User Reviews

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Scottish & Norwegian Mountaineering & Climbing Courses

West Coast Mountain Guides is based in the Scottish Highland town of Fort William, which lies in the Lochaber region. The company was established in 1988 by IFMGA & British Mountain Guide, Alan Kimber. Since then West Coast Mountain Guides have been delivering friendly and professional hillwalking, mountaineering and climbing courses and instruction throughout the year on Ben Nevis, in Glencoe, on Skye, in Torridon and overseas.

Our instructors and guides have the highest levels of mountaineering qualifications recognised throughout the UK (AMI) and abroad (IFMGA). Not only are they all fully qualified, they are also great company in the mountains and keen to share their passion, experience and knowledge throughout your course.

During the winter months, we specialise in private mountain guiding and guiding walkers up Ben Nevis as well as Scottish mixed and ice climbing instruction at introductory and advanced levels, winter mountaineering and winter skills and hillwalking courses for all abilities. We also offer guided weeks of ice climbing for those just looking to tick off classic winter climbs.

Our Scottish winter mountain courses are based out of Fort William, with great access to the mountains of Lochaber, including Ben Nevis, Creag Meagaidh and Glen Coe.

We are also pleased to introduce our Norway ice climbing week, which will be based in Hemsedal. Hemsedal is regarded as the cradle for ice climbing in Norway and with over 100 icefalls, reliable conditions and short approaches, it’s easy to see why!

During the Spring, Summer & Autumn, our instructors and guides deliver hillwalking holidays, scrambling and rock climbing instruction in and around the local mountains of Lochaber. We offer guided walks up Ben Nevis as well as guided traverses of the Aonach Eagach and ascents of Tower Ridge and Curved Ridge amongst many others.

We are also proud to provide professional and fully qualified scrambling and climbing guides on the Isle of Skye where we guide aspiring mountaineers along the traverse the formidable Cuillin Ridge and ascend its challenging summits and Munros including the In Pinn.

Our guiding team also spends plenty of time in the magnificent mountains of Torridon and the North West Highlands, including Liathach, Beinn Alligin, and An Teallach. For these and other bespoke trips, we offer private mountain guiding and where the only limitations are your imagination and aspirations.

So if you’re looking for a walking guide for Ben Nevis, a mountaineering course to learn about efficient ropework, instruction in introductory winter skills to be able to safely head out hillwalking in the snow and ice, a guide to tackle a two-day traverse of the Skye Cuillin Ridge or be guided up a number of classic grade V ice climbs on Ben Nevis on our CIC Hut Week, we are here to help you fulfil your ambitions and reach your goals.

We also provide the perfect present for an adventurous friend or relation: As well as being 5* rated mountain guides, We also provide the perfect present for an adventurous friend or relation: Gift Vouchers that are redeemable against any of our courses or Private Guiding.

Customer Reviews

  • 5 star rating Winter Cimb of Ben Nevis Great experience with a great guide (Will). I appreciated his skill, patience, kindness, knowledge, flexibility, and passion for the hills. Would highly recommend this guide and company for Ben Nevis.

    Jay B. 26 Feb 2023

    It was an awesome two days with Simon. We did Curved Ridge on Tuesday and Right Twin on Wednesday. I first did Curved Ridge in Feb 2006 on an Alan Kimber weekend. On that trip it was more wintry but not by so much. Many time I have thought about repeating it as a rock climb so in that respect it was perfect even though it should have been under... read more

    Jon E. 25 Feb 2023

    First rate experience. Simon and Henry worked around difficult conditions to give us the experience of a lifetime. Amazing knowledge and professionalism combined with great teaching skills. Highly recommended.

    Ian S. 25 Feb 2023
  • 5 star rating Great winter climbing course with Sally We had an amazing day with Sally from West Coast on the winter climbing course. From initial contact to finals plans the night before we felt like we were in good hands. She provided the gear and took three of us up the hill and had great patter. Once we reached the snow we were led through the training with the ice axes and crampons before tackling the climb full... read more

    Roddy M. 25 Feb 2023

    5 star rating Great Mountain Guides - Recommended Fantastic experience with West Coast, from the initial booking and correspondence through to the guiding from Simon. Everything was brilliant. Highly recommended.

    Lewis T. 23 Feb 2023

    Alex is genuinely the best instructor I've had the pleasure of learning from. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 5 days, but would have been happy coming away from it feeling I'd learnt something and having ticked off a few routes. I ended up having the most enjoyable and educational experience I've had since getting back into climbing. I feel Alex perfectly balanced getting us up the routes... read more

    Samuel P. 15 Feb 2023
  • 5 star rating 5 day intro winter climbing Alex is genuinely the best instructor I've had the pleasure of learning from. I wasn't sure what to expect from the 5 days, but would have been happy coming away from it feeling I'd learnt something and having ticked off a few routes. I ended up having the most enjoyable and educational experience I've had since getting back into climbing. I feel Alex perfectly balanced getting us up the routes... read more

    Sam P. 14 Feb 2023

    5 star rating Introductory winter climbing course I completed the 5 day intro to winter climbing course with west coast mountain guides Our guide Alex Kay did a great job, he tailored each day to suit the groups aims and we learnt a lot in the short space of time whilst still keeping it really enjoyable. I'd highly recommend this to anyone who's thinking about it, just get it booked in, you won't regret it!

    Colum H. 10 Feb 2023

    5 star rating Winterising climbing skills Our guide David Whiteley was fantastic, fantastic teacher and made a great effort to find good routes in less than ideal ground conditions.

    Terra I. 24 Jan 2023
  • 5 star rating Winter summit of Ben Nevis Awesome day with guide Craig who was knowledgeable, friendly and good fun. In great conditions we made it to the summit with some expert nav from our guide!

    Richard T. 22 Jan 2023

    5 star rating Awesome intro to winter climbing Awesome intro to winter climbing over three days with David and Dave. Learnt the basic safety and technical skills and managed to do some challenging climbs as early as the second day

    Maxime G. 22 Jan 2023

    Awesome intro to winter climbing over three days with David and Dave. Learnt the basic safety and technical skills and managed to do some challenging climbs as early as the second day

    Maxime G. 22 Jan 2023

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