Pack Paddle Ski Corporation

"Exceptional, Great People, Fantastic Service"

"I have been on 7 trips with Pack Paddle Ski starting in 2008 and every one has been phenomenal. My trips with the company have taken me to Nepal, Tanzania, the Grand Canyon, & Northern Alaska, among other places. Rick (the company owner) is a well-traveled, well-connected leader who plans meticulously. Travel--whether abroad or "into the bush" requires a certain degree of flexibility on the part of the traveler. Things often don't go as planned and it's really great to travel with someone who is prepared and knows how to adjust to changing conditions as necessary. As for the negative feedback left by others--I can't comment on the trip to Antarctica but I WAS on the trip to Mt Rainier that was referenced and I could not disagree more with the reviewer. Only three of us were able to summit (out of 7 total) and everyone who did not summit voluntarily chose not to do so. The safety of all who did not summit was assured (one person stayed at Paradise Base Camp where there were literally hundreds of people and the other 3 stayed together in tents at high camp while the remaining 3 of us completed the final ascent over night. I have successfully climbed 5 mountains with Rick and our success EVERY TIME was due to his careful planning and expert navigation. Not everyone should be climbing mountains like Mt Rainier--it is NEVER the expectation of the guide to get everyone to the top. Safety always comes first and to that end Rick is always conscientious of the well being of the people he leads."

"I had the misfortune of being on the same Antarctica expedition with people from the Pack, Paddle, Ski group. It took me 2 years to save for this trip and every day for 11 days I was pushed around and agressively told to move out of the way by the photo "enthusiasts". By day 10, one particularly repugnant women kept making hand motion to shoo me out of her "shot" and I told her she was being very rude and this was not just her trip. The aggressive people in the group really impacted others from being able to enjoy the scenary and nature around them. We were able to camp one night and were told repeatedly that if you had to go to the bathroom, you had to use a designated barrel because urinating on the icey ground would contaminate the ecology. I woke up at 4am and look around just in time to see a woman from this group peeing in the snow next to her sleeping bag instead of in the barrell. Apparently she felt she didn't need to follow the rules. If you want to join a group of entitled, selfish, obnoxious, rude and infantile people that will ruin the experience of those around them, then this is the group for you."

"awful experience with rick french who had no intention of guiding on a mount rainier climb but seemed like a nice guy. too bad he was more like a tour guide than someone who was interested in making a summit for everyone"