guides

Rustyn Mesdag - Owner

Rustyn has been guiding and working in the outdoor industry for 13 years and living in Patagonia for the last 7 years. International climbs and new adventures were always the goal. The travels were as important as the climbs. Rustyn was born in Seattle, Washington, USA. He speaks Dutch, English and Spanish and manages the expeditions and logistics for erratic rock and can be often found giving instruction at the daily information seminars at erraic rock. Rustyn is a writer for Viva Travel Guides and Chile's Black Sheep Traveler Newspaper, and in the off season you can find Rustyn working on Patagonia's first recycling project.

Bill Penhollow - Owner

Bill has been working and living in Chile for 12 years and guiding in Patagonia for eight. His travels have taken him to 56 different countries and while he never had any other plan but to just keep going, Bill landed in Patagonia. After an environmental project called 'The Gondwana Project' on Tierra del Fuego, which resulted in the preservation of over 80,000 hectares of ancient Patagonian forests, he never left. These days Bill can also be found guiding and leading special programs to Cabo Froward, the southernmost tip of the continent along the Straight of Magellan. Bill speaks fluent Spanish and English.

Dave Turner - guide
Dave Turner comes from Northern California, and has resided in Yosemite Valley for the past eight years. He is well known for his new solo climbs, not only in Yosemite, but also Peru, Baffin Island, Chile, Norway, and Argentina. As a full time climber and guide, he is always traveling the globe, finding new routes, and taking his clients to their dream summits. In 2008 he became the first person ever to solo a grade seven wall by a new route, taking 34 continuous days to climb in Torres del Paine’s Cerro Escudo’s east face to the summit.

Ivo Kusanovic - guide
Ivo is a native Patagonian, born and raised in Punta Arenas. When Ivo was 18, he moved to Puerto Natales to work and climb in Torres del Paine. Ivo has been guiding in Patagonia for 9 years and has 5 years experience doing ice hikes and ice climbing on Glacier Grey. He is an experienced rock climber and has climbed both the North and Central Towers of Paine, and several other places within Torres del Paine including, Almirante Nieto Mountain and the Shark's Fin.
Ivo is Wilderness First Responder Certified, a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) graduate, with mountanering and kayak experience.

Owen Mesdag - guide
With Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades in his "backyard", Owen has had no shortage of big mountain adventure. Owen has been climbing for over 15 years which include anything from the casual day hike to rock and alpine routes. Owen went to school for photography, video production & film and has combined that education with his passion for the outdoors. He's produced a number of videos for the outdoor industry like K2, Outdoor Research and worked with extreme Athletes like Renata Chlumska. With work showing in The Banff Mountain Film Festival and the Sawtooth Film festival. When he's not outside playing in the mountains or traveling, he's in the "office" engineering mountaineering gear for Cascade Designs in Seattle, Washington, USA.

Michelle Ernst - guide
Michelle grew up in Germany and has spent her entire life in the outdoor & travel industry. After earning her degree in 5 star hotel managment, Michelle set off to travel Europe, Sri Lanka, the Americas, Canada, Chile, Agrentine, Bolivia, Peru and Brasil. She has been guiding for 5 years in Patagonia and spreaks English, German and Spanish. Most of the time she can be found trekking and working in Torres del Paine, but in her free time, polishes her kayak and horse back skills in the most remote corners of Southern Chile as possible. Michelle works as hard as she plays and is a great addition to the erratic rock staff.

Steve Schnieder - guide
Steve Schneider is a world class rock climber and mountaineer. He has climbed El Capitan in Yosemite over 100 times. His solo of the 3 towers of Paine puts him at the extreme edge of adventure climbing. From an early beginning as a eagle boy scout, he has been teaching climbing for over 30 years. Steve is an AMGA certified rock guide. Now Steve is one of the world's most sought after guides for anything from family trekking trips, to guided big walls and High Sierra peak bagging. Besides being an awesome guide, Steve is a world class climber. Steve leads successful expeditions to Mongolia, Pakistan, Alaska, and Peru, but has a special love for Patagonia, Chile and Argentina. He has made 7 expeditions to the range, and has more ascents of the Towers of Paine in Chile than any other climber.

Sebastian Borgwardt - guide
Sebastian was raised in the East German city of Leipzig. His obsession of the outdoors has taken him on many different adventures throughout the world. When coming to Chile in 1999, he made his way down to Patagonia by bicycle and fell in love with rugged terrain and rough winds. He found his new home at the end of the world. His ability to switch back and forth between his native German, English, Spanish and a bit of basic french is impressive. Sebastian has guided hundreds of programs throughout Patagonia and his knowledge of flora, fauna, history and geology is unmatched. When Sebastian is not in the field he can be found running Aonikenk, a hostel and guide service based out of Punta Arenas.

Walker Mackey - guide
Walker grew up in Colorado. He has been climbing since his father taught him at the age of five. Walker has been traveling the world on a quest to seek out extreme climbing adventure. He has extensive experience climbing in Patagonia and has tackled several alpine summits in Torres Del Paine National Park, Chile. He is also familiar with technical big wall climbing with experience in areas such as Yosemite. Walker is high altitude mountaineering proficient and specializes at mixed rock and ice climbing. Recently He received a Mountain Fellowship Grant from the American Alpine Club to conduct an expedition to Patagonia were he successfully climbed El Cuchillo a virgin mountain spire in the French Valley of Torres Del Paine.

Santiago Arias - guide
Santiago spawns from Argentina and has been climbing since 1989 from Canada to the Antarctic and Europe. He has been guiding full time since 2003 when he was certified by the Argentina Mountain Guides Association. His work took him to Chile, Peru, Uruguay and the Argentinian Andes. Santiago is also a kayaking and canoeing guide and has a B.Sc. in Biology, working as a field biologist for more than 10 years. He also has worked extensively in the film industry with rigging, safety work and as a stunt double. When not guiding or climbing Santiago is usually paddling, skiing, diving or horseback riding all over the world. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder and he is trained in Search and Rescue techniques. He speaks fluent English and Spanish.

Sebastian Muñoz - guide
Sebastian is a Colombian engineer and has been living in Patagonia since 2007. His passion for the outdoors and adventure has taken him on countless climbing expeditions throughout South America. Sebastian successfully climbed all three towers of Paine, and aside from Sebastian’s love of rock climbing, you will often find him on long distance runs and bike rides.

Koen Jongerling
equipment manager
Recently graduated with a degree in Outdoor Sports, Koen has been living in the Netherlands for the past 20 years looking for adventure. When worke opened up in Patagonia it didn't take Koen long to pack his bags. Koen is a kayaker and a climber and always up for a talk about outdoor sports. Koen speaks Dutch, English and Spanish and now works as erratic rock's equipment manager and gives our daily information seminar.