Doug Nidever

It all started in ’58 after Doug saw “The Mountain”, a 1956 movie with Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner. Spencer is a retired Alpine guide lured back into guiding by his brother. Great Movie! Doug won’t tell the rest of the story and ruin the movie, but he’s had a yearning for the high and wild places ever since.

Doug is an IFMGA certified guide and has been climbing for 40 years and skiing for 30. He began his career as a professional mountain guide in 1978 and is a past Chief Guide for the Yosemite Mountaineering School. He has guided big wall routes in Yosemite Valley including numerous ascents of Half Dome and El Capitan, free climbs from Astroman and the Rostrum to the teeny-weeny routes at Manure Pile. Tuolumne Meadows continues to be a favorite climbing venue with some of the best slab routes anywhere. Doug is an active ice climber, seeking the best ice in Canada, Cody, CO, and CA. In January 2007 Doug and two guide friends climbed the famed Widows Tears in Yosemite Valley, one of the biggest ice routes in North America. He has climbed throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Alaska, Mexico, and Ecuador. Doug is an avalanche instructor and teaches guide-training courses for the American Mountain Guides Association.