Bill Liske is a guide's guide.  He trained countless mountain guides for over a quarter of a century at the Colorado Outward Bound School, and has been guiding for an equal length of time for Above the Clouds in the Himalaya and Patagonia.  Bill makes his guiding look effortless, in the words of many past trekkers, which is testament to how much energy and skill go into his preparations and the actual guiding.  His guiding skills are complemented by his encyclopedic knowledge over such a wide range of fields that we constantly ask ourselves, "How the hell does he know so much about so many things??".

Love of mountains and climbing them is not something we normally think of as being passed on genetically from parent to child, but in Jamling's case it seems to hold true.  His much revered father told him, and his brothers, "I climbed Everest so you wouldn't have to," but he did it anyway, as documented in the acclaimed Everest IMAX film.  Jamling is now a much in demand motivational speaker worldwide, but is most at home in the Himalayan peaks visible from his home in Darjeeling.  He is as talented and complete a group leader as we have ever worked with or met.

Sri Raj Gurung has been with Above the Clouds almost back to our Nepal origins in 1982.  For many years he worked as our primary city guide in Kathmandu, but we've recently managed to lure him out of the capital so that our Nepal trekkers can avail themselves of his vast knowledge of everything Nepali. 

Tsewang Bista is an insider's insider in his home territory, the former Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal.  A nephew of the current king, he seems to know all 9,500 Lobas (as the residents of Upper Mustang are known) and every square inch of the kingdom.  He has guided groups for National Geographic's television exploratories on the caves of Mustang, and has worked to preserve both the contents of those caves and other treasures that date back many centuries. 

Tashi Topgay is as knowledgeable - and fun - a guide as can be found in Bhutan.  His older brother Wangchuck, who runs our operations in Bhutan, was among the handful of original guides selected back in 1974 when the kingdom opened its doors to the outside world.  Tashi has clearly stepped out of his older brother's shadow and become one of Bhutan's premier guides.