Island Alpine Guides

Name: Island Alpine Guides
Address: Box 201, Cumberland, BC, V0R1S0, CA
Telephone: 1-250-400-2870
Price range: $$$

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Island Alpine Guides

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IAG is Vancouver Island’s premier mountain school and guide service. Your safety is always our top priority.

Our goal is to provide you with awesome experiences where you learn valuable skills and have fun along the way. Our experienced guides are certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and/or are members of the Canadian Avalanche Association. Our vast backyard offers breathtaking scenery and many challenging and rewarding adventures, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

10/21/2026

Our inaugural Nootka Wilderness Immersion Course in partnership with Explore Nootka | West Coast Vancouver Island and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation this past weekend was an amazing experience for all involved. We spent three days in MMFN territory learning and practicing key land survival skills, developed ways to respect the space we were in, and were honored with a visit from a community elder for some fireside storytelling. We’ll be running more of these courses as early as Spring 2027, so stay tuned!

10/19/2026

Last ski season was a tough one. In most areas we were at about half of the normal snowpack. That said, we had plenty of epic days on the Island. Great pow, awesome educational opportunities, and fun exploration of new zones. In the 97/98 Super El Niño, Vancouver Island was up 12% OVER normal levels, so fingers crossed for this year!

10/18/2026

Spend an enjoyable day with one of our instructors and gain experience moving through untracked terrain. This one-day beginner course provides tips and tricks needed for smooth travel in simple backcountry terrain. We'll cover basics such as gear selection and use, uphill technique, and route selection.

An excellent precursor to AST1, and great for anyone looking to gain some confidence on their skis, or a taste of what it’s like to break free from the resort.

Don't have your own touring set-up yet or looking to try some different gear? Clients on all IAG courses and trips benefit from a 25% discount on their touring gear rentals from Ski Tak Hut

https://www.islandalpineguides.com/trips/324

10/17/2026

New IAG Adventure Hats just dropped! Breathable, squish-able, lightweight and quick drying, they’re the perfect mountain hat for all seasons. Get yours at the link in our bio. Will deliver anywhere in the Comox Valley, and will throw in one of our new MountainWave stickers!

10/08/2026

We recently ran our last two-day Alpine Rock Skills course of the season. If you're looking to dial in your general alpine climbing & travel skills next year, this is the course for you! We have participants that are experienced crag climbers, folks that want to elevate their hiking adventures to easy alpine routes, and alpine climbers looking to dust off skills. It really is a great curriculum for lots of different backgrounds.
We spend one day in the Comox Lake Crags focusing on systems, and then put it all into practice in the field on day two, in real alpine terrain!
For more info on the course check out https://www.islandalpineguides.com/trips/122
We don't have 2027 dates live yet, but if you have a date that works for you, we can work around that. Reach out!

10/06/2026

A glorious base camp weekend in our Matchlee zone this past weekend. The area lends itself perfectly to long ridge rambles, technical scrambling, summits and an ideally situated camp location among alpine lakes. We’ll have a number of fly in courses, guided trips and day hiking opportunities in here in 2027, so stay tuned for more info, or reach out with specific requests. Matchlee is in the traditional territory of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation, we’re very privileged to spend time in this beautiful area.

09/21/2026

A productive weekend with Campbell River SAR on a fly-in mountain rescue training session in the Tlatlos area. Thanks to 49 North Helicopters for the flight logistics, Klemen Mali for the mountain work and these images, and Rob Coates for the Rope Tech insights. And to the whole SAR team for being eager to train in such a cool location!

09/14/2026

Our Avalanche Safety Training course schedule is now live! We are now offering online delivery of AST 1 theory, saving travel time and expenses for those in the South Vancouver Island regions and beyond. You can do your AST 1 with a single field day and the online course, or do our AST1 Extended, which offers additional theory time, and more hands on learning over two days with instructors, plus the online course content.

We also have a full slate of AST 2 courses (Mt Cain and Mt Washington), Avalanche Rescue training, and terrain travel-focused 1-day refreshers.

Don't see a date or location you're interested in? Please reach out and we can work with you on a custom course, or add more dates to our calendar!

Stay tuned too, we'll be launching more locations this fall (attn Quathet residents), and launching AST for Sledders courses!

More info on all Avalanche courses here:
https://www.islandalpineguides.com/courses/category/avalanche

09/11/2026

Views from our Mount Matchlee heli hike. There's nothing like getting whisked into the alpine for a full day (or half day) of rambling up high.
We also offer heli hike tours out of Campbell River, contact us for more info!

Address

Box 201
Cumberland, BC
V0R1S0

Telephone

1-250-400-2870

Website

http://www.islandalpineguides.com/

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