Akio Joy

Aki grew up in the small town of Placerville, California. Early on, he was introduced to climbing & skiing in the Sierra Nevada foothills. At 17, he moved to Montana and started guiding. Once finished with university, he committed to guiding full time and achieved IFMGA status through the American Mountain Guides Association. Now, he runs Beartooth Mountain Guides out of Red Lodge, MT with his partner Anju.

Aki values professionalism, partnerships, and equity. His favorite place to recreate is just South of the Beartooths on the Yellowstone River. Some climbing and skiing highlights include a free ascent of Freerider on El Capitan (5.13a V), the "Yosemite Double" (The Nose of El Cap & RNWF of Half Dome) in 18 hrs, the Heckmair Route on the Eiger's North Face (M6, WI4 V), the FFA of Waterline in the Clarks Fork (5.13b IV), skiing Montana's Glacier Peak via the Patriarch, the Beckey, and Catch a Fire in the same day, and guiding the Swiss Haute Route & Italian Ortler Circuit.