Ten Years of Summit Coach—and a Special Offer for Climbers

Whatever your mountaineering goal, now is the time to begin preparing:

• Getting into mountaineering for the first time
• Experiencing the wonders of Antarctica’s Vinson Massif
• Climbing your first nearly 7,000-meter peak, like Aconcagua or Lenin
• Testing yourself on Baker or Rainier
• Finishing the Seven Summits
• Achieving a lifetime goal on Everest — or even K2

If you’re a current client with an active agreement that started after September 2025, contact me by December 31, 2026. I’ll extend your engagement by one year past its original expiration date, at no additional fee.

Remember: exercise is not training—and training without a plan is just exercise.

Why I Founded Summit Coach

By 2016, after 36 major expeditions since 1997, the mountaineering market had become crowded and confusing, filled with aggressive marketing and polished websites. While there were many physical training programs available, what was missing was an experienced, independent adviser who could help climbers select appropriate objectives, equipment, and guide services—and make those decisions within a strategic climbing plan.

Summit Coach filled that gap. I provide advice to aspiring climbers worldwide on how to prepare for and attempt their mountaineering goals, for a one-time, flat consulting fee ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 depending on the length of the engagement.

I’m Not A Pro Climber. That’s The Point.

I spent 30 years in corporate America — running businesses, managing teams, hitting quarterly targets. I didn’t start climbing until 38, and wasn’t very good. I never considered myself a naturally gifted athlete or high-altitude climber. After all, I was born and raised on the banks of the Mississippi River, elevation 337 feet. I learned from friends, mentors, and through experience. I applied a methodical, business-minded approach to preparation: data, training, risk management, and a willingness to walk away when conditions demanded it. 

I didn’t always summit but once I began climbing to honor my mother, who was taken by Alzheimer’s, and to raise research funds—my “whys”—I became a more disciplined and successful climber—not on every expedition, but on many more of them. And you can benefit from what I’ve learned along the way, from both the summits and the “non-summits.”

That background — not despite it, because of it — is what makes me a different kind of coach. I coach people like me—professionals with demanding lives, families, and real ambitions.

What Does Summit Coach Provide?

1. A Plan Built Around Your Life

Training and gear decisions calibrated to your schedule — not a generic template.

• Custom multi-year training roadmap
• Peak-specific tips, camp-by-camp
• Route selection and objective guide suggestions, based on experience and current performance
• Gear list review with no brand bias

2. Advice You Can Actually Trust

Summit Coach accepts no commissions from guide services, gear brands, or expedition operators.

• Independent and objective guide service evaluation
• Permit and logistics planning
• Practical frameworks for summit and turnaround decisions.
• An independent sounding board for weather, conditions, and turnaround decisions—while recognizing that the expedition leader has final authority

3. Support When It Counts Most

From the beginning of your plan through the expedition itself, I’m accessible.

• Pre-expedition calls and check-ins
• On-expedition support by phone or email when communications permit
• Post-expedition debrief and next steps
• Ongoing access as objectives evolve