Tsutomu Sugisaka

To become a mountain guide had been my dream since I first started climbing mountains, and I have been a mountain guide since 2001 as well as an IFMGA guide since July 2014. I am very happy with the opportunity I have as a guide to share my experience, knowledge and skills with everyone that I go guiding with. I still remember the mix of fear, excitement and nervousness the first time I traversed the Daikiretto (a long knife edge ridge in the Northern Japanese Alps) during my first big climbing trip in the Northern Japanese Alps. I felt as if my heart was going to jump out of my mouth! But at the same time I felt so vividly alive and felt the kind of happiness that I had never felt before. It was a life changing experience and want to share this kind of feeling with my clients. My favourite mountain areas are vicinities of Mt Hotaka and Mt Tsurugi in the summer and Yatsugatake in the winter. I have guided backcountry skiing in Nagano areas (Hakuba, Nozawa Onsen) as well. I have also climbed extensively around the world, from Ultar Star in Pakistan to routes in Yosemite in the USA and several peaks in Chamonix in France.