"Jon is a very experienced professional guide and one of the best educators in the AMGA. His client care and technical skills are excellent." - Rob Hess (former AMGA Technical Director and Bela Vadasz (IFMGA Guide)

Jon is certified internationally by the UIAGM/IFMGA and examined and certified at the highest international standard by the AMGA as a Rock Guide, an Alpine Guide, and a Ski Mountaineering Guide. Certification in each discipline requires passing a rigorous multi-day peer assessment exam. Currently there are less than 80 American IFMGA guides. Jon began climbing as a teenager in the mid 70's and came to Maine in 1982 and fell in love with the pink granite of Acadia. In 1984 he co-founded Maine Bound, the University of Maine outdoor program which he directed until 2001. During the summers in the late eighties and early nineties Jon traveled west to work for the National Park Service as a backcountry climbing ranger and paramedic. In 1993 he gave up the annual migration westward to established Acadia Mountain Guides as a summer guide service serving Acadia National Park. In 2001 Acadia Mountain Guides became a year round guide service offering not only rock climbing instruction by also ice climbing and mountaineering. With a passion for rock, snow, and ice, Jon's accomplishments as a climber and guide include over 70 high altitude peaks as well as difficult first ascent rock and ice climbs and hundreds of multi-pitch rock and alpine routes around the world.

Jon has been dedicated to wilderness education for three decades. Seeing a need for improved professional standards in guiding, Jon became actively involved in developing nationally recognized guide education programs. He has served multiple terms on the AMGA board of directors and as was the chair of the AMGA accreditation program for several years. He has strived to synthesize good concepts, challenge usual paradigms, and develop new ideas to raise guiding standards. From 1997 - 2006 Jon led the development of the AMGA Top Rope Site Manager program which was the precursor to the current AMGA Single Pitch Instructor program. He most recent project has been to co-found the Professional Climbing Instructors Association, an organization specifically committed to developing the technical and educational skills of climbing instructors. Jon is the owner of Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School. Like many full time guides, Jon also maintains a second career. He is a flight paramedic with LifeFlight of Maine. Jon has been a paramedic for 25 years and his emergency work resume includes working for the National Park Service as a backcountry climbing ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park as well as working in numerous urban and rural medical care systems.

Guiding Credentials

• IFMGA Licensed International Mountain Guide (2006)
• AMGA Certified Rock Guide (1992)
• AMGA Certified Ski Mountaineering Guide (2006)
• AMGA Certified Alpine Guide (1997)
• AMGA Instructor / Examiner for Rock Discipline 1997 - 2007
• National Director of Education for Professional Climbing Instructors Association
• National Coordinator for AMGA Top Rope Site Manager Discipline (1998-2004)
• Professional guide since 1983, climber since 1975
• AMGA professional member since 1988
• Registered Maine Guide

Medical / Rescue Credentials

• National and State Licensed Paramedic 1988 - present.
• Certified Flight Paramedic - LifeFlight of Maine
• Critical Care Paramedic Certification, University of Maryland (1998 and 2010)
• Lead Instructor for Wilderness Medical Associates 1986 - present
• Formerly a mountain rescue climbing ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park and a rescue team member on Denali.
• American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Level 2 Instructor, Level III Certified.
  

Presentations and Writing

• Technical editor of Go Climb, published by Rock and Ice Magazine
• Author of Climber's Guide to Clifton Crags
• Wrote Winter Mountaineering and Backcountry Travel in Baxter State Park for the park authority.
• Technical Rescue Standards for Maine Search and Rescue
• Annual presentor at national and regional outdoor education and wilderness risk conferences.

Related Credentials

• Department Head, Outdoor Recreation & Tourism, Eastern Maine Community College
• Founding Director Emeritus of Maine Bound, the University of Maine outdoor education program
• Founding Director of the Professional Climbing Instructors Association and current PCIA Educational Director
• Served two terms on the Board of Directors for the American Mountain Guides Association
• Served on the Board of Directors, Friends of Baxter State Park
• Curriculum author, national program coordinator and instructor trainer for the former AMGA Top Rope Site Manager Course and Certification
• Guided over 70 successful high altitude (over 18,000') mountaineering ascents

Education

• B.S. Parks and Forest Recreation with additional studies in education and emergency medicine.
  

Dick wanted to be a mountain guide since he was a teenager, after taking a leadership role in his high school outing club and job shadowing at a university outdoor program. A seminal ice climbing experience in Maine’s Grafton Notch sealed the deal, Dick became a man of the mountains. After developing as a climbing instructor for the University of Maine Outdoor Program, Dick began guiding for Acadia Mountain Guides in 1998.

Dick is a lifelong Mainer, hailing from the Waterville area. He now calls the coast and the Blue Hill peninsula home. He is not just a great guide, but also a well rounded human being. Dick grew up sailing and worked for many years on boats (not only can he climb any mast and tie any knot, he can also run a crane). Music has always been a large part of his life. He played violin for eleven years, and now studies classical and flamenco guitar. He and his wife built their own home, and have worked for many years to develop their gardens and grounds to the point where they are raising much of their own food. If you are lucky enough to be on one of his multi day back country trips, you will be eating very well.

Dick has guided and climbed throughout the US and in South America. Favorite routes include Wafer Step in Acadia National Park and Barren’s Direct on Katahdin in Maine, North Ridge Mt. Baker in Washington, Vulcan Cayambe in Ecuador, Damnation Gulley on Mt Washington in New Hampshire, and Dark Shadows in Red Rocks Nevada.  Embracing his Franco-American roots, Dick’s goals for the coming year include expanding Acadia Mountain Guide’s offerings in Quebec, especially in the Parc de la Gaspesie and surrounding area.

Dick’s specialty is the attention he devotes to his clients; he truly loves guiding. “I constantly find myself thinking about how to make the next experience better for my clients. I consider it an honor to take people out to the cliffs and mountains,” he says. “The wonderful secret of guiding is that I learn as much from my clients as they learn from me.”

Guiding Credentials

• PCIA Single Pitch and Lead Climbing Instructor Course Provider
• AMGA Rock Guide Course
• AMGA Advanced Rock Guide Course
• AMGA Alpine Guides Course
• AMGA Ice Instructor Course
• AMGA Ski Guide Course
• AIARE Level III Avalanche Certification
• Registered Maine Guide - Recreation
  

Medical Credentials

• Wilderness First Responder

Loren Copp found an admiration for the natural world in the backwoods of Pennsylvania as a teenager. He found a calling to serve others as a teacher, leader, guide, and storyteller. Loren left the rolling hills of Pennsylvania to attend the University of New Hampshire and study Outdoor Education. It is here that Loren found a passion for rock climbing. Loren focused his outdoor education major in rock climbing instruction, as well as the therapeutic applications of wilderness programs. He graduated UNH in 2016 as a Shumway Scholar, and distinguished teaching assistant.
Loren first came to us in the summer of 2016 as an intern. He showed commitment to excellent client care and good focus on the beginner experience, and was invited back as a climbing guide for the summer of 2017. On the off seasons, Loren works in Utah as a wilderness therapy field guide at a residential treatment center for teens. Loren worked as a teacher and medic in Ghana, West Africa for many summers before joining us at Acadia Mountain Guides Climbing School.

Today, Loren lives on Mount Desert Island and walks to work each morning. He specializes in working with beginner rock climbers, families, and teens. "Climbing with my clients is all about telling a story. It's not just about teaching the knots and the moves. It's about experiencing the call of the mountains, communing with the natural world, and celebrating the strength inside all of us."

Loren's favorite routes include: Return to Forever, Acadia National Park, ME; Solar Slabs, Red Rocks, NV; The Armadillo, Mt Katahdin, ME; Beginners Route of Whitehorse Ledge, North Conway, NH; Sundial Crack, Looking Glass Rock, NC; and Outside Corner, Big Cottonwood Canyon, UT.

Guiding Credentials

• PCIA Single Pitch Climbing Instructor Certification
• AMGA Single Pitch Climbing Instructor Certification
  

Medical and Rescue Credentials

• Wilderness EMT (NREMT Basic)
• AEGIS Emotional Crisis Management
  

Education Credentials

• B.S. in Outdoor Education, University of New Hampshire 

This is Mark’s second year with Acadia Mountain Guides. Last year he was an intern and had the pleasure of working AMG’s summer camps with a lot of great guides! Mark has been climbing full time for the last 5 years and is a certified Single Pitch Instructor and Wilderness First Responder. He has climbed in Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine. When the snow starts to fly, he looks to the mountains for mountaineering and enjoys leading winter trips in both Baxter State Park and on Mount Washington.