Jim Albert
“Jimmy”, a Master Guide born in Maine, USA, began climbing in the early 70's, in his beautiful native state. During the 80's, he extended his horizons toward the West and gained experience on peaks such as Mt.Rainier and The Grand Teton, successfully reaching the summit of both. In addition to these expeditions, Jimmy has climbed many other challenging mountains in Colorado and Idaho.
In 1987, he reached the summit of Mt. Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. In 1989, he climbed Mt. Baker and returned to Mt. Rainier. In 1990, he was part of the International Peace Climb to Mount Everest where he spent almost 62 days carrying loads up to 25 000 feet.
1995 represented a new chapter in Jimmy’s climbing career. During an expedition to the tallest peak of the Americas, he met a young Manny Pizarro who was only 23 at the time. During this expedition, Jimmy and Manny became fast friends and assisted each other while climbing the “Sentinel of Stone”. Both men reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua (22,841 ft) in January 1995.
In 1996, he climbed Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali (20,230 ft) the tallest mountain in North America. In September 1997, he organized and participated in a training session in the French Alps where the objective was to get acclimatized for an expedition to Russia’s Mount Elbrus. In September of 1997, he summited the West peak of Mount Elbrus in Russia (18,860 ft), the tallest mountain in Western Europe. A day later, he summited the East Peak of Elbrus (18,840 ft).
On May 24th, 2000, Jimmy was co-leader and technical advisor on a fund-raising expedition to Mount McKinley. The endeavour had the two main objectives; climbing to the summit of Mount McKinley and raising $20,000.00 for The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada. Both objectives were met with flying colours. Jimmy summited Denali for the second time.
In January 2002, he led an expedition to Ecuador. Jimmy and his clients summited Cotopaxi (19,300 ft) and Chimborazo (20,565 ft). In February of 2003, Jimmy then traveled to Africa and led a team to the summit of Kilimanjaro(20,300 ft).
Most recently, he visited Europe and climbed Mount Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mount Blanc in France. Currently, he climbs extensively in Western Maine. Jim keeps himself in a sate of readiness to accompany his business partner and friend, Manny Pizarro on planned commercial expeditions. Jimmy also hopes to face the ultimate challenge, climbing Mount Everest.
His responsibilities include preparing the appropriate gear for each trip, ensuring the safety and well-being of each client, educating each person on the dangers of traveling over difficult terrain, setting up campsites, teaching ecology, wildlife and fauna appreciation. Jimmy’s easy-going and goal-oriented personality instills each client with a respect for mother nature and a sense of self-worth.