About Us

At Ryan Glass Mountaineering we realise that everyone has individual aspirations and therefore we believe in tailoring our courses to suit the aims and needs of the participants. We try to remove unnecessary restrictions and are quite happy to be flexible when designing a course for you.

Instructors

Many of the courses are instructed personally by Ryan, although we have also selected a number of the UK's best climbing and mountaineering instructors/guides/coaches to work for us on a freelance basis. By doing this we can offer courses simultaneously in Scotland, Wales and Spain.

For example, at the peak of the winter season Ryan has been coaching on a performance rock course in Spain while Matt Stygall (MIC) was instructing  a winter climbing course in the Cairngorms and Ken Applegate (WML, MIA) was leading a winter mountaineering course based from Fort William.

Our freelance associates are specialists in their chosen field of climbing or mountaineering and often operate at the cutting edge in that discipline.

Qulaifications & Experience

Ryan Glass is a full member of the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI) and holds the Mountain Instructor Award (MIA), Winter Mountain Leader Award (ML), Canadian Avalanche Association Operations Level One, Rescue and Emergency Care First Aid, Summer Mountain Leader Award and Single Pitch Award. He has been running his own company, Ryan Glass Mountaineering, since 2006.

Ryan has also  worked as a contracted instructor at several centres in the UK and abroad, including Plas y Brenin, Hebridean Pursuits, Outward Bound Scotland, Kilbowie Outdoor Education Centre, The Orange House, Ardroy Outdoor Education Centre, and World Challenge Expeditions.

He has been climbing all over the world for the past 14 years and has a breadth of experience in different climbing environments, having led F8a+ sport climbing, E6  trad climbing, WI6 ice climbing and A3 aid climbing and big walls.

Favourite Climbs

Some of Ryan’s favourite climbs include:

Epsolón Central, Puig Campaña, Costa Blanca F4+

Blister in the Sun, Skaha, Canada 5.12a

Flying Buttress Direct, Stanage HVS 5a

Quiver Rib, Glen Coe, Scotland D

Lurking Fear, El Capitan, USA VI C2 5.8

Lady Charlotte, Dunkeld E5 6a 

The Strand, Gogarth, Wales E2 5b

Africa Power, Orihuela Boveda F7c+

Louise Falls, Rockies, Canada WI4/5

Ti Rali Valiente, Wild Side, Sella, Costa Blanca, F8a+

Tower Ridge, Ben Nevis IV, 3

Curved Ridge, Glen Coe II

Lost Arrow Spire, Yosemite, USA C2F

Lady Jane, East Face of Aonach Dubh, Glen Coe, E2 5c

The University Wall, Squamish, Canada V A2 5.7

Juvsoyla, Rjukan, WI6

Left Wall, Dinas Cromlech, North Wales, E2 5

Interests

However, it is not all about the difficulty: he enjoys climbing quality rock in the sun and long classic mountain routes. He also likes films, dark chocolate, playing poker, a good meal out, and a cold beer after a warm day. He’s not so keen on traffic jams, root beer, brussel sprouts and doing the dishes!

Ryan is always very happy to discuss your climbing needs prior to booking a course. This makes sure that you get the most for your time and your money. You can e-mail Ryan at info@ryanglass-mountaineering.co.uk