PROVIDING ADVENTURERS WITH UNRIVALED ACCESS TO WORLD-CLASS TERRAIN SINCE 1993
Utah Mountain Adventures (UMA) is the premier full-spectrum, year-round mountain guiding service in Utah. UMA guides are your experts in backcountry skiing, splitboarding, rock climbing, ice climbing, avalanche instruction, summer and winter mountaineering, hiking, snowshoeing and canyoneering training. A direct descendant of the oldest guide service in the USA — Exum Mountain Guides — Utah Mountain Adventures’ 30-year heritage in the Salt Lake City mountains sets us apart from any other guide service in Utah.
why we guide
our history in the utah mountains
Utah Mountain Adventures was founded in 1993 as a franchise of Exum Mountain Guides by premier alpinist Kitty Calhoun, Exum guide and snow scientist Peter Lev, organizer of the 1990 International Peace Climb and leader of Outward Bound Ian Wade, and Wasatch first ascender and former mayor of Salt Lake City Ted Wilson. We are proud of our more than 30-year heritage in the Wasatch Mountains.
Since our beginning, UMA has followed in the footsteps and philosophy of Glenn Exum, who believed that climbers would more readily appreciate the challenges of mountaineering if they could participate. He developed the philosophy that guides should provide instruction, inspire initiative and teach responsibility. In that tradition, current owners Julie Faure and Tyson Bradley — who were hired as ski guides and avalanche instructors for the 1994-95 winter — emphasize safety, awareness of hazards and sensitivity to the mountain environment. Thus educated and prepared, UMA guests are full participants in our guided mountain adventures and can be justly proud of their accomplishments.
PROUDLY A WOMAN-OWNED, LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS
UMA’s CEO and former guide, Julie Faure, has continuously managed Utah Mountain Adventures for 30 years. Her combined experience of mountain guiding, organizing climbing expeditions and managing the Alta Lodge has helped her grow UMA into a successful guide service with over 72 different programs across many disciplines of mountaineering.
Julie’s intimate knowledge of guiding in the Wasatch Range, her experience managing the UMA team with the Operations Director Tyson Bradley, and the support of the best guides in the country have made UMA the best mountain guiding service in Utah.
OUR COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE
The combined years of experience of UMA’s team, the range of expertise on the guide roster and the number of elite skiers and climbers UMA employs are unmatched in Utah and the Intermountain West.
Over the years, our impressive collection of knowledgeable mountain guides has attracted other high-caliber athletes, guides and employees to join the UMA team. Our guide roster includes AMGA/IFMGA and pro-track avalanche instructors, certified guides, guides trained in one or more disciplines and many who are on the AMGA track.
In addition to valuing certifications, UMA holds guiding and personal mountain experience and wisdom in high regard. We respect the diverse paths that have developed our incredible team of guides and avalanche instructors and welcome experienced mountaineers to join our team.
Utah Mountain Adventures Proudly Partners With
UMA’S U.S. FOREST SERVICE SPECIAL USE PERMITS
Utah Mountain Adventures has operated for more than 30 years under a year-round special use permit issued by the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Forest’s Salt Lake Ranger District for guiding in the Central Wasatch. UMA also holds seasonal permits in the Kamas Ranger District for guiding in the Uintas, Pleasant Grove Ranger District for guiding in American Fork and the Sanpete Forest for guiding in Maple Canyon, among others.
American Avalanche Association Course Provider
UMA is an American Avalanche Association (A3)-endorsed provider of recreational avalanche courses.
A3 believes that avalanche education can be more thoughtfully, consistently and responsibly conducted and can achieve more constructive outcomes for students when course providers and avalanche instructors in the United States strive to embrace common guidelines and practices. UMA is endorsed on avalanche.org and americanavalancheassociation.org because our independently developed curriculum, courses and programs are consistent with A3 education guidelines.
