Skye Guides

Why work with Skye Guides? The Skye Cuillin are the only Alpine mountains in Britain. The work gives intense opportunities to learn, practice and fine tune techniques that will fast-track your guiding and instructing to the very highest levels. We’d like to hear from anyone with a high level of enthusiasm for Skye whether you […]

Skye Guides is a small company providing a range of services similar to that on offer through many mountain guiding bureaux in the Alps. We still have our original base in Luib but now run the business from Skye Basecamp in Broadford. Established in 1995 the company has built a reputation for providing outings, instruction and […]

Skye Guides operates as a close-knit team of instructors and guides to run the various courses on offer. They have been selected because of their professionalism and passion for the Black Cuillin as well as their experience, qualifications and an intimate knowledge of the terrain. In-house training is given through shadowing experienced Skye Guides. Low ratio […]

Mike Lates is the owner and director of Skye Guides. He started guiding on Skye in the 1995 and developed a reputation for providing Cuillin outings of the highest quality by sticking to private guiding and treating clients as his climbing partner for the day. This is the Skye Guides philosophy! He is as enthusiastic […]

Andy is back again, an experienced and highly respected part of the team having started with us in 2013. He holds both MCI and WMCI awards and is a prolific climbing activist. Originally from Northern Ireland, Andy studied English Literature at Edinburgh University. Since then he has been darting around the country trying to climb […]

Malcolm is a massive Cuillin enthusiast having been brought up on a diet of climbing winter routes here since he was a school kid. He has worked with us since 2010 and those of you who have been out with him will know that he is as enthusiastic as ever for Cuillin adventures. He has […]

Originally from the Lakes, it’s great to have Ben back again for his 4th season. Based at the Reindeer Centre in Glenmore its just a short flit across to the West for some real mountains for him 😉 Ben has many hidden talents that he modestly keeps to himself but his grin and chat is […]

Graham runs Frost Guiding , one of the major companies providing guiding in both summer and winter. If you want to tackle Alpine classics like the Matterhorn, try ice-fall climbing or top-end ski mountaineering, you can contact him directly or talk with us first. Graham started his guiding work with Skye Guides in 2005 and […]

Tom’s back again for his annual stint of more Cuillin fun this Spring. We’ve both lost track but think his first season was 2018. Really obliged that Tom squeezes his weeks on Skye as life inevitably gets more hectic. Tom started rock climbing in the Lake District whilst at University. He first came to the […]

Gillian has worked with Skye Guides for nearly 20 years! Her knowledge of the Ridge, climbing and rope skills and enthusiasm for the Cuillin guarantees a high quality outing every day. Introduced to the outdoors through skiing as a 3 year-old Gillian has been climbing since the mid-nineties. Starting with a stint at Outward Bound […]

Mike has been guiding in the Cuillin since 2018 and is a central part of the Skye Guides team with his musical talents and Yorkshire banter always entertaining. His geological knowledge is far better than most (degree level) and a wealth of expedition experiences are always told with passion and a grin 😉 He lives […]

Robin first worked for Skye Guides in 2015. Work and climbing took him off around the world but he returned to the Highlands with his family early in 2025. He was a steady member of the team throughout last season and is back for more fun again in 2026 “I have climbed in many places […]

Joe’s back for yet another stint this season, despite the fact he’s now based in New Zealand! With grandparents in Uist Joe stared across at the Cuillin for years in awe and working here is like a dream come true. This passion comes across to everyone who has been guided by him along with a […]

We are delighted to have Neil back again for his 4th consecutive season. Holding the UK’s highest award, being a Winter Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (WMCI), Neil instructs and guides all aspects of climbing throughout the UK. Neil spends many of his winters on Scottish snow and ice and his springs/summers guiding on Skye. He […]

Aidan joined the team in 2023 on a part time basis then worked throughout the 2024 season. Originally from Portsmouth, he first came to Skye as an 18 year old and, as with so many people, the love affair continues to grow. He’s climbed in the Alps, Morocco, Norway and Spain but Scotland beats the […]

Henry joined Skye Guides in 2023 and then did stints in both spring and autumn ’24. He grew up in the Yorkshire Dales and started climbing on the Gritstone edges. He soon progressed to longer mountain climbs in the Lake District and now lives in North Wales. Work and climbing means that Henry increasingly finds […]

Cam joined the Skye Guides team in 2024. Based in Fort William he has climbed both in the Cuillin and on the coastal crags of Skye. He completed his first Ridge Traverse in 2018. He’s been an active climber since 2010 and worked in the industry since 2012. Like many of us, he started at […]

Ben’s back for his 4th season with Skye Guides and we all look forward to his craic. Between growing up in the Yorkshire dales and visiting family down in North Wales I spent a lot of time outside either mountain biking, walking and doing little bits of climbing too. After finishing school I really got […]

Bee joined the Skye Guides team in 2025 with a particularly memorable first day watching golden eagles soaring through the Cuillin bowl on gale force winds! Growing up in Llangollen, North Wales, she raced kayaks for a few years but came back from the dark side when she joined the university mountaineering club. She was […]

Andy joined the Skye Guides team in May 2023 and we’re delighted to have him back for his 4th season. Growing up in the Fenlands in the east of England, probably the flattest places in the UK, it was no wonder that as soon as Andy went to the mountains he was hooked. Based in […]

We’re delighted to have Tim back again this season, having joined the Skye Guides team in October 2024. He’s now half way through the IFMGA scheme, the highest international qualification for mountain guiding available. We’re hoping for more weeks of solid sunshine, similar to what he brought with him last year! Tim grew up climbing […]

Based in the Lake District, Will can’t wait to be back in the Cuillin this summer. “My first experience was in 2018, kicking off with an ill informed solo traverse with no idea of where I was going, but a love affair with these unique mountains began. The challenges they throw up mean there’s never […]

James is back for a second season with the Skye Guides team. He is half-way through the IFMGA scheme, the highest international qualification for mountain guiding available. He started climbing as a teen in the Peak District then moved to Chamonix where his love for big mountains and exposure grew. “I love long routes in […]