Apex Mountain School — Attraction in Beaver Creek

My 12 year old son and I had an amazing time rock climbing with Scott. My son has been climbing before but I have never climbed before, and the fact that we both had an awesome experience speaks volumes about Scott's skills as a guide. What's more, my son is on the autism spectrum, and Scott was great about meeting my son where he is (which is all any parent can ask for). Scott picked us up and dropped us off, which was great because I didn't know uber and lyft really aren't a thing in the Vail valley. There is a charge for the transportation, but it is consistent with other transpo services in the area, and the bonus is that you go directly to the climbing spot from your hotel because Scott brings all the gear in the van when he picks you up!

One important thing I learned is to do your research separately from your hotel's concierge. I was disappointed, to say the least, that the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek couldn't or wouldn't help me find a good climbing guide. I'm happy to report that Apex's website was easy to use and find the information I was looking for, and they were so incredibly responsive. As soon as I reached out, Scott was in constant contact with me about what our options were and all the information he needed to make a great, safe day.

And on that last point, I'd like to emphasize how safe I felt with Scott. I'm a total scaredy-cat and never thought I would climb an actual rock in the actual outside. I did because of Scott's support and teaching. Scott had excellent tips for me to gain control of the anxiety I was feeling about the heights. And I don't trust my kid with just anybody, and I was never worried about getting home with my kid intact with Scott at the helm. Highly, highly recommend, especially if you're going out with kids or have little to no climbing experience. I'm now a climbing convert thanks to...

When looking to get off the resort trails and into the backcountry, we compared a few options for a guide service, but found Apex Mountain School to be the leader in the space. From the very beginning, conversations with the Apex team were always clear in objective and confidence boosting with their expertise not only in the sport but also the locations.

Our objective was to get the experience of being in the backcountry while learning how to do it safely. Our guide Joseph (highly recommend him), did a great job of assessing our abilities and aligning those with a really great skin track ascent as well as great powder runs down. Throughout the day he would provide us insights into what things to be mindful of when in the backcountry: planning your trip, navigation, avalanche assessment, skin and skiing technique and more.

The entire experience was perfectly matched to push our abilities in every aspect without overwhelming. Joseph's background and personality really shined through when coaching us through different scenarios, giving us the confidence and knowledge to achieve our goals. Some of the best skiing we have ever done thanks to Joseph's meticulous snow condition assessments and planning. Would highly recommend working with the team at Apex to plan your next backcountry trip. Looking forward to coming back to Apex for future ski trips and...

We had an unbelievable day of ice climbing with Jesse in Vail Valley! We had extremely cold weather, but Jesse was amazing in coordinating with us prior to our adventure, making sure we had the right stuff and offering to bring the more technical gear that we needed. This was our first time ice climbing, but we have had a fair bit of rock climbing experience. The folks at Apex Mountain School were able to select a location with a good balance of intro to more advanced ice routes.

We were initially uncertain about how the altitude would affect our abilities, but Jesse took the initial hike up the gulch at a slow pace, teaching us basic mountaineering skills along the way. At the frozen waterfall, we began learning to climb in some brittle and tough ice conditions. Jesse brought along extra hand warmers and cookies for in between climbs. Jesse offered great tips and encouragement to help my fiance and I progress in a single day, and at no point did either of us feel unsafe. If you're at all interested in learning to ice climb (or rock climb in warmer months), I definitely recommend Apex Mountain School! Totally worth it and looking forward to...