Meet the Rugged Luxury Team
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"Little" Tendi Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
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Dr. Brent Systermans
Guide & Expedition Doctor
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"Big" Tendi Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
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Dallas Glass
AMGA Guide & AIARE Instructor
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Pega Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
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Fred Alldredge
Mountain Guide & Antarctica Specalist
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Tomi Ceppi
Mountain Guide & Patagonia Specalist
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Caroline Pemberton
Founder & Co-Owner
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Mike Hamill
Co-Owner
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Brett Hills
Chief Financial & Operations Officer
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Stephanie Kichler
Communications & Marketing Manager
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Dani Kluberton
Expedition Concierge & Guide Manager
Caroline Pemberton
Rugged Luxury Founder & Co-Owner
Extensive background in adventure filming, production & logistics
Adventurer, trekker and surfer from Sydney, Australia
Caroline Pemberton hails from Sydney, Australia. An adventurer at heart, she first found herself in the mountains as a teenager when she spent an entire season at Everest Base Camp supporting her brother, Rex, who became the Youngest Australian to Climb Everest back in 2005. It was an expedition which set the course of her life.
She spent the next decade working in mainstream media, travelling the world as an adventure travel TV host and journalist working for the likes of Australian Geographic, Red Bull and Outside TV to name a few.
Passionate about the transformational power of adventure, she founded MissAdventure, a social purpose enterprise to inspire girls (7-14yrs) into the world of action sports, adventure and the outdoors so that they learn firsthand that their bodies are so much more than just what they look like. The idea is to instill girls with an intrinsic sense of self-worth that isn’t shaken by an increasingly superficial world.
When she’s not busy organising your next great adventure, you will find Caroline surfing, skiing, biking or in her rare quiet moments at home, gardening!
Mike Hamill
Rugged Luxury Co-Owner
6 x Everest summiteer & 6x laps of the Seven Summits
Owner & Lead Guide (has been guiding for over 20 years)
Author of the renowned Guide Book Climbing the Seven Summits
Mike Hamill is the owner and founder of Climbing the Seven Summits and is one of the world’s premier high-altitude guides and expedition leaders. Mike has led hundreds of climbers to the summits of 8000m peaks including Everest and has 200+ summits on 31 X 8000m expeditions.
Mike has been guiding for two decades and is a veteran of well over 120 major high altitude expeditions including 13 to Mt Everest, 11 to Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Shishapangma, the South Pole, Vinson, Denali, Putha Huinchuli, and Ama Dablam, 50 ascents of Mt. Rainier to name just a few. He has summited Mt Everest 6 times, lapped the famed Seven Summits 6 times, and climbed 2 X 8000m peaks (Shishapangma & Cho Oyu) in 8 days, one of only a few people in history to do so.
Mike started the Tiger of the Snows Fund, a US based 501(c)(3) non-profit, in 2015 and remains Executive Director of the Fund. The mission statement of the Fund is to facilitate education for outdoor tourism workers and their families in underserved communities. A portion of all proceeds from CTSS goes to the TOTS Fund and each year Mike organizes a fundraising climb of Mt Rainier to benefit the TOTS Fund.
Brett Hills
Chief Finance & Operations Officer
Originally from Australia, Brett is a chartered accountant who now calls Jackson Hole home, where he lives with his family and enjoys his deep love for the mountains. Prior to joining CTSS, Brett spent over 13 years as the CFO and COO of Teton Gravity Research, helping to build one of the most iconic brands in outdoor media.
At CTSS, Brett brings a wealth of backend expertise in finance, operations, and strategic planning, ensuring every detail of your expedition runs smoothly from start to summit. Whether it’s optimizing logistics or navigating international complexities, Brett’s focus is on creating seamless experiences behind the scenes so guests and guides can focus on the adventure ahead
Stephanie Kichler
Communications & Marketing Manager
Meet Stephanie, originally from the heart of the Midwest, whose journey spans from Indiana’s cornfields to Utah’s desert canyons. With over a decade of experience teaching environmental and outdoor education, from Chicago’s south side to the Jemez Mountains in New Mexico, Stephanie transitioned into the expedition and guiding realm with an open heart, ready for the adventure that lay ahead.
Though no longer in a formal teaching role, Stephanie remains a lifelong educator at heart. Her unwavering desire to inspire others serves as her guidepost. There is no doubt that she has a deep passion for helping others explore their potential in the outdoors.
But for Stephanie, it’s more than just getting outside. It’s about experiencing nature to its fullest. It’s opening up to the sights, sounds, and smells of the land, water, and air. It’s connecting with different cultures and ways of life. It’s finding time to look inwards and outwards. And finally, maybe even most importantly, it’s inspiring others to become stewards of our environment so future generations can fall in love with the same places we cherish.
When Stephanie isn’t typing up website copy or answering your most pressing questions about an upcoming expedition, you can find her hiking, backpacking, and paddling through some of the Colorado Plateau’s finest canyons. Every once in a while, she gets to dip her toes into the ocean and take advantage of her Advanced Open Water scuba certification – one of her favorite ways to fully immerse herself into the outdoor world.
Dani Kluberton
Expedition Concierge & Guide Manager
Dani grew up camping, climbing, canoeing, and snowboarding with her family in Minnesota. She quickly fell in love with the outdoors and pursued an operations, management, and logistics career in the guiding industry. Dani has years of logistical experience for all Seven Summits and has worked on location in Argentina, Antarctica, and Alaska managing logistics for climbing and skiing expeditions.
Dani now lives in Wyoming and loves being a part of the incredible team at CTSS. She also works part time as a personal trainer, helping others reach their own mountain fitness goals. In her free time, Dani enjoys rock climbing, traveling, training, cooking, and running with her friends and family.
Dr. Brenton Systermans
Mountain Guide & Expedition Doctor
Brenton Systermans is an expedition doctor and guide who loves nothing more than getting his clients up and down a mountain safely and with all their digits intact!
As a doctor, Brent has volunteered at the Himalayan Rescue Association’s famous high-altitude clinic, Everest ER, and the Pheriche Clinic. He’s had stints with the Australian Army and the Australian Antarctic Division as an ExMO (expedition medical officer) and currently works with Australia’s high-performance winter athletes at the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia. He’s also involved in training the next generation of expedition medics as the Course Coordinator for the Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environments program at the University of Tasmania.
Having grown up in regional Victoria, Australia, he spent his youth trekking, climbing, and skiing in the Victorian High Country and Grampians National Park. Before commencing medical school, he worked as an Outdoor Instructor at Falls Creek Ski Resort.
Brent primarily practices medicine in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, at Thredbo, the trailhead for our Kosciuszko climbs. He has also worked as an expedition doctor and/or guide in Australia, Antarctica, Europe, Tanzania, Nepal, and China.
Brent loves exploring our fantastic planet and sharing his knowledge of mountain medicine.
“Little” Tendi Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
Tendi Sherpa is widely regarded as one of the most respected guides on Mt Everest. Tendi is an incredibly hard-working leader who approaches everything he does respectfully and with tenacity.
Tendi, a fully internationally certified UIAGM guide, has led all over the world and is one of CTSS’s most trusted guides whether on Mt Everest or elsewhere in the world. He has 19 Everest summits from both the North and South sides to his resume, not to mention many other much more technical and remote peaks throughout Nepal.
Tendi guides around the world in places like Argentina, Bolivia and Antarctica and is scheduled to finish the Seven Summits this year. He currently works as a private guide for CTSS on Mt Everest, Lhotse, Vinson, Carstensz, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and Kilimanjaro.
Beyond guiding for CTSS, Tendi also acts as Sirdar, or lead climbing Sherpa, for CTSS and over sees the logistics of each Himalayan expedition. Tendi is also the co-owner of Himali gear, a high-end adventure gear manufacturer based in Denver, Colorado. Tendi is also the namesake and Founder of the “Tendi Sherpa Foundation” which provides opportunities to Sherpa in and around his home community.
He is also a devoted father and husband. When not living and guiding in Nepal, he can often be found traveling in the US, Switzerland, the UK and around the world.
Dallas Glass
AMGA Guide & AIARE Instructor
Dallas Glass, hails from Seattle and has guided all over the world, from the summit of Everest in Nepal, Cho Oyu in Tibet to being a regular on Denali in Alaska and Rainier in Washington. He is an extremely qualified, tenured and popular guide with over a decade of big mountain experience. He is also an avalanche and mountain weather forecaster in Washington’s rugged Cascade Range.
Having graduated from Clemson University with a B.S. in Forest Resource Management, he moved west to pursue a master’s in Hydrology and Soil Physics at the University of Nevada. After completing his master’s degree, he began splitting his time working in Alaska as a wilderness ecologist, at Mt Rose Ski Tahoe as the avalanche forecaster and as an international mountain guide.
Dallas is extremely well certified with the following formal qualifications:
American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE)
Level 3, 2012
L2 Instructor Training Course, 2012
American Avalanche Association, AVPRO, 2010
Emergency Medical
Wilderness First Responder, 2006-present
American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA)
Alpine Skills Course
Ski Guide Course
Single Pitch Instructor Course
“Big” Tendi Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
“Big” Tendi is one of our most respected guides in the Himalayas and is an integral part of our Everest programs. He has been working as a private guide as part of our “Private IFMGA Sherpa Guided Climb” and is in high demand each year. Beyond his capacity as a lead guide, Big Tendi is also co-owner of our logistics company in Nepal and works year round to help organize our expeditions.
Big Tendi is currently the Technical Director for the Nepal Mountain Guides Association and an instructor for the school. It would not be a stretch to say that he is the Godfather of the certified Nepali mountain guides association having trained an entire generation of mountain guides and elevating them to international esteem. Big Tendi is of course an internationally certified guide as well and has trained many of our other IFMGA private guides.
Pega Sherpa
IFMGA Mountain Guide
IFMGA internationally certified guide
9x Everest expedition (7x summits)
2x Cho Oyu summits
2x Lhotse summits
1x Manaslu summit
Multiple expeditions to Putha Hiunchuli, Baruntse, Lobuche, Island Peak, Mera Peak, Yal, and Khangla
One of the world’s best Himalayan guides, Pega Sherpa, is known for his technical skills, patience, and thoughtfulness while guiding. Because of this, Pega is also one of our most sought-after private guides on Everest.
Pega brings a remarkable resume, including 13x summits on 8,000-meter peaks, experience as a mountain and trekking guide across the Himalayas, and, most recently, one of our Star Guides on Kilimanjaro, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work. In his free time, Pega is also a climbing instructor at the Khumbu Climbing Centre (KCC). He has completed both basic and advanced climbing courses with KCC and the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). He has also completed his Rigging for Rescue and Wilderness First Responder courses in the USA.
Fred Alldredge
Mountain Guide & Antarctica Specialist
Fred began guiding on Mt. Rainier in 1993 and has been pursuing a life in the wild places of the world ever since. He has climbed and guided in Alaska, the Himalayas, Antarctica, South and North America, and Europe. During this time, he has also held positions as an Incident Commander and Aviation Manager for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wildland Fire program, as well as a lead guide at a premier helicopter skiing operation based in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
Along with his guide work, Fred is currently working with an Antarctic-based logistics company as an aviation coordinator and safety adviser, helping to train their staff in risk assessment and emergency response.
Tomi Ceppi
Mountain Guide & Patagonia Specialist
Multiple 8000m summits (including Everest)
14x Vinson expeditions with 12x summits
Skied to the South Pole
Climbed Lhotse without supplemental oxygen
Bilingual EPGAM Certified Guide
Tomas was born in Patagonia, Argentina, and at an early age he became a climber in the Nahuel Huapi National Park. He has completed numerous rock and ice climbing routes, backcountry skiing descents, and climbs around the world, including Everest and Lhotse (8,516 m), the 4th-highest peak in the world, without supplemental oxygen (May 2012). He is a certified Mountain Guide from the EPGAMT and a member of the Argentine Mountain Guides Association (AAGM) and has extensive experience leading expeditions on Mt. Aconcagua, which he has repeatedly ascended, as well as on other peaks in the Central Andes, Patagonia, Pakistan, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, and Antarctica, including 14 expeditions to Vinson and in the Himalayas in Nepal. During the winter season, he guides backcountry skiing, mostly on the volcanoes in Patagonia. He feels very privileged to work as a mountain guide and to be able to share experiences with people who have the same passion. He lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina.