Meet The Team
Kaf Adventures is run with passion, experience, compassion, and dedication. We are committed to learning through experience, and creating an experience that fosters growth and human change. These are all qualities we feel drive success and create the leaders of tomorrow. We have a desire to create a community that cultivates responsible, conscientious outdoor enthusiasts and adventurers.
Kaf Adventures is a small company, which gives individual attention to our clients, offering a more personal and customized approach to instruction and guided experiences. Kaf is proud to have each and every person on our staff. They are truly the best people, mountaineers, guides, teachers and ambassadors of mountain culture anywhere!
Guides & Instructors
Mick has traveled the world over in search of the perfect mountain experience. After working for years under other companies’ ethos and philosophies, nothing quite fit with his personal convictions and passions. In 2006 he set out on his own to make his vision of the holistic mountain experience a reality for anyone who shared his passion for the outdoors.
Having traveled all over the U.S. as the son of a railroad employee, Mick is accustomed to movement and new views. Mexico, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Europe, South America, Tanzania are some of the places and cultures that have shaped and influenced Mick. Currently, Mick resides in Seattle, WA managing Kaf Adventures and continuing to hold the vision of this ever evolving company. He works tirelessly to continue to provide world-class experiences that provide knowledge and a greater perspective of the great outdoors.
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Mick’s true passion is education. He has found a unique passion for educating aspiring instructors and guides in the U.S. You will find him outside helping new leaders gain confidence in their ability to make decisions in complex environments.
When he is not in the field (where he spends over 100 days a year) you can find him creating electronic music and making people dance. Mick has a habit of making those around him smile, and you might just wonder when he sleeps!
Mick is an AMGA certified Rock and Alpine Guide, SPI Program Provider, AMGA Instructor Team Member, LNT Master trainer, a Wilderness First Responder, a certified Level 3 Avalanche graduate, an instructor for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, and speaks Spanish and a little Swahili.
Woody Jacobson grew up in the Seattle area where he was fortunate to partake in backpacking, rafting, skiing, and climbing trips all around the Pacific Northwest with family and friends. He first got into guiding in 2013 while he was studying politics at Whitman College. There, he took an AMGA Climbing Wall Instructor course and began teaching indoor rock climbing courses to fellow students as well as guiding outdoor climbing trips. Woody got involved with Kaf Adventures in 2017 and has since worked his way up from shadowing courses to instructing full time.
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For four years, Woody lived in China most of the year, where he guided outdoor education trips and spent the rest of his time rock climbing, traveling, and studying Mandarin Chinese. However, he couldn’t resist summer in the Pacific Northwest, and he returned home every year for the beautiful weather and Cascadian adventures. Woody is based in Seattle these days, although he hits the road for climbing and skiing trips up and down the West Coast and returns to China every year to guide Kaf Adventures’ crack climbing trip in Liming.
Nature and adventure are two of Woody’s biggest passions, and guiding allows him to share these passions with other intrepid people. He can’t imagine a better office than the beautiful forests and mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
Woody is an AMGA Assistant Rock Guide and Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
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Ryder is an Assistant Rock Guide with the American Mountain Guides Association, holds a Wilderness First Responder Certification, and has earned his AIARE Level 1 in avalanche safety.He currently splits his time between Liming, Yunnan Province, China and Seattle, Washington.
Despite growing up in the flat suburbs of Chicago, John gained a love for wild places early in his life. After earning a degree in Wilderness Leadership from Prescott College, John began turning that love into a career. He has worked throughout the country, and internationally, guiding rock climbing, ice climbing, skiing and avalanche courses, sea kayaking, hiking, and even a few biking trips. He has spent much of this time teaching adventurous sports to high school and college aged students.
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As an instructor with Kaf, John strives to get to know each student so he can provide unique learning opportunities and have the adventure meet the students where they are. John also serves as the Portland Program Director for the Northwest School of Survival and manages the partnership between NWSOS and Kaf, as well as managing all of the Mt Hood programs.
Berndt is passionate about outdoor instruction and risk management. In addition to 15 years as a career firefighter/EMT, Berndt has a strong instructional background from community and technical colleges in telecommunications and mountain rescue subjects. He brings his instructional and communication skills to the rock and snow world with Kaf, where he has worked since April of 2016.Berndt is an Apprentice Rock and Alpine Guide with the American Mountain Guides Association.
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When Berndt isn’t working at the fire station or participating in Kaf experiences, he can be found skiing, climbing, or hiking throughout the Northwest. He also spends a lot of time walking his two black labs at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA.
Outdoor guiding and instruction allows Berndt to share the activities he is passionate about while having fun and meeting new people. His favorite Northwest climbing area is Washington Pass/Mazama. He also enjoys skiing wherever the snow is fluffy, or at least present.
His favorite trips have been hut-based Via Feratta tours in the Dolomites and week long ski hut tours in the Fairy Meadows of British Columbia. Some of Berndt’s future planned trips include rock climbing in Potrero Chico in Mexico and a ski hut tour in Silvretta Alps of Austria.
Berndt is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
Before Amber could walk, she explored the mountains and ancient settlements of North, Central, and South America on her father’s back, an archaeologist and outdoorsman. As a teenager, she made home in Turkey and Tajikistan, and in 2011 her curiosity and love for exploration led her to take on a whole new adventure: climbing! Since then, Amber has climbed rock and glacial routes throughout the Western United States before falling in love with Washington. The epic sunrises, craggy peaks, and physical challenge brings her back to the Cascades again and again. Amber’s favorite spot in the North Cascades is the Winne’s Slide Bivi on Mount Shuksan and Amber’s dream trip is ski touring in Japan
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In 2016, after graduating from Portland State University, Amber began professionally guiding at Kaf Adventures. While in school, she wrote her thesis on what she calls ‘Feminist Outdoor Leadership:’ a guide to facilitation strategies for inclusion and participant empowerment in outdoor adventure. Amber is dedicated to community building, open communication, and interactive learning! She looks forward to playing outside with you!
Amber is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, AIARE Level 1, Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Trainer.
Jake got into guiding after years spent skiing and climbing in a variety of terrain throughout the western US, South America, Alaska and Europe. Jake has been guiding since 2017 and is a recent addition to the on-call instructor team at Kaf. When he’s not guiding, Jake enjoys exploring new mountain ranges, biking, playing music and spending time with friends and family. Jake’s favorite aspect of mountain guiding is contributing to a unique adventure for guests that is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
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Although Jake enjoys all types of terrain and modes of travel in the mountains, his favorite discipline is ski touring. His favorite trips include skiing off the summit of Denali, skiing the east face of the Grand Teton, and skiing new routes high in the Chilean Andes. The combination of pushing yourself during the ascent of a big objective and then getting to ski down is a unique and special feeling. Fun fact: Jake is a twin.
Jake is an AMGA Assistant Rock Guide, Apprentice Alpine and Ski Guide, a Wilderness EMT, and has a Professional Level 2 avalanche certification.
Joe has been bouldering and single-pitch climbing in the mid-west since the mid-nineties. In 2015 Joe hired Kaf Adventures (Mick Pearson) to take him out multi-pitch trad climbing at Index, WA. The experience was empowering and eye opening. What had seemed impossible-adventuring up big vertical faces-became possible.
Since climbing with Mick, Joe immersed himself into trad climbing. Seeking out and climbing adventurous routes became more than recreation, it became his passion. Joe has climbed many of the classics at iconic crags in North America (e.g., The Bugaboos, Squamish, Yosemite, RMNP, Eldorado Canyon, Joshua Tree, Red Rocks, The Gunks, El Potrero Chico, etc.).
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Joe finds guiding rewarding and meaningful because it affords him the opportunity to share an impactful and potentially transformative experience with others. Joe’s favorite route so far is the Beckey-Chouinard route in the Bugaboos. It was a truly memorable adventure. In 2018 Joe complete the AMGA Rock Guide Course and has been guiding since.
When not guiding, Joe builds custom camper vans for Quality Adventure LLC, which is a small business he founded in 2017. Quality Adventures. Joe also continues to work part time as a patent attorney for Merchant and Gould, an IP law firm based in Minneapolis. https://www.merchantgould.com/Professionals/Joseph-E-Lee
When not climbing or working, Joe spends time with this wife and two Portuguese water dogs. They ski, sail, and paddle together.
Joe is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide and NOLS Wilderness First Responder.
Whether at an open bivvy on an alpine ridgeline, a cozy tent in a glacier camp, or a circle of close friends and family around a campfire, outdoor places are where Kevin feels most at home.
Thanks to the love and support of his family, a pre-walking Kevin began his wilderness exploration from on top of Dad’s shoulders, and he quickly developed a nearly precocial ability to sleep on the ground. His self-powered downhill skiing career began at age three, and he had to learn quickly to keep up with his older brother. Grateful for a solid foundation of nature appreciation, Kevin went on to work with large mammals and earn a Wildlife Biology degree from Colorado State University.
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Throughout this pursuit, Kevin also challenged himself with new technical outdoor skills in climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering. He found his purpose encouraging nature preservation and facilitating interpersonal growth and discovery, and believes it best to actualize this by supporting peoples’ outdoor goals.
Beginning on the lakes, rivers, and trails of northern Wisconsin over a decade ago, Kevin leads all varieties of outdoor trips. Some of his latest experiences include working in wilderness therapy at New Vision Wilderness; climbing, mountaineering and skiing in the Cascades; ice climbing in Canmore, BC; backcountry skiing throughout the Selkirks; climbing in Peru and Mexico; and mountaineering in Ecuador.
Kevin now resides in Spokane, WA, and is excited to connect with a new outdoor community in the Inland Northwest while maintaining his Kaf Adventures family.
Kevin is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, AIARE Level 1 & 2, Outdoor Emergency Care Technician, Leave No Trace Trainer, and volunteer for Inland Northwest Search and Rescue.
Matt grew up in Ohio and went to college in Washington where he quickly discovered climbing. He realized that you can’t climb a corn field, and stayed West after school, pursuing certification in the guiding industry. He has worked in Utah and the Pacific Northwest. Matt sees mountain travel as the locus for his passions of climbing, wellness, and adventure. Matt is pursuing full AMGA certification.
He enjoys photography, fly fishing, cooking, and reading when he is not climbing.
Matt is an AMGA Certified Rock Guide, Apprentice Alpine Guide, Wilderness First Responder, Leave No Trace Trainer, and Avalanche Pro 1.
I am originally from Boston, MA where I started rock climbing when I was 18 years old. I majored in Mechanical Engineering and worked in the industry for 5 years while concurrently starting a women’s rock climbing organization called Never Stop Moving. I have always aspired to become a rock climbing guide, but starting Never Stop Moving after moving to Seattle in October of 2015 gave me the final push and motivation to jump out of my comfort zone and work towards achieving this goal.
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2019 marks the first year working with Kaf Adventures and as rock climbing guide. When I am not guiding or rock climbing, you can find me working out, skiing, hiking with my dog Baker, cooking, gardening, playing video games and doing arts and crafts (i just started knitting and painting)! Outside of guiding, I am also studying for my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification to work as a fitness instructor during the off season. In addition to Kaf Adventures, I am running my own company called Never Stop Moving and working at the Summit Everett Climbing Gym creating and instructing fitness programs, teaching rock climbing, and coaching the climbing club.
Guiding is very exciting to me because I love teaching and helping other people achieve their goals. I want to aid in getting people out into the mountains to experience the fulfillment of reaching a summit, pushing one’s comfort zone, achieving a goal, enjoying the outdoors and most importantly having fun.
My dream trip is to climb Aconcagua in Argentina. I traveled to South America by myself for two months after college and found myself exploring the base of this majestic mountain. Ever since, I have wanted to go back and summit it.
Despite growing up in Florida, Paul Taylor made his way to the mountains and outdoors at an early age. His deep love of wild places and a passion for teaching have been a driving force in both his professional and personal pursuits. Currently, he is a Portland based climbing and mountaineering guide for Kaf Adventures who also serves as Kaf’s Oregon Program Director, where he has been instructing and guiding for the past 5 years.
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Over the course of his 16-year career, he has worked as an instructor, facilitator, and guide for numerous outdoor education companies and guide services across the United States. His early adventures were focused on teaching primitive living and survival skills and long distance hiking, where he has racked up over 10,000 miles of trail-time, including thru-hikes of the AT, PCT, and many other trails. His favorite place in the entire world is the region of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile, where he is always looking to spend more time exploring and climbing and one day living with his family. The area he is most excited to return to is climbing in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, where he and his wife spent their honeymoon. When he’s not teaching or working, he enjoys trail running, climbing up Mt. Hood and at Smith Rock, cooking, reading, glass blowing, and traveling with his wife, Claire and daughter, Zola.
Paul is an AMGA Apprentice Alpine Guide, AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, EMT-B, Wilderness First Responder, LNT Master Educator, and an AIARE 2.
Wilfred was born at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the town of Moshi, Tanzania. The challenges of summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro have inspired him his whole life. He has guided many groups to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but his life dream had been to climb Mt. Everest, considered by many to be the most difficult and harshest mountain in the world. He achieved this goal in 2012.
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Wilfred received training from Kilimanjaro Tanzania National Park, (KINAPA), and is a certified KINAPA guide and Wilderness First Responder. As a highly committed, professional mountain trekker, in 2012 Wilfred was qualified to become part of a Mt. Everest expedition team. He was one of the few Africans at Everest basecamp and on May 19th he became the first Tanzanian to summit the world’s highest mountain, Mt. Everest (29,0028ft). On 26 August 2014, Wilfred continued his pursuit of climbing the worlds highest peaks and summited the highest mountain in Europe, Mt Elbrus. He plans to complete the 7 summits.
Wilfred and his family of two children are part of the Chagga tribe. They live in the town of Moshi where he grew up.
Zack started his guiding career working as a rock climbing instructor and guide in 2014 while completing his university degree. He studied Forest Sciences with a focus on Snow and Avalanche Forecasting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. During his degree, he worked as a tail guide and avalanche instructor for numerous Canadian ski-guiding operations, and spent his summers as an alpine and rock guide in the Sierras, SE USA, among other locations. During his degree, Zack did an undergraduate research project looking at the effects of vegetation on snowpack instability, which he ultimately presented at the 2018 International Snow Science Workshop. Climbing and guiding has taken Zack to all areas of the world, including: the French and Austrian Alps, New Zealand, northern Canada, Mexico, and numerous regions in western Canada and the USA. Zack is in the process of completing his full IFMGA mountain guide certification through the AMGA, and ultimately aims to balance guiding with research in avalanche forecasting.
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Zack’s favorite activity in the mountains is split-boarding big lines on big peaks and working to find the best conditions to do this in; though he enjoys any aspect of mountain travel and especially connecting others to the beauty and lessons that the mountains have to offer.
Office Administration Team
Erika grew up in Minnesota and enjoyed outdoor activities from a very young age. She spent her youth exploring outdoor environments, collecting bugs, learning about birds, botany and whittling when she wasn’t camping, cross country skiing or fishing from a canoe. One childhood experience that forever changed her was a week at a winter camp in remote northern Minnesota where she went snowshoeing for the first time (in wood and sinew snowshoes). That same week, she stood on a frozen, snow-covered lake at midnight while camp counselors called to the wild timber wolves. They called back.
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After an art and photography degree, she lived in Michigan for seven years, during which time she hiked some of the Appalachian Trail and explored the northeast by bike. Then high tech drew her to the Seattle area where she fell in love with the local mountains. For three years she owned and ran a local outdoor magazine to create community for rock climbers, mountaineers, backcountry skiers, trail runners and backpackers. She found her daily interaction with the community energizing and thrilling!
During that stint, she spent a month in Nepal on a campaign to raise awareness about global warming and glacial change in the Mt Everest region. She hiked the length of the Everest Highway to Everest Base Camp immersed in the Sherpa culture and has returned to Nepal every few years to volunteer in rural communities and soak up Himalayan sunrises again. Though she has climbed mountains in Bali and Hawaii, Newfoundland and Maine, that first Nepal trip remains her favorite because the alpine experience of extended high elevation foot travel was exhilarating! But that trip is also where she dove deep into cultural photography. One of her dream trips would be to do a self-sustained kayak or canoe trip in the Amazon River system.
More recently, she has been an educator and lead for an environmental and adventure-centered middle school where she works with students to foster love of the outdoors and self-reliance in nature through camping trips and activities in outdoor environments.
Erika is a photographer, writer, editor, and public speaker. She has two active teenage boys who love the outdoors as well. Ever exploring, she also dabbles in visual arts and crafts like painting, sculpting and sketching. Sometimes in the mountains.
Lin handles the bookkeeping and assists in registrations. Retired from a career in the railroad industry, she spends her time assisting Kaf Adventures clients and staff. Lin and her husband love to travel, visiting friends and family in San Diego and Seattle, and all points between on the West Coast. They also enjoy spending time outdoors, going on cruises, and taking international trips. During the warm months, you can find Lin working in her flower garden, tap dancing with a senior’s group, or touring with her husband in their hot rod.
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After rekindling his passion for climbing trees here in the PNW he has now set his sights on climbing rocks. He enjoys reading the stories left in the landscape by animals, eating wild plants, and flipping off pretty much everything (parkour!). He has a deep passion and love for connecting people with the natural world, their community, and self. He is excited to hear your story and share some of his own.
Kyle is an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, Wilderness First Responder, and Leave No Trace Trainer.
As our Operations Manager, Andrew oversees the daily operations of all our courses and trips. He communicates with guests, organizes equipment for guides, leads our guiding staff, and manages our commercial use permits. He also serves as the Portland Program Director and manages all programming in the Portland and Mt Hood area.
As our Operations Manager, John oversees the daily operations of all our courses and trips. He communicates with guests, organizes equipment for guides, leads our guiding staff, manages our commercial use permits, and supervises our rental program. He also serves as the Portland Program Director and manages all programming in the Portland and Mt Hood area.
Feel free to reach out to John at [email protected]