Rustyn Mesdag Guide
Born in Seattle, Washington, Rustyn grew up in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska and Oregon. At a young age he quickly discovered his love for snow and ice which led to climbing and then travelling abroad. After two years of working as a professional alpine guide in the United States he relocated to Patagonia where he started a guide service outside of Torres del Paine National Park - Chile.
For 25 years he has been leading climbers, travellers and trekkers through some of the most extreme terrains of around the world. Aside from the guide service, he operates an equipment rental centre and travellers lodge. More than this he conducts daily lectures to eager Patagonian backpackers looking for tips and pointers about trekking in the wild. Many years ago he moonlighted as a travel writer, focusing on Southern Chile, and for many years he published an English speaking travellers newspaper in Patagonia and this led to his first trip to Antarctica - writing about his experiences there.
Always looking for the next adventure, Rustyn now finds himself working around the world, as well as in Antarctica, Svalbard, Greenland and Iceland, and the Amazon helping others explore these incredible regions. When Rustyn isn’t travelling or working in the outdoors, his other passion is his love for long distance treks, the science of outdoor equipment, old motorcycles and his two grown sons. Rustyn is fluent in English, Dutch and Spanish and is more than happy to sit and spend time discussing world travels, alpine climbing and the in’s & out’s of cold weather equipment management.
