Juan Claudio “Gringo” Schurer

Claudio is an Argentinean AAGM mountain guide (Argentina Association of Mountain Guides), who has been living in El Calafate since 1992, following 4 years living in the climbing Mecca of El Chaltén. He was born in northern Patagonia where his passion for the outdoors was awoken by rock climbing. For 30 years, Claudio has been guiding and completing expeditions throughout the Southern Ice Field, and has participated in a number of rescue expeditions within the Fitz Roy and Ice Field ranges. He has been a member of the Rescue Commission of the Andean Club of Bariloche, and worked for the refugio hut system in Bariloche in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He loves meeting people; for him, the most satisfying part of mountain guiding. Claudio has also assisted in the filming of documentaries such as Scream of Stone by Werner Herzog, shot in Los Glaciares National Park. He has also contributed to the opening of new trails in the Santa Cruz Province of Argentina.

“Life in the mountains can be difficult, it’s not like like the easy life in the city.”