Our Team

Norbert Schnyder
Lead Guide

Born in Switzerland he’ll never forget his roots, but at the same time he feels at home in the world. His world now is Alaska and the Yukon Territory where he has stayed for many seasons since 1990.
He can look back at a wide range of experience in travelling. At the age of 22 he left his home country to find out what life is like in other parts of the world. So he spent one and a half years in Australia and New Zealand and finally came to North and Middle America in 1988. For twelve years he used to work as a tour guide all over America, from Baja California to Alaska.
Since then he knows where he belongs to: Alaska. It has always been his favourite destination. So he decided to focus on the ”land of the last frontier“ where he guided camping tours till 2000. In 2001 he started to work with RUBY RANGE and he specialized in hotel tours. These tours are so special because they include both, Alaska (USA) and the Yukon Territory (Canada). Nobi’s motto: “If you love the land you can share that love with others.“ That’s why he is now sharing love for Alaska and the Yukon Territory’s wild countryside with lots of people he has taken around showing them the beauty of a land at the far end of the world.
(Languages: English, German)

Fredrick Lemke
Guide

Fredrick was born in 1945 in Germany and moved with his family to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1978. Since then - with the exception of living three years in northern Saskatchewan and B.C. - he and his family spent their life in Canada’s Yukon.
In moving to the Yukon he wanted to experience some of the remaining wilderness still on this planet. His original trade was in the Graphic Arts, offset-printing field. Besides working as a corrections officer and rental agent in the tourism industry, over the last twenty years he also became a recognized water color artist in the Yukon, producing and selling original art and prints. The scenery of Canada’s North still provides him with many motives for painting and his originals and prints can be seen in the Galleries of Whitehorse.
In 1999 the opportunity came up to work as a tour guide and - from 2002 on - he has been working for Ruby Range Adventures, conducting hiking tours throughout  Yukon and Alaska. His love of nature, combined with speaking the (German) language made being a tour guide an almost ideal job for him.
(Languages: English, German)

Reinhard H. Semmel
Guide

He lives in the Yukon since 1992. In 1996 he moved with his family to Haines Junction to work as a Chef. In 2000 he began working as a Tour Guide, in the summer as well as in the winter. In 2004 he started working for Ruby Range Adventure.
(Languages: English, German)

Christel Bartczak
Lead Guide

Who needs a 5-star hotel when there are 5 million in the sky above??
Christel is at home under any open sky, whether it be paddling the raging rivers of Nepal, trekking the volcano Highlands of Central America, or contemplating the inspiring vastness of the Canadian North.
Hailing from Quebec with German roots and a true passion for travelling, she is fluent in four languages: French, English, German and Spanish.
When she is not enjoying the great outdoors, she can be found in a sports medicine clinic at the foot of Mt. Tremblant, where she works as a physiotherapist. She also makes room in her busy schedule for teaching a variety of first aid courses.
Christel is looking forward to another season of guiding and sharing her passion for the Yukon and its beautiful rivers.
(Languages: English, French, German)

Joe Klausner
Lead Guide

Born in the Tyrolian Alps - mountains and nature have always played an important role in my life. Already at an early age I began to travel the world. After travelling extensively for many years worldwide, the earths wild and unspoilt places began to exert an indelible attraction on me. The result were countless trekking/hiking trips as well as technical ascents in all major mountain ranges of the world. For quite some time now I have been working as a freelance guide in western Canada. In the Yukon and Alaska I guide visitors on the rivers and mountains for Ruby Range Adventure. Simple living, like sleeping in tents, is not a hardship to me but a spice of life! My aim is to provide a safe and memorable wilderness experience.
(Languages: English, German)

Simon Pottek
Lead Guide

In 1997, Simon gathered hisfirst guiding experiences, mushing dogteams in Alberta. Since then he has lead hiking and canoe- adventures, private and a number of long established operators, throughout the western provinces and territories.
In addition to his university and college background in bio-geography and ecotourism management, his deep understanding of the boreal ecosystem is rooted in seasons of commercial wild-fruit harvest and work for environmental NGO's.
With an annual log of often more than 1000 river miles, the canoe is Simon's transportation of choice.
For Your safety he holds certificates and regularly visits update courses, such as Wilderness First Responder, Swift Water Rescue, White Water Canoeing and others.
(Languages: English, French, German)

Quintin Winks
Tour Guide

Quintin Winks is a Canadian who's long indulged his passion for travel and adventure. He's easiest to find skiing steep Rocky Mountain powder, dropping down the faces of tropical waves on his surfboard or exploring remote parts of the world on a mountain bike. These days you'll also find him paddling the Teslin and Yukon Rivers and sharing his appreciation for the raw beauty of the Yukon's hinterland with visitors from all over the world. As a photographer, Quintin chooses his destinations for their scenery and inaccessibility, but mostly for their incredible inhabitants. This is a man who's in love with the road less traveled.
(Languages: English, German)

Miranda Currie
Tour Guide

Miranda Currie first fell in love with the Yukon in 2002, when she drove north to experience the vast wilderness for herself. While living in Dawson City and later in Whitehorse she saw the Yukon as a land of opposites where she could find great adventure and great tranquility at the same time. Canoeing keeps her muscles strong in the summer and dogsledding helps to keep her warm in winter.
Miranda has worked in the outdoor industry for over 10 years, and has earned academic degrees in Outdoor Recreation and Geography as well as in Outdoor Education. She is passionate about the wilderness and teaching in the outdoors. Helping people discover something new in the Yukon really floats her boat! As a proud member of Opaskwayak Cree First Nation, Miranda loves to share the experiences of her culture with interested visitors. Her playful, enthusiastic nature and her 'larger than life' laugh will keep you entertained by the campfire. Miranda looks forward to sharing the Yukon with you!
(Languages: English, German)

David Rangdrol
Tour guide

A native of Quebec City, I have been coming to the Yukon almost every summer for the past fifteen years. Though I don’t make a claim to full sourdough-hood, the Yukon is simply my favourite place on earth, and I long returning to the raw beauty of this ancient land whenever I am away from it. Otherwise, my nomadic life has brought me to live and travel through several countries in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. It is in Asia that I started guiding, leading adventure tours in India and Japan, as well as trekking trips in the Nepal Himalayas. My love for canoeing, being on the rivers and guiding came together when I began guiding Japanese and European tourists on the Teslin and Yukon rivers. Throughout my trips, I became captivated by the tales of the men and women of the pre-Gore-Tex era who came north to start a rough but fulfilling life away from civilisation. Having the opportunity to visit the Yukon is a tremendous chance and it is my goal to make every guest make the most out of it.
(Languages: English, French)

Helmut Wirfler
Assistant Operation Manager / Tour guide

His work in a tourism enterprise opened the best possibilities of realising his passion for travel. A dream came true. Once in a lifetime to Canada.
After few months in the Yukon he was fascinated, lost his heart and soul to this beautiful Country. The longing after untouched nature, wilderness, peace, adventure and freedom never left him. He achieved another dream. He build a log house at Mayo lake and lived for 10 years with his wife and two dogs in the true wilderness. Summer and winter, without power, running water, neighbours. Living the day to day life in the bush.
On and off he has been guiding for almost 30 years. He travelled thousands of kilometre by canoe. He visited all communities in Yukon. Still he likes adventure, the challenge and sharing his vast experience and knowledge with visitors from around the world. To tell people more about the Yukon he writes a free Yukon-Newsletter. (At the moment in German only) His interests are: Yukon History, reading, writing, photography, canoeing, fauna, flora, outdoor-survival, hunting & fishing, geology.
Since 5 years he and his wife Gaby are living near Whitehorse.
(Languages: English, German)

Karsten Mercier
Managing Director

Always looking for the perfect balance between office-duties and spending as much time as possible Fly Fishing in the land of the Midnight Sun. Karsten enjoys the most exploring rivers, lakes and streams he has not fished before. And there are still plenty to discover in Alaska and Canada's Northwest....... Fishing for Salmon, Northern Pike, Grayling and Lake Trout are mostly the best options up north, but Karsten often prefers to focus on species which are not on everybody’s 'catching-list' such as Dolly Varden, Inconnu and other Whitefish. Karsten has fished lots of different waters world-wide but believes that the variety of different species combined with the pristine wilderness up here is hard to match. This is also the perfect playground for his now 3 year old son Felix, who is eager to learn as much as possible and seems already 'to be hooked' as well.
(Languages: English, German)

Stephan Atmanspacher
Field Operations Manager / Lead Guide

As an accomplished mountaineer he climbed in mountain ranges in Europe, Asia and Northamerica. It wasn't until 1986 while roaming the Rocky Mountains that he discovered his passion for canoeing. As for many other canoeists his idol is the late Bill Mason. Stephans canoeing technique as well as his care for safety reflect Bill Masons philosophy.
Since his heart beats for canoeing rather than his office, Stephan guides many tours himself. He has over 10 years of guiding experience and gathered more than tenthousand miles by canoeing rivers of the Yukon and Alaska wilderness. His experience is the result of many long trips, exploratory, solo and with groups, summer and winter. Stephan earned his stripes as a canoeist by canoeing some tough rivers in Europe and Canada such as the Loisach Griesengorge, or the Little Hyland River in the Yukon. Stephan keeps a current Wilderness First Aid Ticket and is up to date in whitewater rescue and Leave No Trace techniques. Stephan is not only competent but also prudent and the very opposite of your typical go-getter.
(Languages: English, German)

Felix Geithner
Marketing & Sales Manager / Lead Guide

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." [John Muir, John of the Mountains]

Discovering the lush beauty of Canada, he believes, is best done by putting your hands right on it and feeling it. Living in and experiencing the Canadian Outdoors means taking pride in knowing and understanding the geological and geographical history as well as its, and our, impact on the future of this unique place on earth. He lives and works in Canada several years as a guide all the way from Anchorage (Alaska) to Vancouver (British Columbia): Hiking-Camping Tours, Kayak Tours, Canoe Tours and Dogsledding Tours.
(Languages: English, German)

Susanne Mercier
Finance & Accounting

Susanne fell in love with Alaska and the Yukon in 1994 while on her honeymoon! Since then Susanne explored many areas of the North on several canoeing and hiking trips. Susanne is sharing the enthusiasm for fishing of her husband. Not necessarily catching the most fish while on a family trip, but you can bet she always gets the biggest one. So far her personal record stands at 54 pounds King Salmon caught on a fly rod. When not working for Ruby Range Adventure she is also in charge of their own 'Family program', she’s the mother of an energetic boy, and she can attest that when kids and their families are actively exploring together, they see, experience and learn so much more about the world and themselves.
(Languages: English, German)

Felix Mercier
Outdoor-Expert in Training

Sometimes a picture tells you more than thousand words....