Who we are
This page tells you more about Andes - who runs the business, who leads the treks and expeditions and where our office is located.
Castle Douglas from Carlingwark Loch. Our office is just behind the old church (now a theatre).
Andes is a genuinely small business run from Castle Douglas in Galloway (southwest Scotland). The business is owned and operated by John Biggar, an active climber and skier. John is a fully qualified mountaineering instructor belonging to the AMI and a trainee ski instructor with BASI. He is the author of the only comprehensive climbing guidebook to the Andes. This was first published in 1996, with the third English edition published in 2005 and the second French and first Spanish editions published in autumn 2007. A Polish edition is due for 2011.
John has been operating specialist treks and climbing expeditions to South America for eighteen years now and has climbed over 200 of the 5000m and 6000m peaks in the Andes. In that time he has also personally been to every famous peak or trek and has done pretty much all of the sightseeing. He has completed a large number of research trips and discovered unusual itineraries to some pretty interesting and (as yet) undiscovered places. Expeditions run by 'Andes' have made first British ascents of three of the ten highest Andean peaks and first ever ascents of two 6000m Andean peaks. John knows the Andes, as a whole, better than anyone else in the world and can offer impartial advice, whether you are going trekking, climbing, skiing or just sightseeing. In his spare time John likes to climb, ski, snowboard and mountain bike and has opened over 100 new rock and ice routes in his local Galloway Hills. For more details of these routes and climbing in Galloway in general see www.johnbiggar.com
Claire Evans works in the office when she has time off from chasing round the house after two toddlers and Jack the Jack Russell.
Trek and Expedition leaders
All of our guides and leaders are paid professional rates to deliver a professional service to you. We consistently get very good reports from past clients on the quality of our leaders.
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Pere Vilarasau |
 Damian Aurelio |
 Martin Aurelio |
 Linda Biggar |
 Merlin Lipshitz |
 David Roberts |
 Dante Alegria |
Martin Akhurst Martin also runs a first aid training business CamFirstAid |
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Linda Biggar climbing in Rio de Janeiro.
David Roberts, a ski instructor who leads some of our ski holidays, skiing on Volcan Domuyo in Patagonia (that's what the sticks are for!)
Our expeditions are all led by an English speaking leader (but often with a Scottish accent!). They will usually speak good or fluent Spanish and have considerable experience of travel in the mountains of South America. Mountaineering expeditions are led by competent and experienced mountaineers. Often they are qualified as members of the British Mountain Guides (BMG), a member organisation of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) or the British qualified mountaineering instructors association - the Association of Mountaineering Instructors (AMI). With our network of regular guides and instructors we can also organise private guiding in the Alps or training and instructional weekends in Scotland and the rest of the UK. Such training can be excellent preparation for your expedition.
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There is normally full information about your leader in the relevant trip dossier and customers are always welcome to phone and ask to chat with their leader.
Our Office
Our office is located in the centre of Castle Douglas, a quiet wee town in Galloway, in the wet and windy south west corner of Scotland. Personal callers are very welcome, though it is much better to phone (01556 503929) or email first to be sure one of us will be in to meet you.
Click here to view our location on Bing.
To reach Castle Douglas (CD) follow the M6 from England turning onto the A75 towards Dumfries, or follow the M74 south from Central Scotland, turning onto the A701 to reach Dumfries.
From Dumfries go round the bypass and follow the A75 west, signposted "Stranraer", for 16 miles to reach CD. Turn left off the A75 at the roundabout as you reach the town. Once in the 30mph zone go L again at the mini-roundabout to reach a really big roundabout with big trees on it. Take the second exit here, signposted Auchencairn. This is Queen Street. About half way down Queen Street turn left opposite the Kings Arms Hotel (currently painted white with black window surrounds). You are now in St. Andrew Street. We're just on the left side off this street, 20m from the junction, at number 37a. Parking is easy and free.
We are 2 hours drive from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle, 3 hours from Manchester, 4-5 from Birmingham and Sheffield and a whopping 10 hours if you are coming all the way from Cornwall! If calling in on your way north (or south) it's only about 1½ hours extra driving time in total to get to and from CD from the M6-M74 motorway.
Our full legal business postal address is John Biggar T/A Andes, 37a St. Andrew Street, Castle Douglas, DG7 1EN, Scotland. Full phone and email contact details are here
Carlingwark Loch, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbrightshire.
