Portrait / Yosuke Kashiwakura

A specialist active in multiple fields on the global stage

Naoyuki Kato is a mountain and snowboard guide who travels the world, finding joy in sharing inspiring experiences with people through guiding. He works as a private guide year-round in mountains throughout Japan, and in winter, he serves as the director and head guide of TENGU CAT-SKI GUIDES in Kitadaisetsu, Hokkaido. In spring, he guides skis not only in Japan but also in Alaska, Canada, and the European Alps.

He became fascinated with mountains through snowboarding during his university years, and after graduation, he enrolled in the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While there, he enjoyed a wilderness lifestyle and developed his own unique mountaineering style, using a splitboard to climb and ski down glaciers. He has left his mark on challenging mountains such as Denali (6,194m) in Alaska, and after returning to Japan, he has devoted his passion to the 6,000-8,000m peaks of the Himalayas.

"STEEP DEEP"
offers a variety of tours and personalized service as a private guide.

In recent years, he has been working as a guide in Europe, the US, and Japan, especially Hokkaido, finding value in fair mountain trips that return to basics. He is based in Kitadaisetsu and conducts private guided tours in the surrounding area with small groups

• Meets all needs from beginners to advanced users
• English support available, so Japanese organizers can feel at ease
• Various training courses (splitboarding, self-rescue, etc.) are also available

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Guide Area

Main guide area	Hokkaido (eastern and northern Hokkaido, including Kitadaisetsu)
Other areas	Overseas and Honshu are also possible
Representative name (guide qualification)	Naoyuki Kato (International Mountain Guide)
Main guide name (guide qualification)	Naoyuki Kato (International Mountain Guide)
Number of guides	1 full-time employee (1 qualified employee)
Guide Ratio	1 guide: 5 guests *Up to 2 people allowed for rope mountaineering
Percentage of guests	Skiing/Snowboarding (4 vs. 6) / Men and Women (5 vs. 5)

rental

Gear rental is available upon request

Fee

1DAY	From 50,000 yen (varies depending on the number of people)
others	Rope mountaineering is also available

*The information posted is from November 2020