Background

Originally from the flat lands of Indiana, Karsten has found his obsession in the mountains.

Karsten Delap is an IFMGA Mountain Guide — the 159th American to earn the certification and the only one in the Southeastern United States. That credential represents the highest standard in the profession worldwide, and Karsten has spent the better part of two decades earning every bit of it.

Originally from the flatlands of Indiana, Karsten found his calling in vertical terrain and never looked back. His climbing resume spans the full range of what the mountains have to offer: Grade V big walls in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Long's Peak, and Zion National Park; technical ice and alpine routes in the North Cascades and New England; high altitude peaks in Bolivia and Ecuador; and major alpine objectives in Africa, Argentina, and the Indian Himalaya. His skiing has taken him from the Alps to New Zealand, Chile to Iceland — always in pursuit of the next great line.

When he's not on a personal objective, Karsten is guiding. He leads rock and ice climbing programs for Pisgah Climbing School across the Southeast, runs ice climbing instruction in North Conway, NH each winter, and oversees mountain training programs for U.S. military special operations teams. He serves as the Technical Director of the Mountain Rescue Team for the Transylvania County Rescue Squad and is an active member of the Henderson County Rescue Squad — putting his vertical expertise to work when it matters most. He is a SPRAT Level 3 certified rope access technician, the highest level of certification offered by the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians, reflecting a mastery of technical rope systems that extends well beyond the climbing world into industrial and rescue environments. He is also a licensed AMGA SPI Provider Trainer, one of the few people in the country qualified to certify the next generation of climbing instructors.

In 2020, Karsten founded Pisgah Climbing School with his wife Maggie. What started as a small, intentional guide service has grown into the largest climbing guide operation in the Southeastern U.S. — built entirely on a culture of excellence, deep certification, and genuine care for every client who walks through the door.

He lives in Brevard, NC, at the doorstep of some of the finest rock climbing on the East Coast. There's nowhere else he'd rather be.