Troy Haines is the owner of Rubicon Outdoors and our partner company Alpinehikers.  Troy first moved to the Alps in 1997, living and working in the hotels in Mürren, and spending many happy summers wandering the trails and discovering new places. Troy led Alpinehikers’ first guided tours in the summer of 1999, while he was still a year-round resident in the Alps, and added self-guided tours the next year.  Upon moving to Prescott, Arizona in 2001, he found it to be the perfect complement to summers in the Alps, with a friendly vibe, great weather and easy access to countless trails through the surrounding forest.

Before the tours, Troy earned a degree in linguistics from Stanford University, taught 1st Aid and CPR classes for the American Red Cross, and led rock-climbing, hiking, and cross-country skiing trips. He also owned a bakery for two years (which helps explain his love of Swiss pastries) before moving to Switzerland in 1997. When not with the tours, he loves being a Dad and hanging out with his two kids. Troy is also an enthusiastic trail runner and explorer. He loves discovering and sharing beautiful places, and always looks forward to meeting others on these tours who share the same love of life and discovery.

Troy and Matt Brown joined forces in 2006 when Matt came to the Alps to as a guide, and now both Alpinehikers and Rubicon Outdoors are run by the same team from our Prescott office.  As the founder of Alpinehikers, and the owner of Rubicon Outdoors, Troy is intimately involved in every detail of all of our tours, and is ultimately concerned with the safety and satisfaction of our clients.  

Abby Strauss-Malcolm believes in dynamic balance — stretching comfort zones — life as an experience of change and growth. She’s always willing to get out there to experience things for herself, and she’s always got an outstretched hand and quick laugh ready to encourage anyone who wants to join her.

Trained in Holistic Health and Adventure Education at Prescott College, Abby is also a certified yoga teacher, Wilderness First Responder, and nationally certified massage therapist. Like many professional guides, she considers her ‘office’ to be one of the best parts of her job, and she’s had the opportunity to explore widely from Israel and Jordan, to Mexico, Canada, Alaska, Thailand, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, and much of Europe.

Abby’s approach to leading a fulfilling life: “Time spent sharing incredible places with a group, moving through the landscape on foot, enjoying good conversation and food, and inspiring people to reach their goals and attain new heights.”

After years of travel, Abby now lives in Massuchusetts. She works in our office as a tour designer, helping to organize our guided and self-guided tours, and leads many of our local tours in the fall, winter and spring.

“Our guide, Abby, was excellent. Just loved her!! The whole trip was like a dream come true.”

Before talking with Zach Dahlmer, you might not know there’s world-class surfing to be had off the coast of Nova Scotia. As one of his first adventure playgrounds, those waters gave Zach some of his most significant encounters with the sheer strength of nature — and the meaning of responsibility. Now, as a professional outdoor guide, Zach calls on that responsibility and those life lessons on a daily basis.

Zach focused his degree in Adventure Education on the educational and interpersonal aspects of outdoor adventure with small groups. “It helps me understand students and clients needs on many levels; to know when to offer a challenge. They’re at a point of stretching, of growth, while they’re out there. My job is to have fun with people and meet them where they are.”

Certified as a Wilderness First Responder and trained in a wide range of skills such as backpacking, climbing, sea kayaking, sailing, and wilderness navigation. Before moving back home to Massachusetts, Zach spent years guiding in the mountains and canyons of the U.S. Southwest and the nine years prior to that as a sail charter guide on the New England coast. His favorite part of leading a group is the chance he gets to share his passion for wild places, “to offer them the chance to interact with the world and each other in a very real way.”