Our staff

Marcel has been a passionate traveler since his teens and has led hiking groups in Austria, Switzerland, England, Wales, and Scotland. His travels have brought him to over 65 countries on all seven continents.

Due to his interest in ice, cartography, exploration, history, and photography, the polar regions have always fascinated him. Starting with his first trip to Svalbard in 2011, he felt connected with the area’s nature and remoteness. It was then that he first became interested in being a polar expedition guide.

Marcel joined the SEES expedition to Edgeøya in 2015, participating in various research there. In 2016 he worked as a field assistant at Ny Ålesund, and since 2017 he has been working as a polar guide in the Arctic. He began guiding in Antarctica the following year.

Spending half the year as an Oceanwide guide, Marcel devotes the rest of his year to traveling with his wife and their dog. He lives in the Netherlands and Slovakia.

Jonny Baird grew up in the small village of Taynuilt near Oban on Scotland’s west coast, where he first discovered his passion for climbing and skiing. He is now based in the French Alps near the Chamonix Valley and has worked as an IFMGA-certified Mountain Guide since 2005.

Since 2017, Jonny has worked regularly as a mountaineering guide aboard the Oceanwide expedition ship Ortelius and as Lead Mountain Guide aboard Hondius on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Over the years, his deep appreciation for the Antarctic has grown—not only for its mountaineering potential but also for its unique and abundant wildlife.

In winter, Jonny primarily guides ski mountaineering trips across France, Italy, and Switzerland, with regular expeditions further afield. His Arctic guiding experience includes trips to Arctic Norway (Lofoten Islands, Kvaløya, Tromsø, and Arnøya), Greenland, and Iceland’s Troll Peninsula.

During the summer months, Jonny focuses on alpine climbing, mountaineering, and rock climbing, sharing more than 35 years of personal climbing experience with his clients. His climbing has taken him around the world, including the European Alps, Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Canada, the U.S., Morocco, New Zealand, Australia, and of course Scotland, where it all began.

Beyond guiding, Jonny has worked in mountain safety for television, film, and photography projects. He is the co-author of a ski touring guidebook and has contributed to several online publications.

Jonny is a member of the Syndicat National des Guides de Montagne (SNGM), the French national mountain guiding association. Over the years, he has climbed, skied, and guided on every continent.

Ernesto Barria was born in Santiago, Chile, into a family with strong bonds to the sea: His father, grandfather, and several uncles all share a love of the ocean.

A beach guard by the age of 16, Ernesto’s favorite sport when he was young was swimming. When he finished high school, he moved to Puerto Montt, one of the most important ports in Chile. There he started his studies to become a merchant marine officer.

By his graduation in 1991, he’d already begun to sail on different vessels around Puerto Montt.

Ernesto became first officer of Antarctic Dream in 2005, beginning by navigating in Antarctica and later the Arctic. In 2011 he obtained the rank of captain, and in 2015 he was chosen as the best officer of the Chilean merchant navy.

Ernesto became a captain for Oceanwide Expeditions on Ortelius in 2013.

When he’s not working, Ernesto loves to travel around Chile with his family. He enjoys scuba diving, swimming, cycling, and photography, which has become his favorite hobby.