Changing seasons is always great. I look forward to the winter snow season because I get to head out again with all the Guides and Instructors I haven’t seen during the summer!
On Thursday, December 4, 18 Canada West mountain School Guides and Instructors showed up in the backcountry of Whistler to shake out the cobwebs, dust off the skis and get back in winter-mode. Despite temperatures hanging around -16 C all day, we had a great little tour out along the Musical Bumps and sampled some fine early season snow conditions.
As with all our pre-season training sessions, there is always a certain amount of technical talk, review of latest materials, equipment reviews, technique discussion and such. But at the end of the day, everyone agrees that the real value is getting 18 professional ski guides and avalanche safety instructors all out together sharing their stories, experiences and perspectives on working in the mountain environment. These people represent such an incredible wealth of experience, knowledge and commitment to our industry. To have them all out together on one tour is a great opportunity and always strengthens our program in so many ways.
Below is a (partial) list of our Guide Team for the winter of 2014. Hope you can get out in the hills with some of them this winter, or if you happen to pass by when they are out working say “hi” to them! Check our Guide Page for complete profiles on each Guide.
- Brian Jones, ACMG
- Jamie Selda, ACMG
- Chris Lawrence, ACMG
- Rich Haywood, ACMG
- Dale Marcoux, ACMG
- Rich Prohaska, ACMG
- Tim Pochay, ACMG
- Dave Sarkany, ACMG
- Dary Hemmons, CSGA
- Bruce Wilson, CAA
- Jen McGuinness, CAA
- John Grant, CAA
- Steve St. Hilaire, CSGA, CAA
- Peter Buchholz, CAA
- Tristen Rasmussen, CAA
- Brent Hillier, CAA
- Rowan Oloman, CAA
- Jason Ammerlann, CAA
- Colin Garritty, CAA
- Taran Ortlieb, CAA
- Jenny Citherlet, CAA
- Don Webster, CAA
- Tobin Faraday, CAA