Podcasts about american mountain guides association

In a world flooded with climbing content, tech tips, and loud online opinions, it's easy to feel overwhelmed when you're educating yourself on safety systems. The truth? Learning how to climb safely and efficiently can be confusing—and quite honestly pretty dangerous. So what is the best way to learn? Books, YouTube, mentors, guides? Honestly, it's a mix of all four. Today's guest is someone who has spent his life thinking deeply about how we learn, how we climb, and how we can stay alive in the mountains. Silas Rossi is an IFMGA certified guide, current president of the American Mountain Guides Association, and owner of Alpine Logic Guide Services... With 24 years of climbing under his belt, he's instructed athletes, recreational climbers, and guides around the world. He's climbed the Matterhorn nearly a dozen times, spent multiple seasons in the Alps, and enjoys crushing hard trad routes near his hometown in New York—Silas is the real deal.And yet, despite his deep experience and knowledge, Silas is the first to say that no matter how dialed you are, luck undoubtedly plays a role in the mountains. Mistakes happen. Conditions shift. And with enough time out there, luck is often the invisible hand that tips the balance.But that doesn't mean we're helpless. “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” If we prioritize safety, build good systems, and stay aware, we give ourselves the best chance to succeed—and survive.In this conversation, we dig into the philosophy of risk. We uncover the truth that most of us are probably less prepared than we think—for emergencies, for rescues, for moments when things really go sideways. We unpack the phrase: “If you're not falling, you're not trying.” And we go into some simple yet often overlooked ways to build safety and redundancy into our systems.We also take a hard look at the guiding industry in America, the public's misconceptions about hiring guides, and how the influencer-ification of safety content has both helped and hurt the profession.This one is packed with knowledge, insight, and reflection—and I'm stoked to share it with you.----SIGN UP FOR EXCLUSIVE EPISODES! | For a little as $3/mo!----Don't forget to check out our full video episodes on Youtube!The TCM movement is growing but we need your help to spread the word! Please share this podcast with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to support the show. If you enjoyed the show we'd appreciate it if you could rate and review us on your favorite podcatcher.We are always looking for new guests. If you or someone you know would be a great fit for the show please don't hesitate to reach out. You can reach us on IG or email us directly @ theclimbingmajoritypodcast@gmail.com---ResourcesAlpine Logic (Hire Silas As A Guide)Sign Up For The Ascend MembershipSilas' InstagramSilas' Youtube

Show Notes:Angela's Links:https://alpinist007.com/ (personal website)Angela Hawse takes helm of American Mountain Guides Association board as group leans on women to foster change in guiding cultureEpisode Intro:Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today our guest is Angela Hawse.Angela was the 6th woman in the U.S. to become an IFMGA mountain guide with a successful career spanning over three decades. She's trained and examined aspiring guides for the AMGA for the past 19 years and served as the AMGA president for five. Angela's led over 30 high altitude mountaineering expeditions to the world's Greater Ranges and guided remote trips to the Arctic and Antarctic. She skied from Sweden to Norway across Lapland, reached the South Summit of Mt. Everest (500' higher than K2) and has led numerous technical all-women's ascents.She's currently on the board of the IFMGA and the 1st woman and non-European to join the Technical Commission. Angela has a Master's Degree in International Mountain Conservation, is on the POW Alliance Team and a Black Diamond athlete. In 2011 she was awarded AMGA Guide of the Year and in 2022 received the AMGA Lifetime Achievement in Guiding Award.I love that she considers herself successful in mountain guiding because she still loves the profession and is still in it for the same reason that she got into it initially. She established a lifelong love of playing in the mountains since she was a kid. Her curiosity let her explore all facets of life related to guiding, and she hardly found boredom. We talked about dealing with burnout, giving back to the communities, her AMGA work, changes in the environment and the industry in the past 30+ years, and making a guide career sustainable. I'm super inspired by all the wisdom Angela brought in. Now please enjoy this episode with Angela Hawse.Things We Talked about:Has been guiding for 3.5 decades and still going strongAngele's special sauce to keep her in the industry for this longStay curiousDiversifyMental bandwidthChildhoodPrescott college and first role modelWas a dedicated climber for many many years before thinking about guidingVarious jobs from Outward Bound, an adjunct position in Prescott, working for different guide services so on and so forthExpeditions and giving backAll women's expeditionsWhat was is like being one of few female guides back then?Ways to develop confidenceAMGA president – what happened during those yearsAMGA's DEI workAngela deeply cares about climate changeTrends and changes Angela saw in the past 3.5 decades in the mountains and in the industryBeing a guide in the US full timeWhat does Angela's work consist of now?Alpinist 007

Show Notes: Laurie's Links: @laurie_wattclimbs https://linktr.ee/Laurie_Watt https://www.mooneymountainguides.com/ Episode Intro: Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, Happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. On the first episode of the new year, 2025, we have Laurie Watt as our guest. Laurie has just been awarded the “Best Guide of the Year” by the AMGA. Laurie fell in love with hiking and skiing in the mountains as a kid, but it wasn't until she had sent her kids off to college that she was able to fully embrace mountain life. While raising her family, she also cultivated a 32-year career in physical therapy. In 2006, she moved to Switzerland with her family for her husband's job. Living in the Alps quickly reminded Laurie of her love for adventuring in the mountains. After returning to the States in 2011, she expanded her skill set to rock and ice climbing. Once the kids were off to college, Laurie decided to make a major career change and committed to becoming a guide. Through training, mentorship, and many days out, she is progressing through the American Mountain Guides Association's rock, ice, and alpine disciplines. Laurie works full-time as a guide for Mooney Mountain Guides in New Hampshire, guiding rock climbing, ice climbing, and mountaineering. In the summers, she travels to the Pacific Northwest and guides on the glaciers of Mt. Baker. She offers women-centered programming in rock, ice, and mountaineering. In addition, Laurie also works as a climbing coach for the Holderness School Climbing Team. In this episode, we dive deep into how Laurie cultivated a great mentorship from the side of a mentee, how she challenged the common narrative on aging and used the life skills she accumulated from being a PT and a mom to enrich guiding, and how she sustained the physically demanding guiding career. Things We Talked about: Came in guiding late around age 50 had been living a “normal” life – college, job, family until the “pivotal” moment to regain the love of the mountains back to the States went straight towards Mt Washington in winter why does Laurie enjoy hardship? when was the seed of becoming a guide planted? what were the biggest doubts back then on career change? what did she need as a mentee? self awareness versus self perception deep discussion on mentorship might be late on the guiding profession but all the experiences accumulated beforehand were still valuable skills Laurie didn't think useful but turned out to be very useful in guiding? how to stay employed as a guide in Northeast taking care of a guide's body making guiding sustainable was guiding the way she thought? what kind of guiding does Laurie do? how did the family react to her career change? the narrative of aging best guide tool: listening

Rick Spicer's journey began in the rugged landscapes of Arkansas, where he spent his youth immersed in the art of hunting and fishing. In the early '90s, his path took a new direction as he discovered the exhilarating world of rock climbing. After rigorous training with esteemed institutions like the American Alpine Institute and the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA), Spicer rose to become a certified instructor, fueling his passion for vertical adventures. ⁣ Despite years of scaling cliffs and conquering peaks, Spicer's heart remained tethered to his roots. He returned to hunting, particularly drawn to the art of archery, which resonated deeply with his upbringing. His outdoor escapades led him to Peru, where he and his climbing partner, Steve, embarked on a daring mountaineering expedition. Facing perilous conditions and a dramatic rockfall, they braved the elements with grit and determination, surviving a daunting ordeal that remains etched in their memories. ⁣ Spicer's encounters with wildlife, from grizzly bears in Alaska to the majestic but formidable bull moose, offer insights into the raw power of nature. He emphasizes the importance of respecting wild animals and fostering a harmonious coexistence in their natural habitat. Today, Rick Spicer is a cornerstone of the outdoor community, co-owning Packrat, a revered specialty outdoor retail store in Fayetteville, Arkansas. With nearly 25 years of dedication, Spicer's commitment to excellence and passion for the outdoors have propelled Packrat to its 50th anniversary, a testament to its enduring legacy in the community

Tanner is a Single Pitch Instructor certified by the AMGA, American Mountain Guides Association. He currently works as a behavioral interventionist and community coach for a Colorado based group called, "REVEL" where he leads climbing and rafting trips for people with autism. He also teaches clinics at festivals like the annual Adaptive Climbing Festival, where he brings first-hand experience as a lower-limb amputee.   In today's conversation we talk about the current push for more mountain guides with disabilities, and importance of properly fitted prosthetics. Tanner is also a member of the ROMP climbing team. ROMP stands for Range of Motion Project — their climbing team goes on expeditions to raise money for the nonprofit, which Tanner will tell us all about…"

Episode Intro:Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, happy Wednesday and Happy New Year of 2024. This is Ting Ting from Las Vegas. I am very excited to announce a new series, Spencer Huffman and I are creating, which we call Everything SPI. SPI stands for Single Pitch Instructor and is one of the certification programs the AMGA, American Mountain Guides Association, offers.Both Spencer and I are AMGA certified Rock Guides and SPI Providers. We co-taught an SPI course back in October 2023 and found that our teaching style was quite compatible and complimentary. Therefore, we decided to do this podcast series to create supplemental material related to the SPI programs. Hopefully it will help our past and future students and potentially anyone who is thinking to enter the field of climbing instruction.Spencer and I both have deep roots in climbing education. We have over 20 years of field instructing experience and are confident that we can provide valuable insights; we also recognize that the field of climbing instruction is dynamic and we can't possibly know everything. So, if you have any questions, feedback, please reach out to us and help us improve. Thanks! And now please enjoy the very first episode of Everything SPI with Spencer and Ting Ting.

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Jim Donini. It is only fitting that we caught up with Jim in who knows where, packing for another climbing trip. Our recording is a bit gritty but fitting for our guest. Jim has been setting new free-climbing standards in Yosemite Valley in the early seventies, Jim Donini's career has continued by pioneering hard alpine climbing in Patagonia, Alaska, Karakoram Himalaya, China, Peru, Venezuela and Antarctica. A former Exum guide and a founder of American Mountain Guides Association, in 1999 Jim was awarded the prestigious Underhill Award by the American Alpine Club for outstanding mountaineering achievement. Jim served as President of the American Alpine Club from 2006 to 2009.Jim continues to seek out unclimbed peaks around his home in Patagonia and, at the age of 80, has an objective for this coming February that will remain secret for the time being. Notable cutting edge first ascents include Torre Egger (1976), Latok I (1978), and in Alaska The Diamond Arete, Mt. Hunter (1985), Cobra Pillar, Mt. Barille (1988), South Face, Mt. Bradley (1994) and “Shaken not Stirred”, an ice couloir on the Moose's Tooth, (1997) and in Patagonia, the north faces of Poincenot (1996), Cerro Pollone (1999), Avellano Tower (2008) and Cerro Chueco (2017). Thanks for listening! Find all our episodes at dayfirepodcast.com This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

As the advice model continues to evolve, harnessing the power of technology is not just a competitive edge but a necessity. However, amidst this technological revolution, financial advisory firms have to maintain sight of innovations' true purpose. The most successful firms skillfully strike a balance between cutting-edge innovation and the human touch, ensuring that technology enhances, rather than replaces, the art of conversation. In this episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Charles Goldman, Executive Chairman of the Board at Orion. Charles is also a member of the Board of Directors of Genstar portfolio companies ACA Group, AmeriLife, Cerity Partners, Mercer Advisors, and Orion. He is chairman of FinTech Evolution Acquisition and an American Mountain Guides Association board member. Charles talks with Rusty and Robyn about the importance of technology in the financial advisory space, how the advice model is changing, and how to build great relationships with clients. Key Takeaways [03:02] - Charles' career highlights and his most rewarding experience. [05:58] - Charles' early observations of Orion as Executive Chairman. [08:41] - The challenges for financial advisors in the coming years. [12:12] - How technology impacts the advisory model. [15:51] - The gaps in the advisory space that need to be filled. [17:32] - The most important factors when building and maintaining client relationships. [21:45] - The benefits of private equity in the financial industry. [24:50] - The best investment styles for investors. [28:31] - What the future of a full-service advisory firm looks like. [32:25] - Charles' advice to aspiring leaders in the financial services industry. [35:51] - Charles' favorite investing idea. [38:18] - How Charles maintains his physical and mental energy to perform at a high level. [40:51] - The people Charles is thankful for professionally. [43:22] - Charles' recommendations for content. Quotes [04:37] - "When you're trying to get a leadership point across and build culture, it starts with the firm's mission. It needs to be something you can grab hold of, something you can understand." ~ Charles Goldman [05:45] - "The thing that grabs employees and excites clients is when you live by a mission where you put the client first." ~ Charles Goldman [20:47] - "When you ask questions about building trust and creating conversation, it really is the quality of the conversation and the quality of listening. It's asking the question that stems from your expertise and knowledge of the client and their situation. Those are the best and most trusting relationships." ~ Charles Goldman Links  Charles Goldman on LinkedIn Charles Goldman on Twitter Back in Black by AC/DC Cerity Partners AssetMark Charles Schwab Fidelity Investments Mercer AmeriLife Marketing Group Boston Consulting Group Genstar Capital Connect with Us Meet Rusty Vanneman, Orion's Chief Investment Officer Check Out All of Orion's Podcasts Power Your Growth with Orion 2233-OPS-8/14/2023

Ryan DeLayna shares his life experiences and the journey that led him to co-write his memoir with his father, "Without Restraint." Ryan shares how he spent most of his academic career in therapeutic schools due to behavioral challenges where he experienced various medications and restrictive interventions, including regular physical restraints. After voluntarily committing to a psychiatric hospital, his parents were advised to place him in a group home until adulthood. However, his father began to question the authorities overseeing Ryan's care, and everything changed when they discovered Ryan's dream of becoming a professional ski mountaineer. Ryan shares the mental health impacts of high-risk adventure has been for him and the turning points in his life. He also shares how he and his father co-authored their remarkable book, "Without Restraint: How Skiing Saved My Son's Life," and how he transformed to become a well-known ski mountaineer known as "Extreme Ryan." Season 16 is focused on how high-risk adventure impacts mental health and is underwritten by wmai.org Here is Ryan's bio from his website: Ryan DeLena is currently studying Outdoor Education at Northern Vermont University. For years, he's posted content as “Extreme Ryan” – a nickname given to him by his father, after he became obsessed with skiing. A decade later, Ryan is believed to be the youngest person to ski tour in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, having completed expeditions in Antarctica (2018) and Svalbard (2022).  Ryan was featured on the cover of Backcountry Ski Maps, and he's climbed and skied peaks in Oregon, Washington, Utah, California, Nevada, and Wyoming, while also conquering many of the world's signature runs including Super-C Couloir in Chile, Little Couloir in Montana, and Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire. When he's not on skis, Ryan is an enthusiastic rock climber, ice climber, and avid hiker, summiting the Grand Teton twice and completing the “Hundred Highest” hiking peaks in New England. He plans to ski and rock guide professionally and has earned advanced certifications from the American Mountain Guides Association and the Professional Ski Instructors of America. If you are unfamiliar with Ryan's struggles as a boy, here is an excerpt from Without Restraint… If I was offered the chance to have my childhood over again, growing up like a normal kid, I'd say no thanks. Despite all the pain and hardship, I now appreciate that I'm strong enough to handle anything. I bet there are not too many eighteen-year-olds who feel that way. So, in a weird way, maybe I am lucky. But, if you ask me whether another child should go through what I went through, I will say no way. In fact, the only reason that I wanted to work on this book with Dad was to help parents learn from my story, so they wouldn't make similar mistakes with their children. If your son or daughter is different from other kids, that is okay. For some reason, we are taught to admire men and women who challenge the status quo, yet, when a child acts differently, parents instinctively try to change them. They even seek out doctors and experts to help break the misbehaving child. Well, take it from me, if you do that, you will not only break your child of bad behavior—you will break them entirely. I came as close to that breaking point as a person can experience. Had Dad decided to take me to Home Depot on January 2, 2009, instead of skiing at Nashoba, I'd be sitting right now in my room at a group home, bloated by medication, staring out a window, watching the world go by. Instead, the world will spend a lifetime watching me go by, as I bring people with me to ski, climb, and explore every inch of this amazing planet.        

Adrian Ballinger is a British-American certified IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide, certified through the American Mountain Guides Association and a sponsored climber and skier.Ballinger is the founder and CEO of Alpenglow Expeditions, and has been guiding full-time for 25 years. He has led over 150 international climbing expeditions on six continents, and made 18 successful summits of 8,000m peaks. He is known for pioneering the use of pre-acclimatization for commercial expeditions as early as 2012, which can cut the amount of time typically spent on an expedition in half.Adrian is the only American to have made three successful ski descents of 8,000m peaks, including the first ski descent of Manaslu from its summit. He is also the fourth American to have summited both Mount Everest and K2 without the use of supplemental oxygen.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5724695/advertisement

Who regulates adventure? Who trains guides and professionals? Who advocates for access or promotes safety and skill development? The answer to all of these questions are organizations. Jordy and Chris are joined by Angela Hawse to explore the role of organizations in the delivery of adventure. Angela shares her perspective as the President of the American Mountain Guides Association. She discusses what everyone should know about how some of these organizations work, their challenges and the value that they bring to everyone.Key TakeawaysStart small and evolve: Organizations tend to start with a group of people that band together to push forward a small number of objectives and then grow.Anyone can help them to evolve: Everyone has the ability to use the power of their influence to drive change within these organizations by jointing boards, committees, and lobbying membership with solutions.Organizations are groups of people: They are not faceless corporations. They can be contacted, influenced, and they often appreciate positive feedback!These organizations are essential: They can play important roles in educating the public, creating and sharing best accepted practices, accrediting and regulating guides and instructors, and lobbying for protection, development and access.Guest Links & ResourcesAmerican Mountain Guides Association: https://amga.com/Angela's Instagram @alpinist007IRIS: https://irisalpine.com/about/guides/The Power to Influence: how to get the best out of yourself and others - find it herePartner PodcastThe Avalanche Hour: https://www.theavalanchehour.comFollow or SubscribeDon't forget to follow the show!Share & Social Linkshttps://linktr.ee/deliveringadventure

Rob and Ryan DeLena are the co-authors of the Memoir Without Restraint: How Skiing Saved My Son's Life to be released in March of 2023. “As a child Ryan DeLena had difficulty controlling his emotional outbursts. This led to placement in therapeutic schools that relied on detrimental methods of behavior modification such as physical restraints. Nothing helped from a team of doctors to heavy medication. Then in 2010, Ryan was voluntarily committed to a mental hospital for further evaluation. His parents Rob and Mary Beth were counseled to place him in a group home. They refused… Written in two voices, Without Restraint is a joint father-son memoir told with both pain and levity, struggle and strength, adventure and heart. It is the story of a misunderstood boy, a father's growth, and a shared love of the outdoors that formed their unbreakable bond.” You'll hear both Ryan and Rob share their experiences with Therapeutic Schools in Massachusetts – getting both perspectives is powerful. This is not intended to be mental or general health advice. This show is for entertainment purposes only. For advice, consult your trusted healthcare provider. Show notes can be found at https://thegoodlifecoach.com/220 RESOURCES MENTIONED: Rob + Ryan's Book: Without Restraint: How Skiing Saved My Son's Life Hardcover Michele on IG Michele's Freebie – join the newsletter GUEST BIOS: Robert C. DeLena was raised in Revere, MA, and is a graduate of The Governor's Academy, Trinity College, and Northeastern University School of Law. After practicing law unhappily, he founded a small recruiting company called Legal Staffing Solutions, and for over twenty years has advised law firms, lawyers, and law students on legal hiring. Rob lives in Sudbury, MA with his wife, Mary Beth, and their daughter, Abigail, who currently attends Hamilton College. He spends time skiing with his son Ryan and the great friends he's made during his journey from beginner to reluctant adventurer. Rob has skied all over the United States, internationally in Canada, Chile and Argentina, and even survived a backcountry expedition in Antarctica. He is planning to return to Antarctica with Ryan in late 2022. Ryan C. DeLena is currently a junior at Northern Vermont University studying Outdoor Education. He is widely known in the outdoor community through his social media presence as “Extreme Ryan.” He was pictured on the cover of Backcountry Ski Maps (2020) and has conquered many of the world's signature ski runs including Super-C Couloir in Chile, Little Couloir in Montana, and Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire. Ryan has climbed and skied additional peaks in Oregon, Washington, Utah, California, Nevada, Wyoming, and Antarctica. He is an enthusiastic rock climber, ice climber, and avid hiker, summiting the Grand Teton twice and has recently completed the “Hundred Highest” hiking peaks in New England. Ryan has earned advanced certifications from the American Mountain Guides Association and the Professional Ski Instructors of America. He spends every available moment in the White Mountains and plans on adventuring in Svalbard, Peru, and Antarctica in 2022. Thank you so much for listening!

The secret to climbing Mount Everest with world-leading mountaineer Adrian Ballinger Adrian Ballinger is a British-American certified IFMGA/AMGA mountain guide, certified through the American Mountain Guides Association, and a sponsored climber and skier. Ballinger is the founder and CEO of Alpenglow Expeditions and has been guiding full-time for 25 years.

Created by Mari Feher, Hosted by Ania WiktorowiczDale Remsberg is an IFMGA and AMGA mountain guide based in Lafayette, CO. He currently serves as a technical director of the American Mountain Guides Association, which includes instructing and examining young guides. Dale prides himself in high-end skills in all the disciplines and can still be found out cruising on difficult terrains of the Canadian Rockies or Switzerland. Despite his 30 year experience, accidents still happen. Take a listen to what went wrong and how he ended up with two separate helicopter rescues under his belt. You can follow Dale on Instagram at Daleremsberg or at daleremsberg.comSend your trivia responses to rescueradiobypmr@gmail.com for a chance to win PMR swag.

"I spent a lot of years skiing near Leavenworth and now, in the past decade, in the Methow Valley. Railroad Creek Valley is a blend of those two snowscapes. The climate here is not quite as cold as the Twisp River, but the snowpack is deeper, and tends to be more consistent than Icicle Creek Canyon." - Drew Lovell Drew Lovell is a ski guide and avalanche forecaster in the North Cascades, as well as the Alaskan Wrangell-St.Elias region. Educated as a geologist at the University of Montana, Drew has previous experience as a field biologist and currently works as a mountain guide in the non-winter season. For the Gulo team, at work in the formidable North Cascades winter environment, Drew offers expertise with local snowpack, weather, and terrain, and a willingness to fill a backpack with heavy loads, from carcasses to camera equipment. Stephanie Williams, professional mountain guide and independent field biologist, is the project's co-founder and manager. Steph earned an undergraduate degree in Biological Science while working as a research assistant in chemical and landscape ecology at Boise State University. She also trained in alpine, rock, and ski guiding with the American Mountain Guides Association. Steph loves exploratory skiing and climbing, particularly in remote terrain, and especially with her husband, Drew Lovell. The Gulo is a perennial source of inspiration. Photographer, wildlife tracker, field biologist, and co-founder David Moskowitz spearheads the photography for the project and its interface with Conservation Northwest's ongoing citizen science efforts in the region. David has produced film and authored three books: Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon. He enjoys long mountain runs, alpine climbing, and backcountry skiing. For more information about their project, visit cascadeswolverineproject.org Also, contribute to community science by submitting a field observation (tracks or sighting) at https://forms.gle/VrJeiJNoPhnPF69Q6 The current Holden Village community of nearly 40 staff all successfully pass a strict quarantine period with social distancing, masks, and COVID testing upon entering or reentering the Village. To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. To contact the podcast author, podcast@holdenvillage.org

Kurt has summited Mt. Everest 3 times and operates Sierra Mountaineering International Climbing Guide Service in Bishop, CA. Kurt and I talk about how he got started and what it's like running an International Climbing Guide Service in a small town. Show notes Let's start out with your Facebook profile. It says Christian Husband, Father, Foodie, Mountain Guide, Climber, Skier, Travel Junkie, Foodie, and Goofy. Tell us about the Foodie Goofy Christian part. It goes into everything else that I do, whether that's how I am as a father, how I conduct myself as a husband or a mountain guide, or everything else. In life and my climbing guide service I try to follow those principles. So it all starts there. I'm a foodie, I just happened to love food.   Your wife sounds like a great cook.   She's an amazing cook. Cool. Yes, it does help. I'm married well that way. You know, they say behind every good man is a great woman. She certainly does that wonderfully in many other ways besides just cooking. Tell us about the goofy stuff. I feel like it's important to remember the humor and everything and see the humor in everything that's out there. I think it's a healthy trait to have. I'm one that sets a lot of people at ease and it just helps you see the world. There's definitely a time to be serious, but there's so much out there in the world that is fun and loving and, that goofy part comes out a lot of times when I'm guiding trips and if I'm out having fun with my friends. Whether we're ski touring or climbing or whatever else we're doing. Whether I'm with my family and my son. He's three years old and talks up a storm and some of the things he says at three years old is just precious and, and unforgettable.   I'll bet it helps you from a guiding perspective. When someone is having a tough day or they're struggling for whatever reason, they're tired or whatever, you can bring a little entertainment, silliness to the situation, and probably help them get up that trail or pass.   You're right. When you bring somebody out in the mountains on a trip, they are many times coming out of their comfort zone. And that takes a certain type of personality just to do in and of itself, to put yourself out there, out of your normal realm of life. You know, and many of the people that we take on trips are wherever they come from. They are experts in their field and they're used to being the ones that are being approached by others and they're the ones that, you know, answer the questions and such. And now they're going into our world in the mountains and they're looking at this mountain guide for those same questions and answers that they normally give. So, yeah, being able to inject a little bit of humor and just to put everybody at ease and let them know that, Hey, it's okay. Everybody has a hard time with this particular move too. Tell us how you got into the outdoors. Your dad was an outdoor person, right? He sure was. He was brought up going camping with the family and such. He was born in 1928. And during those depression years and into the war years, he was in high school and the family always went camping for a couple of weeks every summer. And then as he grew into his twenties, he got introduced to backpacking and then mountaineering. And back in the early fifties he started climbing peaks in the Sierra and going skiing in the backcountry of the Sierra. He was well into that when he started raising kids. I got brought up around that from a toddler. My mom hiked Mount Baldy in Southern California two weeks before I was born. From there I was put in a baby carrier. And back in those days, the baby carriers were made by a company called Jerry. And everybody just called it the Jerry carrier. It wasn't a baby carrier. It was a Jerry carrier. That's what I got brought up on until I could walk. Did you know early on that you wanted to be a mountain guide? No. I grew up, you know, going to the mountains in the summertime. We'd go every weekend in the Sierra and in the wintertime we'd come skiing at mammoth and going backcountry skiing and such. When I was in college was going to Cal State Northridge, getting a degree in political science. And my original plan was I wanted to become an environmental attorney. I love the environment and I thought, here's something that could be a good way to make that passion useful. But I took some time off after I graduated from Cal State Northridge to go play, and have some fun. I applied for a job guiding on Mount Rainier in Washington. At that point I'd been teaching classes when I was in college through an outdoor store called Adventure 16. Yeah, I'm an alum there. We taught a lot of programs and backpacking and rock climbing and navigation courses.   My plan was to get a job guiding at Mount Rainier and have some fun for a few years and then go back and figure out law school. While I was guiding ay Mount Rainier, I met a lot of attorneys who came on our climbs. And after our climbs they would invite me out to dinner with them and they'd want to give me my tip over a couple of rounds of our favorite beverages. I'd have great Face Time with these guys. And a lot of them were really unhappy people and, sometimes I had better face time with them than their own families. I talked to them about their line of work. And the more of those guys I talked to, a lot of them were overworked and unhappy. They're telling me all this and then at the same time they're saying, well, can you take us to climb volcanoes in Mexico? They want to go everywhere. Can you take us to climb Kilimanjaro? And so as a matter of fact, it sort of falls under the heading of life is what happens while you're making other plans. So I just kind of pursued guiding in that direction and started a climbing guide service. When did you start your Climbing guide service, Sierra Mountaineering International? I started it in 1995, in December of 95 after climbing Everest the first time in the spring of 95. I came back from that and opened my climbing guide service that fall.   Were you, were you living here in Bishop? How did you end up in Bishop?   I moved here in 92 and that happened just after graduating from college and going to Mount Rainier in the summer. I came back to work one more winter at A16. I went back for a second summer on Mount Rainier and then came back to Bishop instead. At the time my parents had just bought a house up here but hadn't retired from LA, so I had a place to live and everything. So from my home base and I realized that you know, I'm enjoying Mount Rainier, but the Sierra has always been my home and I always felt like I was coming back home when I came here. So I started a climbing guide service. When you started you obviously had connections from the clients you guided on Rainier. Did you also have any connections in Southern California, how did you get started? What did you do? Yeah, it was, you know, people I've met on Mount Rainier who wanted to climb in the Sierra and also people I'd met at in Southern California over the years working at Adventure 16. Through the outings program and customers in the store and the employees, they're were referring people to me as well. So it was kind of a double whammy that way. I had a couple of different streams of people coming in and that's a great opportunity. What are some of the challenges of operating a climbing guide service in a small town like Bishop? The Sierra in a lot of ways is an easy sell. I mean it's such a beautiful mountain range and so much variety. You can spend a lifetime just, or hiking or mountaineering, rock climbing, ski touring, you name it. There's a lifetime of stuff to do. You're just scratching the surface. As many of us know.   What were some of the challenges of being in a small town with limited services?   Yeah, small-town living back in the mid-nineties was different than it is now. There was no internet, there were no cell phones. One of my biggest business expenses was my phone bill. You had a small town carrier here who kind of raped you on the phone charges and, some of the cost of living being higher like gas for your car was higher, limited places to rent and things like that. There were a few of those issues but at the same time, Bishop has enough amenities that you don't have to get out of town much to get too many things. Now, of course, it's a lot different. It seems like we have to get out of town to get toilet paper, but that's a different thing.   It's gotta be great to be able to guide in your backyard.   I just love it. And you're right, I call it my backyard all the time. People ask me a lot because they know I've climbed on every continent of the world. I've done the highest point in each continent, the proverbial seven summits. I've been on hundred and 20 plus expeditions all over the world now. And they say, well, what's your favorite place? And I tell them, well, the Sierra, this is it. To be able to live here and to operate a climbing guide service, be in our backyard, show people this beautiful part of the world, show them how to take care of it, you know, try to impart a lasting impression about what this place means to us and therefore to them, I feel very blessed to be able to do that. Your climbing guide service is affiliated with the American Mountain Guides Association, how does that work these days on the certifications and all those things? It's sort of an ongoing evolving process and guiding in general in the United States is still a pretty new profession compared to Europe. If you go to Europe, you might find somebody whose great grandfather was a mountain guide and then his grandfather was a mountain guide and his father was a mountain guide. Now he's a mountain guide and he's raising a son who wants to be one. You walk, the city streets of a place like Geneva and you say the word mountain guide and everybody knows what that is. It's a very well known, very well respected profession. You go into a bar and say I need to hire a mountain guide and everybody's head turns and looks at you. Yet I still have friends in college who still don't understand really what I do. They say I know this great that this guy Wedberg, he owns a climbing guide service and climbs mountains for a living. And they have no idea how that works. The American Mountain Guides Association is also a new organization, relatively speaking. They're still going through growing pains, getting their feet wet and things.   I was working at a 16 when they had that first formal meeting at the ski show back in 1985 I think.   That's where they kind of recognized that there's this guiding profession here and maybe we could try to standardize it and grow it. Ever since then it has been doing that and they've modeled a lot of what they do after the international community in Europe. They've developed courses and exams and there are three disciplines. Alpine guiding, Rock Guiding, and Ski guiding. I'd say most of the guides in the United States probably pursue one or two of those disciplines. A smaller percentage of them pursue all three. That is what they concentrate on. Get the basics down so you can see if we execute it. It's more geared to that versus what I would call the soft skills. They don't talk a lot about how to engage clients and be personable. How often do you do international trips? I'm doing about five or six a year personally. Our company, we'll do a few more with some of my other guides leading them. But it's about five or six a year and it depends on the time of year. So in the fall and winter we're heading to places in South America, Mexico's volcanoes, Aconcagua in Argentina. That is usually a December, January timeframe as it's summertime down there. We'll go to places like say Mount Elbrus in Russia, that's more of a summertime thing cause their latitude is similar to the Northwest here. We go to Kilimanjaro a couple of times a year and that being an equatorial climate, we can go there more months of the year. Some of the more exotic places like Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia, which is always a fun one to mix it up. Do you throw some new ones in there every year? My goal has always been to do one new international trip every year, and I've accomplished that in all except maybe one year. The rule of thumb with it is if I am doing a new trip, it's with a client that I've already climbed with before and they know it's a new place for me. We already have a relationship and we know we're figuring it out together. I know their skills, they know my skills. They know what I'm doing, part of the fun of it for them is seeing how we get this figured out. Right. There's be some curveballs thrown at us and that's okay. Have you had a pretty wild trip? Anything major, like bad weather or something? Oh, sure. I mean weather-wise, you know, the weather is always going to be an issue is when you're in the mountains guiding. For example, we were pinned down on Aconcagua at 16,000 feet with winds that were gusting to a good hundred miles an hour. You gotta build up rock walls around your tents and get your tents guyed out well and keep checking them all the time. Living like that for days until the winds subside. So it's good that you know your clients you're with. That you're not gonna have issues with them. They're not gonna have issues with you. We've had that a number of times and I've had storms pin us down on other mountains around the world. I've had other things get thrown at us. For example, I had some guys I was going with to Turkey to climb Mount Ararat and at the very last minute Turkey stopped issuing visas to Americans. These people I was climbing with were actually from Australia and they were able to go to Turkey, but I wasn't. We were chatting about it and we came up with this idea of instead of going to Turkey, we would go to the country of Georgia and climb a mountain called Mount Kazbek in the Caucuses. Cool deep remote mountain, 19,000 plus feet high and not visited by hardly anybody. What ended up kind of being a last-minute change of plans ended up being a really magical experience. This spontaneous thing and sometimes those things end up being a lot of fun. This certainly was, it was a blast. The anniversary of your three Everest Summits were recent, right? It's an incredible achievement. What were those like? Each one of them was different and unique. The first time was 1995 and that was a special anniversary. This year is the 25th anniversary. We had a zoom call or a reunion that was fun. It was a trip that we planned in the sort of traditional style, you know, we weren't guiding it and we weren't being guided. We were just a bunch of friends who put this expedition together and went and raised all our own money and all that and went on the Northside of the mountain to climb the Northeast Ridge. We had 20 people, 12 of whom were climbing team members and the other eight were base camp managers and support people, the team doctor, and such. Out of the 12 climbers, eight of us got to the top. Honestly, pretty successful actually.   The other two trips were on the Southside through Nepal and I was guiding both of those times which was different, different aspects, a different perspective, different to be guiding it. I made a decision early on in my guiding career that I did not want to run big Everest expeditions and the only way I'd guide it is one-on-one. So if I had one client who I knew I and climbed with them before and I really felt he had an honest shot at reaching the summit, I would consider it. Someone who would be honest with you if he couldn't, cause there's already a relationship there, we climbed together and such.   I did the Southside twice, once in 2008 and once in 2012. The client I was with a neat guy who I climbed with on several peaks, but at Everest, he got sick at base camp and coughed so hard he actually separated the lining from his lungs, which then got infected and he had pleurisy. So he had to be evacuated and sent home. I ended up sticking around and climbing it on my own because I was there and I could, I hadn't done the Southside yet. That was my new trip for that year too. Then I went back in 2012 with another good friend of mine, Fred Simmons. We summited together and that was, that was a pretty special experience. You know, like any trip, when you share that time together with people, it creates a bond of friendship that you really can't duplicate in any other way. That just gets magnified at a place like Mount Everest. What outdoor activities do you participate in for fun? The latest thing is mountain biking. I rediscovered that last year when a couple of clients of mine who had climbed a bunch of the California fourteeners with me in the Sierra knew I'd been to Kilimanjaro many, many times. They were avid mountain bikers and they came to me and said they wanted to mountain bike Kilimanjaro. And they knew that since I've been to Kilimanjaro so much, I could probably figure out the permitting and how to get all that done. I said, well yeah, I could, I had all the connections to get that done.   We mountain biked it last October all the way to the top of that mountain. What that required me to do, you know, they weren't coming to me for my biking expertise. They were coming to me cause I knew Kilimanjaro. So my job was just to hold my own on a mountain bike. It was great. I bought a new mountain bike and spent all summer here around Bishop going mountain biking to get in shape to just get ready for this. I went to the top of White Mountain with my mountain bike and went all over chipmunk Canyon. I mean there's tons of mountain biking here. We did a variation of the standard, they call it the Kilema/Marangu route. And basically it combines the standard Marangu route with kind of an emergency road the park service has set up. In case they need a vehicle to pull somebody off the mountain. Being a dirt road we were able to do a dirt road partway up. So it took five days or so, Do you have any advice or suggestions for folks wanting to get into the outdoor adventure biz or start a business? I would say in terms of the outdoor business in general, there are lots of different avenues to take. For both you and I who have been in this industry for so long, we know how special of an industry it is and it attracts a certain type of people. Fun-loving people who care about the environment and really share a common thread with that, which is neat. It can take so many avenues. You can get a job with a company, a manufacturer, you can get into land management, forest service, park service, and administration kind of a thing. There are retail shops, climbing guide service such as myself. There are so many avenues to take.   My advice to people is to get to know the industry a little bit. And if you're somebody still in college, get a part-time job at a mountaineering store, there's no better way than to learn the industry and learn about the customers that come in and frequently and go to the outdoors. I think a lot of us that have worked retail and have that experience, you don't really realize it at the time you were working in retail. But afterward, if you stay in the industry and you go back and you're designing packs or you're in the media, or you're a guide you draw on that experience daily, hourly, daily, every single day.   You and I, knowing the company adventure 16 as we do, after 58 years they hung it up and called it, the end of a long career. They had a great run of it. And you know, one of the things that the president, John Mead, one of his selling points to employees or prospective employees is that, you know, use us as a stepping stone to get into the industry. And I joke about it now because we're familiar with the outdoor industry trade show that happens a couple of times a year. And I've always joked that our ex-employees are littered throughout that trade show floor. And anybody listening to this who's from that alumni group, they would laugh at that because it's so true. You know, you run into these guys in all aspects of the business. Some of them are still operating retail stores, some of them are presidents of companies, some of them have started companies. And the reunions that have happened at those shows of our ex-employees have been so much fun. You end up meeting these great people. I worked there in 1978, somebody else who worked there in 1992 and even though they never worked together, all of a sudden there's this instant connection and they become great friends. It's like meeting long lost brothers and sisters, you just hit it off immediately right away. It's a great community. It really is. What is your favorite piece of outdoor gear under a hundred dollars that you probably bought at A16? I'm going to go with the Bomber hat which has been a great favorite of ours. I'll tell you another one. A16 made these little Tri-zip pouches, they made them in different sizes, I still have two of them and they're about four by six and I still use them as my climbing guide service repair kits. I'm also going to go with a very obscure one here that, if our old friend Mike Wallenfels is listening, he will laugh at this. Mountain Hardware made this little tent and it just looked like a mini tent. It was about, I'm going to guess about two feet by two and a half feet by two feet with a big door on it. I brought that with me on my Denali expeditions and I put our stoves inside to melt our snow for water. They were out of the wind and it was designed to be a little mini tent for cooking. You had to be super careful with these things cause you could easily burn it. I'm sure that any stove manufacturer listening is just cringing knowing that we did this with their stoves cause you had to be really careful. But man, having your stoves inside this thing melting all this snow for water, it was the difference of several gallons worth of white gas on a Twentyone day expedition on Denali. They don't make them anymore.   Mike shoot me an email, let me know what the name of that tent was so I can put it in the show notes. How about favorite books? My all-time favorite has to be the Bible because it's composed of 66 books written over a 1400 year time span, over 40 different authors. And it covers everything from philosophy to history. More traditionally, I read two books recently by an author named Greg Laurie. He's actually a pastor of a big church down Riverside. He wrote a book called, Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon. Previous to that he wrote two other books, one kind of similar about Steve McQueen. He was a little before my time as far as being one of my idols. But I did grow up watching Steve McQueen movies, the King of cool. That was an interesting book. And then he wrote another one, he called Jesus Revolution. And it talked about that those days in the sixties when there were long-haired hippies strung out on drugs just coming into churches with cutoff Levis and no shirts. How can people reach out to you if they want to follow up? We have a website, Sierramountaineering.com. You can find links to reach out to us by phone or email. Our Email is: info@sierramountaineering.com or our phone number is (760) 872-4929 and we always love hearing from people. Whether you're interested in a trip or just you want to know conditions, what's going on in the Sierra. We're up there all the time.   Please give us a rating and review HERE

"We have so many humans on this planet... As we have a stronger and bigger desire to connect with natural places, we need to be careful that we are doing so in a way that is respectful of the other animals that live here." Stephanie Williams, professional mountain guide and independent field biologist, is the project's co-founder and manager. Steph earned an undergraduate degree in Biological Science while working as a research assistant in chemical and landscape ecology at Boise State University. She also trained in alpine, rock, and ski guiding with the American Mountain Guides Association. Steph loves exploratory skiing and climbing, particularly in remote terrain, and especially with her husband, Drew Lovell. The Gulo is a perennial source of inspiration. Photographer, wildlife tracker, field biologist, and co-founder David Moskowitz spearheads the photography for the project and its interface with Conservation Northwest's ongoing citizen science efforts in the region. David has produced film and authored three books: Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon. He enjoys long mountain runs, alpine climbing, and backcountry skiing. For more information about their project, visit http://cascadeswolverineproject.org To learn more about Holden Village, visit: http://www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.org The Holden Village Podcast is accessible through Apple iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, TuneIn, iHeart Radio, and most podcast apps. To contact the podcast author, podcast@holdenvillage.org

Only a skier and mountaineer could bring this amount of chill to the charged world of e-commerce. Dan Nordstrom, previously of ski bumming, Nordstrom.com, and Outdoor Research and currently of Roundhouse Collective, is my guest today. He rarely gives interviews – let alone live interviews to a packed house – and this one is back-to-back genius. Dan brings the perspective of experience with the open-mindedness of an innovator. The theme of our talk is the hybridization of sales channels. It’s not only a good thing; it’s the way of the future. As careful as Dan is never to speak in absolutes or make predictions, I was hanging on every word. There’s an underlying message for brands in everything Dan says: chart your own path. Don’t ignore what everyone else is doing, but keep your priorities on what is best for you. GUEST: Dan Nordstrom is a co-founder of Roundhouse Collective Investment, which invests in early-stage consumer product companies and emerging brands. Many of our listeners also know Dan as the owner and CEO Emeritus of Outdoor Research. Earlier in his career, he spent 17 years at the family business, Nordstrom, Inc., working his way from the stockroom to store manager to co-president. In 1993, he led the launch of what would become Nordstrom.com.  He currently serves as a board member for Truewerk, evo.com, Nuun Hydration, Forterra, and the American Mountain Guides Association. When he’s not working, he’s out in the mountains - climbing and skiing.

  Join Dick Chasse, an American Mountain Guides Association trained rock climbing, alpine, and ski guide as we try to climb Katahdin in the winter. I tagged along with Dick and a group of new and returning guides from Acadia Mountain Guides on their winter staff training.  Dick shares many of his tricks and secrets with us to make your next trip out in the winter more enjoyable.  Connect with Dick at Acadia Mountain Guides Tools in Dick's Guiding Tool Box Garmin inReach Mini provided life-saving communication and positioning for us while in Baxter and beyond cell-phone reception. The inReach App paired with Dick's iPhone allowing him to send text messages from his phone to our medical advisor back in Orono via satellite, and in real time. In the backcountry, with a potential medical emergency on our hands, this kind of communication allowed us to make a better and more informed decision to evacuate. It also gave us the ability to request help if the situation further degraded.    Special Thanks to Cheryl B. Engelhardt for the use of her track   "Fresh Start" as the FIT 40 radio intro and outro music. Check out all of her music and connect with her at CBEmusic.com   “We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.” 

You don’t have to follow a specific path in life. You definitely don’t have to follow a path that makes you unhappy. Matt Pascarella is working on second career goals, podcasting and mountain guiding. These are his goals for a simple reason: they make him happy. He believes the world will be a better place if we focus less on what we should and shouldn’t do, and focus more on what makes us and the people in our life happy. Matt’s new podcast, Hazard Ground, features veterans sharing inspirational and motivational stories about combat, service, and resiliency. He co-hosts the show with Mark Zinno, sports talk radio host and Army veteran. Matt’s soon-to-be new career, mountain guiding, is appealing because it allows him to share the happiness and goodness of nature with others. He is getting certified through the American Mountain Guides Association, while holding down a full-time job. Both ventures share a similar challenge: you have to get started. Sometimes you are more of an obstacle than the mountain. Identify your passions, figure how to monetize it, and try your best to add more positivity into the world. We can all forge a happier path (and make the world a better place while we’re at it).   Resources: Listen to Hazard Grounds: iTunes | Stitcher | Facebook Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard   Interested in learning more about how I can help you through coaching?  Find out more at www.johnharrisoncounseling.com/individual-coaching/   Production & Development for True Calling Project by Podcast Masters

Alexander Barber is a high altitude mountaineer whose tick list is characterized by solo ascents, without sherpa support, and without supplemental oxygen. These include Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and most recently an attempt on Annapurna which was cut short by the Nepal Earthquake. Alex is member of the American Mountain Guides Association and formally a guide for Rainier Mountaineering.