Despite the horrific start to the ski season, there are still turns to be had…provided the cognoscenti will share their stashes and turn some tricks. Friday I had the undeserved good fortune to snag a day of cat skiing with the gang at Vail Powder Guides, courtesy of the American Mountain Guides Association, and the gang did not disappoint.
Now, I’m not saying it was face shots and TGR-quality lines, but we didn’t cross tracks all day and the snow was soft. No core shots, either. For this winter, that is something!
The AMGA brought along board member King Grant, some generous out-of-state supporters (shout out to Charles, Kyle, Andrew, and the crew!), as well as their Executive Director, Betsy Winter; Technical Director, Dale Remsberg; former Director and current ski-guide Kyle Lefkoff; and 2011 “Guide of the Year,” Angela Hawse.
Making it happen for the AMGA was Vail Powder Guides. Normally they run their cat operation off of Vail Pass, but because of better conditions Friday on the Leadville side, they picked us up in Camp Hale and we headed up Resolution Creek to Machine Gun Ridge and Ptarmigan Hill. They drove their cat over from Vail Pass (a two-hour trip) that morning, found us a couple little filled-in spots, served up lunch, and were a blast to work with. Their ski guides, Ben and Amanda, were dialed, too–I was psyched to watch them work and listen to their schtick. Good practice for my (hopefully) upcoming ski-mountaineering guides course in Valdez, Alaska, through the AMGA.
We lucked out on weather, scoring splitter blue skies and very little wind. The crew charged, too, including Dana, from Ridgway, who claimed to be a grandmother, but I’m not buying it. She bounced around on a set of custom Wagners and looked like she ought to be guiding!
It was cool to tag along as a “journalist” (I use this term very lightly), but just as much because I enjoy meeting the folks behind the scenes at the AMGA. I’m halfway through my course work with the AMGA, having done my beginning ski, alpine, and rock courses. I have learned a ton, having studied with Amos Whiting from Aspen; Doug Nidever from June Lake, CA; Howie Schwartz from Bishop, CA; and a bunch of good students on my outings. The AMGA has a tough task, too, training guides at the international standard, readying them for work from Alaska to Chamonix, from Patagonia to Pakistan. Consider guides have been working in Cham and Zermatt since the mid-19th century, while the AMGA is 30 years old. They’ve come a long way in three short decades and if you visit any alpine town in the world, chances are you’ll bump into an American guide making a living and taking people onto the heights. Pretty cool.
I’ll try to write more about the AMGA and its programs in the coming months, especially as I prepare for my aspirant exam in the ski discipline. That might be a good starting point, just giving readers an idea of what’s expected during a course and what topics are typically examined. Stay tuned…
In the meantime, thanks a bunch to VPG, the AMGA, and my fellow skiers. And my editor, Doug Schnitzspahn, for getting us up there and doing his usual tele-charger routine. Thanks!
