Zenith Mountain Guides

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Zenith Mountain Guides

IFMGA ACMG Mountain Guide based in Squamish, BC. Rock, ski and alpine adventures.

15/04/2024

I spent the last few days in Switzerland soaking up a bit of the impact Adam had on this world. like a meteor that streaked brilliantly through the sky, all that’s left after impact is a massive void none of us know how to fill. He was truly the best of us. A devoted and loving dad, an unconditionally loving husband, a cherished son and brother, and of course a friend that left such an impact on me and my life that I don’t know where to begin. He was a force of nature, Uber talented in mountain pursuits and we began honing those crafts together almost 30 years ago as cocky teenagers. Maybe just as poignant was how much we sharpened our wit - or at least I tried to keep pace with him-trading hilarious jabs and jokes. We battled it out on the rocks, hard ice, big ski lines and even the chess board. He would build a house on his own, so of course it inspired me that I could do that. He proved what it was to be an amazing dad and still manage to excel at his passions and his career, so of course it inspired me to try. I became a mountain guide, so later Caroline told me I inspired him to do that. And eventually he found his flaw of being too strong, stoic and humble - too much of that New Hampshire hard man. But in The end he even learned how to soften a bit and feel even more, and I hope i helped to inspire him to do that-of which he then excelled at. Our lives were forever weaving intersecting paths. But my void is nothing compared to the one Caroline and Olivia are left with. my heart aches for them and Carol, Gary, Ryan and every other person in the world who is left in awe of a life well lived but taken from us too soon. we all sobbed, laughed, talked and told stories for the last few days; we need to keep this alive for as long as we can to celebrate and honour the piece of Adam that is left with us all. Please do your best to help the ones left with the biggest voids in the time that follows. And try your absolute hardest to be the best at whatever you are pursuing for Adam. On my last evening I got to take Brownie for a nice bike ride in the fields near their beautiful home that Adam built…comments for more

11/09/2023

It’s been a whirlwind of a month for the .ca Training and Assessment Program. A full alpine exam, apprentice alpine exam in the Rockies and an apprentice rock exam in Squamish. The candidates all showed up with their A games, the examiners I worked with are all world class, and the climbing was (mostly) amazing. After all we weren’t in Squamish the entire time ;) Luckily the super momma kept the little one alive and thriving which is really the hardest job there is. Feeing fortunate to make a living doing what I love in an incredible place.

17/08/2023

Found a little magic on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula. No filters needed for this one! Staying cool on the beach with and Nora Bea. Empty waves and a slow pace of life. We will be back!

24/03/2023

Somehow the numbers of years I have been on this planet have reached 45!?!? For some reason these arbitrary rounded numbers like 40-45-50 make you think of the big picture. The last 5 years has been so jam packed I don’t even know where to begin. I met the love of my life, we built a house, my furry best friend moved on, my guiding career has gone above and beyond all expectations, my Squamish friend network is filled with amazing adventure pals, my family loves and supports me from afar.

But by far and away the most amazing, challenging and ultimately most joyful thing has been starting a family with and watching our little Nora Bea grow and flourish ! I can’t thank Laurie enough for putting her guiding, Physio and passions on hold for this little nugget. I’m truly fortunate to have blended all of these things into one amazing life

First 📸 the other day in the Tantalus above our home getting to do what I love for work.

06/11/2022

😅 I survived 3 rock exams in Red Rock Nevada for . Huge shout out to every guide candidate that put all of the time, energy and $$$$ to becoming a certified, professional guide. We looked good, we had fun and kept it safe. It was a real treat to be able to have and Nora Bea around too. All too often mountain guiding can take us away from home - it was good to have home along for the ride! The only drawback was meeting at Dunkin donuts too many mornings which resulted in me being stuck in the photo documented squeeze chimney.

28/10/2022

The mysteries of ski mountaineering don’t have to be so elusive. Last season and I created a few ski mountaineering camps to help shine some light on how to have some safe success in complex terrain. We’ve got a two-day course in January and another option in February.

We don’t want this to be another cookie cutter crevasse rescue clinic disguised as ski mountaineering. The goal is to show the participants exactly how we approach skiing in more complex terrain. Certainly hard skills like crevasse rescue are important, and we will spend plenty of time working with the rope, but it’s the soft skills around decision making and efficiency that are the really important tools in the box.

These courses require an intermediate level of experience for participants but we encourage anyone interested to reach out and apply! Go to zenithguides.ca and click on the ski mountaineering menus to find out more!

25/10/2022

October…commonly referred to in social media circles as ‘Rocktober’ more for its perfect climbing temps and desert hiking conditions rather than smashing rocks with your skis and spraying about it. Either way I hope you are all having fun out there these days. Just wrapped up back to back rock guide programs in Vegas and escaped to Zion for some family hikes !

19/08/2022

Doing cool things on hot days…back in my old stomping grounds on the North Ridge of Kulshan/Baker. Fun to swing the tools on a big day in the hills on an Advanced Alpine Guide Course.

10/08/2022

In 2001 I was 23 years old and super keen to climb in the mountains. Never having done any alpine climbing in BC, I planned a trip to the Bugaboos with my university buddy to go see what we could do. Of course our goal was probably the most coveted alpine rock climb in Canada, the Beckey-Chouinard on the South Howser Tower. 600+m of rock climbing to 5.10, a few glaciers to cross and an up and over style of climb that made retreat a little more difficult - it’s obvious I replaced understanding of what I was getting into with youthful exuberance ;). We strapped on our vertical ice gear (read big stiff boots and carbon fibre black prophets) and made a day of it for our first route in the bugs. I think we did it applebee to applebee in 16 hours which is still a decent time!

Flash forward 21 years later and I was back last week with Eugene to guide him up a dream route of his. We made a plan last year and had a good idea of the fitness needed. My pack was probably similar weight to decades ago despite high tec gear from and but that’s because I actually had a radio, first kit and emergency gear ;) We got into the range with a perfect forecast and jumped right on the route. We had it all to ourselves and had a blast cruising some of the best crack climbing around! Big shout out to Eugene for training hard and making the 15 hour camp to camp ascent!!!!

10/03/2022

We celebrated international women’s day by welcoming a little lady into the world! I feel very fortunate in these times that our little one is being born into a place with a super strong and beautiful momma and a society/community that is loaded with unbelievably powerful women role models giving her a ton of opportunities that not everyone in this world has unfortunately. I’ll do my best to try and keep up with these two and work on my dad bod. And no, we haven’t decided on a name yet, we need to get to know her a bit first!

21/02/2022

Have you done some training in the dark arts of ski mountaineering? Keen to take a course that gets you out there, really applies the skills with people who have a passion for it? Watch this space

and I just wrapped up another one of our small ratio, go get after it programs. And we got to use the skills in some pretty amazing spots and with our smaller ratio program got to connect with everyone and hopefully help them to achieve their ski mountaineering goals. We’re chatting about more short courses and even a camp or two in the years to come … interested?

17/02/2022

.ca ski guide exams…I hope the candidates are having as much fun as me!

17/01/2022

Coastal conditions might be less than ideal for pow skiing but they are above par for epic scenery. Stretched the legs up on the big glaciers above to see how bad the hot rain was the other day…

05/01/2022

.guides … he gone

Norns x 4 for 2200m of over the head steep pow smashing at

04/01/2022

66cms in 24 hours at -11 Celsius. Working conditions were brutal in the office today.

29/12/2021

Old friends back to ski once again! It’s cold but the snow is amazing and no one’s in the Duffey

09/12/2021

The winter has kicked into high gear on the coast - and in case you forgot I absolutely love being on skis in the mountains. Before we get rolling too deep I have to give a big shout out to some of the support I am so lucky to have!

New this year is signing on to ski with skis. This brand is really cool and I’m lucky to ski on boards that I believe in 💯 and are amazing to ski on. What’s the big deal? New school fun skis made by the greenest ski maker on the planet. If you don’t know what’s up with WNDR you need to check them out and read up and make your next set of skis WNDR.

Once again is locking my feet to the skis, giving me traction and helping my avy safety game. I have been hammering over a half million vertical feet of up a year on this gear for 8 years, and I love being able to work with a local BC Canadian brand!

who distributes , and have been giving me what I need for the last few years as well. These brands are truly the best for gear and business practices - I am lucky to use products that support the world I want to live in and take me through the mountains.

Thanks for reading my shout out…now to keep eating so I can go ski touring again tomorrow!

📷

21/11/2021

The backyard zone in all its glory. Sea to sky gondola season is just about to kick off. If you haven’t gotten a copy of mine and backcountry ski map the timing just got better. We are now offering a georeferenced PDF for use with Avenza. Go to seatoskybackcountry.ca and get the digital + print combo and the digital copy will download straight to your smartphone and open in Avenza if you have the app loaded. High res sat imagery with your live position and all the runs marked! Have you already purchased the map? Drop us a note and we will send you a discount code so you get the same deal we are currently offering!

Bring on shred season!

26/10/2021

In case you missed the social media hype, is coming and if you don't make your plans now you will miss out 😉 So here's one to plan for. Eric Carter and I are teaming up to offer a high end Ski Mountaineering camp January 22/23 with an evening ropes session the week before. What makes this different from what everyone else is offering? Glad you asked...

This is the type of skiing Eric and I live for, big and/or technical lines that blend climbing and skiing into the best days in the mountains. We have been pursuing these lines professionally and recreationally for a long time, and have a wealth of tips, tricks and practical knowledge to help you use the skills you need when you need them.

So if you want to get your ski mountaineering game to the next level, sign up or drop a note for more details!

https://www.zenithguides.ca/ski-mountaineering

Photo from the Owls last winter, one of the ski mountaineering crown jewels of the coast range

14/09/2021

Turns out back to back guides exams will wear you out. Enjoying a rainy rest day after an alpine guides exam and an apprentice rock exam. Always appreciative of the time, energy and financial commitment the candidates make toward being professional and certified mountain guides. And a big shout out to and on becoming mountain guides ! So cool to see people progress through the entire program 👊 💪

25/05/2021

The last day of the ski season. An amazing circuit on Kulshan with a descent of the Thunder Glacier on the Ski Guide Exam. Thanks for the hard work candidates!...
And a huge thanks to everyone I shredded with this winter. I had no idea what the winter would bring, and it ended up being an absolutely amazing season with so many of you. From the bottom of my heart .... THANKS to everyone I shared a skin track with! let’s do it again next year!!!

17/05/2021

It was about time I took my skis on Shuksan.

08/05/2021

It’s May...which means using your skis to go from one place to another. And that often involves some quality low elevation shenanigans. But also killer summits! ...
Amazing week in the north cascades on an Apprentice Ski Guide Program! Good laughs, good turns, bad snow! Thanks for all the hard work candidates!..

16/04/2021

was asking me when we could have a date day that involved spendy drinks and fancy finger foods...but I couldn’t hear her over the 40kmh winds. 😘

01/04/2021

You’d be smiling this big too if this was your bonus lap after skiing off the summit of wedge!

24/03/2021

Spent some time being told how to shred today...and then shredded. Fun times (for me at least) on the Ski Guide Exam day 1.

16/03/2021

The more Z’s you get, the better you feel. It’s science.

Photo:

11/03/2021

Steep and deep this week. We checked both of those key boxes in the Aspirant Ski Guide Exam. When the conditions line up it’s mandatory to take advantage of them. Thanks for the hard work this week candidates!

01/03/2021

Whiteout weather is best served on the rocks. fav storm circuit provided high quality on a quiet whiteout day!

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@arctos.guides … he gone Norns x 4 for 2200m of over the head steep pow smashing at @valkyradventures