Ken and Patti Ferrin taught me to heliski. I was already an aspirant ski guide and a decent powder skier when I first met them on the way to the Adamants in 1992, but I’d only been on five or six CMH trips and I didn’t yet understand the nuance of the lodge culture. Ken and Patti embodied the ethos of people that shaped their lives around heliskiing in the Columbia Mountains of Canada, and I had a lot to learn from them.
Read MoreI don’t have much time left in the mountains. I’ve skied and climbed more than 150 days each year since I moved to Colorado in 1985. After forty years here, there’s another 1,000 days for me if I’m lucky, hundreds if I’m not.
Each time I touch rock now is a gift, each powder day a blessing. You’d think after all this time I’d get bored and tired of this stuff. Instead, I’m filled with the same burning desire to climb each morning the sun shines in Boulder.
Read MoreSkiers live for bluebird powder days with our family and friends. But not every day is perfect and what makes us true skiers is not how we perform when conditions are favorable, but when things kinda suck.
No one understood this better than the Mountain Guide and Icon of extreme skiing, Doug Coombs.
Read MoreThroughout modern history, Educated Jews have exerted a pervasive, positive influence on our civilization. Wherever we are, our economic and cultural success elevates the societies we live in. Jews are a litmus test for democracy. In contrast and in every case, places that murder and drive away their Jews are neither free nor successful.
Read MoreIn the spring of 1966, the three greatest American climbers of their generation approached the final pitch of the Eiger Direct North Face. John Harlin, Layton Kor and Royal Robbins knew that their bold ascent of Europe’s most famous face would echo across the Continent with a new message: the Americans were among the best alpinists in the world.
Read MoreMy mentor in the venture business and the Founder of Boulder Ventures, Merc Mercure, prized brevity over all other qualities in our business relationship. Merc believed that clear, focused communication among partners enabled better decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, and reduced ambiguity amidst the chaos of our startup investments.
Read MoreFive to ten times a year, a big storm rolls through the Central Mountains of Colorado. Vail gets crushed with snow and becomes the best place to ski in North America. Being there is one thing but knowing what to do and where to go is another. What matters is your strategy and I’m here to give you two of those for a big powder day.
Read MoreEvery time we dropped a load at the high camp, we’d take the opportunity to go climbing on the peaks to either side of the K2 glacier, a collection of 7,000 meter bumps on the map with no name and no ascent history.
Read MoreMountain Guides and their Clients are never Tourists. When you travel together to a new place to climb or ski, your job as a Guide is to ensure your Client has the trip of a lifetime. If you’re a Client, you’re there to have fun, focus on the objective, learn some new skills, do your best, and be a good partner.
Read MoreIn venture capital and in alpine climbing, knowing when to charge and when to stay put is challenging. To help manage the psychology of risk as climbers and investors, we establish markers and margins.
Read MoreMountain Guides are best in their own terrain. Experienced Guides can and do take their clients around the world to climb and ski but landing up high in unfamiliar surroundings and expecting to guide clients safely up or down is a tall order, even for IFMGA Guides.
Read MoreThe most important decision that Mountain Guides and Venture Capitalists make in their professional careers is with whom to partner. Choosing the right partner in guiding and in business is the key ingredient in a great fund or a great guiding company.
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