About

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Mountains make people better. And I share the mountains with people. Regardless of how you come to the mountains, you will leave better. This fundamental truth drives my work and avocation.

I've climbed and skied in every corner of North America, from Greenland to Baja and Chattanooga to the Alaska Range. Yet, I have not seen it all. That said, few are as well prepared to forge on foot, ski, or rope into new terrain. An ever-growing familiarity with South America is serving almost annual trips there. A worldwide network facilitates knowledgeable access to mountains on every jagged facet of the globe.

I am an all-around, all-season mountain adventurer. I have committed the entirety of my adult life to mountains. I spent my 20s “getting it out of my system”. I spent my 30s realizing that the mountain life is my system. My 40s have been marked by balancing family life, ongoing career development, and a hint of personal time in the mountains. My primary passion is family, with mountains a close second. Personally and professionally I will go to the mountains.

I work with every level of mountain athlete, from “never evers” to full-time pros. The common thread is that we go to the mountains together and do more than you thought you were capable of. The “high end” endeavors are easily documented in a bullet list, but what lights my fire and provides the bulk of my work is shepherding you through months and years of growth to your potential and beyond.

Mountain and Guiding Resume Highlights:

The last year or so, professional and recreational mountain travels. November 2025 to present:

• Adirondacks Rock Climbing and Lake time. Recreation. August 2026

• Tetons Summer Guiding: NW Ridge Enclosure, GT OS, GT Complete Exum, MT Buckingham, etc. July-August 2026

• High Sierra family climb and camp. Bedayan, Leonard, Michael, Clyde, Eichorn Minarets. July 2026

• Elephants Perch, ID. Recreation. Mtneers Route, Sunrise Book. July 2026

• Adirondack High Peaks. Recreation. July 2026

• Denali ski guiding attempt. June 2026

• Lost River Range, ID. N Face Leatherman Peak ski. Recreation. June 2026

• Eastern Sierra. Palisades. Venusian and Sill. Guiding. May 2026

• COR, Lander, Sawtooths rock reimmersion guiding/instruction. April-May-June 2026

• Sheldon Chalet, Alaska. Climbing and skiing in the AK Range’s “2026 Snowpocalypse”. April 2026

• Adirondack family ski vacation. March 2026

• Teton winter. Endured weirdest, warmest ski season on record. Winter 2026

• Wyoming Ice Festival, instruction. January 2026

• Red Rock, NV. Guiding and rec climbing. November 2025

• Elephants Perch, ID. Recreation. Myopia, Beckey Direct. September 2025

• Green River 5-day Sections ABC. Daddy-Daughter. September 2025

• Sawtooth Climb-n-Camp wilderness immersion. Perch, Warbonnet. September 2025

And Career Highlights

• 89 Grand Teton Summits

• ~20 Mount Whitney Summits

• ~20 North Palisade Summits

• One season on Mount Rainier (2025)

• Wyoming Ice Festival. 2024, 2025.

• Success #6 (of 9 attempts) on Wyoming’s Grand Traverse (guided). August 2025.

• Denali West Buttress ski descent. First modern (discretionary use of rope) guided ski descent of Denali. 2022

• Pika Glacier ski mountaineering basecamp. 2022

• First Ascent of “King Spur Traverse”, California. Guided. 2021

• Pickets Ski Traverse, WA. First Guided, and Fastest Known Time. 2021

• Covid-adapted rock, ski and alpine guiding. Tetons, Moab, Shasta, Wasatch, Sierra, Alaska, North Cascades, City of Rocks, Boulder. 2020 and 2021

• “Half a mil in half a year”. 500,000 vertical feet of human powered skiing from Dec 2019 to May 2020.

• 11 successful ski descents of the Grand Teton, including 4 guided.

• Grand Teton summits 11 of 12 months.

• Ham and Eggs, Mooses Tooth (guided). April 2019

• 11 Chilean volcanoes in 14 days, skiing. (guided) October 2018

• Peru group ski expedition. May 2017

• Red Line Traverse, High Sierra (First integral traverse) May 2017

• A month in Argentine Patagonia (guided). January 2017

• Mount Saint Elias, Alaska June 2016

• Fly-in ski mountaineering base camp. Chugach, Alaska (guided) May 2016

• Hummingbird (Attempt), Mt Logan June 2014

• West Ridge, Mount Hunter, AK (guided) May 2014

• First Winter Ascent of Palisade Traverse March 2013

• Evolution Traverse, High Sierra (First Guided) July 2012

• East Greenland Big Wall First Ascents. July 2007

• Salathe Wall, El Capitan. October 2005

• Ski Touring visits to Peru, Chile, Argentina, Alps, CA, ID, UT, MT, WY, CO, WA, OR, New England, NV, AK, British Columbia, Yukon, and Alberta. 1999 to present.

• Rock, Ice, and Alpine Climbing visits to dozens of world class destinations 1998 to present.

Philosophy

A "Jed-venture" is characterized by wilderness, athleticism, and the right amount of suffering. I am not averse to pushing. We'll find an endeavor near your limits, and find new capacity in you. We'll eat well, or go light. We'll walk far, or not at all. We will not eliminate risk, but we will optimize the risk to reward ratio.

Whether on skis or on foot, in excellent conditions or marginal, icy, rocky, or a trail, the mountains transform people. It is Earth's wild and steep terrain that gives you the experience you seek. I simply facilitate an efficient and enjoyable experience and intact return to civilization. We may redefine success along the way, but you will have no reason to complain.

Geography:

Wydaho's Teton region is home. Summer Grand Teton laps and Wind River or Sawtooth basecamps swing into deep powder ski mountaineering all winter long. Educational forays to the City of Rocks, Lander, Lost River Range, Absarokas, and Beartooths complement the crags and peaks of the central Tetons. Here, close to home, I can provide all the kinds of mountain endeavors and launch to the corners fit, sharp, and fresh for broader adventure.

I lived in Bishop, CA for 12 years. I still visit and guide there. I have as deep a familiarity with California's "Range of Light" as any working guide. I have climbed, skied, hiked and run all over the range. I have done so alone, with guests, and with a long list of athletic and motivated partners. I can take you to the classic climbs and ski descents, and point to the far corners from the summit. For a full breakdown of my High Sierra accomplishments, see this page.

Beyond the Sierra and Tetons, I have relevant and valuable experience all over the Americas. I have spent, and do spend, a great deal of time working and playing in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona. In my formative climbing and skiing years, I lived in the Northeastern US. I have there a network of guide colleagues that keep me posted on conditions and local information. Three states in the US require guides to be licensed. I am licensed in Idaho and New York.

I have also climbed and/or skied in Greenland, Quebec, Alberta, BC, Yukon, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina.

I have the confidence and background to go to new areas, as well as the wherewithal to know my own limits. An international network provides local connections all around then world. I have "on-sight" guided some of the world's most technical alpine guiding routes and pioneered the guiding of some of the longest backcountry rock climbs in the world. I've been dropped from helicopters and planes in wild, steep terrain and gotten my group out enjoyably, efficiently, and safely. If you can cook it up, I'll consider guiding it!

Booking

Every trip is fully customized. The complexity of navigating public land commercial permit requirements, international travel matters, logistics, and my own schedule means that more lead time is better than less. The best trips I do these days are fully customized and executed with clients with which I have an established rapport of some kind.

• In many cases, we will arrange your trip through a guide service and I will be your guide on that trip.

• In some cases, we will arrange your trip entirely through my own company (Athletic Authentic Wild LLC)

• And, finally, some trips will be a hybrid involving both AAW LLC and a separate guide service.

Generally, I can advise on travel and logistics for your trip, but actual travel bookings and costs are your responsibility. When we go further from my home for your trip, you cover associated expenses of my travel and lodging.

Referrals

If I cannot take you somewhere for one reason or another, I am more than happy to find you an excellent, certified, known guide that can.

Rates

My rates depend on a number of variables, not the least of which is the local company, if any, with whom I am working for a given trip. Rest assured that you will get more than your money's worth. I provide high-end, professional service. You will finish every trip more than satisfied with what we've seen, done, and learned along the way.