Dan VanDerMeulen - Lead Heli-Ski Guide with Alaska Backcountry Guides

Dan VanDerMeulen has over 20 years of experience living and guiding in the Alaska mountains and is the lead helicopter ski guide with Alaska Backcountry Guides. In this episode, we talk about skiing from Dan's back porch in Valdez, his first winter in Alaska, his journey to becoming a heli-ski guide, and what makes Alaska Backcountry Guides special. Plus we delve into Dan's thought process when analyzing weather and snow conditions and his approach when guiding guests.

JImmy Petterson is a ski photographer and journalist that has skied on all 7 continents and in more than 70 countries. In this Episode, I catch up with Jimmy from his home in Austria to talk about skiing in COVID times, his early skiing days, traveling from California to Europe to ski and becoming a world traveling ski journalist. Plus we chat about some of the more exotic places that Jimmy has visited and skied. North Korea, Iran and Morocco just to name a few. We also talk about how his two books, Skiing Around World and Skiing Around the World Vol. 2 came to be. Jimmy is full of stories that transport us to far off places while most of us, due to COVID, are stuck close to home.You can find Jimmy's books at: www.skiingaroundtheworldbook.com

In this episode I talk with Danny Walton. He is a Pro Telemark Skier and founder of Ascend Coaching for Athletes. We talk about some of Danny's early skiing days around the Cleveland area before his eventual move to the Sun Valley, Idaho area. Plus Danny also talks about running the Sun Valley Tele Series, meeting and skiing with Glen Plake, starting Marley and the Mountains, the first photo of him in a magazine, and starting his new coaching endeavor.

Ashley Teren is a world traveling skier and founder of the Leave a Trace Ski and Ride Foundation. In this episode, Ashley talks about her early life as a ski racer, before heading to Pakistan for her senior year of high school, living in Hawaii for 15 years and her return to skiing as a ski coach in Southern Oregon. We also chat about Ashley becoming a ski instructor at Mt Bachelor, starting the Leave a Trace Ski and Ride Foundation, her comebacks from injury and her travels to exotic locations.

In this episode I talk with former ski racer and Powder Magazine ski tester Wally Phillips. We talk about how a Pittsburgh boy made his way west to Salt Lake City and never left. Wally also takes a deep dive into the evolution of skis over the last 20 years. Then we chat about testing skis for Powder Magazine and what "Powder Week" was all about. We even hear about how Wally met his wife in a ski town bar, where he likes to ski now, and what Wally's latest job entails.

In this episode I talk with telemark ski legend Buck Cobb about his recent health scare, how lucky he is to still be alive, and how he is feeling now. We also talk about his home mountain Stevens Pass, learning to telemark ski in Sun Valley, and the importance of spreading positivity though skiing. Buck shares his favorite ski brand, his interesting choice of ski gloves and even talks about how he learned to tele ski switch among other things.

In this episode I talk with helicopter ski guide Alex Kittrell about how he came to live and work in the mountains. Alex makes his home in the Sun Valley, Idaho area and works for Sun Valley Heli Ski as well as Majestic Heli Ski out of Alaska. We talk about what goes into guiding clients down the mountain safely as well as what makes heli skiing so special. Alex also talks about his time working as a ski patrol guide in New Zealand and some of the differences between New Zealand ski fields and ski areas in North America. Of course we talk a little gear and touch on what sort of plans and precautions Sun Valley Heli Ski is looking to put into place for this upcoming season.