About Me

I'm a ski, snowboard, and telemark instructor from Montana. Lately, I split my time between Montana and Austria. I'm also an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) and ski patroller.

Experience: My ski experience is extensive, starting at age five and averaging 80 days a year for the past fifteen years.  I've been a ski instructor for most of those  fifteen years.  The only year wasn't a full-time instructor was the first year I lived abroad in Vienna, Austria.  I have been certified by both the Professional Ski Instructors of America and by the American Association of Snowboard Instructors.  In the past, I've been a substitute teacher, an educator at a living history farm, and a lift supervisor and mechanic.  I have a math degree with an emphasis in education.

Alpine Skiing, Snowboarding and Telemark Skiing: I have 3 different kinds of boots and love to use them all.  I have been a skier for over thirty years, a snowboarder for fifteen and a telemarker for three years.  At no point have I forsaken one for the others.  Each tool has its place for me.  I alpine ski any time, anywhere, and in any condition. I prefer the snowboard when the snow is deep. Since telemark is the newest for me, I'm still discovering all it has to offer and it is my current favorite.  I prefer turns of the steep and deep variety, but I am proficient at racing and carving and enjoy a good prepared slope as well.  I don't currently do much in the way of freestyle, however. I was doing 360's when they were called helicopters. I am getting older and the new tricks are more than I want to learn, but I do enjoy leaving the ground from time to time.

Montana, Austria...love 'em both.  All ski areas are good when they have good snow, so my favorites are usually determined by lift lines, vertical (steep) terrain, access and price.  Having grown up and worked in Montana I have skied most of the state.  The mountains are not quite as big as other areas of the Rockies, but then neither are the crowds.  I've skied most of Colorado and enjoy it, but there are a lot of people there.  I've skied some of eastern BC and western Alberta Canada and loved it, but it is more isolated than Montana.  I am currently exploring and enjoying Austria; it's quite a change from the skiing I've done in North America. In Austria, sometimes we never ski the same run twice because there is so much terrain available. In Montana, sometimes we ski the same run nearly all day if the conditions are right.

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