Description
I returned to Valdez the following spring with my wife Emily and some friends from Jackson, Wyoming. Together we pioneered first descents in the Chugach Range using Alaska West Air Taxi service operating out of the Tsaina Lodge. We were infatuated with the Chugach terrain! How could we continue to ski there? We figured the secret of the Chugach would soon be out, bringing skiers who would prefer to hire guides rather than fending for themselves on these overwhelming peaks. So we took a gamble. My wife and I started a ski guiding business, Valdez Heli-Ski Guides, in cooperation with the existing air taxi service. It seemed a crazy idea at the time, but we did it anyway. Within a few years we were operating with a team of 12 guides and three A-star helicopters.