Andrew Plagens: Forge Scholarship Video 2016
Snowboarding is one of the great passions in my life. Since the age of 4 I have had the privilege and opportunity to slide downhill with a large piece of wood strapped to my feet. When I moved to Colorado I discovered that a lot more riding existed beyond the resort and into the backcountry. Having the ability to share the amazing feeling of life that I get from exploring the mountains with other people and seeing the looks of joy, patience and difficulty in their faces is what inspired me to work to become a mountain guide.
Taking courses through the AMGA is the logical way to accomplish this goal. It is a great honor to be this year’s recipient of the Rick Gaukel FORGE Scholarship. With this opportunity I signed up for the Ski Guide Course in Crested Butte, Colorado which took place February 9th to 19th this year. I trained for the course as much as possible, I knew I needed to be as fit as possible to keep a little extra in the tank for the big tour days.
The first day of the course found us at Crested Butte Mountain Resort doing technique evaluation, some steep skiing evaluation as well as a beacon practice drill. The beacon drill went well for everyone and was a great opportunity for all of the students to get to know one another. The first day was fun filled with runs made down a lot of the classic steep and technical lines that Crested Butte has to offer. Skiing one day at the resort was a great opportunity for us all to take a bunch of really fun runs together.
The next day we learned one of the most important techniques for ski guiding; track setting. We set out for the day in the Red Lady glades area and learned the art of setting the best skin track possible for clients to follow. There are many nuances to setting a track for clients that I had never even thought about before. Learning skills like this will definitely make my own touring way more efficient and will give my clients a much better experience in the mountains.
As the course progressed we moved into making tour plans and executing them while mock guiding. We learned the many factors that make for great client rewards when skiing in the backcountry. Time planning, finding the best snow and choosing suitable objectives for clients and analyzing stability factors were just a few of the many skills we talked about while enjoying the Crested Butte backcountry. As we began to understand the factors needed to plan a rewarding day of ski touring for our clients our tour objectives became longer and more complex.
As a snowboarder dialing in my downhill guiding techniques was a priority. Reading terrain from above is always more difficult and I soon discovered that, often when scooting along a flat spot on a long downhill. By the end of the course I felt much more confident in my ability to minimize time spent in flat areas, something I think skiers benefit from as well.
The most exciting part of the course for most people was the cat skiing day. Most of us had never had the opportunity to ski with the assistance of a snow cat before. This was truly an unforgettable experience and something I hope to do again. This allowed us a full day of pure downhill guiding which was incredibly beneficial. The entire course after this point was to be touring based. The next highlight was a two day hut trip to the Maroon Hut right below the East Face of Gothic Mountain. We set out for the hut in groups with a few different objectives and heavy packs. My group skied a really nice powder run of Snodgrass Mountain. We arrived at the hut later that afternoon and got settled in. Once everyone found a place for their gear we skied over to an open area and got a lesson in emergency shelter construction. Building these shelters was definitely a lesson in making something work with little gear. Having the knowledge to build these is definitely a new risk management tool.
On the last day of the hut trip we got to ski some really nice powder laps on Gothic Mountain. We then skied out and had a much needed early debrief and guides meeting. The next few days consisted of more ski guiding in bigger and bigger terrain. Being able to put all the pieces together so to speak was an awesome part of the course. The last day found us going over rescue sled construction, ski anchors for belayed skiing as well as a bit of very basic short roping. These were some very useful technical skills to learn for guiding in steep on terrain that might be a bit exposed.
Taking the Ski Guide Course with the help of the FORGE Scholarship has been an incredible opportunity. This course is one step on a long journey ahead and I couldn’t be more psyched about it. A huge thanks goes out to everyone on the course, my instructors and of course the Gaukel family for providing such an incredible opportunity for aspiring splitboard guides.
– Andrew Plagens
