Episodi
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People have been recording their adventures for tens of thousands of years. From cave drawings, to songs, to cell phone selfies and GoPro videos. Wanting to have a record of our achievements has always been a very human need.
Capturing our adventures is an integral part of the experience that helps us to tell the story of what happened. When done well, it can add value to an experience and depending on how it’s done. It can even redefine our memory of what happened after the fact.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Jordy and Chris are joined by award winning adventure photographer Mike Crane to discuss how you can record adventure for yourself and others like a pro.
Mike shares some of the lessons he has learned working as a professional adventure photographer. Capturing adventure is an integral part of the experience and this episode explores how you take your photography and videography farther.
Key Takeaways
Managing expectations: Not everyday is going to have perfect weather or conditions. The people you are with might not be that photogenic or end up where you want them to be either. For this reason, arriving with an open mind to just embrace what happens is key.
The goal should be to look for opportunities to capture that special moment based on the conditions and what happens.
The Goal: Is to Make them look good in the landscape. This might mean capturing people in action or even just standing there.
Only need a Moment: you need a fraction of a second for everything to go well to get that great shot.
Good communication: Getting people in the right place, getting them to do what you want takes coordination. As Mike said, you may not want people to improvise when you are trying to get them to do a certain move in a certain spot. You may also want them to look natural.
Capturing the Special Moment: Can include getting those transitional moments like storms or just capturing the experience through fun moments or even rest moments. It doesn’t always have to be action shots all the time.
Guest Bio
Based in Whistler, Mike Crane has been working in the adventure industry as a photographer and videographer for the past twenty years. Early in his career he worked as an action photographer for Powder Mountain Cat skiing as well as taking portrait shots and action photos at Whistler Blackcomb. More recently, he has worked as the staff photographer for Tourism Whistler as well as a freelance photographer. His work has taken him around the world photographing in many different landscapes. It has also involved working with a variety of levels of people from first time skiers to pro athletes.
Mike has won a number of awards from publications including Canadian Geographic, Your Daily Photograph and Lenswork Magazine.
Guest Links
Mike Crane Photography: www. mikecranephotography.com
Mike Crane Instagram: @mikecranephotography
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Episode Cover Art Credit: Mike Crane
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How can we adapt to new cultures when we are travelling or working aboard?
In this episode we look at culture from the perspective of being an international visitor or someone working in another culture. Being immersed in another culture gives us a unique opportunity to see how other people live. It also gives us a great opportunity to see what it feels like to be a visitor. You may find yourself leading people from different cultures, putting yourself in the position of being the visitor can be a valuable way of understanding things from their perspective.
Joining Chris and Jordy in this episode to discuss how we can better adapt to new cultures is Patrick Barrow. Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education. Pat is an ACMG Hiking Guide who has worked extensively in Central Asia, Western China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the Himalayas, Australia, Europe and Canada.
This is another engaging conversation that offers practical strategies on how we can integrate into new cultures.
Key Takeaways
To adapt to new cultures, we can:
Observe: This is where we we watch behaviours and habits, looking for what is normal for them.
Integrate: This is where we participate, join in and interact on the level they are interacting in.
Manipulate: This is where we copy what people are doing, mirroring behaviours.
Amalgamate: This is where we put everything together to the point where we get a level of acceptance within the group or culture.
Respect Ego: This means being aware of not causing others to lose face by challenging their ego. Not respecting the ego of others can cause serious relationship damage.
Guest Bio
Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education.
A student of anthropology, originally from Australia, Pat's path into adventure guiding came through travel. Pat has worked across Europe and Australia, parts of the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya, the Stans and the Silk Road of Central Asia and West China, jungles of South East Asia, on the Yamal Peninsular of Arctic Russia with Indigenous Reindeer Herders, and most recently Canada.
Pat’s career focus has been on facilitating formative expeditions for both youth and adults in culturally remote locations around the world. In particular living a decade between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and guiding locally in Kyrgyzstan across the Tienshan Mountains. Guiding locally has given a unique perspective in working across cultures and what it takes to manage international teams.
In Canada Pat is an ACMG hiking guide and an Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor.
In Australia Pat has Cert IV in Outdoor Recreation, Cert IV in Outdoor Leadership, Cert IV Trainer & Assessor and is an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Extreme Environment Medicine.
Guest Links
Tengrie Expeditions: www.tengriexpeditions.com
Patrick Barrow Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-barrow-83712b36
Patrick Barrow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tengriexpeditions?igsh=MTI4dnlmZTNrZWNheg==
Resource Links
Feedspot Top 30 Pacific Northwest Adventure Podcasts: Link
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Episodi mancanti?
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What do leaders need to be aware of when they are leading people from different cultures? People from different cultures may use different language, and have different customs, behaviours, values and even risk tolerances than you are used to. They may also have different expectations and tastes, as well as a different world view.
What may be acceptable to you, may not be acceptable to them and vice versa. This can create challenges for leaders if they do not know how to adapt their leadership effectively.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Patrick Barrow joins Chris and Jordy to share some key strategies that leaders can use to build better connections across cultures. Pat has worked as guide across Central and Southeast Asia, Europe, Canada and Australia.
Patrick shares his experiences working with indigenous reindeer herders in the arctic, leading guests across the Stans and adapting to a leadership role in his new home in Canada.
Guest Bio
Patrick Barrow has been guiding around the globe for 20 years, toggling between adventure travel and outdoor education.
A student of anthropology, originally from Australia, Pat's path into adventure guiding came through travel. Pat has worked across Europe and Australia, parts of the Indian and Nepalese Himalaya, the Stans and the Silk Road of Central Asia and West China, jungles of South East Asia, on the Yamal Peninsular of Arctic Russia with Indigenous Reindeer Herders, and most recently Canada.
Pat’s career focus has been on facilitating formative expeditions for both youth and adults in culturally remote locations around the world. In particular living a decade between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, and guiding locally in Kyrgyzstan across the Tienshan Mountains. Guiding locally has given a unique perspective in working across cultures and what it takes to manage international teams.
In Canada Pat is an ACMG hiking guide and an Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor.
In Australia Pat has Cert IV in Outdoor Recreation, Cert IV in Outdoor Leadership, Cert IV Trainer & Assessor and is an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Extreme Environment Medicine.
Guest Links
Tengrie Expeditions: www.tengriexpeditions.com
Patrick Barrow Contact: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-barrow-83712b36
Patrick Barrow Instagram: Link
Resource Links
Feedspot Top 30 Pacific Northwest Adventure Podcasts: Link
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Why is it so important to imagine the worst-case scenario? What happens when we don’t?
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Chris and Jordy share a few examples from their adventure industry careers to illustrate the importance of considering the worst-case scenario. They also talk about some of the factors that can compromise our ability to foresee what can happen if things don’t go to plan and how we can avoid falling into these traps.
Chris Kaipio has been working in the adventure guiding industry as a guide, instructor, trainer, manager and content developer since 1991.
Jordy Shepard is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.
Key Takeaways
How we can imagine the wort-case scenario:
Consider What can Reasonably Happen: This involves asking ourselves what all the possible negative outcomes could be and identifying if we are prepared if they come to pass.
Be detail oriented: The difference between a professional and an amateur is being detail oriented. Considering all the details before hand gives us an opportunity to identify and plan for all the likely outcomes that may happen.
Think ahead: This can require us to step away from complex situations so that we can fully consider the situation and what lies ahead.
Ask if we are Missing Anything: Is there information that we might be missing? This is something that we should always be asking ourselves. This helps to avoid developing tunnel vision.
Do your research: This can involve talking to others and looking at case-studies.
Training and Simulations: This can give us firsthand experience with what can happen.
Communicate the Risks Thoroughly: This creates an opportunity for everyone to understand what hazards they can expect to encounter.
Guest Bios
Chris Kaipio is the produce and co-host of Delivering Adventure.
He has worked in the adventure industry as an instructor, guide, trainer and manager since 2001.
Chris is currently developing the Managing Risk on Snow eLearning Certification for the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada. When complete, this will be a robust four level online risk management and decision-making certification for guides and Instructors.
Chris has written the book Power to Influence: How to get the best out of ourselves and others. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. This is where he met Jordy Shepherd.
Jordy Shepherd is the co-host of Delivering Adventure.
Jordy is an internationally certified ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, guide trainer, an avalanche educator, rescue specialist, and a former park warden.
His work experience includes Canadian Avalanche Association Course Leader for Avalanche Search and Rescue Advanced Skills, Provincial Park Ranger, National Park Warden, Wildlife Conflict Specialist, Wildland and Structural Firefighter, Mountain and Industrial Rescue Specialist, Heli-skiing Operations Manager and Lead Guide, and Licensed Real Estate Agent.
In addition to all of his work in the adventure guiding industry, Jordy runs a successful real estate company in Canmore Alberta where he currently lives with is family.
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Why is it so hard to make good decisions in higher risk situations? High risk situations are ones where a mistake, a miscalculation or a mishap can lead to serious or unmanageable consequences. These situations are the ones where uncertainty and the threat of experiencing serious consequences can apply pressure that can cloud our judgment.
In this episode Chris and Jordy are joined by Colin Zacharius to explore how we can make better decisions in high-risk situations.
Colin is well renowned ACMG /IFMGA Mountain Guide who has worked in the adventure industry since 1980. Colin has worked as a guide, guide trainer, avalanche educator, accident investigator, risk management specialist and speaker.
He has worked extensively in the cat skiing and Heli-skiing industry in Canada and the US. He has trained and examined guides across multiple disciplines for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides where he previously served as the technical director.
Colin harnesses his extensive experience working in the adventure industry to help us to understand why it so hard to make good decisions in high-risk situations and how we can avoid some of the mistakes that he has seen throughout his career.
Key Takeaways
How to make better decisions in high-risk situations:
Imagine: What the worst-case scenario could look like.
Practice Good Habits: This includes taking the time to be well prepared, being situationally aware so that you know what is happening or likely to happen and being aware of any human factors that may negatively influence your judgment.
Examine Decisions Afterwards: Either by getting peer feedback, debriefing with your team or by using self-assessment. The intention should be to examine decisions that are made regardless of the outcome, with the intent of identifying things that went well and areas that could be improved. What you really want to identify are trends.
Build in an Adequate Margin of Error: This gives you a buffer in case of a mistake, misstep, miscalculation or there is a surprise.
Avoid Normalizing High Risk Situations: When we become too comfortable in high-risk situations, we become complacent to the danger.
Guest Bio
Colin Zacharius is well renowned ACMG /IFMGA Mountain Guide who has worked in the adventure industry since 1980. Colin has worked as a guide, guide trainer, avalanche educator, accident investigator, risk management specialist and speaker.
He has worked extensively in the cat skiing and Heli-skiing industry in Canada and the US. He has trained and examined guides across multiple disciplines for the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides where he previously served as the technical director.
Colin has contracted as an instructor, course leader, and recently as a curriculum developer for Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) Industry Training Programs (Level 1-3). He has also provided consulting services for the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
His guiding work has included ski touring, trekking, and climbing adventures with individuals and small groups to domestic and exotic locations (New Zealand, Morocco, Costa Blanca Spain, the Alps, the Dolomites, the Canadian Arctic, Iceland, and the Antarctic Peninsula).
Guest Links
Contact Colin: [email protected]
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How can we manage hazardous attitudes in ourselves and others?
The FAA in the US has identified five hazardous attitudes that are present in human caused airline crashes. These five attitudes are anti-authority, impulsivity, invulnerability, macho and resignation. These attitudes can negatively impact judgment in any risk-taking situation.
In this episode Geoff Powter shares how we can manage these hazardous attitudes in ourselves and others.
Geoff Powter is a retired psychologist, an experienced climber, writer, and adventurer from the Canadian Rockies. He served as editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years and has won 9 National Magazine Awards.
Geoff has authored several books, including Strange and Dangerous Dreams, which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival and was adapted into a radio series. His second most recent book, Inner Ranges, won the Climbing Literature Prize at the Banff Festival in 2019 and the National Outdoor Book Award in the USA. His most recent book Survival Is Not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Donini, is the Winner of National Outdoor Book Award in the USA.
This is the second episode of two where Geoff, Jordy and Chris explore the five hazardous attitudes that can impact decision making and risk taking.
Key Takeaways
How to manage hazardous attitudes in ourselves and others:
Anti-authority: Is the “do not tell me what to do,” mindset.
To manage this, recognize that rules, guidelines and best practices exist to help us and follow them! To manage it in others, explain the reason why rules exist, give people control when you can, and involve people in decision making as much as possible.
Impulsivity: Is the “do it quickly,” mindset.
To manage this, be methodical, follow all the steps, and slow things down when we feel the need to rush into things.
Also, make others aware of the risk of rushing into things and encourage them to follow systems and processes without skipping steps. This reduces the chance of errors and missing information. It also ensures everyone knows what to do.
Invulnerability: Is the “It won’t happen to me,” mindset
To manage this, remind yourself that bad outcomes can happen to anyone. For others, try to personalize the fact that bad outcomes can happen to anyone by highlighting mishaps that have happened to people they may know. This can include sharing your own stories of misadventure involving negative outcomes. This can help to make things more real.
Macho: This is the “I can do it,” mindset
To manage this, look for signs of overconfidence. Celebrate humility and model an objective approach to decision making that involves accepting that some things may be beyond our capabilities and that’s normal.
Resignation: This is the “what’s the use,” mindset.
To manage this, believe that you have the power to change or influence the situation you are in. Involve everyone in decision making and ensure everyone is heard. Acting on concerns or suggestions can also demonstrate to others that they do have the power to change their situation.
Guest Bio
Geoff is a retired psychologist, an experienced climber, writer, and adventurer from the Canadian Rockies. He served as editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years and has won 9 National Magazine Awards.
Geoff has authored several books, including Strange and Dangerous Dreams, which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival and was adapted into a radio series. His second most recent book, Inner Ranges, won the Climbing Literature Prize at the Banff Festival in 2019 and the National Outdoor Book Award in the USA. His most recent book Survival Is Not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Donini, is the Winner of National Outdoor Book Award in the USA.
In 2012 Geoff was the recipient of the Summit of Excellence Award for lifetime contribution to Canadian mountain culture
Geoff has also hosted the Voices of Adventure interview event at the Banff Mountain Festival for 27 years. He currently serves on the board of Directors for the Alpine Club of Canada and Mountain Muscox.
Guest Links
Geoff Powter: Survival is not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Bonini Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters, Mountaineers Books
Geoff Powter: Inner Ranges: An Anthology of Mountain Thoughts and Mountain People Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters
Geoff Powter: Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters, Mountaineers Books
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How can our attitude affect our decision-making? The Federal Aviation Agency in the US has identified five specific attitudes that are present in airline accidents when human error is the cause of the crash or mishap. They have labeled these attitudes, the five hazardous attitudes.
These attitudes are anti-authority, invulnerability, impulsivity, macho, and resignation. Each of these attitudes can negatively impact our judgement on a sub-conscious level, meaning we may not be aware of their presence.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Geoff Powter joins Chris and Jordy to discuss what the five hazardous attitudes are and how we can recognize them in ourselves and others.
Geoff Powter is a retired psychologist, an experienced climber, writer, and adventurer from the Canadian Rockies. He served as editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years and has won 9 National Magazine Awards.
Geoff has authored several books, including Strange and Dangerous Dreams, which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival and was adapted into a radio series. His second most recent book, Inner Ranges, won the Climbing Literature Prize at the Banff Festival in 2019 and the National Outdoor Book Award in the USA. His most recent book Survival Is Not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Donini, is the Winner of National Outdoor Book Award in the USA.
In this episode, Geoff uses his deep knowledge of phycology and risk taking to help us to better understand the five hazardous attitudes. This is the first of two episodes focussing on how we can recognize and manage these specific human factors.
This is another must listen to episode for anyone who wants to better understand decision making and risk taking.
Key Takeaways
Anti-authority Attitude: This is the “don’t tell me what to do,” mindset.
Recognizing this in ourselves requires us to really question whether our decisions are being made because of our ego and the need to push back on being told what to do. Or is our judgment being influenced by reasoned self-confidence?
Impulsivity Attitude: This is the “do it quickly,” mindset. We can spot this by looking to see if we are skipping steps that we either would normally do or know we should be doing. Also, asking ourselves if we do really need to rush and involving others in discussions can be very beneficial in spotting this in ourselves.
Impulsivity is the one attitude that can cause us to move into situations faster which can push us into the hazard zone more quickly.
Invulnerability Attitude: This is the “It won’t happen to me,” mindset. Invulnerability affects our ability to objectively assess the probability and consequence of taking risks.
Spotting invulnerability requires us to be very aware of whether we really believe that a bad outcome can happen to us.
Macho Attitude: This is the “I can do it,” mentality. The challenge with Macho is that it can cause us to become overconfident. As Geoff pointed out, there is also no macha attitude meaning that the macho attitude is more of a male dominated attitude.
Resignation Attitude: This is the “what’s the use,” mentality. This is the attitude that can cause us to believe that there is nothing that we can do to prevent bad outcomes. This can leave us feeling resigned to fate. This can cause people to go along with what the group says, even if a person feels the group may be wrong.
Resignation attitude can happen when we don’t care or we don’t trust our judgment. It can also happen when we feel helpless or we are not being heard.
Guest Bio
Geoff is a retired psychologist, an experienced climber, writer, and adventurer from the Canadian Rockies. He served as editor of the Canadian Alpine Journal for 13 years and has won 9 National Magazine Awards.
Geoff has authored several books, including Strange and Dangerous Dreams, which won the Jury Prize at the 2006 Banff Mountain Book Festival and was adapted into a radio series. His second most recent book, Inner Ranges, won the Climbing Literature Prize at the Banff Festival in 2019 and the National Outdoor Book Award in the USA. His most recent book Survival Is Not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Donini, is the Winner of National Outdoor Book Award in the USA.
In 2012 Geoff was the recipient of the Summit of Excellence Award for lifetime contribution to Canadian mountain culture
Geoff has also hosted the Voices of Adventure interview event at the Banff Mountain Festival for 27 years. He currently serves on the board of Directors for the Alpine Club of Canada and Mountain Muscox.
Guest Links
Geoff Powter: Survival is not Assured: The Life of Climber Jim Bonini Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters, Mountaineers Books,
Geoff Powter: Inner Ranges: An Anthology of Mountain Thoughts and Mountain People Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters
Geoff Powter: Strange and Dangerous Dreams: The Fine Line Between Adventure and Madness Available at Amazon, Indigo Chapters, Mountaineers Books,
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Longevity Delivering Adventure with Nadio Hachey
What does it take to enjoy a long career as an adventure guide, instructor or manager?
The reality is that there is quite a high rate of attrition in the adventure industry when it comes to guides and instructors. It can be costly to get certifications and experience in both time and money. It can be physically demanding. It can also be far from financially lucrative. For all of these reasons many people drop out early in their career.
That said, there are many people who have enjoyed long careers. One of these people is Nadio Hachey. Nadio has enjoyed a career in the ski and bike instruction and guiding industry that spans over forty years. Nadio supervises and trains ski and bike instructors at a high level and teaches at that level himself.
Nadio joins Jordy and Chris to discuss what it takes to make delivering adventure into a sustainable career. He shares his insights on everything from decision making on the mountain to making smart choices with your finances.
Nadio Hachey is a longtime manager in the Whistler Blackcomb Snow and Bike School. He is a PSIC level 4 certified ski instructor and a Level 4 PSIC LPT Trainer. He is also a certified level 2 PMBIA mountain bike instructor.
This is an engaging and candid discussion about some topics that often go unspoken about.
Key Takeaways
Master Your Trade: If you want to have a long career on a professional, or even amateur level, you need to master the necessary hard skills. This includes things like navigation, skiing, snowboarding, biking or whatever it is - you have to be good at what you are actually doing. This keeps you safer and quite frankly, the people you may want to lead, expect you to be good at what you are leading.
Decision making: It doesn’t matter how good you are at the hard skills of your activity. If you can’t make good decisions leading yourself and others, you won’t enjoy a long career. It’s that simple. People expect adventure guides, instructors and coaches to be able to make good decisions.
Motivated to Help People: It doesn’t matter if you are in Search and Rescue, heli-skiing, surfing, biking, hiking, ski and snowboard instructing or a guide trainer. If you want to have a long career, you have to want to help people. Just wanting to do your sport or activity is not going to be enough for you. The people you are going to be dealing with are also going to figure out very quickly if you are there for them or yourself.
Financial Needs: To sustain a long career in the adventure industry you need to be able to make enough and save enough to survive over the long term. This may mean picking up extra jobs, learning to cook so you can spend less going out, and being smarter with your money.
Guest Bio
Nadio Hachey has enjoyed a career in the ski and bike instruction and guiding industry that spans over forty years. Nadio supervises and trains ski and bike instructors at a high level and teaches at that level himself. This makes him a great person to share with us the secrets of what it takes to have a long career in the adventure industry.
Nadio Hachey is a longtime manager in the Whistler Blackcomb Snow and Bike School. He is a PSIC level 4 certified ski instructor and a Level 4 PSIC LPT Trainer. He is also a certified level 2 PMBIA mountain bike instructor.
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Smart Risk Taking with Barry Blanchard
How can you know when to actually take a risk on a personal or professional level? What would a good risk, or a smart risk look like before and after?
In this episode Chris and Jordy are joined by world renowned Alpinist, ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, speaker, author and friend of the show, Barry Blanchard to discuss what a Smart Risk looks like.
Barry Blanchard taps into his long career of risk taking and guiding to share the essential elements of what good risks look like, and what we should be wary of.
Barry is a recent recipient of the Order of Canada and is an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. He is respected for his ability to complete technical, high-risk ascents on a personal level and leading others as professional guide.
Barry has worked on numerous movie projects as a stuntman including Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit. He is the star of his own documentary called Spindrift: The Barry Blanchard Story.
He is also the author of The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains. Barry has another book coming out in 2026 called The Echo.
Always engaging, thoughtful and honest, Barry shares some dark moments he has had in his career and many of the highlights. Along the way we define what makes a Smart Risk to take.
Key Takeaways:
Smart Risks: Are calculated, acceptable, necessary and prepared for. They are risks we can justify in the moment and after the fact because they are carefully considered, acceptable, needed to be taken and we were ready for the choice that we made.
Calculated Risk: Calculated risks are ones that are well analyzed weighing the potential consequences against the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. The hazards are known and if you decide to take it, the benefits outweigh the potential costs.
A calculated risk is a risk worth doing based on careful analysis.
Acceptable Risk: Acceptable risks are the ones we can justify to ourselves and others. They should fall within everyone’s risk tolerance. They should also prioritize your safety ahead of safety or providing service someone else. Acceptable risks for professionals fall within industry best practices.
Acceptable risks fall within personal, professional and legal responsibilities and limits.
Necessary Risks: Necessary risks are the ones that need to be taken. They add value to the experience and contribute to towards achieving the objective. They are also the best option for what needs to get done.
A risk might be acceptable to take, but also unnecessary.
Prepared for: These are the risks we are ready for because we have prepared and built in an adequate margin of error. Worst case scenarios have been considered and planned for.
Not Taking the Risk: This is also a risk. Smart Risks are the ones we did take for the right reasons.
Guest Bio
Barry Blanchard is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, author, speaker, and sometimes movie stunt man. Barry has recently been the recipient of the Order of Canada and has just been recognized as an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.
Both of these awards have been given in recognition of his numerous complex and demanding ascents in the Rockies, the Alps and the Himalayas, some of which have not been repeated. For more than 40 years, Barry has been a guide, resource and mentor to countless mountain enthusiasts.
Barry is one of North America’s top alpine climbers. He has spent his life pushing the standards of highly technical, high risk alpine climbing and ice climbing from the Himalayas to the Canadian Rockies. Barry is also renowned for his ability to guide complex, high risk alpine ascents.
Some of the movies that Barry has been in or has worked on include Cliffhanger, Vertical Limit, This Mountain Life, Reality Bath, Extreme, Not Alone and Spindrift – The Barry Blanchard Story.
Not only has he contributed so much to the climbing community as a guide and mentor, but he has also authored an award-winning book called The Calling, a Life rocked by mountains. He also has another book coming out in 2026 called The Echo.
Guest Links
You can hire Barry Blanchard to be your guide by contacting Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains: Find it on Amazon, Find it on Chapters Indigo
Spindrift: A Barry Blanchard Story: Trailer
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When it comes to delivering adventure, the difference between control and chaos can be as little as one small mistake. A situation can seem to be under complete control one moment and the next it can be spiralling away.
The worst-case scenario for leaders often starts with something small. It can be a trip, a fall, a moment of butter fingers, or some other unforeseeable fumble or mistake.
In this episode, Madeleine Martin-Penney shares a situation where a small misstep from one of her guests put her and her group in a potentially tough bind. Madeleine walks us through what happened and how she reacted to keep control.
Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.
Guest Bio
Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.
Madeleine has served on the ACMG Board of Directors with Chris and I for the past nine years. She is also involved with Mountain Muscox. Mountain Muskox is a community-based organization that provides peer support circles for individuals who have experienced loss or trauma in the mountains.
Guest Links
Madeleine’s Instagram: @madoalpine
Geary’s Guiding: https://gearysguiding.com
Mountain Muscox: https://www.mountainmuskox.com
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How can we improve the decision making in others? When we are delivering adventure to others, it isn’t just the leader that needs to have good judgment. In every activity, there is a degree of decision-making skills that participants are going to need to be able to have, and if they don’t, the odds of achieving a good outcome start to go down.
There is of course another dimension to this in that many guides and instructors aren’t just leading guests, friends or family. They may also be supervising or working with other guides or instructors.
In this episode, we are joined by master guide, instructor, outdoor educator and friend of the show Bruce Wilson. Bruce returns to Delivering Adventure to explore how we can help others to improve their decision-making skills.
When it comes to outdoor education and leadership training, Bruce is literally a Jack of all trades. Bruce is an ACMG Hiking Guide. He is a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for Avalanche Canada.
Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.
He currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Bruce shares key strategies that leaders can use to help others to improves their decision making.
Key takeaways
How can we help others to make better decisions?
Trust Them: Whether we like it or not, we have to trust the decision making and judgement of others. Micromanaging everything is not a sustainable option for anyone in a leadership position, and it can be argued that that isn’t even leadership!
Create Opportunities: We need to give people the opportunity to make decisions. Decision-making is a skill. To develop skills, people need time on task to practice.
Right Process: Teaching them the right process can help to set them up for success. Part of this requires us to model and then explain what a good decision-making process is.
Go to Completion: It is important to let people bring their decisions to completion: this allows them to see and experience the consequences firsthand. This increases learning.
Take it Seriously: Treat every moment as if it is real. This can eliminate the risk of developing bad habits. It also maximizes the learning.
Guest Bio
When it comes to outdoor education and leadership training, Bruce is literally a Jack of all trades. Bruce is an ACMG Hiking Guide. He is a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for Avalanche Canada.
Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.
He currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching.
Guest Links
https://www.snowolf.ca
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How can leaders use self-reflection as a development tool with others? Self-reflection is one of the most effective learning and development tools that a leader can use with themselves and their team members.
Self-reflection can help everyone to learn from any mistakes that were made, flaws in systems that were uses, and to analyze actions that were taken.
When guides and instructors use reflection with their guests, they create an opportunity to become aware of and to address problems. It also creates an opportunity to highlight learning opportunities and to ensure that everyone leaves with an accurate memory of events.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Bill Mark joins Jordy and Chris to explore how leaders can use self-reflection with others.
Bill Mark is a CSGA Certified Ski Guide and Guide Trainer. He has spent over Forty years in the ski industry working in ski patrol and as a guide. Bill’s current role is the Assistant Director of Ski Operations and Senior Lead Heli-Ski Guide for Mike Wiegle’s Heli-Skiing.
Bill has extensive experience working with large teams of guides in high-risk environments where self-reflection is an essential tool for learning and development.
Bill shares how leaders can use self-reflection with themselves and others effectively to improve sharing and leverage learning.
Key Takeaways
Using self-reflection as a leader effectively requires:
Developing a Culture of Self-Reflection: Self-reflection is an essential component of developing a responsible risk-taking culture within teams. It is also one trait that can separate amateurs from true professionals. To leverage self-reflection, teams need to create a culture where self-reflection is encouraged and the time for it is set aside. This means scheduling it into the day and finding ways to make it a sustainable habit.
Create Phycological Safety: Self-reflection only works if people are forthcoming and truthful with events, actions and thinking. To create an environment of open and honest communication, team members need to feel safe. To accomplish this, people should be rewarded for sharing mistakes instead of being punished or shamed. This is an essential component of creating psychological safety within the group.
Look for Trends and Patterns: Humans are creatures of habit. When using self-reflection with others, leaders should be actively looking for unhealthy patterns or weakness in systems regardless of the outcomes. Correcting negative patterns, biases in decision making or poorly constructed or executed processes early, is an essential part of preventing future mishaps.
Mentorship and Training (up for success): Leaders may need to train mentors and trainers how to use self-reflection effectively. It is a mistake to think that people in leader positions know how to use self-reflection effectively. Leaders may also have to train team members on how they can be mentored more effectively. This includes coaching them how to ask the right questions, how to learn from feedback and where to access mentorship.
Guet Bio
Bill started his career in the adventure industry working as a ski patroller in New Zealand before moving to Whistler for what was meant to be a season. Bill joined the Blackcomb Ski Patrol in 1987. He liked it so much he started doing back-to-back winters shuttling between the Whistler and working ski patrol in Cardrona in New Zealand, where he went on to become the ski patrol director.
In 1991 he joined Mike Weigle’s Heli Skiing as a ski guide. Bill is now the Assistant Director of Ski Operations and Senior Lead Heli-Ski Guide for Mike Wiegle’s Heli-Skiing.
Bill is CSGA L3 certified and has ISIA full certification (from NZ). He also instructs on CSGA courses and on CAA Industry Training Programs.
When it comes to using self-reflection as a skill development tool, Bill has a unique perspective. Mike Wiegle’s is the largest Heli-ski operator in the world and Bill is responsible for overseeing a large team of guides that operate in higher risk environment.
Guest Links
https://www.wiegele.com/
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How can we use self-reflection to improve our decision making, performance and experience delivery?
One of the best ways to undertake personal growth as an individual, a risk-taker and leader is to build self-reflection into our day.
Self-reflection can help us to improve our performance, decision making, our delivery of information, and our relationships. While experience can be an essential tool for a guide, instructor and coach to have, experience itself is only good if we learn from it.
In this episode, Jordy and Chris are joined by Tracey Fraser to discuss how we can harness the power of self-reflection more effectively.
Tracey Fraser is the training manager at the Whistler Blackcomb Snow School. She is a certified CSIA Level 4 and PSIC Level 4 ski instructor. She is also a PSIC Level 4 LPT trainer which means that Tracey is certified to train ski instructors at the very highest level.
Tracey shares how we can build self-reflection seamlessly into our day, how we can use it and what it can teach us.
Key Takeaways
How can we use self-reflection on a personal level effectively
Adopt a Growth Mindset: This means approaching situations from the perspective that you want to know how to make them even better in the future, regardless of how well it did or did not go.
Make Time to Reflect: This can include stepping away from others to think about what just happened, making time to ask other people for feedback or taking time at the end of the day to analyze high and low points.
Be Curious with Yourself: This can include asking yourself if there is anything you would want to do differently, asking what went well, what were the challenge points, and what did not go well.
Look for Patterns or Tendencies: We all have ways of doing things that could be problematic and may not be effective. These can include cognitive biases that can compromise our decision making. It can also include flaws in our systems and ways of doing things. Addressing negative patterns is an essential step to improvement.
Embrace Being Vulnerable: It is okay to admit that there is room for you to do things better or to improve. Being vulnerable is not a weakness, it is a strength that you hear in most of our guests.
Be Objective: To do this we have to focus on the facts by being non-judgemental. This includes avoiding the trap of rationalizing our actions to the point that we miss the opportunity to spot weaknesses in what we did.
Guest Bio
Tracey Fraser is the training manager at the Whistler Blackcomb Snow School which is one of the largest Snow Schools in the world with close to fifteen hundred staff. She is also involved with the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada and has worked with the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance where she Chaired the CSIA Women in Skiing Committee.
Tracey has represented Canada at Interski twice. She is a certified CSIA Level 4 and PSIC Level 4 ski instructor. She is also a PSIC Level 4 LPT trainer which means that Tracey is certified to train ski instructors at the very highest level.
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How can you keep control over a group without creating conflict? This is something that even the most experienced leader can find challenging.
When people trust their leader’s decision making and are content to follow the leader’s directions, being the leader of the group can be easy.
However, most people are not willing to blindly follow their leader’s direction. An important human need is to retain a sense of control. This need for control can often be driven by our ego. It can also manifest itself as an anti-authority mindset where we can want to do things our own way.
Joining us to explore key strategies that leaders can use to keep the right amount of control over their group is Madeleine Martin-Preney.
Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC.
Madeleine shares important insights from her guiding career on how she manages to both give and keep control when she is leading. Knowing how to give and take control is an essential skill for every adventure guide, instructor and team leader to master. In this episode, we discuss how you can do it more effectively.
Key Takeaways
How can a leader maintain the right amount of control over a group?
Having too little control: Can lead to people making decisions for themselves. This can cause people to go in different directions. When the leader does not have control, it can also erode trust in the leader.
Having too much control: Can cause people to push back. Having a measure of control is an important need and when we do not give people some sense of control for themselves, they can rebel. People want to feel that they are part of the experience instead of just feeling like they are being led or managed.
Right Balance: Give people control where you can so that you can take it back when you need to.
Building trust early: Can help the leader to avoid having people challenge their control.
Creating systems: Having everyone understand how systems work and how they can contribute to the system or work within it can be a really powerful tool.
Guest Bio
Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.
Madeleine has served on the ACMG Board of Directors with Chris and I for the past nine years. She is also involved with Mountain Muscox. Mountain Muskox is a community-based organization that provides peer support circles for individuals who have experienced loss or trauma in the mountains.
Guest Links
Madeleine’s Instagram: @madoalpine
Geary’s Guiding: https://gearysguiding.com
Mountain Muscox: https://www.mountainmuskox.com
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What stops us from practising good self-care even when we know we should? What can we do about it? We all know that practicing good self-care is important. Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Sarah Janin returns to share a story of a time where she inadvertently neglected her self-care which led to some fairly serious consequences. This leads into a great discussion around some of the obstacles around practicing good self-care for us and the people that we may be leading.
Sarah is a certified American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) Rock and Split Board Guide and an assistant AMGA Alpine Guide. Sarah is on the final leg of working towards becoming the first IFMGA certified Mountain Guide who has type 1 diabetes. Based in Boulder Colorado, Sarah currently works as a full-time guide and one of the head guides at the Colorado Mountain School.
Sarah joined Delivering Adventure in Season 2 to share her perspective on the importance of self-care. As a type 1 diabetic who leads an extremely athletic lifestyle, Sarah has a unique perspective on the importance and challenges of self-care.
Always candid, Sarah shares her real-life challenges and learnings. This is a fantastic conversation.
Key Insights
What are some of the obstacles to practicing good self-care and how can we avoid them:
Common Self-Care Obstacles: Cost, pressure to prioritize service to others ahead of safety to us, and embarrassment as we may be holding others up.
Macho Attitude: This is where we or the people we are leading may believe we can handle the consequences of not looking after ourselves
Recognizing Experience as an Obstacle: If we are inexperienced or younger, we may may not appreciate the long-term effects of not practicing good self-care.
Projection Bias: This is where it becomes difficult to predict how we might feel based on how we are feeling in the moment. This can also be a reason why we do not prioritize self-care.
Prioritizing Self-Care: Recognizing that self-care needs to be a necessary part of our day that needs to be prioritized. This is really step one. Being disciplined and holding ourselves accountable can help with this.
Importance of Routine: Following a routine can be extremely beneficial – of note is that one danger sign of neglecting our self-care is when we break from our routine.
Guest Bio
Sarah Janin is a full-time mountain guide at Colorado Mountain School located in Boulder Colorado. She is the only full-time female guide at this time and one of their head guides. Sarah became one of the first certified female splitboard guides in America this March of 2024 making history.
Sarah is on the AMGA track with one more exam to complete this summer. Her goal is to become the 19th certified female American Mountain Guide. Sarah will then have to pass a ski movement test in order to become IFMGA certified which will be her focus this winter.
Sarah has worked as a guide for a decade after getting to experience a few different careers before settling on her true passion. Sarah is also a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic and has been for over 43 years. She will potentially become the first diabetic certified guide this year.
Guest Links
Colorado Mountain School: https://coloradomountainschool.com/guide/sarah-janin/
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How do you build trust? The ability to build trust is an important skill for anyone who wants to build and maintain relationships. It is also essential tool for a coach, instructor and guide to have if they want to help the people they are leading to achieve adventure.
When people do not trust their leader, they are more likely to challenge decisions, question intentions and second guess direction. People are also far less likely to believe in themselves if they do not believe in their leader.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Brenna Kelleher returns to share some of the secrets to building trust. Brenna has developed a successful career as an outdoor athlete, instructor, guide and realtor. She has been an NCAA ski racer for Montana State University and claimed the 2001 Junior World Championship as a freestyle kayaker.
She has guided horseback trips in Yellowstone Park and has coached freestyle kayaking. She has also traveled to Africa leading a group of high school girls, as an educator in a semester abroad program; teaching math, travel journalism, and physical education in the distant outdoors.
Brenna is a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s National Alpine Team. In addition to being a PSIA Ski Instructor Examiner, Brenna is a ski instructor and guide at Big Sky Resort where she leads advanced women’s and youth-specific clinics.
Brenna joined us back in Season 2 to explore how we can build more resilient teams. In this episode she shares what it really takes to build trust as a leader.
Key Takeaways
Building trust requires us to:
Develop rapport early: This can include finding points of connectivity by finding things everyone can relate to or has in common.
Identify the Best Communication Style: Trust building involves determining how people are likely to respond to different communication styles. This also includes identifying their needs and aligning expectations.
Be Right Early to Build Credibility: Being right early by delivering value can also help to build trust at the start of a relationship. One strategy that works well is to see if you can solve a problem that someone has early in your relationship.
Maintaining trust requires us to: Deliver on promises, this can include showing up on time, meeting timelines and objectives.
Be Flexible: Keep adjusting as situations often change. Keep checking in with the people you are leading to see where expectations, needs and your relationship with them stands.
To avoid losing trust: Under promise where possible, be on time, own mistakes and respect people’s egos.
About Them: If you can make people feel good about what they have accomplished and how they have accomplished it, they will feel better about you.
Guest Bio
Brenna Kelleher has developed a highly successful career as an outdoor athlete, instructor, guide and realtor. She has been an NCAA ski racer for Montana State University and claimed the 2001 Junior World Championship as a freestyle kayaker.
She has guided horseback trips in Yellowstone Park and has coached freestyle kayaking. Brenna has traveled to Africa leading a group of high school girls, as an educator in a semester abroad program. She is currently a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s (PSIA) National Alpine Team.
In addition to being a PSIA Examiner, Brenna is a ski instructor and guide at Big Sky Resort where she leads advanced women’s and youth-specific clinics.
Guest Links
Brenna’s website: www.bigskybrenna.com
Instagram: @brennakelleher
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How do our human needs affect our judgement? What happens fro our decision making if our needs are not being met?
Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bruce Wilson joins Chris and Jordy to discuss the relationship between needs and judgment.
Bruce Wilson is an ACMG Hiking Guide, a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for the Canadian Avalanche Association.
Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.
Bruce currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching and teaches avalanche and survival courses for Canada West Mountain School.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Bruce walks us through the intricacies of how needs affect judgment using real life stories and examples. This is a thoughtful and engaging conversation that ends with a look at how some First Nations peoples have prioritized human needs in relation to how we contribute within a community.
Key Takeaways
How do our needs affect our judgement?
Needs Checklist: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs works like a checklist that we can use to help us to identify where people are at and what needs to happen to enable them to reach their full potential.
Psychological and Physiological Needs: When these needs are not being met, our entire focus can become consumed trying to meet them. This can cause us to develop tunnel vision as we work to get warmer or more comfortable. Being low on energy or being dehydrated can also erode our ability to collect and analyze information accurately.
Safety and Security Needs: Our risk tolerance can cause us to perceive the risk around us in ways that are not accurate. If we do not feel that we are in a physically or psychological safe space, we are more likely to ignore our other needs like feeling connected socially to a group.
Communicating Risk to Others: It’s important to ensure that we are using language and framing information in a way that allows our audience to understand the risk accurately. This can help to improve their ability to make more informed choices.
Love and Belonging Needs: People inherently want to feel that they are a part of the group. If they do not feel they belong to the group, they are more likely to make decisions that cause them to behave in a way where they are trying to increase their popularity. This can cause people to become manipulative or to undertake other attention seeking behaviours.
Esteem Needs: If our esteem needs are not met, we are going to feel that we are not respected, and we may be less likely to trust others. When esteem needs are not met, we can start to develop self doubt. This can lead to us to second guess our choices. If our confidence is being eroded, it will directly undermine our competence.
Self-Actualized Decision Making: This is when we can make reasoned and objective decisions by being open to the fact that we may not know everything. When we are self actualized, we are aware that we may not have all the answers and instead of having this undermine our confidence, it actually increases it.
Guest Bio
When it comes to outdoor education and leadership training, Bruce is literally a Jack of all trades. Bruce is an ACMG Hiking Guide. He is a sea kayak guide and guide trainer for the Association of Sea Kayak Guides. He is an avalanche educator for the Canadian Avalanche Association.
Bruce is a certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method, he has a master’s degree in leadership, and is a Vision Quest instructor, just to name a few of his many qualifications and certifications.
He currently instructs the Outdoor Recreation Management Program at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He also provides coaching and guiding through his company Warrior Wolf Guide Services and Coaching and teaches avalanche and survival courses for Canada West Mountain School.
Guest Links
Warrior Wolf Coaching and Guide Service: https://www.snowolf.ca
Before Maslow’s Hierarchy: The Whitewashing of Indigenous Knowledge:
https://shanesafir.com/2020/12/before-maslows-hierarchy-the-whitewashing-of-indigenous-knowledge/
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How can we improve our ability to read people? Being able to accurately interpret the people we are leading so that we can see things from their perspective helps us with decision making and problem solving. It can also help us to build trust and to recognize when their needs are not being met.
In this episode, Lee Povey joins Chris and Jordy to discuss how we can al improve our emotional intelligence so that we can better empathize and understand others.
Lee Povey is a high-performance leadership coach specializing in working with founders and start-ups. As a lifelong entrepreneur, a former elite cycling athlete, and Olympic Development Program Coach for USA Cycling, Lee has a deep understanding of what it takes to lead at the highest levels.
Through coaching hundreds of World, National, and Olympic champions, Lee has gained invaluable experience in developing World-Class leadership and people.
In this episode of Delivering Adventure, Lee shares practical advice and strategies developed through years of coaching high performance athletes.
Key Takeaways:
How can we improve our ability to read people:
Lead With Curiosity: Often we want to make assumptions by guessing or anticipating the feelings or thoughts of others. Instead, we should be asking questions with an open mind as to what the answers might be.
Ask the Right Questions: When we do ask questions, we need to make sure they are structured to reveal what we are looking to learn. Using a number system to identity how someone is feeling is one way. Another way is asking questions that are designed to generate discussion.
Learn the Person: Everyone is different. Approaching each person as an individual and learning their tendencies, needs and how they react in certain situations can help us to recognize patterns of behaviour. This can allow us to interpret what they may be telling us more accurately.
Training Them to Self-Analyze: When people can self reflect they can understand what is going on themselves.
Check for Understanding: Often we give people instructions, explanations or feedback and assume they understand what we want them to take away or to do. What we really should be doing is to get them to tell us in their own words what they understood.
Reading Body Language: This makes up a large part of how people communicate. Recognizing the behavioural patterns in the people we are interacting with can greatly enhance our ability to empathize and to interpret the thoughts, feelings and behaviours in others. Like every skill, improving our emotional intelligence so that we can better read others, takes purposeful practice.
Guest Bio:
Lee Povey is a high-performance leadership coach specializing in working with founders and start-ups. As a lifelong entrepreneur, a former elite cycling athlete, and Olympic Development Program Coach for USA Cycling, Lee has a deep understanding of what it takes to lead at the highest levels.
Through coaching hundreds of World, National, and Olympic champions, Lee has gained invaluable experience in developing World-Class leadership and people.
Lee helps leaders and high-achievers understand how to motivate, lead, give feedback, and empower their teams to incredible growth and performance. He breaks down the human experience in a relatable way, sharing tips, skill sets, and valuable mindset insights, allowing us all to perform like Olympians while retaining a strong focus on happiness and long-term fulfillment.
Guest Links:
Lee Povey: www.leepovey.com
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How do you become a great instructor? No instructor or guide wants to be mediocre. Few students or guests want their instructor to deliver an average performance. This would hardly improve learning, create great stories or build positive memories. So how can instructors, coaches and guides be great?
One person who has worked extremely hard to become consistently great at instructing and guiding is Cyril Shokoples. Cyril is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide and a past president of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. Cyril is also an EMS instructor, and an Open Water Scuba Instructor. Cyril specializes in teaching high angle rope rescue, avalanche safety, avalanche search and rescue, wilderness emergency care and mountaineering skills.
Cyril has been training Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians, known as SAR Techs, for over thirty-five years. He was also responsible for the creation of the Parks Emergency Responder program for national park wardens in Canada.
When he is not teaching, Cyril has been working extensively in the guiding industry as a climbing and Heli-ski guide.
Cyril joins Chris and Jordy to share key strategies and philosophies that can help anyone to be become better at instructing and guiding. If you work hard, Cyril’s advice might even help you to become great!
Key Takeaways
How can we become great instructors and guides?
Start by Aspiring to Great: If you want to be great, you have to want to be great in the first place. We generally become what we aspire to be. If your goal is to be merely average then that’s likely what you will end up delivering.
Prepare Like a Professional: This can sometimes require us to spend longer getting ready for what we are going to be instructing or guiding, than it is actually going to take us. Preparation should involve anticipating anything that can happen like the questions that might be asked, or anything that could go wrong.
Practice With Purpose: This can involve mixing up how we do things including trying out new ways of explaining or presenting information. It also involves reflecting on how we did after the fact with the goal being to learn how we could do it even better in the future. If we keep doing the same thing without reflecting on how we can make it great, we can expect to get results that are more likely to be mediocre.
Ask People for Their Advice: Don’t underestimate the fact that people like to share what they know. This is a human need that most people have.
When Presenting: Try to stay calm, be dynamic, engage the group you are dealing with and add fun where possible.
Guest Bio
Cyril Shokoples started his career as a scout leader over forty years ago. Since then, Cyril has become one of the most respected rescue skills instructors and mountain guides in Canada.
Cyril is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide and a past president of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. Cyril is also an EMS instructor, and an Open Water Scuba Instructor. Cyril specializes in teaching high angle rope rescue, avalanche safety, avalanche search and rescue, wilderness emergency care and mountaineering skills.
Cyril has been training Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians, known as SAR Techs, for over thirty five years. He was also responsible for the creation of the Parks Emergency Responder program for national park wardens in Canada.
When he is not teaching, Cyril has been working extensively in the guiding industry as a climbing and Heli-ski guide.
Guest Links
Cyril Shokoples: www.rescuedynamics.ca
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How do you deal with challenging people on an adventure? This is a challenge that can test even the most experienced and prepared leader.
When it comes to delivering adventure, people can be grumpy. They can have unrealistic expectations. They can show up to an adventure with personal issues. They may not have the resiliency needed to manage or overcome challenges. Some people are socially awkward, while others are just rude. In some cases, people may have anger management issues. In other cases, they may not want to be there at all.
While most of these situations are not a leader's fault, they often do end up becoming the leader’s problem.
In this episode, we are joined again by master guide, guide trainer and author, Colby Brokvist. Colby joins us to explore some of the strategies that we can all use when we find ourselves dealing with challenging participants on the adventures we are leading.
Colby Brokvist is a professional guide who leads worldwide expeditions for some of the most acclaimed companies in adventure travel. He has guided trips around the world including in Greenland, Antarctica, Africa, and Patagonia, as well as throughout the United States and Canada. Colby currently serves as the Chair of the Polar Tourism Guides Association.
Using his expertise and extensive experience, Colby has written The Professional Guides Handbook – How to lead adventure travel trips and expeditions. This is a great resource for anyone leading others. Colby has also recently launched the Waypoint Guide Academy.
Key Takeaways
How we can better manage difficult people:
Unmet Needs: If you can figure out what needs are not being met and meet them, you can unusually create a situation where they are easier to deal with.
Aligning Expectations Early: This is essential. People tend to get what they expect, so ensuring expectations are known to everyone and are realistic can address a lot of problems before they arise.
Pulling Difficult People in: Gives an opportunity for leaders to build relationships with them. It’s important to remember that people can usually tell when people other people don’t like them. If someone is being difficult and they don’t feel the leader is getting along with them, resolving the conflict becomes that much harder.
Leading with Empathy, Patience and Curiosity: Can help leaders to build healthier relationships with the people they are leading. When people are being difficult it can be very valuable to try to discover why. This can take some empathy, and some detective work.
Guest Bio
Colby Brokvist is a professional guide who leads worldwide expeditions for some of the most acclaimed companies in adventure travel. He was inspired to pursue guiding as a career during a through-hike of the Appalachian Trail in the summer of 2000. Since then, he has led hundreds of adventure travel departures as an Expedition Leader, ranging from backpacking and trekking adventures to mountaineering and rock-climbing trips, sea kayaking and sailing voyages, and wildlife safaris. His work has taken him to destinations as far-flung as Greenland, Antarctica, Africa, and Patagonia, as well as throughout the United States and Canada. His current basecamp is Boulder, Colorado.
When not actively leading trips in the field, Colby assumes a variety of managerial, operational, and consulting roles within the adventure travel sphere. His work centers on developing and facilitating guide training courses and programs as well as trip program consulting and field-based guide team management. Colby also serves on the board of directors for the Polar Tourism Guides Association and is a certified Senior Polar Guide through the same organization.
Guest Links
The Professional Guides Handbook – How to lead adventure travel trips and expeditions - https://www.guideshandbook.com
Waypoint Guide Academy - https://waypoint.mykajabi.com/
Colby Brokvist - https://linktr.ee/colbyoutdoors
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