Guides & Staff
Powder skiing brings out the best in people.
As our guests will agree, it is not just the skiing that brings them back year after year - it's the people too. At Monashee Powder Snowcats, the staff and guests are all here for the same reasons: they love to ski and board, share a story or two, and make new friends along the way.
While our atmosphere is casual, we pride ourselves on our professionalism. Our chefs create nutritious and delicious meals and the lodge staff ensures that during your stay, you want for nothing. We pay close attention to all aspects of safety: our lead guides have ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guides) certifications, first aid training, Level 1 and 2 avalanche forecasting and ski instructor qualifications.
All our staff, along with your hosts, Tom and Carolyn Morgan, welcome you and it is our desire to make your trip to MPS your best skiing adventure ever.
CHIEF GUIDES:
Co-Chief Guide: Karl Klassen
Karl is returning for his seventh season at MPS this year. His career includes ski touring, ski mountaineering and heliskiing in New Zealand, Europe and the US. His many years working in the mountains of western Canada include six seasons with CMH and pioneering a new heliskiing operation in the North Rockies. In addition to guiding, Karl works as the chief avalanche forecaster for the Canadian Avalanche Centre in the winter. He is a fully qualified Mountain Guide, certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and a member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA).
In 2004 he moved from Calgary to Revelstoke, where he lives with his wife and son. Karl has completed the building of his house with geothermal heating and is now an "expert" in green energy construction.
Co-Chief Guide: Mark Stanley
Mark is a fully certified ACMG ski guide, holds a Level 2 in Avalanche Safety and is an Emergency Medical Responder. He has worked at CMH Gothics, Great Canadian Heliskiing, Retallack's Snowcat skiing and TLH Heliskiing, as well as working as a lead guide for ski touring in various mountain lodges in BC and Alberta.
Mark is now residing in Vernon with his wife and two daughters. He has been part of our team for eight seasons, and we welcome Mark back as our co-chief guide this year, alternating with Karl Klassen.
GUIDES:
Guide: Joe Ronan
Joe is working towards his Full Ski guide and he has been working at Monashee Powder for eight years. He holds a Level 2 in Avalanche Safety and has over ten years of backcountry ski guiding experience. He has worked as a lead guide for ski touring in various mountain lodges in BC and Alberta. Joe passed his Assistant Guide exams and is also a Journeyman Electrician. Favourite game: Eucre!!
Joe resides in Revelstoke, BC with his wife and two daughters.
Guide: Ken Bibby
Ken is returning to Monashee Powder after an epic snow year and he knows the terrain really well as we skied all of it last winter! Ken is also a curriculum specialist for the level 1 Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) Industry Training program. He is an ACMG Ski Guide and CAA/CAC professional member and member of the Board of Directors of both associations. Ken has been guiding for 11 years and brings great knowledge and skill to our guiding program. Ken has settled with his wife and three boys in Revelstoke after guiding in the north-central and southeast quadrants of BC’s ski areas. In the off season, Ken has developed his skills as a concrete artisan.
TAIL GUIDES:
Tail Guide: John Dutton
John is originally from Vancouver Island, and since graduating from Royal Roads University in Victoria he has lived all over the mountainous regions of BC, Alberta and New Zealand raft guiding, whitewater kayaking and skiing. John has recently been accepted into the ACMG Assistant Ski Guide program, and he will be doing training courses this winter to become a lead guide. In the summer months John runs his own rafting company in his current home of Nelson, BC. We had a great adventure with John on the Salmo River in June, so look him up if you are ever in Nelson. Check out www.nelsonwhitewaterrafting.com.
Tail Guide: Todd "Dill" Madill
Dill is having the adventure of a lifetime! He now has two young children with his Swiss Miss partner, Franzi. Dill continues to work on his guiding career when he’s not working at our lodge. He has one of the best radio voices we’ve ever heard and we always know who the smooth talker is on the radio when reporting his location. Dill passed his Assistant Guide exam in 2010 and works for us as a lead guide when needed.
Tail Guide: Scott Patterson
Scott has his Level 2 avalanche course and attended the 2 year diploma course Ski Resort Operations and Management. Scott also is our onsite web guy who helps to keep the computers running but he'd rather be skiing or riding his snowmobile (once he gets it repaired and unstuck from whichever tree well has jumped in his path!) Scott is also a Journeyman Pipefitter/Steamfitter and finds it helps to pay to keep his sled running! He is also an avid fly-fisherman and loves finding great secret spots to dangle his hook – Scott caught the big one last summer - you'll have to ask him about it.
Tail Guide: Mark Corbett
Mark is returning as a tail guide for his fourth year. Mark has spent the last five years seasonally working in B.C. as a forest fire fighter during which time he obtained a BA in International Relations. His parents are probably wondering when he's going to get a "real job" - but likely realize that after 27 years of skiing, it may be hard to stop now. He recently travelled to Nepal, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica. His firefighting has taken him to Alaska and other exciting venues. Mark is also a keen ski touring, adventure-seeking fellow with many interesting trips on his touring resume. Mark is also working on his ACMG Assistant guide certification this winter.
Tail Guide: Simon "Russell" Thomson
Simon is returning for his second season as a tail guide from Whistler, BC. After graduating from University in Montreal, Simon (also known as Russell/Rusty at the lodge) decided to explore as much skiing as he could in eastern North America. He explored the Chic-Choc Mountains of Quebec, the Blomindon Mountains of Newfoundland and skied all over the North Eastern US. The travelling bug and lure of the mountains sent Simon to places like Jackson Hole, South America, Kashmir, India and Whistler, BC. He now calls Whistler home and has been a volunteer Ski Patroller on Blackcomb Mountain for four years. He has a level 1 Avalanche ticket and is working on his level 2 as well as working on being accepted into the ACMG Assistant Ski Guide Program.
Tail Guide: Michael Madden
Mike comes to us from the beautiful township of Wanaka, New Zealand. Mike is a passionate mountaineer, rock climber, backcountry skier, and professional mountain guide. He has climbed and skied extensively throughout the high mountains of New Zealand's Southern Alps. Mike is also a keen sailor and survived a huge adventure while sailing his yacht, Kairangi, at the height of a storm. He sailed single-handed while attempting to circumnavigate the North Island of New Zealand. Mike has climbed and guided on two of the Seven Summits; Denali and Carstenz Pyramid, as well as various peaks in the Himalayas including Cho Oyu.
Tail Guide: JF Bernier
JF first came to us five years ago to visit a staff member and has come back every winter since. He started out as our Lodge Hand and quickly gained his qualifications to Tail Guide. JF has a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in Political Science and minor in Spanish Literature. JF is also a hardy tree planter having worked in BC for ten seasons. Other hobbies and interests of JF's include rock climbing, making apple cider and being involved in a co-operative, organic micro brewery on the shore of the Saguenay Fjord in Quebec.
Tail Guide: Peter Alexander Wainwright
With a name like that, one may mistake him for royalty but in reality he started with MSP last season as 'Practicum Pete'! The hard work and great skill set he had to offer has paid off. 'Permanent Pete' is excited to be returning this season as a full on tail guide! Being from the UK, Peter found himself studying at Bristol University where he completed a degree in Engineering. That clearly not being his passion, he made his way over to Whistler, BC where he spends his time enjoying the outdoors and taking in all it has to offer. When Pete's not on his skis you can find him, hiking, climbing, paddling and wearing old man’s beard whenever possible! Give Pete a couple more years and you may find him signing off as 'Pilot Pete'!
MECHANIC:
Head Mechanic: Gary Morgan
Gary is Carolyn and Tom's son and is a journeyman automotive mechanic from Calgary. He has run away from city life to join them in the mountains again this season as a tail guide and relief mechanic. Gary has returned from the dark side to take up skiing again! Gary is now tailguiding and doing shifts as the relief mechanic. This is probably a dream job for any mechanical snowboarder/skier. Gary spent the spring working on the snowcats and enjoying the snowmobiling once the work day was done.
KITCHEN STAFF:
Chef/Baker: Tommy Veillette
Chef Tommy took his cooking skills from Ottawa to the Chateau Lake Louise where he worked for four years. In the summer months, Tommy was employed at the Banff Springs Hotel as a dining room chef. For the summer of 2009, Tommy worked at a beautiful fishing lodge in the Great Bear Rainforest called King Pacific Lodge near the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Guai). In 2010 he spent the summer in the Yukon at a remote fly-in fishing camp. Last summer he was back in Haida Guai at another fishing lodge.
Chef: David Simenoff
Dave studied Culinary Arts for his Red Seal certification at Okangan College. He hails from Penticton where he has been the Sous Chef at Naramata Heritage Inn for the past six years. Aside from cooking, Dave enjoys snowmobiling, downhill mountain biking and cruising on his street bike.
Baker: Fiona Abraham
Our baker, Fiona, has been with us for eight seasons and continues to entice us all with her treats and home-made breads. An avid rock climber and skier, she too gains inspiration from her days on the skis. This summer she's been climbing in the US and then took off to Greece and Spain for more climbing.
LODGE / HOUSEKEEPING:
Bartender: Nicole Thorpe
Nicole has a BA degree focusing on Communications, Public Relations, Journalism and Advertising. However, she is currently working on a nine year program of snowboard fanatic and traveling the world. She spends the sunny months of the year as a dive master, teaching SCUBA in exotic lands. In 2011 Nicole started climbing too, but her real passion is still diving. She's been taking groups through the Ceynotes in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. In the summer of 2011, Nicole worked and dove in Mexico, she then came back to Canada to work on Vancouver Island at a diving business. She tells us the cold Pacific waters are home to an amazing variety of plant and animal life. After a fall trip to Turkey for some sight-seeing and climbing, Nicole is back to work for Monashee Powder.
Bartender/Housekeeper: Kate Cruickshank
Kate also comes to us from Oz, and we think we'll keep her. Her infectious laugh and smiling attitude (even when she's not feeling her best after bartending into the wee hours and doing the dishes at 7am) has made her a great addition to our lodge staff. She has extensive experience in hospitality and tourism in Australia, Austria and Canada. A former tourguide in the Australian Outback, Kate has lots of interesting stories! She grew up on the ski hills of Australia (weird, I know) and she's now crazy about Monashee Powder so she came back to us again this year. After last season Kate was on the move spending two months in the US, two months in Australia and then two months travelling in Africa before heading back to Canada for another winter.
Housekeeper/Welder: Bobbie McCulloch
Bobbie is returning for her second season with us as full-time housekeeper to look after the Guest Chalet. She is trained as a welder and her skills have come in handy this year! Her no-nonsense attitude and strong work ethic have allowed to to slip right into the Monashee Family quite easily. Bobbie spends her spring and summer in northern Alberta or BC working in the oilfield with her boyfriend, (and our tail guide) Scott. It looks like Bobbie got more than her inspection ticket this summer - check out her left hand. There's going to be a wedding at the lodge in April!
Lodge Hand: Paul Van Vleit
This is Paul's second season at Monashee Powder Snowcats. He takes care of many duties in and around the lodge. In the evening you'll likely see him keeping things tidy in the kitchen. Paul is an avid back-country snowboarder who enjoys working as a tree planter in the summer months and as a winemaker's assistant during harvest at Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery near Oliver, BC.
Administration Assistant/ Snowcat Driver: Cara Brock
Cara has returned to MPS after two years of rock climbing and exploring in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. The kiwi snow just didn't cut it so she's back for more of the Monashee Pow. Cara works as the office assistant and does just about anything else around the lodge when needed. When the snow melts she heads back to Canmore, Alberta to play in the Rocky Mountains.
MASSAGE:
Massage Therapist: Marta Hanrahan
Marta is Registered Masssage Therapist who enjoys working with us because she LOVES to board. She returned home to Ottawa for the off season where she runs her own clinic but she's back for the winter again this year. Marta completed the three year massage program in Ontario.
Massage Therapist: Danielle Holt
Danielle is a Registered Massage Therapist originally from Alberta where she completed the 2200 hour massage therapy program. Danielle made her way to BC to experience everything it has to offer. Being quite athletic, Danielle fills her off season months with activities of all kinds including adventure racing, rock climbing, hiking, and biking to name just a few!
ROAD BUILDER:
Road Builder: Murray Teele
Murray has honed his snowcat road building skills for the last eight years with Monashee Powder after working for Silver Star Ski Resort for a number of years. He is in the snowcat building or maintaining roads every day and has mastered the art of making corners smooth and easy for the snowcats to climb. His off-season usually consists of operating heavy equipment, tree planting or “brushing” the young re-planted forests.
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Photographer: Colleen Gentemann
Colleen is returning to us for her second season and delights in showing off the best of our terrain and athletic guests' ski abilities. Colleen has an amazing eye for photos and we have her to thank for our extensive photo gallery. After a day with the group, Colleen puts together a slideshow (to great music) for the guests and staff to view and purchase.
Be sure to check out all the cool projects Colleen has on the go! www.colleengphotography.com
MPS Guide Staff 2010
(2012 guides are listed above)
Back row left to right:
Todd Madill - Tail Guide
Scott Patterson - Tail Guide
Alex Baechler - Tail Guide
Front row left to right:
Joe Ronan - Guide
John Dutton - Tail Guide
Fridjon Thorliefsson – Guide
Karl Klassen - Co-Chief Guide
James Preuss - Tail Guide
Gary Morgan - Tail Guide/Mechanic
Mark Corbett - Tail Guide
Christy Long - Tail Guide
Dave Healey - Tail Guide