Stuck in a whiteout at 8,500’, trying to ski Gray Wolf West Couloir in the Mission Range of Montana

Crossing Jackson Glacier as part of my Glaciers of Glacier National Park Storytelling Project!

 

Guiding/Outdoor Experience

I’ve spent my life exploring wild spaces across the world and have been empowering others as a guide since 2011.

As of Fall 2024, I have 250 days of guiding experience.

I currently guide for Andrew Skurka Adventures guiding off-trail high routes across the American West and Alaska.

Here is my technical experience log, which documents all major trips that I’ve been on.

Specifics (as of Fall 2024):

Backpacking since 2000 - 320 total days out, 114 days guiding, 2531 miles traveled.

Highlights include:

  • 7-day off-trail Bailey Traverse in Olympic National Park (personal)

  • 7-day off-trail portion of Skurka's Northern Yosemite High Route (personal)

  • 5- day solo off-trail portion of Skurka's Wind River High Route (personal)

  • offtrail travel to 20+ wilderness glaciers in Glacier National Park as part of my Glaciers of Glacier National Park Storytelling Project (personal)

  • guided a 7-day traverse of Skurka’s Southern Yosemite High Route (2022)

  • guided two 11-days routes and one 7-day offtrail route in Gates of the Arctic National Park for Skurka (2023 & 2024)

  • guided two 5-day and one 7-day trips offtrail backpacking routes in Olympic National Park for Skurka (2023)

  • guided an 11 and 5-day offtrail route in Yellowstone National Park for Skurka (2024)

Whitewater Boating since 2010 - 89 days noncommercial, 80 days guiding, 2147 river miles

Highlights include:

  • guided an 18' raft down the Grand Canyon of the Colorado over 27 days (noncommercial trip)

  • an 84-mile packrafting trip down the Rio Grande, TX

  • a 35-mile packrafting and canyoneering trip down the Escalante River, UT

  • 8 day packrafting trip across Aniakchak National Monument, AK (2024)

Rock Climbing since 2011 - 186 days climbing, 21 days guiding, 646 total pitches climbed

Highlights include:

  • Complete Exum Ridge of Grand Teton - 13 pitch 5.7 in the Tetons

  • Iconoclast - 7 pitch 5.10c in Leavenworth, WA

  • Rattletale - 3 pitch 5.10b in Index, WA

Mountaineering and Backcountry Skiing since 2011 - 223 days out, 35 days guiding, 48 mountaineering trips, 98 bc skiing trips

Highlights include:

  • skiing Mt. Rainier in a day via the Fuhrer Finger

  • climbing Mt. Rainier via Kautz and via Emmons

  • Glacier Peak via Cool/Gerdine Glaciers in two days with a bivy on the summit - a more enjoyable idea in concept than reality

  • Mount Baker via Easton Glacier

  • Traversing the Ptarmigan Traverse on foot in WA (4 day)

  • Skiing the Isolation (4 day), Chiwaukum (2 day), and Enchantments (2 day) Traverses in WA.

Routing a 20 mile bail out of Southern Yosemite National Park with a guided group after wildfire smoke forced us to exit early.

2024 Client Testimonials

  • “Richard is a very caring soul. He really took care of the team including myself. He went above and beyond. Richard also had a wealth of knowledge about the area we were backpacking in which enhanced the experience for me.”

  • “Richard's passion for the landscape is infectious. I especially enjoyed when he read passages of Arctic Dreams to us during breaks, and shared about his storytelling project on glaciers.”

  • “Richard is one of the easiest and most engaging people to talk to and learn from that I have ever spent time with in the backcountry. He was really interested in hearing about my outdoor experiences and goals, telling me about his triumphs and lessons learned in the wilderness, and giving me his thoughts on how to continue pursuing the next big thing; we also shared a lot of moments talking about work and life outside the wilderness and tons of sly looks and laughs over song lyrics and clever wordplay while chewing up trail miles. It seemed like he found me every time I was in need of a smile and I couldn’t have asked for a better leader on this trip.”

  • “His passion for education and client safety was obvious throughout the trip, and especially in how quickly he took control of the situation when one client got injured - giving her space, calming her down, and working with the other clients to get us all safely down the mountain to camp as it started raining.”

  • “He has lots of knowledge and skills, great teacher; I left my fear of grizzlies and wolves behind, it changed to a profound respect for them.”

  • “Richard is a great teacher and advocate for wild spaces. He shared so much knowledge about the animals we could (and did) see and how to respectfully share space with them, gave really valuable insights on layering, gear performance, and campsite selection as we faced challenging wet and cold conditions, and inspired so much appreciation of the environment we got the adventure in. His earnest passion for the outdoors - traveling through it, sharing important stories and perspectives about it, and working to instill a sense of investment in its responsible use and stewardship - is so readily apparent and it’s hard not to see and be in awe of the power and beauty of the wilderness when you experience it with him.”

2023 Client Testimonials

  • “Very in-tune with group pace, could tell how hard to push pace and how to keep pace manageable as a group. Great positive and supportive spirit. Brought much joy, laughter, and fun to our group while still being an encouraging and thoughtful guide who seemed to care genuinely deeply about each of us.”

  • “Richard is extremely knowledgeable about glaciers, flora, river crossings, and backcountry travel, generally. His positive demeanor and boundless energy bolstered the group during periods of incessant rain.”

  • “Not only was Richard knowledgeable and helpful, he really supported each individual in the group throughout the week and put others before himself. He also set great expectations at the start of the trip and helped us process the experience. I think he did a great job of keeping the group positive, even in hard moments and really helped the group appreciate the landscape and opportunity that we had that week.”

  • “Richard helped to create a setting where people felt comfortable sharing and being themselves. Within a day on the trail, everyone was getting along great thanks to the leadership he set.”

  • “His greatest strength IMO is that when people would share something (especially being vulnerable to the group) he was quick to respond and validate that person’s feelings and thoughts, making them feel heard and understood. He is a good listener and natural leader.”

2022 Client Testimonials

  • "Richard had a broad knowledge of nature and backcountry skills. He's so articulate and patient with teaching, as well as truly curious about so many things. He's also super skillful on rocks, holy crap."

  • "Great communication and decision-making. Also took excellent pictures!"

  • "He's very skilled in reading terrain and selecting good routes up and over passes, strong physically, knowledgeable on the scientific side in geology, plants, history, maps, etc. He is also very personable and able to relate to clients' needs."

  • "Mary (lead guide) and he did a great job asking what our goals were and making good efforts so that we all had opportunities to work at those goals."

Off-trail travel on the Trident Plateau in Yellowstone National Park, “the most remote place in the lower 48.”