Interview with heliski guide Jeff Van Driel

A couple of weeks ago, we profiled our long time guide and Assistant Director of Operations Cliff Umpleby. This week we spoke to one of our newly recruited heliski guides Jeff Van Driel about his entrance into the guiding world eight years ago, what he’s looking forward to this winter at Last Frontier heliskiing and why he chose to settle in Pemberton, B.C.

 Vince Shuley: What made you want to become a ski guide?
Jeff Van Driel: It was just from the love of being in the backcountry. Taking people out to experience something they may not have experienced before is really rewarding. Also getting paid to ski fresh powder was a big attraction.

VS: Is heliski guiding considered the pinnacle of backcountry skiing?
JVD: I don’t think so. My initial impression (as a guide) was that heliskiing would be the pinnacle of ski guiding, but I’ve since realized that there’s a lot of parts to it. Heliskiing is just one of those parts and it’s a lot of fun. It also allows for many runs in a day, and easy access to remote descents that would be very hard to access otherwise.

VS: Do you balance your guide work with self propelled ski guiding as well?
JVD: Yes. I do a mixture of ski touring and ski mountaineering as well as heliskiing. It’s great being able to mix up of activities over the course of the winter.

VS: What’s the most exciting thing about working at Last Frontier heliskiing this winter?
JVD: There’s two things. One is the terrain. It’s a huge tenure but the mountains are also quite big. The other thing is that after my week of training I saw how solid of a crew that I’m going to be working with. Everyone there seems really knowledgeable and experienced and it had a really family feel. Everyone old and new seemed to appreciate each other and it was good vibe right off the bat.

VS: What made you choose Pemberton as a place to live and raise your family?
JVD: For one, it’s part of the Sea to Sky Corridor which is an awesome area for recreation. I particularly like Pemberton because it’s that much closer to the Duffey Lake Road, which I find to be exceptional for ski touring and summer recreational activities. Pemberton is also a lot more affordable than Whistler and it’s a quiet farming community, similar to what my wife and I grew up in.

VS: Where did you get the nickname “Van Groovy?”
JVD: That was a moniker given to me by my friends and colleagues at Canadian Wilderness Adventures back in the early 2000s. It usually went with the phrase “the boy’s got rhythm.”

Interested in getting to know the rest of our guiding team? Check out their profiles here.