The Life of a Guide Part 2.

Last week we looked at the so called “off season” for Last Frontier Heliskiing’s Leadguide and Operations Manager, Michael Brackenhofer and lets be honest, fishing the Skeena River in Northern BC, looked pretty amazing. This week we are looking at Last Frontier Heliskiing guide, Colin Moorhead’s summers.

Colin, like Michael, spends his winters skiing day after day in the world’s single largest heli skiing tenure, but instead of fishing for Salmon and Trout, Colin spends his summers as a rock climbing guide in another beautiful part of the province, Squamish BC.

Jane Emerick: Hi Colin, you get to guide in the world’s largest heli-skiing tenure, what do you love about doing that and what do you love about guiding in general?

Colin Moorhead: Well, guiding fit well into my childhood vision of dream careers, which were becoming astronaut or knight. My grade school councillor advised me that becoming an astronaut was unlikely and that the world didn’t need knights anymore.

Mountain guide seemed like a great alternative career.

JE: That’s hilarious. How long have you been guiding? and How did you get into it?

CM: My dad got me into mountaineering and skiing at a young age, introducing me to my life’s passion. Entering the Canadian guiding program seemed like the natural thing to do. I have been guiding since 1999 and at Last Frontier Heliskiing since 2007.

JE: Awesome and specifically what do you like about Last Frontier Heliskiing?

CM: The massive and remote operating area; I am still skiing new lines and new runs every season. There are more than several lifetimes worth of ski terrain up here.

JE: How else would you describe the experience up there?

CM: Last Frontier Heliskiing is a large operation,  but at the same time it is a small company and I get to work closely with the whole team. It feels like a family and I think our guests feel this as well.

JE: What do you do in the summer?

CM: I own and operate a rock climbing guiding service in Squamish BC, called Squamish Rock Guides. Squamish is a world class rock climbing destination.

JE: How does running this business make your summers as great as your winters?

CM: Rock climbing is the perfect complement to powder skiing and showing people my home area or introducing new comers to this sport is a very satisfying way to earn a living.

JE: What are the similarities between your two lines of work?

CM: The mountains. The mountains have a great way of lending perspective to our busy lives. I have never regretted a single minute spent climbing or skiing. When I look back on my life so far I think about great days in the hills not the days spent in the office or working around home.