Climb every mountain

CS outdoor rock stars

climb

every mountain alumni among the world’s top mountain guides

Men who climb mountains can be deceptively casual about what they do. Most people, especially those who did not benefit from a Community School education, find the idea of hanging off of a sheer cliff face intimidating. But for three Community School alumni, boldly going where no one has gone before is all part of a day’s work.

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photography: Will Wissman

BY KATE WUTZ

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If you’re going to work as a guide, you shouldn’t be able to just hang up a sign.

erik

”

Erik Leidecker ’90, Marc Hanselman ’92, and Geoff Unger ’97 are three of only 92 American mountain guides accredited by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations, an organization that enforces a stringent standard across the globe. Though accreditation is not required to guide in the United States, all mountain guides in Europe must complete the course.

All three of the men were active in Community School’s Outdoor Program, meaning they had hiked, rafted, and climbed their way across diverse Western terrain before they had turned 18. Marc said the Outdoor Program was a huge part of why he wanted to come to Community School, and Geoff said the program literally changed his life.

“Moving from Seattle and starting at Community School in 1994 gave me an exposure to the outdoors that I wouldn’t have had otherwise,” he said. “I am sure that this played a role in me becoming a guide.”

But becoming a guide and becoming an IFMGA certified guide are two different beasts. After looking at the list of IFMGA requirements, it’s hard to imagine anyone would want to do this if they didn’t have to. The association requires training for 80 days over three to five years in three different disciplines: rock climbing, alpine climbing, and ski mountaineering. Exams last from six to 10 full days in the field — days Marc said were excruciating, both physically and mentally. “It was the most stressful time of my life, those exams,” he said, laughing.

Erik, co-owner of Stanley-based Sawtooth Mountain Guides and member of the Eddie Bauer First Ascent guide team, was the first to start the long road to accreditation, challenging the rock climbing exam in 2002. “Challenging” an exam meant Erik took the six-day test without the benefit of a preparatory course, an option that is no longer offered. Marc actually accompanied him on this exam, which Erik said he failed spectacularly.

“Rebounding from that was challenging for sure,” he said. “But I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t want to have to live with that.”

Erik said he chose the option to challenge because he had been guiding for 10 years and figured he could handle it.

But following his “spectacular” failure, he discovered that his guiding education had not been as formal or as nuanced as it could have been.

“I’d been guiding for 10 years and I was missing all of this knowledge,” he explained. “I became more and more convinced that a minimum standard [for guiding] was desirable. If you’re going to work as a guide, you shouldn’t be able to just hang up a sign. That skill set, and the guide’s application of that skill set, need to be assessed.”

Erik worked for six more years to gain his certification.

Erik looks for a line from the top of a peak in the Sawtooth Mountains.

co m m u n it ys ch o o l.o r g

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You should be certified.

You have people’s lives in your hands.

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Geoff climbs the Mittelegi Ridge on the Eiger in Switzerland. Like all IFMGA-certified guides, Geoff is certified in rock climbing, alpine climbing, and ski mountaineering, allowing him to guide in almost any terrain.

Though he could have been certified as either a rock climbing, ski mountaineering, or alpine climbing guide by the American Mountain Guide Association — the organization that conducts training and accreditation in the United States — he chose to get all three certifications, thereby earning certification from the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association, which requires all three.

Marc’s path toward accreditation was more winding. The current Sawtooth Mountain Guides and Sun Valley Heliski employee said he discovered climbing while attending Community School, but only got the chance to truly immerse himself while attending

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University of Colorado at Boulder. After his freshman year, he took a job rock guiding with Sawtooth Mountain Guides.

“I was so hooked on climbing, I didn’t even know what guiding was,” he said. “I just knew I wanted to climb.”

Marc continued to guide between living out of a Volkswagen bus in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, climbing in Indonesia and Thailand He eventually moved to San Francisco and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute. Marc then taught English in Japan for two years, but always returned to guiding. After returning to the States in 2002, he decided to make a career

photography: COURTESY OF GEOFF UNGER

photography: hillary maybery / christina carlson

geoff

CS outdoor rock stars

marc

“ photography: COURTESY OF MARC HANSELMAN

People wonder when you’re going to get a real job.

This certification is a way to legitimize it.

Marc has guided all over the world, including in Rjukan, Norway.

teaching people to navigate tricky terrain.

“I thought, I can teach something I am passionate about, instead of something from a book,” he said.

Marc began the process of certification in 2004. Though certification is not required, he said he felt as though the guiding industry was becoming more standardized.

“People wonder when you’re going to get a real job,” he said, laughing. “This certification is a way to legitimize it.”

Marc started with rock climbing, but an injury prevented him from completing his exam on time. In the meantime, he started ski mountaineering and was able to get certified

in that as well. He completed the hat trick by getting certified in alpine climbing.

Despite his skills, Marc said he never felt more than “average” in the first course he took, his rock climbing class.

“It was definitely a challenge,” he said. “But I was inspired by those who were better. It never occurred to me to give up.”

Geoff followed in his classmates’ footsteps in 2005. Like Marc and Erik, he’d been guiding for years, mostly through Utah-based Moab Cliffs and Canyons and Washington-based Mountain Madness. Both companies gave him the chance to develop the hands-on experience and communication skills essential for guiding.

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“Taking people out for the first time and coaching them through a difficult move or getting them over their hesitation, that’s something that takes a while to cultivate,” he said, adding that he was already “very comfortable” in challenging terrain.

Still, he decided he wanted more formal guide training. Like Marc and Erik, Geoff felt that guides should have some type of formal, standardized certification.

“If you are going to approach something and be professional, to be the best guide — or carpenter, or doctor — that you can be, you are going to take the time and energy to get trained,” he said. “In my opinion, you co m m u n it ys ch o o l.o r g

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CS alumni make

First Ascents

BY RYAN WATERFIELD

Reggie Crist

Zach Crist

Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent Team is an elite group of 23 guides and athletes who develop the company’s newest high-performance expedition gear. Since Community School alumni have trekked for countless hours and miles in the backcountry by the time they graduate, it’s no wonder that four members of this team are Cutthroats.

Brothers Reggie Crist ’87 and Zach Crist ’91 are joined by Erick Leidecker ’90 and Lexi duPont ’07 to help Eddie Bauer’s designers create high-caliber outdoor gear and clothing. After the design phase, the team puts the gear and apparel to the ultimate test in the field before giving it a stamp of approval.

Reggie spent 10 years as a member of the U.S. Ski Team and made three Warren Miller film appearances, as well as working for 12 years as a heliski guide in Haines, Alaska. Reggie said he credits his parents for instilling in him a love of adventure.

“Dad went to Stanford and then joined a law practice with his father and brother,” he said. “But then he and my mom decided to move to Sun Valley, and our lives became anything but conventional.”

Zach spent seven years as a member of the U.S. Ski

Erik Leidecker

Lexi duPont

Team and won an X Games Ski Cross gold medal in 2001. He turned down Dartmouth after graduating from Community School to pursue skiing on the U.S. team.

“It was a risk,” he said. “Becoming a professional skier and generating any lucrative income is always a long shot. But the life I’ve enjoyed since that time has justified any sacrifice.”

Erik is the co-owner of Sawtooth Mountain Guides, based in Stanley, Idaho. Despite the incredible places he’s seen, he said what inspires him most are his two daughters.

“When my youngest daughter learned to ride a bike, I learned to ride a unicycle,” he said. “I watch their energy, their youth, and their enthusiasm and I let it rub off on me.”

Lexi currently competes in the Free Skiing World Tour and is a recent graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She was born to ski; her mother, Holly duPont, was the first woman in the world to do a backflip on skis.

“My mom is my inspiration,” she said.

Community School parent Ed Viesturs is also a member of the First Ascent guide team.

Photography: Will Wissman (Erik); courtesy of eddie bauer (Zach,Reggie & Lexi)

should be certified. You have people’s lives in your hands.”

Geoff said that unlike Erik and Marc, he hadn’t been guiding so long that he had a set way of doing things. Like the other two, he relished the challenge, both mental and physical.

“I have always thought of guide training as my master’s degree in guiding,” he said.

“There are obviously physical difficulties associated with it. You have to think on your feet and be adaptable and experienced enough to find the right way to go, to use the right technique, or to set the right belay.

It’s an interesting and dynamic process.”

As on any wilderness adventure, making those decisions means dealing with the fallout. Community School’s Outdoor Program helped enforce the importance of consequences for Marc, who said he learned a lot about life.

“I call it ‘Camp Consequence,’” he said, laughing. “If you lose all of your fuel for your stove because you spilled it, you’re going to be eating rough. If you lose something, it’s gone. They’re not just escapes, these trips.”

School trips also gave the men exposure to the outdoors that they might not have otherwise had. Geoff moved to the Wood River Valley from Seattle, and said the Outdoor Program definitely played a role in his desire to become a guide.

Marc added that the Outdoor Program was “huge” for him, at least in his desire to join the school.

“I feel like I want to try to give back to the school,” he said. “I’m psyched to work with kids.”

Geoff has moved to Chamonix, France, while Erik and Marc remain close to home.

Both Erik and Marc have deep connections to the Valley, and Erik said it’s hard for him to imagine living anywhere else. He’s travelled across the globe to ski and explore, and said the amount of “uncrowded wilderness” in Idaho is almost unparalleled.

“There are lots of places with better snow and bigger mountains,” he said. “But our mountains are still spectacular. Every time I come home, I’m just blown away by them.”