Anna Keeling's Letter to a Young Ski Guide
Dear Anna, the young ski guide,
You’ll be going this alone. It’s not your fault. It’s just the way the stars aligned. It’s not because you can’t ski well (you can); it’s not because you have no skills in the mountains (you have had a love and an instinct since you were a young child). You just arrived a bit early and heli-skiing is the dominant mode of ski guiding. It’s ok that your intuition (and events) turn you from this path. In the end, you won’t have to pursue this means of ski guiding. Ski touring will come into it’s own and you’ll be surfing the front wave of its popularity.
You’ll not have real mentors but you’ll do the best you can and what you learn, you’ll take forward to assist others on their path.
Sexism will waft around you. There will not always be absolute proof, just a hunch. Being overlooked never meant you weren’t good enough. Forge on anyway. Ask more questions and seek work where you have supervisors who will invest in you. These will be few and far between. Trust yourself and stay nimble.
What you want matters so hold your course. Having sponsors never mattered. Cut the noise of “I should” and listen to your inner guidance. You may be mentor-less but your guardian angels will stay with you. You’ll also be lucky.
You’ll see beautiful wild places and you’ll range far. You’ll develop special relationships in your community of guides and other mountain pros and your amazing client friends. People will tell you they’ve had the best day of their life with you.
There will be great losses but your mountain calling will outweigh this load. Put the Dalai Lama’s Rule for Life on your bathroom door as a code for life. Follow it. Share your knowledge, hard won as it was. Share your love for alpine places.
You can be a force for positive cultural change in your industry. You’ll have to survive to be that. Good luck.
Love from Anna, the older ski guide
Anna Keeling is an IFMGA guide based in Castle Hill Village in Aotearoa/New Zealand. She still considers Utah one of her homes but isn’t there much. She is currently NZMGA president and is inspired by the zest of all the young(er) guides who she gets to work with in both Aotearoa and in the US.
