Adventure guide insights: Mark Allen
Chatting with Mountain Bureau founder | Part 3
Mark Allen | Mountain Bureau | Part 3
As part of our guide insights series we spoke with AMGA/IFMGA-certified guide Mark Allen of the Mountain Bureau, a leading global guide service with adventures in Washington, Alaska, the desert SW, Western Canada, Western Europe, and Lofoten, Norway. Mark's deep experience includes climbing , skiing, and guiding with over 200 summits of Cascade Volcanoes, hundreds of classic American and Canadian alpine summits, a wide spectrum of ascents in the European Alps. He has spent a lifetime on backcountry touring skis and has a wealth of information to share with clients of all skill levels. This is part one of the conversation and covers some pro tips on exporting a ski tour plan to a map that's usable in the field.
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This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
"After you've sorted out your plan, you want to review it in context of the conditions. For example, with bluebird conditions and high freezing levels, a steep south-facing backside bowl probably isn't a good idea - or really any terrain on south aspects. The good snow is likely to be in the trees and shade.
The last thing you want to do after your plan is set and your bag and lunch are packed is check the weather station listings. Since you're near a ski area, you should definitely check their telemetry. I particularly like telemetry because I can spot overnight wind events that NWAC hasn't caught yet. These are critical when speeds exceed 10-20 miles per hour, though we haven't seen anything like that today. The last major wind event was Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. This is a really useful graph to check - I'll either read it in the car, review it in the parking lot, or take a screenshot so I don't miss any critical values that might contradict the forecast.
Make sure both groups have a map and understand the avalanche problems and hazards. Also, ensure everyone has spent at least 15 minutes practicing with their transceivers this season. I learn a lot about my partners when I ask them to switch to search mode - you can tell their level of preparedness, or lack thereof, in about five seconds."
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