Honoring the Sacred in Nature and Ourselves

I have lived a life of extremes, chasing summits, courting risk, and testing my limits in every way I could. For years, I searched outside myself for meaning; in mountains, in accomplishments, in media coverage. I became the first person to snowboard on all Seven Summits, guided countless others, and appeared in films, magazines, and headlines across the world.

No matter how much I achieved, it was never enough. Every summit was followed by the same quiet ache, the attention felt hollow, and the validation was fleeting. I kept trying to fill an inner void, one that no external success could ever satisfy. What looked like adventure on the outside was, at times, a desperate quest to feel whole. I didn’t know it then, but I was chasing something that couldn’t be found at the top of any mountain. That kind of peace, that type of belonging, does not come from applause or altitude. What I have realized is that it comes from stillness, from beginning close in, from allowing life as it is rather than grasping for what it is not. It comes from the quiet presence that has always been within me, and that lives, too, within each of us.

For over two decades I was a professional mountain guide and a pioneer in snowboard mountaineering, having coined the very term. I made the first snowboard descents of all the major Teton peaks, more than 50 first descents worldwide, and established bold new routes on Denali and Cerro Torre in Patagonia. I helped usher in a new era of modern sponsorship by building a career through following my passion, climbing mountains, and riding them down.

But it was a broken back, an avalanche, and a long night alone in the Tetons that brought me to something deeper. That night, under the stars, breath shallow, body broken, I experienced a profound presence that changed everything. Since then, I have slowly shifted from external conquest to internal reverence. I have connected my broad experience of professional mountain guiding with my own personal growth to forge the discernment and vision I now bring into coaching; guiding people through fear and limitation toward their highest potential.

I live in the mountains of Southwest Colorado, where my life is as much about family and simple joy as it is about service and teaching. I am a father of four, and some of my happiest moments are the ordinary ones: sipping coffee at sunrise, sitting by a campfire making s’mores with my kids, or sharing the trail on bikes, skis, snowboards, and rock climbs. My athletic life now is less about conquest and more about connection. Playing with my children, strength through movement, and reverence for the natural world have been my greatest teachers.

Animals have always been in my life and today, my dog, Gunther, and cat, India, are my daily reminder of loyalty, playfulness, and presence. Additionally, I love dirt biking through mountain backroads, rock climbing crags with friends, playing disc golf, and enjoying quiet mornings by the river. These rhythms root me far more deeply than the fleeting applause of summits once did.

Sacred Wild Fellowship is the offering born of that shift. A place where wildness is worship, where we gather to remember who we are, and where adventure becomes a sacred path to healing, truth, and love.