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Featured Alaska Heli Skiing Guide Lel Tone
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Featured Alaska Heli Skiing Guide Lel Tone
April 1, 2014
Tordrillo Mountain Lodge Featured
Alaska Heli Skiing
Guide Lel Tone
Stats:
Explosive charges thrown in Ski Patrolling career: 6,500 or 13,000 lbs. of explosives.
Days guiding heli skiing: 15 years, 50-80 days per season, and a total of 700 to 1,120 days. This translates to an unaccountable amount of powder turns!
Days in the year Lel has worked in ski boots: Average 150 days a season, 2,550 days in professional career.
Three random facts you didn’t know about Lel Tone:
I once got three speeding tickets in one day in theee different states. I have a bit of a lead foot and am a big fan of the throttle.
I can’t live without hugs. Good hugs and a good handshake are really important things to do well.
It might be crazy but I don’t care for
foie gras
. Just don’t like it.
Why you do what you do:
To make a living in the mountains is to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. We are reminded every day of how fragile and precious our lives really are. You try to make safe decisions, try to calculate and manage your risk, stack your odds, but ultimately it is always on the mountains terms. But, I find, it is in the risk and the uncertainty that we find our greatest joys in life.
The greatest thing I learned in my 8
th
grade Latin class was ‘Carpe Diem,’ to ‘seize the day.’ It is a small concise phrase that has had a tremendous effect on my life. It reminds me every day to appreciate every moment we have on this amazing planet, to make every precious second count. I see this most clearly when I am spending time in the mountains. It is what has motivated me to find a way to live, work and play in them. I feel so fortunate to have a job that allows me to share that joy, that appreciation, that time in the mountains with other people.
Work hard, play hard, be a good listener, don’t ask stupid questions, be the first one to step forward to do even the least sought after tasks, help your co-workers out whenever you can. Have an “I got your back” type of mentality. Strive to be bigger, better, faster stronger. Have a thick skin and never take yourself too seriously (I’m still working on that one). Have a good work ethic. Be good at what you do. Strive to a high level of technical proficiency! But doesn’t this hold true for everyone, male or female?
You have a profound respect and appreciation for the mountains, how did this originate?
As a child growing up in Switzerland, the mountains, always present, majestic and near, always around me, made me feel “at home.”
As I’ve grow and changed over the course of my life, they have taken on different meanings for me. They are a place devoid of judgment, they are a place of solitude and beauty, they are a place to push yourself and your limits. They allow me to just
be
in the moment, to see my life for the gift and miracle that it is. More recently the mountains have been a place that I can learn from and help teach others about. They will never stop being an inspiration to me.
What do you like so much about the Tordrillo Mountains?
I love the Tordrillos for their remoteness. To be so far off the road system in Alaska is a great thing. I also love the diversity of our terrain here, each zone from Spring Creek, to Couloir Town, to The Pinot down to the Capps have such a distinct and different feel.
What’s the most important thing to remember when in the mountains?
Humility. Mother Nature calls all the shots. Period. The mountains don’t care about your goals, your agenda, and your ego. We must be prepared, be smart, try to make sound decisions and be ready when the timing is right and the mountains allow us to do what we desire.
What’s the biggest rush you get from guiding?
Flying in the helicopter with our pilot, Glen. For all of you out there that have flown with Glen, you know what I mean. That man loves to fly and loves his work, and it shows in his flying.
If you weren’t a heli ski guide, what other career can you envision yourself having?
