Backcountry Skiing in the United States

Jim was fantastic - expert, engaging, instructional and safe. We had a great day backcountry skiing in the Tahoe wilderness.

We all had a great day out with Willi. He found us some great snow to ski. And even with a few technical issues, he worked round it with ease. He shared alot of knowledge with us all, so we all had a great powder day. We would highly recommend this trip. Tom

My guide Joseph was exceptional. His combination of local knowledge, avalanche expertise, trip/route planning, photography, and his fun, positive attitude made for an unforgettable experience. I’ll be back 100% !

Willie Benegas was a superb guide for our first BC ski adventure in the Wasatch. Friendly and highly competent, he accurately assessed the conditions and our ability, and planned a trip that was both challenging and fun. Highly recommended!

Jim is an excellent guide with extensive experience in just about everything having to do with the outdoors. I highly recommend this experience!

Very friendly and knowledgeable. Assesses skiers experience and capabilities and adjusts accordingly. Likes to teach and has colorful commentary which makes it easier to learn.

This was an amazing trip and overall super positive experience with SWS Mountain Guides. I had a great guide with lots of mountain experience and many cool stories to share!

Since Explore-Share has asked three times, here goes. We had a quite mixed experience with Matt and BCA at Rogers Pass this early March. The day 1 avalanche search and rescue instruction was thorough and one of the best I have taken. The guiding showed the benefit of having local knowledge. These guides did not have it. They were working in significant part from the Rogers Pass guidebook, which provides quite vague and brief descriptions of potential routes. After seeing the strengths and weaknesses of the team on day 1, on day 2 the guides nevertheless took us uphill in a nasty skintrack steeply up through tight trees for 500+ meters and lasting 4+ hours due to the terrain and group speed. Despite lack of local knowledge, understanding the map and in the first 5 minutes it was clear that this would be an epic and excessively difficult climb for the group. They continued up. Then, from an ~8:30 start, by 1:20 there had only been one food/water break taken / called or suggested. While our 2nd group was awaiting the first group to move forward, when I suggested we were overdue to take in some fuel, guide Matt said, “no please wait, we will break out of the trees soon.” (This proved to be >20 minutes away) after I stated the obvious need and that our group were going to take a break, we had taken a quick bite and re-caught the group in front of us, as I’d predicted. Inadequate group energy management by this guide. I saw no or nearly no skin track corners improvement by the guides, including many challenging ones that the guides blew though. Improving them evidently is standard by BC (British Columbia in this case) guides from my 11 previous ski touring days in the area. Nearly zero efforts to improve corners were observed in this case, despite the day 2 quite rugged skintrack steeply up in tight trees and several beginner kick turning skier or soft-booted splitboarders struggling with the line. (Including sliding backwards / downhill from one switchback to the next) Good instruction by the guides on how to make kick turns, but many of the turns were objectively much more challenging than they needed to be given no improvement made. At least one team member was so (unnecessarily had we had better route selection) gripped and depleted from the climb up that he skied well below his ability on the down. Our group had good trips on the 3rd and 4th day with 2nd guide Sam, who picked appropriate routes for the group and was responsive to requests to further shape the route to the abilities of the group. He found us good snow amid mixed conditions and on appropriate terrain. Safety and terrain stuff, no concerns. Food, dinners and breakfasts (2 each) provided at the hut, included a dinner that was far too skinny and which was nowhere near enough. Chicken quantity instruction was “one spoon (table spoon) per person.” The first dinner was borderline too little as well. Quality was otherwise good. I initiated the trip; and approved a second group to join us; then when we showed up, there was a third group of 4 there in the hut, which we hadn’t heard about until that day. Matt never mentioned any adjustment to the hut fee we had paid and on which this group was coasting or possibly paid him. I write based on some experience. I have had several dozen days in the backcountry with guides (and dozens more in New England and other terrain for which they were not needed), across touring weeks in from huts to snow cave living, to heli-served; to heli and cat skiing across multiple countries and so have many guides and days of experience from which to compare. This was the first really uneven or bad experience. No question, bottom of the list of 7 ski touring guides I have skied with.

Will was great wise and fun to spend the day with.

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The backcountry ski trip with Willie was awesome! He called me the day before the trip to explain where we were going to go and what we were going to do. Given that the weather was going to be cold, he brought along a thermos flask that I could put hot tea in. On the second day, he shared his thermos of hot tea with me since I didn't take the thermos. The snow conditions were a bit variable but Willie did a good job finding some good powder (especially the second day where we were able to ski 18 inches of untracked powder on an east facing bowl). The skinning part on the second day was extremely challenging because it was on a 32-34 degree slope with about 12 inches of fresh powder and it made the kick turns rather exciting. Willie really helped by using his shovel on each of the kick turns to make it a bit easier for me to make the turn. Willie also provided some coaching tips along the way both on the skinning as well as on the skiing part. He was also able to accurately judge what kind of terrain would work for my skill/fitness level and push me to that level! Willie was also a great companion. He has traveled all over the world and has had some interesting experiences which he shared. All in all, I had a really good trip with Willie.

Very quick, attentive and personable service and was adaptable to my changing needs. The guide was very professional and organised, great communication and some fantastic ski tours in a new mountain range. Great all round. Many thanks.

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We had an excellent experience with Willie Benegas, he was knowledgeable and inclusive and would by all means join him again.

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I was very glad to have the Back country ski tour in Montata by following reasons. 1. I had quick replies from my coordinator and guide whenever I asked something; 2. My guide was cool. 3. The tour was well-planned and appropriate duration. 4. Snow was in a good condition. Thank you!!

Trip was great! Was a little hesitant about booking online but ended up being awesome. Seemed too easy! Jim was great and worked with our levels of Snowboarding and skinning.

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Jim was a great guide. While we were challenged with finding good snow, Jim knew where to get it even a couple weeks after it has snowed. Jim is super knowledgeable about the backcountry and snow conditions, and I would definitely highly recommend him.

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Jim is an outstanding and experienced guide. He did a great job of educating us on weather, safety, technique and helped us all on equipment questions. I would highly recommend him and will reach out to him again for a future trip.

I have booked the backcountry ski for 3 days and did only 1/2 - 1 day. Hiking uphill is much too exhausting for me, although I am in reasonable condition. For sure this must be much better communicated towards customers, that they need in ultimate condition. So spending 1200 USDollars and having only '1 day done' is not a great experience. Can I get some of the money back?

Sup[er efficient booking, the system helps a lot to communicate with the guide and very safe payments. Greta experience and the Guide JIM MOORE was superb!

Todd is a very experienced guide who knows the area like the palm of his hand. He tailored a plan that adapted perfectly to the conditions and our group, and he got us to some great powder even after 1 week since the last snowfall! We had a great time and I will for sure call Todd again next year when I return to Utah!

We had a great experience with Jim Moore. We were all beginners to the Backcountry, and he had valuable experience and great stories to share. We had some rental equipment malfunctions and he was very accommodating and understanding about that also. I feel we gained a lot of knowledge in a short period of time and had a lot of fun as well. Thanks again Jim and we hope to be out in the Backcountry again soon!

Wonderful experience in the Tahoe backcountry. Jim made sure of it. He studied the conditions prior to my arrival and made sure we had the best snow in the most protected areas. We were able to summit the peak twice and ski the North as well as the East aspects. He educated me on snow & weather conditions and what to be looking for. Surely what must be mentioned is how much he was interested in my personal experience. He was a phenomenal guide that I will call again. Thank you Jim so much!

We didn't have the best snow conditions, but we had an awesome time getting our first exposure to backcountry skiing. Jim is a great teacher - he gave us a solid foundation, and we're excited to continue our education!