Joe and Cathy skiing in the Kenai Mountains near Anchorage.

Joe and Cathy skiing in the Kenai Mountains near Anchorage.

About Joe

Joe is an internationally licensed IFMGA Mountain Guide based in Anchorage, Alaska. He has been climbing and skiing around the world for decades with extensive time in the mountains of Alaska, New Zealand, the western United States, South America, and the European Alps. Guiding allows Joe to share his mountain passion with clients. 

Living in Anchorage offers easy trip scheming. In 2005, Joe skied from Anchorage and arrived in Valdez 18 days and 180 miles later. He also skied the full length of the Tordrillo and Neacola Mountains. In 2009, he skied from the summit of Mount Chamberlin, once considered the highest summit in the Alaskan Arctic. Like Fred Becky, Joe has a little black book, filled with trip ideas. 

In 2009, Joe became the 54th American guide to become fully certified by the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and licensed by the International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA). An IFMGA license includes three guiding disciplines—alpine, ski mountaineering, and rock. It is the Ph.D of mountain travel. Joe uses this knowledge to help clients have a low risk and fun time in the mountains. 

Since 1995, Joe has been freelance writing for magazines, starting with a feature article in Rock & Ice on climbing the Balfour Face on Mount Tasman in New Zealand. Since then, he has published numerous articles on mountain adventures and technique in magazines such as Climbing, Backcountry, Alaska, and Trail Runner. His photos have accompanied most of his articles and have appeared in catalogs. In 2022, the third edition of his book, The Alaska Factor, was published. In 2023 he published The Avalanche Factor.

With professors for parents, Joe has had a long appreciation for science. He attended the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch New Zealand, for an undergraduate degree in geology and geography. He then received a graduate degree in watershed science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Joe applies this science background to his guiding, avalanche instruction, writing, and photography.

Joe and his wife Cathy moved to Anchorage in 2002. Fifteen minutes from their house the mountains continue unbroken for thousands of miles. They bought a 1952 house in Airport Heights and have fallen in love with the big wild city, its crazy inhabitants, and each other. 

Joe at work and play