Working for the Adventure Studies Department since 2008, Fred is part of the team coordinating the mountaineering courses. He is also teaching and developing the mountain courses in our Adventure Certificate at Keilir University in Iceland.
Fred guides year-round in many different countries: France, Iceland, USA and in Canada (from the west coast to the east); heli-skiing and ski touring in the winter and alpine climbing, hiking and rock climbing in the summer.
Fred is an alumni student from the Adventure program and completed the Bachelor Degree in Tourism Management.
Steve has 20 years experience in expedition mountaineering in Canada, the Yukon, Europe and South America. Steve brought formalized Telemark skiing skills instruction to Canada in 1978. He is currently employed by Yamnuska School, Pacific Granite Mountaineering and the Canmore Nordic Centre. ACMG (Association. of Canadian Mountain Guides) Ski Guide, Master Instructor with the Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors, and a former program director with Outward Bound Western Canada
Lila is one of few females fully certified in Canada. In the winter she splits her ski guiding work between heli skiing and ski touring. She is a lead guide with Canadian Mountain Holidays at the Bugaboo Lodge, and guides private ski touring trips from the many backcountry lodges of B.C. She also guides ice climbing around the Rockies. During the summer months she guides rock and alpine climbing predominantly doing trips around the Rockies, Bugaboos and Rogers Pass.
Lilla was a student in the Adventure Travel Guide program and graduated in 1998. She is now an instructor in the mountain program and has worked on the rock climbing, mountaineering and ski touring courses. She is a member of the IFMGA Guide Test Team for Outdoor Research and she helped establish the “Friends of Bugaboo Park”, a group dedicated to stewardship of this special alpine area. Lilla shares her home in Canmore with her husband Marc Piché, also an ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide
Laurel’s been teaching sea kayaking courses for the TRU Adventure Studies Program since 2010. Currently living in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, she’s paddled rivers, lakes and coasts from Central America to Asia and the South Pacific over the past three decades. She’s a SKGABC Guide Trainer, SKGABC Level 4 Sea Kayak Guide, Paddle Canada Basic Sea Kayak Instructor, Canadian Power and Sail Squadron ROC (Maritime) Examiner, RCABC Master Instructor (Instructor Trainer in Moving Water, Lakewater and Canoe Tripping). Paddle Canada Moving Water Canoe Instructor Advanced Tandem and Solo, Paddle Canada Lake Canoe Instructor Advanced Tandem and Solo, Paddle Canada Lake Canoe Instructor Trainer Intermediate Tandem and Solo, Paddle Canada Canoe Tripping Instructor Trainer Advanced Tandem and Solo, Whitewater Canada Kayak Instructor Level 1, Swiftwater Rescue Technician Level 1.
Currently Angela co-owns/operates an adventure guiding company-Expedition Engineering-which specializes in adventure trips to remote parts of the planet. Industry Certifications include Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC-Level IV guide/Guide Trainer, Canoe Kayak B.C.-Master Learning Facilitator Level 3, Swift Water Rescue Technician, CAA Level 2 Avalanche Technician, CSIA Level
Randy started teaching canoeing in 1972(as a University student) and has continued the adventure working as an instructor, river guide, Instructor Trainer and makes his home in the Canadian Rockies, very near the Kananaskis River. He owns Rocky Mountain Canoe Adventures and is co-owner of the Rocky Mountain Paddling Centre in Calgary. He volunteers with the Lower Kananaskis River Users Association, Paddle Alberta, and the Professional River Outfitters Association of Alberta. Favorite rivers: Kootaney-B.C., Kananaskis-Alberta, Nahanni- NWT, Colorado-Arizona. Goal in Life: “To break even" – RM
John lives in Nelson, British Columbia and operates Nelson Whitewater Rafting Company. He is a BC River Outfitter's Association Raft Guide Examiner and an assistant Swiftwater Rescue Instructor with Rescue Canada. Also, John is on the board of directors for the Nelson and Kootenay Lake Destination Marketing Organization.
Matt was born and raised in Victoria, BC. He has always loved being outside and this is reflected in his career choices. Matt has worked as a Park Ranger, Forest Fire Fighter, Ski Patroller, Ski Resort Manager, Guide, and University Instructor. His personal philosophy on adventuring in the outdoors is “through adventure sports I get to connect with the natural environment – see the most stunningly beautiful places on the planet and learn about that environment by being immersed in it”. As an area of research, Matt is interested in the intersection between adventure sports, ecology, environmental stewardship, and sustainability.
He has been a swiftwater rescue instructor since 2009 and an active search and rescue volunteer for over 17 years, leading countless missions. Whether it is teaching six year old kids to play safe in the river to pushing the limits of adventure guides in class IV canyons, to Adam the reward is all the same; the joy of sharing his passion for the river. Adam is also currently the Operations/Instructor Coordinator at Rescue Canada.
Since 1972, Jim has been fully involved in the adventure travel industry. He has descended over 60 river systems in Canada and the U.S. He has considerable experience as a co-owner and business person, an environmental planner, a river guide, an instructor-examiner and as an industry advisor and project manager for the government, educational institutions, legal firms and private industry. Jim is the owner of Rescue 3 North, the company which holds the rights to Swiftwater Rescue Technician courses in Canada.
Tyler has been guiding in the Robson Valley since 2006, is a co-owner of Stellar Descents Backcountry Adventures and has been a contract employee for the TRU Adventure Program since 2009. His love for whitewater was seeded at a young age through countless canoeing and rafting expeditions that have taken him around the world. Tyler is a university graduate from Thompson Rivers and holds his International Rafting Federation Class 4/5 Instructor and the BC Rafting Outfitters Association Examiner certificate.
A photographer/writer/film maker, based in Wilmer, B.C., Pat and his wife Baiba are known for their documentation of mountain cultures and adventures through their photography, video and film work.
Their deep desire to explore wild places has led them on assignments and expeditions to all seven continents, averaging six months a year in the field for over 30 years. Between expeditions, they have crashed on the living room floors of many of the instructors on this page. Together they have won eight national magazine awards for their photography, mostly for photo spreads in Equinox and Harrowsmith magazines. Their books include Beyond Everest: Quest for the Seven Summits; Himalayan Passage; The Yukon; and Footsteps in the Clouds - Kangchenjunga a Century Later.
Pat’s formal education consists of a Diploma of Journalism from SAIT in Calgary, a Diploma of Visual Communications in Photography from the Banff Centre and a Diploma in Television Production from the Banff Centre.
In 1984, Pat co-founded the adventure travel company, Adventure Network International with mountain guide friends, in order for him to reach and climb the highest mountain in Antarctica. Pat remained in ANI as a partner for seven years, supplying logistics for all private expeditions to the heart of Antarctica.
In 1986, Pat co-founded First Light Associated Photographers, a stock photo agency based in Toronto. At one time First Light was the second biggest stock photography business in Canada, and currently houses 1.6 million images.
Pat has given video and photo workshops in diverse locations, from back country skiing in the Purcell wilderness (Ptarmigan Tours) to Banff National Park (University of Calgary Outdoor Pursuits Program), the mountains and valleys of the Interior Ranges (Thompson Rivers University), photographing breaching orcas onboard Island Roamer in Johnstone Strait (Emily Carr College), filming grizzlies in The Great Bear Rainforest (Mothership Adventures), and skiing in the Coast Range near Whistler, B.C. (Whistler Centre for the Arts). All workshops feature critiques of visuals on location, the quickest way to improve one’s understanding of the basics of photography.