Jon Hood and VIP Bill I’ve been guiding for about 17-years with Foresight. I love to ski and I love to volunteer. I saw a volunteer recruitment ad for Foresight in a Denver weekly newspaper. I went to the informational meeting, was hooked, then spent the ski season learning how to guide. Guiding is a lot of work, not the least of which are the unpredictable roundtrip car rides to Vail leaving Denver at 5:30am in a snowstorm, hoping the road remains open and that our VIP can ski that day. But is it worth it to me? Absolutely. Does one ache a little for a powder day with 8” of new snow sitting outside the Golden Peak door on a guiding day? Maybe a little. But those missed powder days don’t bother me because of the enjoyment I get from being on the slopes until the final download of the day with amazing, courageous VIPs. When VIPs like Bill or Larry tell me that the day we just finished was among their favorite days of the year, that drive up I-70 becomes a distant memory. VIP Larry and Jon
I feel honored to be amongst a distinguished group of grizzled (and even some younger), salty, can-do, cheerful, resourceful, high spirited, incredible people known as Foresight guides. Every year I ask Mark or Murph or Greg, “Will you have me again this year?” Pretty sure of the answer, but playfully respecting the organization’s right to staff with the best of the best. Not many programs or commitments that a person makes truly change your life. Foresight has changed mine with getting to know dozens and dozens of gritty, intrepid, determined VIPs and getting their gracious feedback. One year I got to know Tina, a VIP who was totally blind from birth. She asked if I would guide her in a half marathon the next summer. She said my only job was to make sure she didn’t fall down. On race day we attached our wrists together with a band then took off running. About 50 people gave Tina shouts of encouragement during the race, some were even emotional at the sight of a blind woman running at fast pace. I, too, felt like a hero because no one hit the pavement. If a prospective ski guide is interested in joining Foresight, by all means talk to some guides, look at the expected commitment and if you say yes and commit, you will be proud of that decision YOUR 17 years later.
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