Our Guides
Our guides are superbly trained to lead small-group heli-skiing expeditions to the world's most remote areas. Along with years of ski patrol and backcountry experience, they are skilled in Outdoor Emergency Medical Care, avalanche safety, helicopter safety and the science of reading snowpacks.
Every WPG trip is staffed with one guide for every four guests, so you'll get the individual attention you deserve.Rusty Dassing
Our company CEO began working for Wasatch PowderbirdTM Guides in 1984. An avid kayaker and trekker, Rusty has indulged his thirst for outdoor recreation on repeated excursions to Central America, South America and the South Pacific. He feels especially privileged to have guided hundreds of people on one of the world's most awe-inspiring adventures: rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. When not globe trotting, Rusty lives in his home outside of Park City, Utah.
Kevin O'Rourke
WPG's COO is also director of our Greenland helicopter skiing program. Kevin joined Wasatch Powderbird Guides in 1992 after working with the WPG crew during the production of the feature film K2. During the next several years Kevin received guide training at WPG and gained experience in snow safety while serving on the ski patrol at Utah's Alta Ski Resort. He has carved his ski signature in the mountain snows of Greenland, Turkey, Japan, Alaska, New Zealand, and Nepal.
Michael "Ole" Olson
The third member of the WPG Board of Directors and another veteran of the Alta Ski Patrol, Ole has guided full-time for WPG since 1985. He has led trips to some of the world's most remote, awe-inspiring and powder-blanketed mountains, including the Himalayas of Nepal, the Chugach Range of Alaska, the glacier peaks of Greenland, and the Andes of South America. Ole lives in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Spencer Wheatley
SSpencer has served as a guide to skiers and climbers for over a decade, and he is particularly familiar with Utah's Wasatch Range and Alaska's Chugach Mountains. Winner of the 2000 World Extreme Skiing Championships, this WPG guide, curbs his inclination to ski off cliffs and race down radically steep slopes—at least while on the job. If you want to see Spencer at his best, you can check him out in the Warren Miller ski films "Journey" and "Cold Fusion." He currently lives in Salt Lake City with his fiance Tobi.
Ryan Carlson
Ryan grew up under California sunshine, but moved to Utah for "the greatest snow on Earth." He served on the Snowbird Resort Ski Patrol before joining Wasatch Powderbird Guides in 1998. His rapport with our guests quickly earned him a full-time spot on our roster. The groups he has led for WPG in Alaska are recounted by heli-skiers with near reverence. Ryan lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and their son.
Tyson Bradley
Tyson wrote the book on backcountry skiing—literally. Published in 2003 by FalconGuides, "Backcountry Skiing" is an authoritative book on trip planning, skiing techniques, avalanche safety, and the art of finding fresh powder. Bradley guides more than heli-ski trips. He and his wife, Julie Faure, own Exum Mountain Guides, which specializes in mountaineering and climbing expeditions. Bradley, Julie and their two children make their home in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Steve Hall
A Utah native, Steve learned to ski in Little Cottonwood Canyon at a very young age. He split his time in his 20's between guiding river trips in the breathtaking red rock canyons of Southern Utah and serving with Alta Ski Patrol. His six seasons with Alta eventually led to him joining WPG. Steve has guided heli-ski adventures in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska as well the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Steve works hard and plays hard with his chocolate lab, Nexpa, all summer so that he can spend every minute of the winter skiing! He currently lives in Salt Lake City
Matthew Biddle
Pete Patterson
Former U.S. Ski Team member, two-time Olympian, and bronze medalist at the World Skiing Championships, Pete is, to say the least, an accomplished skier.