Our Guides

Our guides are passionate and highly-trained to lead safe, small group heli-skiing expeditions to the world's most remote areas.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides are some of the most accomplished and well-trained in the business. Along with years of ski patrol and backcountry experience, our guides are trained in Outdoor Emergency Medical Care, Avalanche Safety, Helicopter Safety and the science of reading snowpacks.

We staff each trip with a guide/guest ratio of one to four and our guides are experts at locating terrain that is safe, challenging and, hopefully, waist deep. While history might repeat itself, we work hard to make sure your ski runs don't.

Rusty Dassing

Rusty is President of Wasatch Powderbird Guides. Rusty began guiding for Wasatch Powderbird Guides in 1984. In addition to skiing, he is also an avid kayaker, trekker and has guided rafting trips in the Grand Canyon for years. Rusty's love of the outdoors has taken him across the US and Canada, through South and Central America and to the South Pacific. When Rusty's not globe-trotting as a guide, he makes his home outside of Park City, Utah.

Kevin O'Rourke

Kevin is General Manager of Wasatch Powderbird Guides and Director of the Greenland Heli-Skiing Program. After working for Alta's ski patrol, Kevin joined Wasatch Powderbird Guides in 1992. Along with Utah, Kevin has carved turns in Alaska, Greenland, New Zealand and Nepal. Kevin spends half the year in Alta, Utah and the other half on the white-sand beaches of Phuket, Thailand.

Tyson Bradley

Tyson could write a book on backcountry skiing-and he did. Backcountry Skiing, published in 2003 by FalconGuide, is an authority on trip planning, technique, avalanche safety, and finding fresh tracks.  In addition to ski trips he's lead around the world, Bradley and his wife, Julie Faure, lead mountaineering and climbing expeditions through their renowned guiding company, Exum Mountain Guides.  Bradley lives in Salt Lake City with his Julie and their two children.

Ryan Carlson

Ryan grew up in the sunshine state of California but traded it for "The Greatest Snow on Earth" of Utah. Before joining Wasatch Powderbird Guides in 1998, Ryan worked for the ski patrol at Snowbird in Utah. Once he joined Wasatch Powderbird Guides, his knowledge of mountain safety, professionalism and rapport with our shred-ready guests quickly earned him a full-time spot on our roster.  Guests still talk in reverent tones about the thrills of spring skiing with Ryan in Alaska. Ryan lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and their son.

Michael "Ole" Olson

Michael, a veteran of Alta ski patrol, has been working with Wasatch Powderbird Guides full-time since 1985. He has guided trips to the most scenic (and powder-blanketed) mountains in the world: the Himalayas of Nepal, Alaska's Chugach range, Greenland's glaciers and the Andes in South America. "Ole" lives in Salt Lake City so he has easy access to his "dream job."

Spencer Wheatley

Wasatch Powderbird Guides hired the winner of the 2000 World Extreme Skiing Championships on the condition he follow a few rules—no cliffs, no 50° slopes and save some powder for the guests. Spencer joined Wasatch Powderbird Guides in___, after working at Alta and receiving a degree in Commercial Recreation from the University of Utah. Spencer has been featured in Warren Miller's films Journey and Cold Fusion, skied in such far-flung places as Iran and lead climbing trips for Exum Mountain Guides. He currently lives in Salt Lake City.