Terrain Talk #15. Guides Day Off on Little Tahoma.

On April 9th, 2026, three guide friends and I skied Little Tahoma all the way down the Whitman Glacier. It was one of the top 3 corn runs I've skied, and I felt like the tour exemplified some lessons I've been teaching lately. Also, guides skiing with guides on their day off always present some interesting human factors, which I think are worth discussing here.

As you might be able to imagine, when you throw a bunch of guides together on their day off, it can present some interesting group dynamics. By nature, guides are decision-makers, often hired for that very specific reason, and it's not uncommon for guides to be the sole decision-maker on many tours. So with multiple guides on a recreational day, who's doing the deciding? Everyone, of course, but it doesn't always play out that way. Add one or more guides to a recreational group, and the expert halo is definitely at play as well.

Overall, the day went super well. We all felt like it was a 10/10 day with an epic 5300+' descent with almost perfect corn top to bottom. It was one of those big spring days in the mountains where the apres felt so good - flip flops, beer, chips, oranges ... but no debrief. However, someone in the group brought that up the next day in the group chat, along with some of their personal reflections on the day. What followed was a productive and constructive text chat debrief. I thought this particular debrief timing and style was perfect for this day (high vibes at the end of a great tour) and this group (a bunch of friends eager to debrief our decisions). Keep reading or listen to the YouTube recording for more on this tour and our debrief.