Guides

All guided trips are led by certified ski or mountain guides. The certification is through the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association IFMGA, or the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides ACMG. This is the highest level of guiding available. A guide will help you get the most out of your ski week. The complex nature of the terrain makes the local knowledge all the more important.

Larry Dolecki

Larry Dolecki is the owner and head guide at Icefall Lodge. He is a fully certified mountain guide (IFMGA/ UIAGM and ACMG) and has travelled to ski and climb in many of the great mountain ranges in the world.

Larry grew up in Calgary and spent much of his youth climbing and skiing in the mountains around Banff. After completing a degree in Economics at Queens University, he returned to the mountains to pursue his passion. He regularly leads ski trips to the Alps, guiding hut to hut classics such as the Haute Route, Berner Oberland, or Ortler Traverse. Other far away destinations include the Himalayas, New Zealand and Peru. Despite 15 years of heliskiing, Larry has avoided the “helibelly” by guiding trips at many of the backcountry lodges in British Columbia, including Selkirk Lodge, Battle Abbey, Golden Alpine Holidays and Fairy Meadows.

Icefall Lodge has offered Larry the opportunity to bring together the best aspects of the many different places he has guided. After years of searching, he found the perfect location. It offers a warm cozy lodge, friendly staff, complete wilderness, a spectacular big mountain setting and the best skiing in the world. Let Larry show you around his backyard.

Corin Lohmann

Corin lives in Fernie BC with his family, and has been involved in guiding and caretaking at Icefall Lodge for three years. His career began as a ski instructor in Colorado where the Rockies inspired his goal of becoming a ski guide. He has since worked on ski patrol at Fernie Alpine Resort, and has been focused on seeking out new and challenging terrain to explore throughout the mountains of Western Canada. Corin is an ACMG Assistant Ski Guide, and enjoys sharing his passion for backcountry skiing with others. In the summer, Corin spends his time raft guiding on rivers around Fernie, and doing environmental work. He is also an avid climber, having ascended peaks in the Rockies and Sierra Mountains. Corin is fluent in both French and German.

 

Pierre Hungr

Pierre Hungr has been with Icefall Lodge since its first year of operation. He is a ski guide and assistant alpine guide and in process of receiving his mountain guide certification through the ACMG. Pierre has been climbing and skiing since a young age. After completing a Bachelors degree in Opera Performance at UBC, he returned to the mountains to pursue a guiding career. He has traveled extensively to climb and ski, including trips to France, Switzerland, Spain, the Czech Republic and Mexico. At home he has completed numerous extended ski traverses in the Coast Range, Kluane National Park, and the Purcell and Selkirk mountains. The summer seasons have been filled with rock and alpine routes throughout the Rockies, Columbias and North Cascades. He has also worked ski patrolling and Cat skiing. Despite not being French, Pierre is fluent in that language as well as Czech, and can get around in Spanish and Italian. He is now based in Golden, BC.

 

Geoff Osler

Geoff Osler grew up in Calgary where he was exposed to the mountains and skiing from day one. Geoff has ski toured extensively in Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon as well as trips to the European Alps. He currently resides not far from home in Banff. After many winters of work in the avalanche control department at Lake Louise, he now spends his winters cat skiing or ski touring. Geoff is an ACMG ski guide. He has been with Icefall Lodge since it's start and helped with the initial construction of the Lodge.

 

 

Mike Mariash

Mike first visited Icefall in 2006 and has been drawn to return each year for a mix of crushing Larry Labor and exploration of the stunning mountain terrain. Known as a skier Mike left his home town of Edmonton, AB to pursue the art of mogul skiing.  No longer satisfied with skiing over tracks he began ski touring and taking avalanche courses in 2002 from his new home base of Revelstoke, BC.  Chasing the endless winter he spent three seasons in South America backcountry skiing all over Chile and Argentina.  Since receiving his Assistant Ski Guide certification Mike has worked Heli Skiing, Cat Skiing and traveled around the world to teach avalanche courses and ski touring in Japan and Alaska.  Practical and full of details, his avalanche courses are presented with tireless enthusiasm for talking about snow.  Mike is also fluent in French after 10 years of treeplanting with multicultural camps deep in the BC backcountry.