JACK GANSTER

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When Jack moved to Port Angeles, Washington from Vermont in 1991 he brought six years of experience in the world of outdoor recreation with him, including three years as a pro-patroller and three years as a telemark ski instructor and backcountry tour leader. His enthusiasm for these activities led him to become co-founder and co-owner of Olympic Mountaineering & Olympic Mountain Tours in 1994, the original Olympic Mountains guide service. Over the next 12 years, Jack taught avalanche and backcountry skiing courses to hundreds of people, and pioneered many ski routes and first descents in the Olympic Mountains.

 

Jack and his partners at Olympic Mountaineering closed shop twenty months after he became a brain cancer survivor in 2004. To learn more: survivorsoutdoorexperience.org.

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When the reality of no new powder finally hits, you can find him skiing well into July, as he “climbs to ski”.