Eleven Guides

Billy has been an outdoor professional since 1992 when he arrived in Crested Butte with his focus on guiding and education. He began with Outward Bound and NOLS in 1994 and has led mountaineering, river, sea kayaking, and canyon courses in Colorado, Utah, Mexico, and Alaska. Billy was an avalanche forecaster for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center for 10 years and was on the board of directors. He worked for 10 years on the Crested Butte Professional Ski Patrol and previously worked as a snowcat ski guide for the old Irwin Lodge. He is a certified Pro 2 Avalanche Practitioner, a certified AIARE Avalanche Instructor, and also works for AIARE as an instructor trainer and on their pro instructor team. Billy is a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician and teaches wilderness medicine for Desert Mountain Medicine and is the owner and lead instructor of Intuition Consulting. Billy has a wonderful wife Erin, two lovely children Revi & Vasey, and when he’s not guiding you can find him with his kids in the wild having fun and learning about the wonders of nature. Billy has stood on the summit of Denali and has rafted and kayaked down through the Grand Canyon on seven different trips.

Ian Havlick is a Colorado native who cut his teeth in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado. After captaining the University of Utah’s Nordic Ski Team from 2007-2011, he returned to Colorado to guide mechanized cat and heli skiing in Crested Butte and Telluride. Ian achieved full UIAGM/IFMGA Mountain guide certification in 2019 and has guided extensively in Alaska, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Mexico, and the Central European Alps. In winter, Ian leads the public outreach efforts for the Crested Butte Avalanche Center. When not working as a guide, Ian tries to keep up with his wife and two young kids biking, fishing, and gardening in the backyard.

Megan is a veteran Lead Guide and Operational Manager at Eleven Experience.  She has worked 20 plus years guiding, patrolling and adventuring in the highest reaches of the mountains she calls home.  She holds her EMT, AIARE L3, Colorado Blaster License and clocks in annually as Lead Forecaster for the Elk Mt. Grand Traverse Snow Safety Team.

Megan believes in making genuine connections and taking time to unravel from the daily stressors of life with the simple pleasure of skiing.  She is passionate about life and sharing beautiful experiences together in beautiful places.

Megan stays busy raising her two spirited young boys, who are always up for an adventure. When the snow melts, her inspirations from nature help fuel creativity for her landscape design business.  She looks forward to the next adventure with old and new friends at her side, Pura Vida!

Mike started his career in ski guiding in 2001 in Silverton, Colorado. In 2003 he began guiding heli-skiing in Valdez, Alaska, where he became snow safety director for Valdez Heli Camps. Mike has guided heli-ski trips in Alaska off the Knik Glacier, in the Tordrillo Mountains, and the College Fjord on a boat-assisted heli trip, skiing three of the highest peaks in the Chugach Mountains. In 2012 he moved to Haines, Alaska, to guide for SEABA Heli. Mike is our lead heli-ski guide in Iceland at Deplar Farm, and has been a guide for us both there and at our cat ski operation in Crested Butte for the last five seasons. Pre heli-season, Mike splits his time between Silverton and Crested Butte, instructing avalanche courses for the Silverton Avalanche School and guiding cat skiing at Irwin, Colorado. He is a professional member of the American Avalanche Association, a guide member of the US Heli-Ski Association, has his Level 3 AIARE certification, Wilderness First Responder medical certification, and AIARE Level 1 course instructor. Home is Silverton, where his wife Sallie teaches second and third grade. He has two daughters, Kate and Betsy.

Jean Noel started guiding in 1998 as a full-time UIAGM Mountain Guide in Europe. He’s also a professional French ski instructor and hiking guide. Rock climbing, skiing, heli-skiing, via ferrata, and alpinism are all part of his outdoor pursuits. Since 2003, Jean Noel has also served as the President of the Sainte Foy Mountain Guide Office and Tarentaise Valley Mountain Guide Office (overseeing Val d’Isère, Tignes and Sainte Foy mountains guides). He’s a heli-skiing expert in the Alps, and has guided clients throughout France and Italy. In the summer you’ll find him on a 4,000-meter peak in the Alps. Jean Noel’s family, which now includes his wife and two little boys, Maxime and Zachary, has been living at Le Miroir in Sainte Foy for more than six generations, so he knows every corner of the valley. His specialties are off-piste skiing, heli-skiing, backcountry skiing, hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing, and mountain biking.

Ross has lived in the Crested Butte Valley since 1993 and is a transplant Aussie. When he moved to the valley he started teaching skiing and working and training under Swiss mountain guide Jean Pavillard, owner of Adventures To The Edge, the local guide company at the time in Crested Butte. Ross specialized in telemark and nordic skiing, becoming an examiner for both through the PSIA (Professional Ski Instructors of America) and spent 12 years representing the PSIA on their national team. He was involved with the creation of AIARE and has been an instructor since the inception of AIARE teaching level 1 and 2 courses. When Adventures To The Edge changed to Crested Butte Mountain Guides, Ross continued to teach avalanche courses and lead backcountry ski trips locally until the company changed to Irwin Guides. Ross and his wife created International Mountain Adventures in 2009 to take people on ski trips around the world and have recently been spending January and February guiding and leading trips to Hokkaido, Japan. He still has a passion for skiing and teaching and would love to share that with you!

Born and raised in Vail, Colorado, Lani has lived for mountain pursuits for most of her life. After racing as a Division I Collegiate nordic ski racer at Middlebury College while she studied Environmental Science and Geography, she swapped her skinny skis and immersed herself in the world of backcountry skiing and mountain biking. Racing as a professional enduro mountain biker and adventure bikepacker allowed Lani to live on the road for four years straight, getting to ride in nearly every state and almost every continent. The freedom of mountain biking, trail running and sleeping out under the stars makes her think summer is her favorite season, until the snow falls and skiing takes the limelight. Lani is entering her fifth season guiding full time for Irwin’s Cat Skiing Operation. She works as an AIARE Avalanche Instructor and nordic ski coach. Most recently, she joined the Denali Patrol as a volunteer ranger. She skis for Salomon and is supported by Patagonia and Revel Bikes, helping to allow her to travel immensely when not guiding. You can find some of her writing and film projects on Salomon TV, in the Patagonia Journals and Backcountry Magazine. She absolutely loves Crested Butte. It’s not often to catch her without an enormous smile and eager to share her favorite trails and powder stashes.

Doug Krause is a skier from Vermont. He moved to Colorado in 1993 and has called it home ever since – though work and life pull him to and fro around the globe. Since first falling into the ski industry in 1999, Doug worked as a ski patroller, guide, educator, forecaster, blaster, consultant, and asador in Colorado, Alaska, Chile, Japan, Argentina, and New Zealand. Doug has been on every rung of the ladder multiple times from toiling in the trenches to developing and managing new avalanche, ski area, and educational programs. Summers require chasing down his wife Virginia, who works overseas for the U.S. State Department. Recent postings include Zimbabwe, Peru, Thailand, and Venezuela. Doug is the Mountain Operations Manager and Snow Safety Director at Eleven’s cat ski operation. When he gets a break he goes home to Silverton, Colorado.

Dave has been guiding all over the American West and throughout Europe since 1999. He has directed well-established outdoor programs in Colorado and Germany. He is a certified AMGA guide, AIARE Course Leader and an ACA instructor in multiple disciplines. He has a masters degree in Education and loves to use it while educating his students. Dave loves sharing the outdoors with his clients.

Dylan started his fly fish guiding career in the Gunnison valley in 2011, primarily as a float fishing guide mainly on the Gunnison and Taylor rivers. When the conditions are right, he guides on various rivers and creeks in the surrounding area, including private water on Tomichi creek.

Dylan has spent three seasons in southern Patagonia of Chile working for Eleven’s Rio Palena Lodge, exploring rivers and lakes via rafts, jet boats, and helicopters in the Los Lagos region. He was one of the key fishing scouts for the lodge.

He holds a variety of certifications such as; Wilderness First Responder, Swift Water Rescue, LNT Master Educator, AIARE Level 2 Avalanche.

When Dylan is not guiding, he is archery elk hunting in Colorado, chasing redfish on the gulf coast or running whitewater. One thing most people don’t know about him is that he has an extremely green thumb and grows a mean vegetable garden during his guiding season in Gunnison.

Ben grew up in Colorado and has been playing in the mountains since his parents stuck him on skis at age 2. He studied Biology and Chemistry while at college in Gunnison, served as both the Training Coordinator and a Mission Coordinator for Western Mountain Rescue Team, and guided college students on climbing, skiing, and mountain biking trips for Wilderness Pursuits, where eventually he became the Assistant Manager. For several years, Ben was a full-time Ski Patroller in the winters, and in the summers guided climbing in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, including multiple ascents of Denali and Mt. Rainier, as well as many peaks in the North Cascades. Ben now lives in Crested Butte year-round, and guides full-time for Irwin Guides, creating personalized experiences for people interested in climbing, biking, rafting, or skiing in his backyard mountains. Occasionally he still guides a large expedition, a technical route on a Colorado 14er, or one of his many favorite routes in the Northwest. When he isn’t guiding, you’ll likely find Ben rock climbing in the sun, skiing his favorite powder stash, or on a remote rafting trip with his wife and their dog.

Martin was raised as a small child somewhere in the midwest amongst the fields of corn, cows and pigs. After all that excitement he moved out west to the high rockies and started his journey into the wilderness.

After a semester at Nols, he took up jobs in the boundary waters, canoeing and backpacking.
In his twenties he moved on to Hawaii and started sailing and spent the rest of that decade mucking around on boats all over the world. He sailed back to Seattle and attended Culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu.

His 30s brought him back to Colorado and back into the Rockies where he returned to his roots of climbing, now mixed with a passion for water and good food. Most days you can find him in a boat, on a rock or over a fire cooking at one of Eleven’s properties.

• ACA swift water Instructor 1
• 100 ton USCG Open water
• Merchant Mariner Credentials
• WFR
• Beer supertaster

Austin made his way to the Gunnison valley in 2015 to attend college at Western. After three and a half years he graduated with a degree in Recreation and Outdoor Education, Outdoor Leadership and Risk Management. While attending college he spent his days fly fishing local rivers and streams and skiing the famous Crested Butte Extremes. As a kid he was always a fisherman, but at the age of twelve he found a fly rod in his father’s garage and it was an addiction from then on. Guiding and ski instructing helped introduce him into his career path and love for teaching and sharing his passions. Now, he spends his days guiding and volunteering his time at the biannual fly fishing tournament, Risers4Rett and has moved on from ski instructing to focus on his strongest passion and making fly fishing a year round endeavor. He spends as much time as possible traveling and fishing while gaining knowledge and experience with a fly rod or behind the oars of a boat.

I grew up in Georgia and Florida, mostly fishing the flats of the gulf and east coast. When I was about 12 years old I started fly fishing in the Appalachian Mountains. Fly fishing quickly became my passion and my top priority. Later, I went to high school at a boarding school in the panhandle of Idaho, and also went on my first float trip through Glacier National Park. It was love at first sight. Once I moved back to Georgia after boarding school, I knew I had to get back out west and get back on the river. In 2013 I moved to Gunnison, Colorado to finish up college at WSU, and pursued guiding as a career. I started guiding in Gunnison Colorado in 2015 and in 2017 I started working as a guide for Eleven Experience. Over the last 10 years I have traveled all over the world chasing different fish on the fly, salt and freshwater. This winter (21-22) I’m headed to Patagonia to guide Eleven guests!

Ryan is a Colorado native that grew up in northern Colorado fishing the Big Thompson, Poudre, and North Platte rivers, as well as the high alpine lakes and rivers in Rocky Mountain National Park. He believes there is more to fly fishing than catching fish and has a true passion for guiding and teaching people all the sport has to offer. Ryan has spent many years guiding fishing trips and whitewater raft trips between Alaska and northern Colorado. He moved to Gunnison in 2013 and started guiding fly fishing trips full time, where he finished his degree in geology and now lives full-time with his wife Cassie and their dog Orvis. Fly fishing is a lifestyle to Ryan, so much of his free time is spent tying flies or exploring the vast fishing opportunities the Gunnison valley has to offer.
“Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” Henry David Thoreau.

Growing up in Crested Butte and its surrounding backcountry Avery Bernholtz has been spending time in the mountains since day one. Learning to ski, bike, climb and participate in the outdoors at an early age she joined the Freeride ski team and competed all through high school. Choosing to follow the snow, Avery moved to Bozeman, MT and continued to compete in the adult circuit, traveling around the nation. She is attending Montana State University where she is currently an Architecture Major and Sustainability Minor. The love and passion Avery has for spending time outside and in the mountains is something she hopes to share with others and the reason behind her interest in guiding adventures. Taking her AIARE 1 as a junior and her WFR as a senior in high school she has started growing her professional experience and education as a mountain adventurer.

Born and raised in Colorado, Zach Husted graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a double bachelors in Cartography and Economics. After working for Microsoft as a cartographer, and as a sponsored freeride athlete, he transitioned to a career in guiding and hasn’t looked back since. After working as a lead guide, medic, and avalanche forecaster in New Zealand and Japan for many years he has been pursuing his AMGA ski guide certification and works at facilitating safe and awesome experiences for people in the outdoors. He loves nothing more than sharing his passion, connecting people to the natural world, and inspiring others to share in the care for public lands and the planet.

Chris Martin has been exploring since the day skis landed on his feet. As an inlet to adventure, skiing grew the seed. Chris is inspired by sharing and teaching the skills necessary to achieve your dreams of a lifetime in the mountains. Chris has pursued his personal passions as well as guided climbing and skiing from South America to Alaska. Chris Martin achieved IFMGA Mountain Guide Licensure in 2022. Chris has gained experience in rescue, working with the National Park Service through Search and Rescue on Denali. Knowing the reality of life in the mountains has allowed the necessity of humility, daily intention, and driving a lifelong passion to teach risk assessment and calculated mountain travel. He is based in Crested Butte, CO and works full time for Irwin Guides. When he’s not guiding he is enjoying his life at home with his wife Ashley and dog Asa while pursuing personal goals throughout the mountain ranges he’s drawn to. Along with being a fully Certified IFMGA Mountain guide, Chris holds a Pro 2 avalanche forecasting certificate and is an AIARE Course Leader.

Robert is a native of Northeast Texas and has spent the better part of his life in pursuit of a life well spent outside. Brooks was first introduced to the Gunnison Valley in 2016, where he cut his teeth as a fly fishing guide in the Summer months while attending the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving a degree in Corporate Communications and Business, he spent the next two years working in sales and consulting at a Fortune 100 Tech company. Since then, Brooks has guided fly fishing in the Vail, Rio Grande and Gunnison valleys full-time. He has spent the last couple of Winters guiding for Eleven’s Rio Palena and Martin Pescador lodges in Chilean Patagonia via rafts, drift boats, jet boats and helicopters.