Most everyone agrees their workplace – be it a classroom or a lumberyard or a cubicle – has its pros and cons, but not Greg Franson. The owner of Bluebird Guides, based in Whitefish, spends his workdays introducing clients to the many long, untracked, spectacular ski descents situated mostly in the backcountry of British Columbia’s Selkirk and Purcell Ranges. Not much to complain about there.
“I just decided I love being in the mountains and I would make that my work environment,” Franson said.
As Bluebird Guides begins its second winter, Franson is focused on growing his young business by trying to appeal to a broader clientele ¬– primarily backcountry skiers with families and more demanding jobs who may not get out as much as they once did in their ski bum days.
“Even though I’m 36, I’m part of a younger generation of guides,” he said. “How do we attract this younger age category to guided skiing?”
The key to accomplishing that, Franson believes, is overturning traditional notions of what a ski guide company does and what services it can offer.
Take, for example, Bluebird’s most popular trip, the two-day excursions he leads to Rogers Pass near Golden, B.C. Last season Franson sold every spot on every trip he offered, and attributes the popularity chiefly to how the excursions disprove two major misconceptions about guided backcountry skiing: that it requires a big time commitment and it’s expensive. Groups of 3-6 people can pay $275 each for a weekend skiing the legendary powder of Rogers Pass, on runs with 6,000 vertical feet, less than five hours from the Flathead.
“I doubled the number of those trips this year, just to meet the demand,” Franson said.
Too many Montana skiers envision a Canadian ski trip as some massive undertaking – and those are the exact people whose attention Franson is trying to gain. For those anxious to ski in November and December, the snow falls heavily there well before Montana’s ski season is underway.
“We’ve been skiing on two meters of snow there for almost a month,” he added. “Instead of crying in your beer and praying for snow, get some buddies together and get in your car – it’s that easy.”
Bluebird also offers longer, more committing trips, like a six-day ski traverse on the Wapta icefields of Canada’s Banff and Yoho national parks. Though the Wapta trip demands a certain level of experience and skill, skiers will still stay in huts at night, so shouldering a massive pack isn’t necessary. Bluebird’s cook will be there to prepare every meal, as well. Franson plans another three-day trip in May to ascend Mount Columbia, the highest peak in Alberta at 12,393 feet, and is booking clients for a number of week-long lodge trips, accessed via helicopter, he plans to post on his Web site later this winter.
But Franson, who is certified by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, also hopes some backcountry skiers will take advantage of Bluebird’s flexibility by considering hiring a guide for trips they may have already planned. Too often, he said, he hears about skiers who spend their weeklong backcountry hut or lodge trip skiing mellow terrain or not skiing at all because visibility or snowpack stability was less than ideal.
In a best case scenario, those skiers “don’t get a lot of skiing done because they’re concerned,” Franson said, but a worse outcome is when, “they actually bumble around out there and they get themselves into trouble.”
On such a trip, the cost of a professional guide, knowledgeable as to the whereabouts of the steep, but stable, snow can be well worth the expense to maximize the skiing, particularly if the cost is split up among a mid-sized group.
“I would like to see more experienced groups that take these self-catered lodge trips use that service,” he added. “Their whole winter is based around that trip.”
Franson is broadening his offerings this season to what he calls “Bluebird Mountain Sessions,” instructional snow safety courses focused on giving experienced skiers the confidence to travel in big mountains and make important decisions, beyond what they may be taught in more conventional avalanche safety courses.
At these sessions, planned for Rogers Pass, students won’t spend “a lot of time with our heads stuck in the snow, missing the big picture around us,” Franson said. “Things that guides deal with are the tools that I’m handing over to the student, that aren’t taught in a traditional avalanche course.”
He is also focused on making his company’s Web site, bluebirdguides.com, a resource for Montana skiers seeking on-the-ground information about snow conditions throughout B.C., but particularly in the Selkirks, with more detail than vague regional forecasts. He plans on posting information from his own trips, as well as from a database of information maintained by a network of Canadian alpine guides.
“This is something different, and this is what separates Bluebird Guides from what any other guide service is offering,” he said.
For Franson, it’s all a means to get more skiers out in the big mountains safely, and while he loves to ski, there’s another part of guiding he enjoys just as much.
“You become friends, you form a relationship with the group,” he said, “and it’s awesome.”
To contact Greg, call 406-249-5812 or e-mail [email protected].