The Mountain Guide

Pete Lardy, owner of Pikes Peak Alpine School, attempts to earn one of the world’s most elite international mountain guiding certifications. In order to do this, he has to demonstrate significant guiding experience in three main disciplines; rock, alpine, and ski. With the highest levels of certification already achieved in the rock and the alpine, all Pete needs to become internationally certified is to pass the final ski exam.

So, at the age of 40 years old, he starts to learn how to ski…

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Where it all began…

This project has been over 2 years of planning, filming, editing and traveling alongside Pete Lardy in some of the most austere environments. Together, Pete and I have braved blizzard conditions on ice climbs, bluebird days ski mountaineering at 13,000ft and warm days rock climbing in the Nevada desert. Lots of life can happen in two years and for Pete, it did.

When I first met Pete I was finishing up my final year of living in Colorado Springs before migrating to the outdoor adventure filmmaking hub of Boulder. What started as a fun exchange where I would get to tag along on his adventures and photograph him and his clients so Pikes Peak Alpine School could have some fresh photo and video content, soon became so much more. After a few days in the backcountry tagging along with Pete and discovering that his quest to complete his international mountain guiding certification had to be pushed back an entire year because of COVID-19, we saw an opportunity. I would periodically join him over the course of the year and film his journey. This brought us to some pretty exciting places over the Rocky Mountain West and culminated in this short documentary about Pete’s efforts.

This project was broken down into the three main disciplines that the American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) lays out for certifications; Alpine, Rock, Ski

Alpine

This is where the project began. Colorado Springs is conveniently located near Pikes Peak, one of the Front Range’s most iconic 14,000+ foot peak, where Pete Lardy does a lot of his guiding. As owner of the Pikes Peak Alpine School, Pete has led hundreds of trips to all aspects of this mountain. One of my first days filming with Pete was a snow climbing day trip on Pikes Peak and it was a pretty phenomenal experience. Pete was leading a snow climbing course so one of his clients could get some experience before heading out on some bigger out-of-state mountaineering expeditions. From the beginning it was clear Pete was a mountain master. Not only that but his enthusiastic approach to guiding spread a contagious positive spirit that underlined everyday in the mountains with Pete.

Putting in the time

Early on in the filming of this documentary we knew this was a project that we wanted to film over a long period of time because it was important for us to showcase Pete in all different seasons. It was clear that Pete was an expert not only in the alpine but, as we were ascending further up the couloir, he was pointing out technical rock climbs and ski routes that he’s done on Pikes Peak. There were many days in the alpine spent together throughout the filming of this project, from ice climbing to snow climbing to crevasse rescue courses. There was no shortage of time spent above 12,000ft and Pete was a master at any method of exploration while we were there.

Rock

As the snow melted and spring turned to summer then turned to fall, I accompanied Pete to Red Rock Canyon located just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. The fall is typically a pretty busy time for me and my filmmaking business but I couldn’t miss on the opportunity to capture Pete rock climbing in one of the best climbing areas in the country. I finished filming for another project in Boulder then drove 12 hours overnight to meet Pete there. Figuring out the logistics of when Pete and I were both free and able to get some filming done was a huge challenge to creating this documentary and a last minute long drive for a short trip to Vegas is just one example of us working hard to find times to get this story told.

Show Up

I was arriving on the tail end of Pete’s time in Vegas so he was already in strong climbing shape and leading pitches with ease. We spent about a day climbing nonstop with a couple of his clients and his wife, Crystal Bliss. This trip was filled with nonstop adventure and, before I knew it, I was driving 12 hours after a quick 24 hours in Vegas climbing with Pete. I was told early on in my documentary filmmaking career that it was important to be there for the big moments so this was a trip I just had to make work regardless of what obstacles stood in my way. Since Red Rock Canyon is such an iconic rock climbing spot, it just wasn’t an option for me to miss it - I had to get the shots.

Ski

Since the ski exam was Pete’s final hurdle in becoming an internationally certified mountain guide, this is where we tried to devote as much attention as possible. Between teaching avalanche courses in the winter, day guiding and taking trips outside of Colorado it was tough to get our schedules to align but we were able to have a few really successful days of filming out in the backcountry. Pete will say himself that he is not the best skier but his proficiency in the mountains is nothing short of remarkable. Over the course of learning to ski Pete put in over 100 days a year on snow to gain that skill so this was not a skill that came without some immense amounts of effort and training.

Be Prepared

Since I split board (basically a backcountry ski version of snowboarding where you can hike up on skis then clip your board together for a snowboard like ride downhill), I always felt a little bad being slightly slower than the other skiers as I had to transition my board. Plus, adding cameras, gimbals, drones and microphones into that equation definitely made things a lot slower than I would’ve liked. Still, the groups we skied with were always pretty forgiving and generous as they all got some pretty good ski photos out of the day. Once you purchase the film at the top of this page you’ll hear more of the stories of Pete and I scoring a 4ft powder day on our first day filming together. It was epic with lots of good moments that were featured in the film!

Final Notes

Yes, Pete is an incredible mountain guide. Over the course of this project I watched him do pretty incredible things in the outdoors. When you see these photos and watch the film, I hope you feel the awe that I felt that day watching Pete scurry up some frozen waterfalls, scale intense rock faces, and glide down steep couloir in the mountains with such ease. However, the best part of making this documentary isn’t watching an outdoor professional get after it into the mountains (although, admittedly that has been quite inspiring), it’s seeing the joy that Pete is able to spread by sharing what he loves with others. When it’s snowing and windy, everybody is laughing and smiling. When we’re nervously kicking our crampons and swinging our ice tools into a tough section, we hear Pete’s encouraging voice from below shouting “You’re doing amazing! Small steps and you got this!”

The biggest lesson I’ve learned from watching Pete work as a mountain guide is that he actually isn’t teaching ice climbing, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, rock climbing or any outdoor discipline... he’s teaching people. He’s connecting with others, listening to their concerns, watching them grow and celebrating their successes. So, when you see these gnarly photos of him just being super rad up on some ice just know that when he’s done climbing, he humbly rappels, doesn’t mention the crazy cool stuff he just accomplished, high fives you and says, “Alright, it’s all set up for you to shine!”