GUIDES OF THE YEAR

Utah is fortunate to have so much landscape, terrain and waterways on which to pursue outdoor recreation. The state is also extremely privileged to have dozens of professional guide services and outfitters to show the way. The following are the Outdoor Utah’s selections for the 2005 Guides of the Year Award.

Steve Cook, Flyfishing

Steve’s an angling legend. A published author on the subject, his book, Utah Fishing Guide, is the authority on the subject and can be found in most any fly shop in western states. Steve has a BS in Fisheries and Wildlife from Lake Superior State University in northern Michigan, his old stompin’ grounds. A Utah guide for 20 years, he now books clients out of Trout Bum 2 in Park City and Four Seasons in Heber. Steve escapes to Alaska in the winter for GPS survey work and returns to his home in Heber in the spring.

Rick Green, Hiking/Backpacking

Rick is one of many Californians who fled the masses to relish in the solitude that is Utah. He now calls home two of the state’s recreation hot spots, upscale Park City in winter and laid back Escalante in summer, where he runs his guide service, restaurant and gear shop, Excursions of Escalante. Rick guides hiking, backpacking and canyoneering into the incredible terrain of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Box Death Hollow Wilderness. If he’s in town, you’ll know it by the only bright yellow shuttle vehicle in Escalante parked outside his building, and his three-generation dogs, Beau Tie Green, Elle Beau Brown and Kaiparowits Brown lounging on the lawn. www.excursions-escalante.com

Pat Kearney, Pack Trip Operator

Pat is amazing. An enigma. A dental hygienist weekdays, a rough and tumble cowgirl running a successful pack trip guide service on weekends. A truly beautiful lady, inside and out, with horseshit on her boots and a smile on her face. Cook, wrangler, historian, storyteller, self-proclaimed tooth fairy all wrapped up into 120 pounds of rompin’, stompin’ hell-bent fury. Originally from Connecticut, (Connecticut?) but now a true Utahan, Pat and her partner/husband Gary George run Hondoo Rivers & Trails, at 30 years the longest running guide service of its type west of the Mississippi. Hondoo operates in Capitol Reef, the Escalante canyons and the San Rafael Swell, just like your father’s nine-to-five office. Not! www.hondoo.com

Amie Mollack, River Guide

Amie rows for Adventure Bound River Guides out of Grand Junction, Colorado. A graduate of Mesa State College with a BBA degree in Business Administration, she is now all business when guiding Adventure Bound’s clients through the rough and tumble rapids of Westwater Canyon, Gates of Lodore and Cataract. Once in camp, she’ll gladly share a cold and frosty one with you. In her capacity as lead guide of the company, Amie is responsible for training new guides on many interpretive trips sponsored by Utah Guides and Outfitters. She is a member of the Friends of Westwater and is actively involved with the BLM and National Park Service in managing, preserving and protecting rivers, canyons and wildlife.
www.raft-utah.com

Matt Moore, Canyoneering

Matt owns and operates Desert Highlights, a canyoneering instruction and guide service operation in Moab. Matt cut his teeth on the walls of Yosemite, but after viewing the slots and rocks in southeast Utah, was hooked on Utah. He is a former Captain and Technical Rock Rescue Specialist for the Moab Search & Rescue. Desert Highlights was hatched in 1997 and currently offers day and multi-day canyoneering in Arches National Park and other great secret spots around Moab.
www.deserthighlights.com

Kirstin Peterson, Mountain Biking

This transplant from Massachusetts relocated to Moab to work and play in the great outdoors. The Bay State’s loss is Utah’s gain. Kirstin owns and operates Rim Tours, offering day and multi-day guided mountain bike adventures. Rim has a vast variety of rides and locations from which to choose; Canyonland’s White Rim, Needles and The Maze, the Kokopelli Trail, Bryce to Zion, multi-sport and specialty trips for women and a combo with local B &B’s. Kirstin’s spare time is spent gardening, kayaking, cooking, at Yoga classes and hanging out with husband Sean.
www.rimtours.com

Dean Woods, Climbing/Mountaineering

Woods is the “Dean” of climbing in a state that has hundreds of great ones. He started perfecting his techniques as a teenager in his native California over thirty years ago. Dean now is a partner in Zion Rock & Mountain Guides in Springdale, just outside Utah’s climbing temple, Zion National Park. Zion Rock sells and rents gear, provides shuttles and, of course, provides instruction and guiding outside Park boundaries. Safety is his mantra, and to extend his expertise to the community, Dean and his wife, Jill, serve on the Zion National Park Search & Rescue team.
www.zionrockguides.com