Matt Schonwald
Matt is a certified Ski-Mountaineering Guide with the American Mountain Guides Association and an AIARE avalanche safety instructor dedicated to perfecting his craft. He began his professional ski career in 1993 as a ski instructor and let his curiosity for steep wild places lead him to a full time career as professional mountain guide. 
Matt began skiing and alpine racing in New York’s Catskill mountains at 9 years old and a summer ski trip to Mt Hood inspired him years later to move from New York City to Washington State for college and he never looked back.
Matt found a way to combine his passion for travel, wild snow and big mountains by guiding trekking, climbing, skiing and making connections across cultural and linguistic divides around the globe in Antarctica, Europe, Asia, North & South America. He has made many technical climbs & ski descents in the Vinson Massif of Antarctica, Chamonix, Denali, Mt Rainier and Nepal In an effort to help preserve wild places, Matt completed his MBA in sustainable business from BGI and started his own company, Back Country Adventure Guides. When not out trekking, climbing or skiing, Matt works on his own personal sustainability in Seattle with his wife, daughter and his snow dog.
Pablo Puruncajas
Pablo Puruncajas fell in love with the mountains at a young age while climbing Ecuador’s volcanoes with his family-owned mountain guide company. He has been guiding in the Andes since 1999 and has been guiding for the past six years in the Northwest United States. In 1997 he expanded his adventure skills by taking on rock climbing. He represented Chimborazo province three times as the Ecuadorian National Rock Climbing Champion. In 2002 he moved to the United States to study English at Eastern Kentucky University. 
While in the U.S. he has spent his free time exploring the vast alpine, mixed, ice and rock climbing areas, throughout North America. He completed his UIAGM Alpine & Rock certification with the Bolivian Mountain & Trekking Guide Association, accredited by the National School of Ski and Alpinism of Chamonix (ENSA), and has completed Advanced Alpine and Rock Guides Courses with American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA).
Shane Robinson began his guiding career on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, Colorado. It was also during this time that he worked as a professional ski patroller, first for Copper Mountain Resort then for Squaw Valley, USA. The foundation was then laid for a lifetime of adventure and exploration in the mountains of the world. He moved to Seattle and studied environmental law at Seattle University, but he missed sharing his passion for adventure with others. Shane is an aspiring ski mountaineering guide and is now seeking certification with the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA).
Shane has led expeditions to Peru, British Columbia, and Kamchatka, Russia on a National Geographic Explorer’s grant. He also enjoys photography and videography and has worked on projects such as The Season 2 (http://vimeo.com/32595397#). Among all these adventures, his favorite thing is showing friends his new powder stash.
