Mark: Will you share how we got out of there?

Rick: Finally, on the third day we woke up to a window in the clouds. We decided to pack up and try to ski out. It had snowed 2-3 feet and the avalanche danger was high so all we wanted to do was get out of there fast. Just as we were about to descend the peak socked back into whiteout and we were momentarily lost in the mist. At that point we were kind of wondering if it had been a good call to break down camp. The Angel Glacier has very few safety zones - most of it is exposed to either massive crevasses, rockfall, icefall, seracs, and avalanches. Those are some of the biggest crevasses I've ever seen - and I've seen a lot of crevasses. There was this one monster that was like 400 feet deep. So we center punched it -- a term we came up with working as Alaskan heli ski guides. When the conditions are really bad, sometimes the best thing you can do is just point 'em straight down the hill, and try not to wipe out. I think we skied the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

Mark: Would you like to tell the story of your all star wipeout?

Rick: Well, after Mt. Waddington we decided to do some heli skiing. It's cheating I know, but it's OK to cheat now and then. We were looking for good stuff to ski, but the snow was horrid, all punchy with avalanche debris all over the place. We were kind of having a hard time finding stuff to do and I was getting bored. We were filming, so I was looking for something exciting, something cool for people to watch. We got dropped off on this one face that was about 50 degrees with a small cliff at the top. I made the first few turns then straight lined it off the cliff. I soared about 20-30 feet and landed in breakable crust. I was a touch off balance on the takeoff. In good snow I think I could have stuck it but the snow was crap and I started to roll. I almost stopped it right then but not quite. On a slope that steep you just accelerate in a cartwheeling motion. I tried to turn around a couple times but there was no getting out of it. I did a nice double back hand spring over the shrund and miraculously walked away. That's one of the top three wipeouts I've ever taken. I hate falling, but sometimes when you're pushing to the highest level you're right at the point of what's physically possible. Huck and chuck.

Mark: Tell me about your next big mission? Are you planning anything for this fall or winter?

Rick: Yeah, I'm super psyched. Right now I'm getting organized for an expedition in October to South Georgia Island. It's north of Antarctica, east of the southern tip of South America, west of the southern tip of Africa. This is the same place where Shackleton stopped over on his famous epic. We're going to attempt a bunch of first ski ascents and descents. The mountains are big, 9000 feet high and that's coming straight out of the ocean. We'll be shooting footage for a Warren Miller ski film. The team is myself, Hilaree Nelson, John Griber and Doug Stoup, plus the film crew.

Mark: How are you going to get down to the island?

Rick: We'll take a ship from South America to the Falkland Islands, then form there on to South Georgia. We'll be sailing through an area known as the "Roaring 40s", some of the wildest ocean in the world. I've been across the Drake Passage twice, but this is supposed to be way more intense. The trip will be about six weeks long and we'll use the boat as a sort of floating basecamp. It's perfect because we can move it around and then just take the Zodiac when we need to get in to shore.

Mark: Why do you do this stuff?

Rick: Well, I guess I do it for the adventure. I'm into exploration. My biggest goal is to go and do things that other haven't people haven't done yet. These days people have been pretty much everywhere, but I search out those few places that still remain untouched. It's neat to think that you're making steps where no one has ever done that before. It allows you to really think about stuff. I don't know what it is about adventure that sucks you in, but it's definitely addicting. After a while it becomes something that you have to have. I guess that's why Antarctica is my favorite place. It's got the wildest mountains I've ever seen, but it's also one of the least explored places in the world. Checking these places out is like fulfilling a childhood dream.

Career Highlights
* South Georgia Island Ski Expedition First ski descent of Mt. Norman (4,100 vertical)
* Two first ski descents out of Larson Harbor
* Second ascent attempt of Mt. Nordenskol (7,600 ft.)
* First ski descent out of Paradise Harbor
* Mt. Waddington Ski Expedition: descent of northwest summit of Waddington and Combatant Couloir
* Aconcagua Ski Expedition
* Polish Glacier Direct, Los Andes, Argentina, and Patagonia Honeymoon Expedition, Torres Del Paine: three first ski descents including solo of Mt. Almiento
* Tian Shan Mts. Expedition, China: three first ski descents in Bogda Feng region
* Ski descents: north face of L’Aiguille du Midi, Glacier Ron, Couloir Cosmic, Aiguille de Vert, Mt. Blanc
* Antarctica: two peninsula ski expeditions, as seen in the film, A Land that Time Forgot
* First ski ascent/descents: Ziesses Needle, Lost Friend Couloir on Lowe Peak (named by us after Alex Lowe), Sunshine Daydream, Shulykin Peak, Mt. Mill, Ice Princess
* Attempt on Deo Tibba (6,000 m.) Manali, India, March 1999 (NBC series)
* Grand Teton: First ski descent of Vision Quest Couloir, Mixed WI IV, 5.9 The Tetons, Wyoming
* Grand Teton: Second snowboard descent of The Grand Teton (first person to have both skied and snowboarded the Grand Teton)
* Grand Teton: Second person to fly a paraglider over the Grand
* Grand Teton: Member of first pair to fly a tandem paraglider over the Grand
* First ski descent of Nez Perce East Peak Sliver
* First winter ascent and ski descent of Teewinot Crooked Thumb Couloir
* First ascent/descent of Chock Stone Couloir, Rendezvous Mountain
* First ski descent "The Cave Line," Corbetts Couloir (unrepeated)
* First ski descent of Hawaii Five-0 -- The North Shore, Rendezvous Peak
* Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s "Businessman of the Year"

Films/Media highlights
* Warren Miller’s The Storm, Snowriders, Fusion, In Search of Powder and Black Diamond Rush
* Teton Gravity Research’s The Prophecy, The Realm, Uprising, Harvest, Continuum and Area 51
* Matchstick Productions’ The Tribe, Soul Sessions and Epic Impressions
* RAP Films’ Cosmic Winter and Snow Drifters
* OLN Adventure Series: Aconcagua Ski Expedition, Nov. 2000, Fall 2001
* NBC Primetime Adventure Series, "Descending India: ski expedition in the Himalaya"

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