Dream Winter Club

What are your goals this ski season? If you're like me, the pursuit of great goals is motivating. We want to help you create and achieve your goals this winter with the help of Dream Winter! This Club will teach you skills, evaluate you performing those skills, and then invite you to go on rad adventures together. Jump on board!

Benefits

  • Hone essential skills to stay safer on challenging ski lines.
  • Prove you're a competent backcountry ski partner.
  • Being tested on specific skills + Performance feedback from a pro = deliberate practice. 10,000 hours only works if it's deliberate practice.
  • Confidence Booster: skill based & competence-founded.
  • Third party evaluation and encouragement prunes away the BAD and nurtures the GOOD, so your GREAT can fluish.
  • Quality concise instruction.
  • Ride the wave of your cohort's energy! Replace "one day" with "Day One!"

Dream Winter Progression

  • 1st - You'll have access to five MTN Sense online courses, and our private community group.
  • 2nd - Complete online tests to insure long-term retention.
  • 3rd - Demonstrate competence on camera: Successfully complete 20 exercises. Get together with your friends and learn together.
  • 4th - IFMGA Mountain Guide, Mark Smiley, gives video performance feedback to refine your skills.
  • 5th - Take a leadership role on your big goal ski objective. Zoom consultation with IFMGA Mountain Guides pre and post tour to help you be successful. +Join your cohort's calls so you can learn from their experiences.
  • 6th - Get an invitation to join us at the Golden Alpine Holidays Meadows Hut via a helicopter ride from near Golden BC, to ski tour for 8 days. (Cost is additional)

    Get a custom highlight reel, like the one here, to brag about the best winter season of your life!

Rad Rope Skills

Guide Consultation

Slay The Best Powder

Crevasse Rescue

Navigation

What sets this club apart?

  • Acquire skills to increase confidence on bigger lines.
  • Mark Smiley will personally review each of your exercises and give feedback.
  • Join for skills days in Revelstoke BC Canada, Jackson Wyoming, and Mt Baker Washington. Additional locations TBD.
  • Everyone in the Club has passed a minimum standard of excellence and proficiency. You don't have to be Superman, but you can't be super lame.
  • Belong to something that is new, exciting, and driven to make positive change in your season.
  • Consult with a IFMGA Mountain Guide before you tackle your big goal line.
  • Testimonial from Ben Coffman, 2023/24 Member

Dream Winter Progression

Step One: Complete Five MTN Sense Courses
  1. Smartphone Navigation
  2. Crevasse Rescue Made Easy
  3. The Ultimate Guide To Backcountry Ski Mountaineering
  4. Avalanche Safety: A Comprehensive Course
  5. Beyond Level One
Step Two: Pass Written Exam and Quizzes

Throughout the online courses there are quizzes and a final exam that need to be passed. You must get 92% or higher to pass.

Step Three: Complete Film and Photo Exercises

With the power of film and video you will demonstrate your proficiency in 25 different areas. From skiing, to rigging a hauling system, finding buried beacons and more. Feedback will be provided on each assignment directly from Mark Smiley via a video call.

Step Four: Video Conference Office Hours

Dates: Nov 15 - May 15 we will have two calls per month. Set by the groups best schedule. Whatever works for the most people.

Step Five: Mountain Missions with Pre/Post Guide Feedback

Once you have successfully completed the exercises you will be admitted into the Club. From there we will have meet ups for skills training in person. Locations: Dec 27 Jackson WY // Feb in Revelstoke, BC // April Baker, WA. We will lock in these locations based on input from those that complete the program.

Step Six: Be Part Of The Community

You will have access to the community of Dream Winter Club Member skiers for missions together. Quality partners can be hard to find, and although not required, if you want to meet up and ski together, great!

Enroll Here

Digital Avalanche Course

Your pace. Yours forever.
  • Complete the video course on your schedule. Reference lessons in the future.
  • Ask Mark Smiley direct questions.

Digital Avalanche Course

Your pace. Yours forever.
  • Complete the video course on your schedule. Reference lessons in the future.
  • Ask Mark Smiley direct questions.

Digital Avalanche Course

Your pace. Yours forever.
  • Complete the video course on your schedule. Reference lessons in the future.
  • Ask Mark Smiley direct questions.
Noitems found
No items found.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I ask Mark Smiley questions throughout the course?

Yes. Every lesson has a place for questions, and Mark will reply personally. We will meet twice a month, from Nov 15 - May 15, via Zoom. The mountain meet-ups will also be a great time to connect and ask questions in real time.

How fit do I need to be?

The fitter you are the easier it is to drive your skis downhill, thus, increasing the fun level. Your fitness, nor your skiing ability, is a limitation to join the Club. We all have things we can work on. Use the Club to stay motivated and get in rockin' good shape. Some badges will only be earned by those that achieve certain physical requirements for that badge (eg- ski 5,000 or 10,000 feet in 24hours).

How do I reserve my spot?

Simple click enroll and follow the steps.

Already Enrolled In One Of The Five Courses?

You will get a coupon code to give to a friend or family member to get them in that course as well! Merry Christmas to them!

Does the GAH Meadows Ski Trip Cost Extra?

Yes. Travel and lodging and food costs are additional. This will be a guided and fully catered (all meals) trip, but you will have plenty of opportunities to flex your decision-making muscle.

Where will 'big goal' mountain missions be?

Each person will have personal goals. Choose to invite others to join, or don't. The decision is yours. There will be cohorts in different regions, and the potential exists to meet and mesh with another member in your area, but this is 100% voluntary.

Does this count for a Rec Level 1 Avalanche Course?

This is better. Mark Smiley can provide a letter of recommendation for those that have completed this program regarding your personal level of avalanche education proficiency. Which will likely be enough to qualify for Rec Level 2 or Pro 1 course. But MTN Sense can not claim that outright, as there are many organizations that control the language around "avalanche course".

Who is Mark Smiley?

Mark Smiley's passion for adventure has taken him on 30+ expeditions on five continents. He and his wife, Janelle, are the only people that have attempted to climb all 50 Classic Climbs of North America (48 successfully). He was part of a team to set a world record skiing across the entire Alps Mountain Range (1100 miles and 292,000 vertical feet) in a mere 36 days.

His avalanche safety training style is fun, mellow, and easy to understand. As an IFMGA Certified Mountain Guide, Mark Smiley is among the world's elite guides to have reached this status. More important than this certification is his candid style of conveying the best avalanche skills training techniques that will benefit you the most.

Victor Caldua was a friend and mountain guide and father who died in an avalanche while climbing Alpamayo, Peru. He left behind a wonderful wife, Alicia, and two amazing and talented daughters, Vanessa and Estefani. 10% of the profit from this course will be gifted to Victor's family for their education expenses. Vanesse wants to be an engineer and Estefani wants to be a mountain guide.

Sept 1, 2023 Update: $10,000+ sent to Victor's family, to help with school expenses. We are committed to supporting their needs indefinitely. As more people enroll, his kids' education prospects increase.

Get started now