This Boomer grew up in rural northwest Illinois and was fortunate enough to live 7 miles from a ski area and 11 miles from a climbing crag on the Mississippi River. After a few ski trips out west, it didn’t take much motivation for Mark to relocate to Jackson Hole and get schooled by the mountains and snowpack of the Tetons. During his early years in Wyoming, Mark enjoyed time in Laramie, at the University Of Wyoming (GO Cowpokes!), earning a BA in Spanish Education. After a stressful student teaching experience at the old JH High School, followed by a few years of substitute teaching (never answer the phone on a powder day), Mark was offered a position as a climbing guide with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, which turned into a 20+ year career of guiding and instructing hundreds of clients on the peaks and walls of the Tetons, Wind Rivers, the Sierra, Devils Tower and Red Rocks (Vegas).
Mark moved to the Wood River Valley in Sept 2016 to be closer to his now 12 yr old daughter, who attended Syringa for 5 years. If Mark is not spending time with his daughter, or working at Syringa, or climbing, or hiking, or back-country skiing…or riding the vast network of moto & mountain bike trails this valley has to offer, he is probably sleeping. He needs all the sleep he can get.