Board Nominees
Jeff Tarshis
My non-guiding professional background includes working for and with government agencies at the city, county, state, and federal levels. These roles involved permitting, land management, and environmental impact analysis. Outside of environmental consulting, I have also worked in marketing and sales, both online and customer-facing.
Trevor Kostanich
I have worked both as an employee of a mid-sized operation and as the owner of a small business in my sixteen years of guiding. The first twelve years, guiding was a secondary career as I focused on other work to make a living. The last three years I am primarily ski guiding learning if it is possible to make a living solely as a guide. The jury is still out.
Philip Straub
Over the past 18 years I have worked across the mountain industry. From youth and college-level outdoor education, to research-based field science and technical mountain guiding, I’ve seen a wide variety of approaches to improving public understanding of the mountain landscape. Providing quality experiences to eager mountain travelers and creating opportunities for deep learning, both as a working guide and founder of a cooperative guide service, has been the greatest privilege of my career. I will draw on my background as a mountain industry generalist to help grow Washington mountain guiding and meet the challenges of an uncertain future.
Willy Oppenheim
I have worked as an outdoor educator and mountain guide in Washington State since 2009. Most of this work has been with NOLS, but I’ve also worked occasionally with Alpine Ascents and a few other operations. I feel deeply committed to helping people access our state’s incredible mountain terrain, and to making the guiding / outdoor education industries more sustainable and rewarding for those who work in them.