Our guides are locals and are among the region’s most experienced and knowledgeable backcountry skiers and riders.
We guarantee small groups and a client to guide ratio of 4 to 1 to provide plenty of individualized attention. Our guides will find the best snow and terrain to suit your ability, provide expert instruction, and interpret the natural environment for a fun and educational outing. All guides are certified in CPR, Advanced First Aid (Wilderness First Responder or Winter Outdoor Emergency Care), and Advanced Avalanche Safety. We are professional year-round mountain guides whose lives are dedicated to sharing outdoor adventure, education and the joy of mountain experiences with others.
Owners/Guides
Co-owner Jeff Jung has been professionally skiing in the Tetons since 1994 as a lead ski patroller at Grand Targhee Resort and as a backcountry guide for Teton Backcountry Guides (called Rendezvous Ski Tours at that time). Jeff has skied extensively throughout the western United States, with exploration spanning from Alaska’s Chugach Range, British Columbia, and the Canadian Yukon, to the Sierra Nevada of California, Wyoming’s Teton Range, and throughout Argentina and Chile.
Jeff is certified as an Outdoor Emergency Care Technician and has been an EMT. He holds a Level III Guides Avalanche Certification from the American Avalanche Institute in Wilson, WY, and has completed the American Mountain Guides Association’s Ski Guide course in Wyoming and the Ski Mountaineering Guide Course in Valdez, Alaska. In addition to free and fixed heel ski mountaineering, Jeff is an avid rock climber, surfer, and mountain biker.
Co-owner Diane Verna has been a professional backcountry ski guide in the Tetons since 1996. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental and Outdoor Education from Prescott College in Arizona. Her studies combined natural history interpretation with outdoor recreation skills. She has worked for Outward Bound as a Field Instructor in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, in the Adventure Education Department for Prescott College as a Backcountry Skiing Instructor, and has instructed Nordic skiing for various institutions.
Diane is certified as a Wilderness First Responder from the Wilderness Medical Associates of NOLS and has been an EMT for Teton County, Idaho. She is certified in Nordic Instruction from the Professional Ski Instructors of America and has studied Avalanche Forecasting under Jerry Roberts on Red Mountain Pass in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Diane has participated in the AMGA Ski Guide course in Wyoming and completed the Ski Mountaineering Guide Course in Valdez, Alaska. In the summer months, Diane guides interpretive day hikes and backpacking trips in the Tetons.
Skiing & Snowboarding Guides
Evan Miller has been skiing for as long as he can remember. His parents introduced him to cross-country skiing in southern New Hampshire and a lifelong passion for exploring “just beyond the next hill” was initiated. In 2008, Evan moved to Utah in order to pursue work with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Since moving West, Evan has explored snowy environs across the globe in the Western U.S.; the Selkirks and Coast Ranges of British Columbia; India; Alaska; New Zealand; and even Antarctica. But the Tetons continue to be a favorite with reliable powder, inimitable Western hardiness, and lack of traffic lights. Evan is a full time professional guide and has recently received his IFMGA certification, recognizing him as a certified International Mountain Guide. He spends his summers guiding rock and mountaineering routes in the western US and on Aconcagua in Argentina. He is CPR and Wilderness First Responder certified, and holds a Level III Avalanche certificate through the American Avalanche Institute.
Kailey McKenna is originally from Maine. Her studies brought her to Colorado where she received a Bachelor’s degree in Adventure Education and a minor in psychology at Fort Lewis College. Over the last decade, Kailey has worked as a guide and educator. Kailey’s passion for backcountry skiing and mountaineering has taken her across North America. Kailey has worked as a guide in Wyoming, Alaska, Washington, California, and Colorado. Kailey’s training and certifications include AMGA Apprentice Ski Guide, AAI Avalanche Pro 2 and AIARE Course leader, allowing her to offer avalanche courses as well as provide fun days of powder skiing for her clients.
Peter Stone is an American skier, climber and guide based in Victor, Idaho. Peter was raised across the intermountain west in Wyoming, Colorado, and Idaho. He was introduced to mountain sports at young age and competed as an alpine ski racer until the age of 18 when he decided to refocus on climbing and backcountry skiing. He has worked as a guide and adventure educator since 2012. Peter holds a BA in environmental studies from Fort Lewis college. He participated in ski expeditions to Chile, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. He has also guided in Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Utah, Alaska, and Nevada. Peter is an AMGA certified ski guide, and has successfully completed the AMGA Rock, Alpine, and Ice climbing courses. Peter Also holds a pro level 2 Avalanche certification. He has been a wilderness first responder since 2011
Lisa Van Sciver developed her passion for winter and skiing in northern Vermont. There, before the age of 10, she learned how to ski at Mad River Glen riding the single lift chairlift to access steep, icy slopes. As a young adult, Lisa chased the mountain lifestyle out west, and has been in Jackson for over 20 years. During this time, she has worked as a ski patroller, avalanche forecaster, and ski guide. Lisa was the Grand Teton National Park winter snow ranger, where she wrote daily avalanche bulletins for the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. On her personal time, she started skiing off the high peaks of the Tetons and in 2007 was a port of the first all female ski descent of the Grand. Outside of the Teton , Lisa has explored many snowy mountain ranges, completing multi-day ski traverses across the Wind Rivers and Absaroka ranges in Wyoming, and many expeditions in Alaska. In 2023 Lisa becase a certified AMGA Ski Guide. Beyond these experiences, Lisa really enjoys spending time in nature looking for good turns with nice people!
Erme Catino is a skier, freelance journalist, and avalanche educator for the American Avalanche Institute. He has worked as a backcountry ski guide for several outfits in the Wasatch before moving to the Tetons, where he has also forecasted for the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center. He holds an Avalanche Professional 2 certification in addition to Outdoor Emergency Care. He has an MS in Environmental Studies. Always in pursuit of work that involves play and alot of powder skiing, he has worked in various roles within the ski industry-including running PR and media projects for brands, writing for multiple ski publications and was a correspondent for Powder Magazine.
Giles LaJevic-Augustine has been guiding in the Tetons since 2013, where he has worked as a ski guide and climbing guide (ice and rock). In 2024, he received his AMGA certification as an Assistant Ski Guide and has been certified as a Wilderness First Responder through various organizations since 2012. He holds a Level III Guides Avalanche Certification from the American Avalanche Institute. He has guided and explored throughout the world, in the Japanese Alps, the Arctic circle in Svalbard, the Dolomites, New Zealand Alps, and the Chugach Range in Alaska. He is the lead guide of the Via Ferrata at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, since its opening in 2017. He started and developed an adaptive climbing program with Teton Adaptive Sports and JHMR in 2020. He is also a certified alpine ski instructor through PSIA. Giles resides in Victor with his wife Heather and two young children. He loves taking his family camping at the City of Rocks and has a small garden where he raises vegetables and flowers.
John Michael McGuinn was born and raised in Tennessee and developed a passion for climbing at a young age, exploring the beautiful sandstone bluffs and boulders of the southeast. After finishing school in Sewanee, the University of the South, he decided to head west and landed in Jackson, Wyoming, where a new playground awaited him. John Michael discovered the joys of powder skiing and never looked back. Since then JH has honed his skills in the Tetons, exploring steep couloirs in the winter and an abundance of quality alpine climbs in the summer. He has been lucky enough to experience the steep skiing culture of the Alps and Canadian Rockies, and the desert rock of Morocco. John Michael s actively pursuing his AMGA certifications in the ski, rock and alpine disciplines. He holds a Pro 2 avalanche certification and has been teaching recreational avalanche courses for the past five years. When he is not guiding, you can find him at the Slow Food in the Tetons farmstand or wandering around numerous backcountry streams that the -Tetons have to offer.
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Max Friedman is a ski alpinist, teacher, and body/ physiology nerd. Max moved to Jackson in 2011 to work as a PT aide after ski patrolling at sugar bowl in Tahoe. Very quickly he started coaching JHMR’s freeride team in his second season and also began going for big days in the high mountains. 13 years later the passion is still big days, the infinite progression on skis and sniffing out great snow with great people. The only thing better than making the deepest turn in recent memory is watching your people drop into the same moment. Max has skied extensively in the Alpes, British Columbia, Alaska, and Norway, and yet the Tetons are home with endless terrain to explore. When Max isn’t in the mountains or surfing or climbing he can be found working at his fascia-bodywork practice, Gravity Works, in Wilson, or teaching/ mentoring in that work. Max is an AMGA certified Apprentice mountain guide (ski, rock,alpine) and is currently pursuing the completion of the ski certification. He also holds current WFR and Pro1 avalanche certification.
Teton Backcountry Guides is a fully insured business operating under a special use permit from the Caribou-Targhee National Forest since 1986 and a Concessionaire’s permit from Grand Teton National Park . References can be provided upon request.