Robson Gmoser OurLaughingGuide
Robson Gmoser Our Laughing Guide
On our most memorable experiences in the mountains we have been guided by someone in the Gmoser family: Father Hans heli-skiing with Canadian Mountain Holidays, Mother Margaret hiking unknown alpine ridges for a week in the Selkirks, and most recently son Robson ski touring at Campbell Icefield Chalet or Battle Abbey. It seems that during the best times we have ever had in the mountains, a Gmoser was looking after us. Hans died following a bike accident in 2006 and then Robson tragically died in an avalanche Mar 10, 2015. We have lost two of our most valued guides and mentors. Here is a collection of our best memories with the Gmosers, supplemented by friends’ photos and Robson's own public Facebook postings.
Robson Our Laughing Guide was a very unique individual - best described by one person as a "limited edition human being"! Robson, in many ways, led the life his father would have liked to lead - if Hans hadn't been so busy creating the heli-ski industry from scratch more than 50 years ago. In a Facebook post his mother Margaret calls him "My Laughing Boy"! One writer said "Robson belly laughs more than he talks"! Indeed that is what is so special about Robson. Imagine if everyone in the whole world was like this – what a wonderful world it would be.
Robson, in his early 40's, became a father for the first time. He and Olivia were Max's private guides! These photos of loving care from both parents are the most touching! There are few 3 year-olds on the planet who have had this rich of an introduction to the great outdoors. The photos of Robson and Max simply mirror the upbringing Robson himself had as a child. His own experience gave him the desire to do the same for his own son. These are examples of "living lives well" passed on from one generation to the next - the Gmoser way! The photos tell the story!
On a recent ski touring trip, a friend watching our guide Ilya Storm break trail in snow up to our thighs, said:
"These Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) are high performance athletes"!
Few people know that these guides are "high performance athletes" because not many get to watch them work. Other Canadian high performance athletes work in the media spotlight, at a hockey or basketball game, for example. Most Canadians don't even have a remote idea of where ACMG Guides work. They work where the highways don't go, where only helicopters go. It is some of the most spectacular scenery in the country, yet you'll never find it in any tourist brochure or media broadcast.
These ACMG high performance athletes also have a different attitude towards their customers than other professional athletes. How? They are so self-effacing, encouraging and humble in their way of working with you.. Unlike other professional athletes, the ACMG Guides (and Robson is the best example) know that they are in the tourism/hospitality business not the entertainment business. They are not focused on "branding themselves" to make more money; they are genuinely interested in their clients as human beings.
The Gmoser family excels at the "hospitality" business, not only in the wilderness but in their own homes and for their friends. From personal experience and passing through town many times,their home is always open for us to stay – even if no one is home …. "the key is under the flower pot" !
Robson Gmoser is famous as a ski guide but few people appreciate his accomplishments as a summer guide. As Canadians we owe a great deal to those who explored this country ….
People like:
James Cook, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Étienne Brûlé, Sir John Franklin, Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Samuel Hearne, Henry Hudson, Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, George Vancouver, John Palliser, Anthony Henday, Dr. Walter Butler Cheadle …
There were women explorers like Charlotte Small, a mixed-blood child of a Scottish fur trader Patrick Small and a Cree mother. She married the map maker David Thompson and had 13 children together; five of them were born before he left the fur trade. Their marriage lasted 58 years, the longest Canadian pre-Confederation marriage known.
It was the work of these early explorers that helped define Canada.
The Gmosers, starting with Hans, were also explorers, but in a different way. They didn't lead large expeditions like the earlier explorers, they led "tourists"! Hans, through his winter explorations in the Bugaboos and the Selkirks, created a heli ski industry where there had been nothing before. Robson, following in his father's footsteps, guided people to places where few people have ever gone before, whether on foot, by raft, sea kayak – it didn't matter he was good at all of those.
The Gmosers through their explorations, from the late 1960's until now, created adventure tourism product that rivals anything else in the world.
We lived first hand these exploratory trips on Robson's Dog Tooth Traverse, a range west of Golden B.C. Of course we had maps but there were no trails – no one had done this traverse before. Few people get the experience to walk through forests or camp beside a pristine lake where no one has been before. Those were the experiences that Robson and Olivia created for people.
People will struggle with ... Why Robson? Why now?
The answers will probably demand a deeper spiritual exploration than I have done before. That will come. For the moment I want to focus on celebrating his life, a life well lived.
I believe I probably take more risk driving my car for groceries than the 40+ years of mountain travel. The reward has been incalculable, especially the time spent with Robson. My life, would not have been the same without the opportunity to know him, nor will it be the same with his loss.
In closing, I feel sorry for people who spend time in the mountains just for an "adrenaline rush" – and even worse if they make sensational videos doing risky things. Their values are misaligned. Watching these videos gives skiers on a ski mountaineering week unrealistic expectations. Guides need to manage those expectations.
For now lets celebrate "Robson Gmoser The Laughing Guide" …. and lets learn how to belly laugh ourselves. The world needs more of that.
Bruce Roberts, Vernon B.C. Canada
Read MoreOn our most memorable experiences in the mountains we have been guided by someone in the Gmoser family: Father Hans heli-skiing with Canadian Mountain Holidays, Mother Margaret hiking unknown alpine ridges for a week in the Selkirks, and most recently son Robson ski touring at Campbell Icefield Chalet or Battle Abbey. It seems that during the best times we have ever had in the mountains, a Gmoser was looking after us. Hans died following a bike accident in 2006 and then Robson tragically died in an avalanche Mar 10, 2015. We have lost two of our most valued guides and mentors. Here is a collection of our best memories with the Gmosers, supplemented by friends’ photos and Robson's own public Facebook postings.
Robson Our Laughing Guide was a very unique individual - best described by one person as a "limited edition human being"! Robson, in many ways, led the life his father would have liked to lead - if Hans hadn't been so busy creating the heli-ski industry from scratch more than 50 years ago. In a Facebook post his mother Margaret calls him "My Laughing Boy"! One writer said "Robson belly laughs more than he talks"! Indeed that is what is so special about Robson. Imagine if everyone in the whole world was like this – what a wonderful world it would be.
Robson, in his early 40's, became a father for the first time. He and Olivia were Max's private guides! These photos of loving care from both parents are the most touching! There are few 3 year-olds on the planet who have had this rich of an introduction to the great outdoors. The photos of Robson and Max simply mirror the upbringing Robson himself had as a child. His own experience gave him the desire to do the same for his own son. These are examples of "living lives well" passed on from one generation to the next - the Gmoser way! The photos tell the story!
On a recent ski touring trip, a friend watching our guide Ilya Storm break trail in snow up to our thighs, said:
"These Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) are high performance athletes"!
Few people know that these guides are "high performance athletes" because not many get to watch them work. Other Canadian high performance athletes work in the media spotlight, at a hockey or basketball game, for example. Most Canadians don't even have a remote idea of where ACMG Guides work. They work where the highways don't go, where only helicopters go. It is some of the most spectacular scenery in the country, yet you'll never find it in any tourist brochure or media broadcast.
These ACMG high performance athletes also have a different attitude towards their customers than other professional athletes. How? They are so self-effacing, encouraging and humble in their way of working with you.. Unlike other professional athletes, the ACMG Guides (and Robson is the best example) know that they are in the tourism/hospitality business not the entertainment business. They are not focused on "branding themselves" to make more money; they are genuinely interested in their clients as human beings.
The Gmoser family excels at the "hospitality" business, not only in the wilderness but in their own homes and for their friends. From personal experience and passing through town many times,their home is always open for us to stay – even if no one is home …. "the key is under the flower pot" !
Robson Gmoser is famous as a ski guide but few people appreciate his accomplishments as a summer guide. As Canadians we owe a great deal to those who explored this country ….
People like:
James Cook, John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Étienne Brûlé, Sir John Franklin, Martin Frobisher, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Samuel Hearne, Henry Hudson, Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, George Vancouver, John Palliser, Anthony Henday, Dr. Walter Butler Cheadle …
There were women explorers like Charlotte Small, a mixed-blood child of a Scottish fur trader Patrick Small and a Cree mother. She married the map maker David Thompson and had 13 children together; five of them were born before he left the fur trade. Their marriage lasted 58 years, the longest Canadian pre-Confederation marriage known.
It was the work of these early explorers that helped define Canada.
The Gmosers, starting with Hans, were also explorers, but in a different way. They didn't lead large expeditions like the earlier explorers, they led "tourists"! Hans, through his winter explorations in the Bugaboos and the Selkirks, created a heli ski industry where there had been nothing before. Robson, following in his father's footsteps, guided people to places where few people have ever gone before, whether on foot, by raft, sea kayak – it didn't matter he was good at all of those.
The Gmosers through their explorations, from the late 1960's until now, created adventure tourism product that rivals anything else in the world.
We lived first hand these exploratory trips on Robson's Dog Tooth Traverse, a range west of Golden B.C. Of course we had maps but there were no trails – no one had done this traverse before. Few people get the experience to walk through forests or camp beside a pristine lake where no one has been before. Those were the experiences that Robson and Olivia created for people.
People will struggle with ... Why Robson? Why now?
The answers will probably demand a deeper spiritual exploration than I have done before. That will come. For the moment I want to focus on celebrating his life, a life well lived.
I believe I probably take more risk driving my car for groceries than the 40+ years of mountain travel. The reward has been incalculable, especially the time spent with Robson. My life, would not have been the same without the opportunity to know him, nor will it be the same with his loss.
In closing, I feel sorry for people who spend time in the mountains just for an "adrenaline rush" – and even worse if they make sensational videos doing risky things. Their values are misaligned. Watching these videos gives skiers on a ski mountaineering week unrealistic expectations. Guides need to manage those expectations.
For now lets celebrate "Robson Gmoser The Laughing Guide" …. and lets learn how to belly laugh ourselves. The world needs more of that.
Bruce Roberts, Vernon B.C. Canada
