Guiding day trips from home, in local mountains, is a common goal for many mountain guides. Last year I finally achieved this Holy Grail of guiding. This year I continued an ideal mix of multi-day trips and day guiding around home. Here are a few of those day trips.

Team Canada after day three days of Alaska skiing: Lukas, Jessica, Michael, Dustin and Jon hired me for an overview of Southcentral skiing to start their 10-day ski trip. We skied Hatcher, Turnagain Pass and Summit Lake. They came expecting Alaska heli ski movie conditions: knee-deep powder on 50-degree slopes. Instead I showed them huge days of pristine corn and stable, but shallow powder. By day three they understood: knee-deep powder is great if a machine is hauling you up the hill. Shallow powder and corn is better for earning your turns and mega vert.

First day at Hatcher Pass. We skied a long corn run, then this powder run.

Day two: fresh powder and perfect corn at Turnagain Pass.

Day three: After a powder run in the shade beyond, we climbed to the summit of Hale Bop for 3,500-feet of perfect corn back to Summit Lake.

Movie recon in the Tordrillo Mountains with Oscar McLennan and Lightbox Pictures. They hired me for trip consulting to help locate Sugar Mountain.

"Isn't that something? Wow." James Kesterson at Manitoba after his first backcountry powder run, ever. We skinned back up and skied down the south side for his first backcountry corn run, ever. Then we stayed at Manitoba cabin and drank beers, like backcountry skiers do. James is from North Carolina and in his mid-sixties. Since 2002, James and I have been on six expeditions together in Alaska and South America.

Craig Campbell looking back at his first Alaska ski run. Straight off the summit of Pastoral at Turnagain Pass. Too bad for skiers who've switched to summer mode.

Craig skiing perfect corn at Summit Lake.

Allison and Chris Cory booting above Green Lake in the Chugach Front Range at the end of May. Lots of great skiing left!