Breck Guide: Taylor Gordon

One of the most unique aspects of the Breck Guides program is the opportunity to go behind the scenes into the world of ski patrol and to learn about risk mitigation on the mountain. Who better to be your guide and to teach about risk mitigation than Taylor Gordon, a man who has flown (and crashed) airplanes through wildfires, and who can casually recount avalanches being “stronger than they look” when he talks about his best ski days.

Taylor is a pilot and was an aerial firefighter in the South for years. He loved the work, but it’s pretty unpredictable and dangerous. That became especially apparent after he crashed a Forest Service plane. After the crash, Taylor took the time to evaluate a new career. Drawn to Breck, Taylor made the move and quickly fell in love with skiing and teaching. His first season was pretty big for him, so he knew he’d always want skiing in his life. His fellow guides joke that with Taylor’s intelligence, athleticism, and command over his skis, he’s now become an “alpine flyer.”

Despite (or perhaps because of) some of the extreme situations in which Taylor has found himself, when it comes to skiing and guiding he puts the utmost importance on safety first, followed quickly with fun. He highly encourages clients to take advantage of the behind-the-scenes ski patrol opportunities to better understand just how impressive their knowledge and efforts are in keeping the mountain safe for everyone.

If you have the chance to spend a day with Taylor, look forward to being surprised and impressed. His quiet and unassuming demeanor quickly gives way to his wit and intelligence that make any day fun and filled with learning opportunities to take your skills to the next level. Ask him what his favorite part of the job is, and you’ll get a short but honest answer – “everything, I love everything about it.”