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Do you know our Pros? Meet Lel Tone- Worlds Top 10 Guides, Elite Level Paddle Boarder and Professional Avalanche Forecaster

 Do you know our Pros? Meet Lel Tone -One of the Worlds Top 10 Guides, Elite Level Paddleboarder, Professional Avalanche Forecaster and Billy Poole Ski with the Pros Weekend Supporter!

Lel Tone- how does one begin to describe one of the most accomplished individuals in the ski community?  We are beyond excited that Lel will join us as Ski Discovery this weekend.

When it comes to skiing, fitness, reality TV competitions—or just life in general—Lel Tone earns the highest marks in every discipline. She started skiing as a child in the Alps, then left Switzerland for the U.S. when she was ten. She began ski racing while in college in Vermont, and later migrated to Lake Tahoe, a place she now calls home between guiding gigs, fitness missions, and televised tests of wilderness endurance.

Check out Lel and Lysey Dyer shred some powder in Kashmir:

From Lel:  “Skiing seems to be the thread that has held my whole adult life together. I find it intriguing that the little moment, at the age of two, that my mom and dad helped me put on these little plastic skis that they bought at the grocery store in Switzerland would be such a defining moment for the path my life would ultimately take. 

I met my husband Tom, ski racing in college. We were on the same team and co-captained our senior year there. It is skiing that has played a central theme in my professional career choices.

During the winter, Lel throws bombs as an avalanche forecaster for Squaw Valley Ski Patrol, and navigates steep, complicated terrain as a lead guide in Alaska with Chugach Powder Guides and for Tordrillo Mountain Lodge.

As a child growing up in Switzerland, the mountains, always present, majestic and near, always around made Lel feel at home.  “As I’ve grown and changed over the course of my life they have taken on different meanings for me. They are a place devoid of judgment, they are a place of solitude and beauty, they are a place to push yourself and your limits, they allow me to just BE in the moment to see my life for the gift and miracle that it is. More recently the mountains have been a place that I can learn from and help teach others about. I hope they will never stop being an inspiration to me. “

She was named one of the World’s Top Ten Guides by Outside Magazine in 2014 and the Best Outdoor Guide by Sunset Magazine in 2015. Lel holds Level 3 avalanche certifications and is a licensed blaster in California. She is also an instructor with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) and the National Ski Patrol, as well as a certified EMT.

In the summers, she holds her own as an elite-level paddleboarder for Tahoe SUP and Teva. A multi-sport, multi-season athlete, Tone has competed in freeskiing competitions and professional mountain-bike races. In 2015, Tone harnessed this competitive streak as a member of the winning Endurance team on National Geographic Channel’s Ultimate Survival Alaska.

The most important thing to remember when in the mountains is humility.  Mother Nature calls all the shots. Period. The mountains don’t care about your goals, your agenda, and your ego. We must be prepared, be smart, try to make sound decisions and be ready when the timing is right and the mountains allow us to do what we desire.”

While researching Lel, I was struck by her quote on FB :

“The greatest thing I learned in my 8th grade Latin class was “Carpe Diem”, to “Seize the Day”….It is a small concise phrase that has had a tremendous effect on my life. It reminds me every day to appreciate every moment we have on this amazing planet. To make every precious second count. I see this most clearly when I am spending time in the mountains, It is what has motivated me to find a way to live, work and play in them. I feel so fortunate to have a job that allows me to share that joy, that appreciation… that time in the mountains with other people.”

See you this weekend Lel!


 Info on Lel from:

(From <http://team.eddiebauer.com/post/125271969720/lel-tone-skiing-guide-more>)

(From <https://coolerlifestyle.com/features/this-is-me-lel-tone.html#8w0KMgT4i6tuTumY.97>)

 

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