Your Guides They are hard lot
to catch without sunglasses and headgear. The backcountry is
their office and they have learned many life lessons from their
gentle and humorous llama companions. We know that your guides
are an important factor in the success of your adventure. As
guides we strive to reflect a genuine appreciation and respect
for the delicate balance of the wilderness in a professional
and personal manner. We have an established reputation for our
congenial, conscientious and sincere attitude towards guiding
and the backcountry. It is our goal to enhance your trip by taking
you off the beaten path to those hidden places, attempting the
summit of a nearby peak or refreshing you with hearty meals and
breads cooked in a wood burning stove or at a campsite.
Our backgrounds
include nationally recognized outdoor schools and a broad mix
of worldwide mountaineering experience. All guides have certifications
in CPR and Wilderness First Aid. Their love of the backcountry
is infectious and they are eager to show you some of their favorite
places.
-Donny Shefchik, Field Director
 Donny
Shefchik
There is often one in the ranks who becomes timeless,
who has been around forever, who remembers that hidden campsite
from a solo trip 10 years previous. Paragon's Field Director and
Senior Guide, Donny Shefchik may be that one. Time and miles can
make someone aware of their surroundings, but passion separates
the trail you follow.
Donny has been with Paragon
Guides since 1985, and has had the pleasure of learning about
the country, learning about himself and learning about guiding,
with the help of a great group of people. A solid "Midwesterner" some
might say, Northern Wisconsin is where he came from 20 years
ago. As a Junior Racing Coach and Certified Alpine Ski Instructor,
he began developing a teaching and personal style that is evident
in his guiding. However, the Rocky Mountains continued to work
their magic and in 1979 he moved to Vail.
Backcountry skiing,
Telemarking, Hiking, Climbing, Fly Fishing, Biking; the outdoor
world had found another devout disciple. Donny's enthusiasm
and desire to share the rewards of the mountains, soon took
him into guiding. Nordic certification, personal development
training, wilderness medicine, Mountain Ski Guide Certification,
and his mother's gift for cooking have helped round out his
guiding style. Travel has broadened his outdoor experience
with backcountry and ski mountaineering trips in the Western
U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. The simplicity and beauty of
the mountain environment has molded his life. The "Donny
Llama" has
helped to shape Paragon Guides, and in return has reaped the
benefits of the mountains and the people who spend time in them.
 Philip
Peralta-Ramos
Philip has been a year round guide for Paragon
since 1989. He immigrated to Colorado from New York City where
he received a degree in creative writing from the University
of Colorado at Boulder. His passions for learning and the outdoors
soon led him to the Colorado Outward Bound School, where he worked
for several years as a Trip Leader and instructor for the Professional
Development Program.
As an avid backcountry skier, hiker, and Alpinist,
Philip has traveled extensively throughout the US, Canada, Europe
and Asia. With successful ascents of Denali, Mont Blanc, The
Grand Teton, and a first ascent of Yu Long Shan in China to his
credit. When he is not climbing or skiing, you can find Philip
in his kayak, on his bicycle, or drifting a dry fly in his favorite
trout stream. His enthusiasm is contagious, and he loves to share
an adventure or a story. Rounding out his guide skills is an
extensive background in wilderness first aid, avalanche training,
vertical rescue, and swift water rescue.
 Mike
Holmes
Mike was born and raised on the Continental
Divide, just south of Guanella Pass, Colorado. He spent many
of his formative days exploring and learning about the high alpine
terrain near the 11,669ft pass that had been named by his mother.
The remote mountain setting located between the historic mining
towns of Breckenridge and Georgetown was Mike’s "home-range".
After some years of exploring alternatives, including rodeo,
Mike settled in Breckenridge and has continued to pursue his
passion for skiing. His childhood days remain an influence on
his approach to his adult pursuits and have nourished his deep
felt joy for Wilderness.
Mike joined Paragon Guides in 1998, after 6 years with the
Summit County Search and Rescue Team as Avalanche Training Coordinator,
Snow Safety Helicopter Technician and Site Commander. As a Senior
Guide for Paragon, Mike still loves every minute he gets to guide
people through the magical world of the Colorado Backcountry.
 Meredith
Goldberg
Born and raised in northeastern New Jersey,
Meredith spent the happier moments of her childhood "romping"
in the Adirondack, Catskill, and Berkshire Mountains. She graduated
from Colgate University in 1989 with a BA in English Literature
and immediately moved to Colorado, following the undeniable pull
of the mountains even before in was fully acknowledged. These
days Meredith finds herself deep in exploration of the Colorado
Rocky Mtns., learning what she can of the flora & fauna that
openly welcomes her in her most peaceful moments.
Meredith has
worked at both Copper and Breckenridge Ski Resorts, studied Orienteering
and Map & Compass at Colorado Mtn. College, is a certified
Wilderness First Responder and has CPR training.
 Ryland
Gardner
Ryland Gardner has been guiding for Paragon Guides for
the past 3 years. He moved to the west from Virginia after college
and has lived in or close to the Rocky Mountains since. Ryland
has a Master of Arts from Prescott College in Natural Science
and Environmental Education and his passion for the natural history
and ecology of the Rockies compliments his passion for backcountry
skiing, climbing, and sharing the magic of wild places with his
students and clients. Ryland "cut his teeth" backcountry
skiing and climbing in the rugged Teton Range of Wyoming where
he, in addition to climbing and skiing many of the amazing peaks
of the range, made the first ski descent of the Zorro Snowfields
on Cloudveil Dome on telemark skis.
In addition to guiding
for Paragon, Ryland also works as a wilderness and rock climbing
instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School guiding
climbing and wilderness trips up to a month in length. Ryland
is also a wilderness EMT and teaches wilderness medicine for
the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS. In addition to guiding
in the backcountry, Ryland works as an adjunct faculty member
for the Prescott College Graduate program in the fields of adventure
and environmental education as well as environmental studies.
When he is not guiding, he can be found doing carpentry work
in Boulder or off on an adventure with his wife Shari and their
two boys Nate and Robbie.
 Greg Dennis
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Greg came
to Colorado in 1985, settling in Steamboat Springs. Inspired
by the Rockies, his adventurous spirit led him into back country
skiing and climbing. His background as an engineering student
provided the analytical approach that brought him to the Vail
area as a Whitewater Rafting Guide, where he is now the Director
for "Rock and Raft", a unique approach to multi-adventure;
combining whitewater rafting and rock climbing.
Before joining
Paragon's Winter program, Greg worked as a Ski Patrolman at the
Beaver Creek Resort, where he gained valuable experience in Winter
Emergency First Aid, and Avalanche Training. His 15 years of
Colorado back country skiing, combined with his depth of guiding
skills made him a great addition to our staff. His enthusiasm
for sharing a wealth of knowledge and motivating people to join
in, compliments his guiding style and may help explain why he
chooses to live at 11,000 feet in a cabin he built with his wife,
Melanie.
 Pam
Gibbs
Pam describes herself as a soul with
a perpetual drive to understand life. She first followed a more
conventional approach, studying Plant Biology at Wellesley College
and then completing full graduate level studies in Biology at
Brown University. She then opted to continue the quest by returning
to her childhood love of wild places and chose to settle in the
mountains. She is well acquainted with the chaos that life can
present and credits this to helping her discover and hone her
more philosophical gifts.
She began guiding after completing
a one week solo back-country trip with a llama in the Holy Cross
Wilderness area near Vail, CO where she currently lives. She
eventually begged for a chance to work as a guide as a way to
continue working with Paragon’s llamas and sharing the
joys of this with others.
Her approach to the wilderness emphasizes
reconnecting to a deeper sense of power and Self by allowing
time in the wilderness to practice listening. She views the relationship
that we have to Wilderness as a metaphor for exploring the wilderness
within our own Self. She completed a 500+ mile section of the
Camino pilgrimage across Northern Spain, finding it far more
challenging because of the excessive amount of walking on roads.
She is particularly enthusiastic about sharing her explorations
for inner and outer self-reliance with women and girls.
Structured Training - Courses in Medicinal
Plants, Basic Mountaineering as well as a two week Outward Bound
course, where she thoroughly flunked the twenty four hour solo
requirement.
 Kurt
Kincel
Kurt started his mountaineering career in the
wooded hills of upstate New York. After a climbing trip through
the Western states, the move to Colorado was inevitable. For
more than a decade Colorado has been his "base camp" for
further adventures both guiding and personal pursuits, ranging
from Canada to South America. His training has included Level
III Avalanche and AMGA(American Mtn. Guides Assoc.), Kurt has
been an OEC (Outdoor Emergency Care) technician for 16 years.
Locally, Kurt has been involved with the Vail Mountain Search & Rescue
team since 1999, and has worked as an Avalanche Training instructor
at the Colorado Mountain College since 2001.
While not in the mountains Kurt can be found
hanging around in the trees as a Certified Arborist or floating
the rivers of canyon country in his handmade wooden dory.
 Will
Elliott
Will Elliott grew up in the Paragon family,
and has spent countless nights in the mountains. After graduating
from the Denver University in 2005, Will moved back to the Vail
Valley and resumed guiding ski mountaineering trips in the winter
and rock climbing, camping, trekking, and mountain biking expeditions
in the summer for Paragon Guides.
During the summer of 2005
Will, a Outward Bound alum, guided his first of many Outward
Bound Wilderness adventures as a OB instructor. Continuing his
education in Guiding, Will has earned certifications as a Wilderness
First Responder, an AMGA Ski Guide, Avalanche II, and as PSIA
telemark instructor.
Will has traveled, climbed and skied
in India, Canada, Argentina, Chile, and throughout the United
States. He looks forward to all of the mountains that he has
yet to explore. Will maintains his love and passion is for skiing,
however, he also enjoys fishing, rock climbing, river rafting,
hiking and most anything that involves the spirit of adventure.
Contact Paragon Guides today to join us on a backcountry adventure!
970.926.5299 or Toll-Free: 877.926.5299
info@paragonguides.com • contact form
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