Scott Newsome
Since his early days in Lake Louise, AB and eventual migration to Whistler and Revelstoke, BC, 36-year-old Scott Newsome has always been a true man of the mountains. As the first person to achieve lead guide certification on a splitboard and as part-owner/operator at Revelstoke’s Eagle Pass Heli, Newsome has the vision to push the boundaries of just what it means to be a snowboarding mountain guide.
“It’s really bizarre, I know, but it works for me,” Scott Newsome says between bites of a loaded burger at the Regent Pub in Revelstoke, BC. “I grew up skiing and when I was teaching my kids how to ski, I would just split my board and ski around the hill [Revelstoke Mountain Resort]. That’s where I learned to split ski, and I can get down a 5,000 foot run on my split skis, no problem.”
It may catch his clients at Eagle Pass Heli by surprise, but sometimes Newsome won’t bother switching to ride mode—instead, he’ll rip soft-booted tele turns so he can establish a traverse, or bust trail to a pickup. “I hate to admit that,” he says, laughing, “but as you get more experienced in your guiding career you learn to figure out which is the right application for the conditions. It’s not pretty, but it works.”
Sometimes you’ve got to find your own way when you’re a leader…