Jed Workman, the GM at Valdez Heli Ski Guides, accepts the challenge to take the BTM questionnaire so that we can get to know him on a deeper level. To get to the soul and spiritual centre of who he is.

To penetrate the emotional goretex clothing, and explore the vast mountain range of who he is and his many peaks and valleys.

The BTM questionnaire is designed to reveal his true mountain character and uncover his beliefs and aspirations regarding the mountains.

My guest today is Jed Workman — heli ski guide in Valdez, Alaska. But that’s just the headline.

Jed didn’t follow the traditional script. He chose Alaska, or maybe it called to him. He chose an unconventional path. He built a life around mountains, art, risk, beauty, and shared passions.

He’s lived off-grid. Farmed and hunted for his own food. Studied fine art — and then found those same lines and compositions etched into snow-covered spines. He learned to fly, taking a literal leap into the air — and a deeper leap of faith into a life built on instinct and intention.

The mountains aren’t just where he works. They’re his canvas. His classroom. His proving ground. They are his subjects captured through the lens of his camera.

When we spoke the night before the interview, I could hear him smiling over the phone. That kind of stoke doesn’t come from a job title. It comes from living aligned — art, photography, climbing, flying — and sharing it all with his partner Leighan. It’s an ode to love, to the mountains, and to building something meaningful together.

In many ways, this is Jed’s quintessence of life — stripping it back to what matters most: beauty, risk, creation, connection.

This conversation is about choosing your own line. About believing a different life is possible. About what happens when you stop following the map — and start drawing your own.

This is Jed Workman. OR as I now see him Jed WILDMAN.

Leighan Falley takes the questionnaire designed to reveal her true mountain character and shares her beliefs and aspirations.

Before we start, I want to set the tone.

My goal with every guest is to connect with them as a friend — to understand the energy and purpose that drives them, and to leave you feeling like you’ve just met someone you’d truly like to call a friend too.

Today’s guest, Leighan Falley, is exactly that kind of person.

Instagram @leighanfalley

Buy some art: KORAX ART STUDIO.COM

She’s a Kick ass glacier pilot, a Denali mountain guide who summited 6 times, and a talented landscape artist capturing the vast beauty of Alaska. Or as she says, a portrait painter who sees the different personalities of Denali's mountains.

Her life feels like the landscape she lives in — rugged, honest, and full of unexpected light.

She is featured in a beautiful short film that can be found on YouTube called - Denali's Raven. I encourage you to watch it.

Whilst this conversation is full of inspiring stories about Denali and its raw beauty as described by Leighan as she climbs it, flies around it and now paints its many faces.

There’s also a moment in this episode when we enter some turbulence.

Leighan chose to share her story of addiction, losing her pilot’s licence, and slowly rebuilding her life.

And I want to be honest: listen back afterwards, part of me wonders if I could have asked more questions here — if I could have helped her draw out her message more clearly. I wasn’t sure how to approach something so personal with someone I admired, so instead I gave her the space to tell it in her own way.

I believe that we are more than our darkest days. Leighan’s journey reminds us of that.

And I’m just grateful — and genuinely happy — that she’s in a better place now. She is someone whom I admired and respected.

Someone whom I would be honoured to call a friend, that means more than having any perfectly framed questions.

She’s also doing something incredibly brave — using her voice and status in the aviation community to remove stigma. By sharing what she went through, she’s giving other pilots permission to ask for help, to speak up, and to realise that being vulnerable doesn’t make you weaker — it makes you human.

It reminded me how important it is to be there for our friends, to check on the people we love, to encourage honesty, and to ask for help when we need it too. None of us should have to navigate the storm alone.

So today, we take flight through her world — her home in Talkeetna, the life she’s created, the mountains that shaped her, and the strength it takes to rise again.

As a bonus episode, Leighan agreed to take the Beyond the Mountains questionnaire to reveal her true mountain character.

You can find the bonus episode after this inspiring conversation.

Hello friends, I am your host, Ashley Pettit. Welcome to the Beyond the Mountains podcast. Where I talk to people who live, work and play in the mountains.

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Krister Kopala takes the questionnaire designed to reveal his true mountain character and shares his beliefs and aspirations.

In this episode, we’re heading north — deep into Norway — to meet Krister Kopala, a professional snowboarder, steep skier, and mountain storyteller who lives life on the edge of ice, fjords, and emotion.

Krister grew up in Tromsø, surrounded by wild terrain, one T-bar, and long winters and long summers — where snowboarding was about filming with friends and finding your own lines. These early days shaped his fearless approach to the mountains. Today, he calls Luster home — a place framed by waterfalls, glaciers, and steep couloirs that have become his playground.

He’s earned a reputation for tackling some of the steepest descents in the world — slopes tipping past 50 and even 60 degrees — but his story goes far deeper than adrenaline and speed. In this episode, we talk about life in Norway, the thrills and mindfulness of extreme snowboarding, and Krister’s openness about struggles with drugs, family relationships, and how the mountains saved his life.

He shares how vulnerability and honesty can be as powerful as physical strength — and how he’s redefining what it means to be a man in the mountains. We also explore the Norwegian idea of Kos — that sense of calm, connection, and simple contentment — and how it shows up even in the wildest corners of his life.

Of course, Krister takes the Beyond the Mountains Questionnaire in a special bonus episode, and he answers the three big questions I ask every guest — including what the mountains have taught him about life.

So find your kaffekos, settle in, and get ready for a raw, real, and inspiring conversation.

Loubna Freih takes the questionnaire designed to reveal her true mountain character and shares her beliefs and aspirations.

Nolen Oayda takes the questionnaire designed to reveal his true mountain character and share his beliefs and aspirations.