Longevity Delivering Adventure with Nadio Hachey

What does it take to enjoy a long career as an adventure guide, instructor or manager?

The reality is that there is quite a high rate of attrition in the adventure industry when it comes to guides and instructors. It can be costly to get certifications and experience in both time and money. It can be physically demanding. It can also be far from financially lucrative. For all of these reasons many people drop out early in their career.

That said, there are many people who have enjoyed long careers. One of these people is Nadio Hachey. Nadio has enjoyed a career in the ski and bike instruction and guiding industry that spans over forty years. Nadio supervises and trains ski and bike instructors at a high level and teaches at that level himself.

Nadio joins Jordy and Chris to discuss what it takes to make delivering adventure into a sustainable career. He shares his insights on everything from decision making on the mountain to making smart choices with your finances.

Nadio Hachey is a longtime manager in the Whistler Blackcomb Snow and Bike School. He is a PSIC level 4 certified ski instructor and a Level 4 PSIC LPT Trainer. He is also a certified level 2 PMBIA mountain bike instructor.

This is an engaging and candid discussion about some topics that often go unspoken about.

Key Takeaways

Master Your Trade: If you want to have a long career on a professional, or even amateur level, you need to master the necessary hard skills. This includes things like navigation, skiing, snowboarding, biking or whatever it is - you have to be good at what you are actually doing. This keeps you safer and quite frankly, the people you may want to lead, expect you to be good at what you are leading.

Decision making: It doesn’t matter how good you are at the hard skills of your activity. If you can’t make good decisions leading yourself and others, you won’t enjoy a long career. It’s that simple. People expect adventure guides, instructors and coaches to be able to make good decisions.

Motivated to Help People: It doesn’t matter if you are in Search and Rescue, heli-skiing, surfing, biking, hiking, ski and snowboard instructing or a guide trainer. If you want to have a long career, you have to want to help people. Just wanting to do your sport or activity is not going to be enough for you. The people you are going to be dealing with are also going to figure out very quickly if you are there for them or yourself.

Financial Needs: To sustain a long career in the adventure industry you need to be able to make enough and save enough to survive over the long term. This may mean picking up extra jobs, learning to cook so you can spend less going out, and being smarter with your money.

Guest Bio

Nadio Hachey has enjoyed a career in the ski and bike instruction and guiding industry that spans over forty years. Nadio supervises and trains ski and bike instructors at a high level and teaches at that level himself. This makes him a great person to share with us the secrets of what it takes to have a long career in the adventure industry.

Nadio Hachey is a longtime manager in the Whistler Blackcomb Snow and Bike School. He is a PSIC level 4 certified ski instructor and a Level 4 PSIC LPT Trainer. He is also a certified level 2 PMBIA mountain bike instructor.

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Smart Risk Taking with Barry Blanchard

How can you know when to actually take a risk on a personal or professional level? What would a good risk, or a smart risk look like before and after?

In this episode Chris and Jordy are joined by world renowned Alpinist, ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, speaker, author and friend of the show, Barry Blanchard to discuss what a Smart Risk looks like.

Barry Blanchard taps into his long career of risk taking and guiding to share the essential elements of what good risks look like, and what we should be wary of.

Barry is a recent recipient of the Order of Canada and is an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. He is respected for his ability to complete technical, high-risk ascents on a personal level and leading others as professional guide.

Barry has worked on numerous movie projects as a stuntman including Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit. He is the star of his own documentary called Spindrift: The Barry Blanchard Story.

He is also the author of The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains. Barry has another book coming out in 2026 called The Echo.

Always engaging, thoughtful and honest, Barry shares some dark moments he has had in his career and many of the highlights. Along the way we define what makes a Smart Risk to take.

Key Takeaways:

Smart Risks: Are calculated, acceptable, necessary and prepared for. They are risks we can justify in the moment and after the fact because they are carefully considered, acceptable, needed to be taken and we were ready for the choice that we made.

Calculated Risk: Calculated risks are ones that are well analyzed weighing the potential consequences against the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. The hazards are known and if you decide to take it, the benefits outweigh the potential costs.

A calculated risk is a risk worth doing based on careful analysis.

Acceptable Risk: Acceptable risks are the ones we can justify to ourselves and others. They should fall within everyone’s risk tolerance. They should also prioritize your safety ahead of safety or providing service someone else. Acceptable risks for professionals fall within industry best practices.

Acceptable risks fall within personal, professional and legal responsibilities and limits.

Necessary Risks: Necessary risks are the ones that need to be taken. They add value to the experience and contribute to towards achieving the objective. They are also the best option for what needs to get done.

A risk might be acceptable to take, but also unnecessary.

Prepared for: These are the risks we are ready for because we have prepared and built in an adequate margin of error. Worst case scenarios have been considered and planned for.

Not Taking the Risk: This is also a risk. Smart Risks are the ones we did take for the right reasons.

Guest Bio

Barry Blanchard is an ACMG / IFMGA Mountain Guide, author, speaker, and sometimes movie stunt man. Barry has recently been the recipient of the Order of Canada and has just been recognized as an honoured member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides.

Both of these awards have been given in recognition of his numerous complex and demanding ascents in the Rockies, the Alps and the Himalayas, some of which have not been repeated. For more than 40 years, Barry has been a guide, resource and mentor to countless mountain enthusiasts.

Barry is one of North America’s top alpine climbers. He has spent his life pushing the standards of highly technical, high risk alpine climbing and ice climbing from the Himalayas to the Canadian Rockies. Barry is also renowned for his ability to guide complex, high risk alpine ascents.

Some of the movies that Barry has been in or has worked on include...

When it comes to delivering adventure, the difference between control and chaos can be as little as one small mistake. A situation can seem to be under complete control one moment and the next it can be spiralling away.

The worst-case scenario for leaders often starts with something small. It can be a trip, a fall, a moment of butter fingers, or some other unforeseeable fumble or mistake.

In this episode, Madeleine Martin-Penney shares a situation where a small misstep from one of her guests put her and her group in a potentially tough bind. Madeleine walks us through what happened and how she reacted to keep control.

Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.

Guest Bio

Madeleine Martin‑Preney is a certified ACMG Ski Guide, Hiking Guide, and Apprentice Rock Guide based in Revelstoke, BC. Born and raised in Nelson, BC, she earned her full ski guide certification in 2018. An avid backcountry adventurer, she completed the first full ski traverse of the Selkirk Mountains (520 km, 43 000 m elevation) and participated in the Bugaboos‑to‑Rogers Pass expedition featured in the film Mind Over Mountain.

Madeleine has served on the ACMG Board of Directors with Chris and I for the past nine years. She is also involved with Mountain Muscox. Mountain Muskox is a community-based organization that provides peer support circles for individuals who have experienced loss or trauma in the mountains.

Guest Links

Madeleine’s Instagram: @madoalpine

Geary’s Guiding: https://gearysguiding.com

Mountain Muscox: https://www.mountainmuskox.com

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