Show Notes:
Liz’s Link:
Episode Intro:
Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, welcome back. I am your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today we sit down with Liz Schwab, an AMGA Apprentice Ski Guide and Nationally Registered Paramedic based in the Tetons. Liz’s journey is one of technical mastery and resilience, moving from the icy racing slopes of New York to the high-consequence backcountry of Silverton, Colorado.
In a moving and honest conversation, Liz opens up about a reality of the guiding industry rarely discussed: navigating grief. She shares how losing friends to mountain accidents shaped her methodical approach to risk, and speaks candidly about losing her partner to cancer. We explore how she leaned on community and took intentional ‘baby steps’ back into the alpine to heal.
Beyond her personal story, Liz offers invaluable advice for aspiring guides. She discusses the rewards of all-women’s mentorship and avalanche courses in breaking down intimidation. Finally, she shares grounded wisdom on maintaining a ‘backup career’ to avoid burnout and protect her soul-level passion for the outdoors. This episode is a beautiful look at finding peace, making hard assessments, and thriving in the industry. Let’s dive in!
Quotes:
- On the reality of grief in the guiding industry: “The ideal would be not to experience loss in the mountain… But the reality is it’s quite common. I would just like to touch upon the way you can survive it and still continue in this career path but with a different approach and different perspective.”
- On the impact of early mountain tragedies: “…all of a sudden it just rocked my world and really put things into perspective of what the reality of the mountains could be. It changed my approach massively really early on in my 20s.”
- On the paradox of healing in the mountains after a profound loss: “…it’s a really odd relationship to have this environment that can take incredible humans out of your life but you keep finding yourself going back to those types of environments to also feel most at peace again.”
- On finding purpose and grounding through avalanche education: “I get to be in the mountains. I get to show other people this place that really grounds me and, you know, is helping me survive a pretty massive trauma.”
- On the power of asking for help from your community: “I think just like lowering your guard and being okay with people stepping in and telling you where to go and helping you figure out what your next employment opportunity looks like. It goes a really long way.”
- On the unique value of all-women avalanche courses: “…doing these all women’s female courses, it totally removes this level of just nervousness, anticipation. And when you can remove that, you can absorb so much more and you can ask, you can have the room to come up with questions in real time.”
- On the importance of a backup career to protect your passion: “So I will tell these ladies both learn as much as you can. If this is something you’re passionate about, do it. But make sure that you’re not gonna have to rely on it because it could ruin it for you.”
- On overcoming fear in the outdoors: “Don’t let fear stop you from pursuing the next thing you think you want to learn about. You’ll find once you’re in that setting, like, man, what was I so afraid of? … Be curious and don’t let fear drive you.”