Bio of Brad Nichols
Skiing has always been in my life and I’ve conservatively spent over 10% of my days on skis. I came into this world on February 26^th, about the middle of the ski season, 1965, the same year CMH was born. My parents taught me to ski at age two in Vermont and I was racing competitively at six. My family moved to Colorado in 1974 and my home mountain changed from Suicide 6 to Vail. Having first dreamed of helicopter skiing at age 12, I have now skied 34 weeks with CMH over the course of 21 years and have amassed over 4 million vertical feet! My wife, also a million-footer, and I were married in the winter of 1999 at CMH Bugaboos.

My first heli-skiing trip was in February, 1994 at CMH Gothics. I managed to ski the appropriately named Run of the Century, CMH’s signature run, that initial week, learning later the conditions must be perfect to ski it. I had not skied it since despite returning to the Gothics seven times, until I skied it again in March, 2013, nineteen years after the last time. There was much rejoicing! I have requested that my ashes be scattered over Century; it’s in my will.

Other outdoor activities in which I participate include cycling, mountain climbing, hiking, kayaking and golf. I enjoy spending time with my friends and family, reading, writing, photography and living life with intention. I have traveled to fifty states, seven continents and about thirty-five countries. My wife and I honeymooned in Antarctica and we have summited Mt. Kilimanjaro together. I met three of my best friends while trekking in Pakistan in 1995 and we have a “K2 Reunion” each year.

Before the lure of the outdoors really took hold, I graduated with a BSEE from Tufts University and my work career began as a field sales engineer for Texas Instruments. My next few jobs were also in high-tech and gave me experience in product management, marketing and sustainability consulting. I spent seven years teaching skiing in Vermont during the winter and guiding bicycle tours in Ireland, Maine and Vermont during the summer. My peers refer to me as a human Swiss army knife, which I take as a complement, as I consider myself an “all-rounder.”

But nothing has grabbed and taken hold of me like heli-skiing in the wild, remote Columbia Mountains of eastern British Columbia. The main motivator for taking this job with CMH is so that I can share my passion with others and introduce them to this perspective-changing experience.

“The real journey of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” -Marcel Proust