Board of Directors
Jason Field
Chairman
Jason Field, DVM is the past president and CEO of W. L. Gore & Associates, a $3.5B+ privately held global materials science company dedicated to transforming industries and improving lives. During his tenure as President and CEO, Jason drove shareholder returns by engaging customers and Associates in a purpose driven enterprise strategy that put Gore back on the 100 Great Places to Work list.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in pre-veterinary medicine and agribusiness from Arizona State University and his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Oregon State University. Before joining Gore in 2005, he owned and operated Northern Arizona Equine, PC and Fieldcare Veterinary services, LLC, which delivered veterinary care to sport horses throughout Arizona. He founded and successfully exited both the veterinary business and real estate holdings.
Jason served on W.L. Gore & Associates board of directors during his time as President and CEO. He also served on AdvaMed’s board of directors, where he was chair of the CEO Roundtable and sat on the Ethics and Compliance, Payment, and Business Development committees. Prior to AdvaMed, he volunteered time as a director on the Northern Arizona Military Affairs Council.
Jason began earning his turns on the sled hill behind his home when he was 10 years old and his stoke for the backcountry has never been stronger than it is today. He resides in Flagstaff, Arizona with his wife and son, which is home base for launching adventures in the alpine, on the water and in the woods.
Kate Beezley
Vice Chair
Kate Beezley grew up in the perfect temperatures of San Diego, scampering around the Sierras in the summers. It was only when she moved to Colorado in 2005 to work on her Ph.D. in History that she discovered the joys of sliding around on sticks. Kate immediately dove head first into backcountry skiing, only later taking ski lessons to learn better technique, completing the AIARE I and 2 courses along the way. Her skiing may be ugly but she loves it, having completed a handful of Grand Traverses from Crested Butte to Aspen and other endurance ski races. Since 2018 Kate has represented climbers and built more sustainable climbing infrastructure for Front Range climbers as the Executive Director of the Boulder Climbing Community. Before that, she was a graduate student, a history and social studies educator, and an alumna of Teach for America. She is passionate about mentoring other women in the outdoor industry. In winter you can find her out skiing with her husband, son, and two border collies out of their Scamp trailer.
David Wolf
Secretary
David Wolf is Managing Principal of BSW Wealth Partners, a $1 billion multi-family office and wealth advisory firm serving a national and international clientele from offices in Denver and Boulder. He is also the founder of R3 Returns, an impact-focused bond strategy with $150 million of investor capital.
David graduated from the JD/MBA dual-degree program at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a BA from DePauw University. While at DePauw, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a visiting student at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford University. He is a member of the advisory board of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and an advisor to mission venture capital firm Renewal Funds.
David serves as an on-call guide for the Colorado Mountain School, and has completed his AIARE Level I & II, AAI Level III, and is an AMGA Apprentice Rock Guide, and AMGA Apprentice Ski Guide. David and his wife, Norie Kizaki, established the Kizaki-Wolf AIARE Scholarship to support and build a diverse and inclusive community of avalanche professionals and educators.
Jeff Buhl
Treasurer
Jeff has been an avid skier (Alpine, AT and Telemark) and climber who has been climbing up and sliding down hills since the age of five. He learned to ski in the Cascades and Sierras and has since ventured throughout the Western United States, along with excursions to Canada and Europe. Jeff started his backcountry ski adventures in 1995 on the Colorado front range. During his time in the backcountry Jeff has witnessed avalanches in a variety of terrain—from the side country to alpine climbs—and believes in the importance of quality education experiences to safely learn to navigate the backcountry. Professionally, Jeff creates and manages product lines for the global commercial aviation market. Chances are, if you have flown commercially anywhere in the world, Jeff’s solutions have been in the cockpit of your flight. Jeff also served six years on the board of the Access Fund (A non-profit organization that protects and conserves climbing areas throughout the United States) including two and half years as board treasurer.
Members at Large
Andreas Kavountzis
Andreas Kavountzis brings a background in software engineering, technology leadership, and systems thinking to the AIARE Board of Directors. He currently serves as CTO at rediem, a technology company focused on building community-driven customer engagement platforms. Based in Crested Butte, Colorado, Andreas supports AIARE’s work with a technology-focused perspective, helping the organization think strategically about the systems and tools that support avalanche education.
Andreas studied Pure Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University and has a long-standing interest in applied problem solving, from software architecture to mathematical research. Outside of work, he enjoys skiing, rock climbing, backpacking, and spending time in the mountains.
Chris Bremer
Chris is the Snowbird Snow Safety Supervisor and calls Little Cottonwood Canyon in Utah his home. His journey to Snowbird started long ago on the frozen slopes of the Adirondack Mountains in New York. From there, college took Chris to the Front Range of Colorado where he got an Engineering Degree from the Colorado School of Mines, and more importantly, started dabbling in the snow covered Rocky Mountains. Choosing to leave behind the engineering world for snowy slopes has allowed Chris to work as an industrial avalanche forecaster in Chile, an AIARE certified recreational instructor throughout the western US, and to obtain his Canadian Avalanche Association Operations Level 2. Chris joined the AIARE Instructor Staff as a member of the PRO Instructor team in 2019. Currently, Chris stays busy forecasting avalanches at Snowbird, organizing training for the ski patrol, and teaching AIARE Professional Avalanche Courses.
Chris Warner
Chris has earned his fear of avalanches. He’s been picked up, tumbled around and buried up to his neck by an avalanche in Tibet. He’s been knocked over and had his pants pulled off by an avalanche in Colorado. And when he fell for 450 feet through the air when a rappel anchor failed on Shivling in India, he triggered an avalanche when he slammed into the slope. That avalanche tried to pluck him from the peak, but he just wasn’t fated to die that day. He knows how lucky he is, having lost more than a handful of friends (smart and experienced climbers) to avalanches. As a certified Alpine Guide, he’s studied avalanche forecasting and rescue but still got caught when the deadly combination of weather, terrain and gravity created the alchemy of avalanches. It is this conundrum (avalanches wiping out even the most skilled and educated adventurers) that inspired Chris to join the AIARE board of directors. Chris, who has been climbing for more than 40 years, has led over 230 international mountaineering expeditions: from Antarctica and South America to New Zealand, Africa, the Alps and Nepal. He’s one of only two Americans to summit all fourteen of the 8000 meter peaks (Everest, K2, etc) and pioneered new routes, alpine style, in the Himalaya. He’s also climbed big walls, frozen waterfalls, boulder problems and sport routes. A lover of plastic, he opened his first (of seven) indoor climbing gyms in 1997 and sold that company, Earth Treks, in 2017. In addition to climbing, Chris is fascinated by leadership. He taught leadership for 16 years at the Wharton School of Business. He’s also worked with covert and special ops teams, CEOs, NFL and NHL teams and Fortune 100 companies (from Google to Morgan Stanley, etc). He is the co-author of High Altitude Leadership and is a keynote speaker.
Dirk Tyler
Dirk has a background in Private Equity, Venture Capital and Mergers & Acquisitions. He is currently Managing Director of Vulano Group, a leading technology and intellectual property development company. Prior to Vulano he founded M2P Capital, LLC, a Denver based private equity firm, where he is still a partner. Prior to forming M2P Capital, Dirk was a partner in Taleria Ventures, a venture firm engaged in early stage investing and start-up management. In 1988, he founded BACE Industries; a company that executed buy and build strategies in the manufacturing, distribution, business services, and technology industries. His involvement with M2P, Taleria and BACE led to the acquisition, financing or startup of over 60 companies. Dirk served as the initial President of RentX Industries, Inc. (national equipment rental) and BASX Systems, Inc. (water filtration systems). In addition to handling the sale of various portfolio companies, he led three of them through the IPO process. Dirk is currently a member of the executive boards of The Ice Alliance (Bozeman Ice Festival), The American Mountain Guides Association, The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, Colorado Outward Bound School, and The Hundred Club, and he is member of the Ice Climbing World Cup Committee of the American Alpine Club. He also served on the board of the Access Fund for 7 years (the US national climbing advocacy and conservation organization) and currently sits on their Acquisition and Loan Committee.Dirk graduated from Colorado College and has been climbing and backcountry skiing for 40 years.
Geoff Unger
Geoff is an IFMGA Mountain Guide based in Mammoth Lakes, CA. He works full time in the winter as a ski and splitboard guide. Geoff joined the Instructor Staff at AIARE as a Pro avalanche course instructor in the winter of 2018/2019. In addition to his role as a Pro avalanche course instructor, he teaches AIARE Rec programs in the Sierra Nevada. Geoff has a background in operational risk management from running a small guide service as operations manager. His involvement in the industry also extends to teaching Ski Guide programs for the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) and developing ski and snowboard movement standards for guides. When he is not in the field training guides Geoff also sits on the AMGA Board of Directors.
Jen MacPherson
Jen MacPherson has built her career across geology and mining, private equity, and municipal leadership. She brings experience in strategy, governance, budgeting, stakeholder engagement, and team development. Jen holds an MBA from Queen’s University and a degree in Earth and Environmental Science from the University of British Columbia.
AIARE’s mission resonates strongly with Jen because it sits at the intersection of two worlds that have shaped much of her life: snowmobiling and leadership. An active member of the motorized backcountry community, Jen has taken AIARE courses and is passionate about advancing avalanche education among snowmobilers—helping riders move beyond simply carrying safety gear to truly understanding how to use it. She teaches riding clinics with Mountain Skillz in Wolf Creek, Colorado, and is a member of the Klim Women’s Backcountry Team and a Polaris ambassador.
Jon Frederick
Jon Frederick has spent the majority of his professional career in the outdoor industry. It started 25 years ago working in sales at a specialty bike shop in Washington state. Since then his career has put him on both sides of the aisle working for retailers and brands in sales and marketing roles across the bike, action sports and outdoor industries in both the US and Europe. Currently Jon is the Chief Marketing Officer at Rab. Outside of work Jon loves to spend his time in the mountains and traveling with his partner & two kids. Jon has been exploring the backcountry as an avid skier and alpine climber since 1999.
Jordan Lipp
Jordan Lipp is a partner at the law firm of Childs McCune, LLC in Denver, Colorado, where he focuses on product liability defense, outdoor industry defense, and complex commercial litigation. He is also an adjunct law professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where he teaches the course: Outdoor Recreation and Ski Law. Jordan frequently writes and lectures on many legal topics, including legal risk management for the ski and adventure park industries. He also authored the book Product Liability Law & Procedure in Colorado, 2nd Ed. (2019).
Jordan is an avid backcountry skier, snowboarder, and ski mountaineer. He’s written two books on skiing: Hunting Powder: A Skier’s Guide to Finding Colorado’s Best Snow (2021) and Backcountry Skiing Berthoud Pass (2005). He has been a volunteer ski patroller and member of the National Ski Patrol for over 25 years. During that time he’s patrolled at alpine ski areas (Berthoud Pass, CO, Eldora, CO, Swain, NY, and Mt. Brighton, MI), cross-country ski areas (Devil’s Thumb Ranch, CO), and backcountry areas (front range backcountry, CO). He’s taught avalanche classes through the National Ski Patrol for over two decades. And, he’s a hopeless ski fanatic – he’s skied on all seven continents (Antarctica is his favorite), he’s skied at over 100 ski areas worldwide (and many more backcountry locations), and he’s always working on his streak of skiing at least one day every month of the year (with a current streak of over a dozen years and counting).
Kendall Stever
Kendall is a Pacific Northwest native and a life long skier and backcountry adventurer. His professional career spans nearly 40 years, having graduated from the University of Washington in 1987 with a degree in accounting. He started his career as an auditor with Deloitte and has spent his professional life working with high growth public and private companies in the medical and software technology industries. As a tenured CFO, he has had dynamic experiences across all aspects of these businesses from shaping and executing corporate strategy, leading teams across the organization, managing risk, and supporting commitment to the mission. Kendall also started his own consulting company advising companies on initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, internal controls, and financing strategies.
Now professionally retired (mostly), Kendall has welcomed the opportunity to lend his professional background to organizations that align with his personal love of the mountains with a particular emphasis on winter backcountry travel. In addition to supporting AIARE as a board member, Kendall currently serves on the board of the Northwest Avalanche Center and is a member of the Finance Committee of the American Mountain Guides Association.
Laura Buhl
An avid skier since the age of three, Laura began skiing at Snoqualmie Pass before moving to the Bay Area, where she explored the slopes of California, Utah, and Colorado. She now enjoys backcountry skiing in Jackson Hole, as well as ski adventures in Canada, Asia, and Europe. Skiing has always been a family pursuit—first with her parents and brothers, and now with her three children—and her commitment to keeping both family and community safe in the mountains inspired her involvement with AIARE.
Laura is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Santa Clara Law School. She enjoyed her early career as an attorney, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, IPOs and start-up companies at a leading international firm before stepping back to raise her three children. She served for six years on the Board of Directors at Notre Dame San Jose High School, including four years as Chair of the Committee on Governance, and currently serves on the boards of the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum and the Jackson Hole Running Club.
She enjoys an active outdoor lifestyle that includes running, hiking, paddle boarding, and golfing.
Linda Lawson
Linda Lawson has served on a variety of boards and advisory committees, has been an adjunct instructor at the University of Denver, School of Accountancy, but now retired spends the majority of her time hiking, backpacking, snow shoeing and backcountry skiing in Colorado.
She has been involved in avalanche safety training since 2007 when the first field day was held at Jones Pass with temp at -17 degrees; she reports she did feel her feet till about 10:30 am when a glimmer of sun came out.
Linda volunteers for the Colorado Mountain Club in a variety of capacities at both the local level and state level, serving as Board Treasurer for three years, trip leader, school instructor, and a variety of committee chair positions. As an AIARE trained instructor, she has first-hand knowledge of AIARE materials, requirements, and student training since becoming involved in 2012.
Tiffany L Brainerd
Dr. Tiffany Brainerd, MD, FAAP, FASA, FAWM, DiMM is an anesthesiologist and pediatric anesthesiologist with Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She travels between her clinical practice in Tennessee and her home in Durango, Colorado, where she serves as the Medical Director for La Plata County Search & Rescue and the UIAA North America Ice Climbing World Cup Series.
Emeritus Members
Tom Murphy
Tom Murphy has been involved with AIARE since 1999. Teaching avalanche courses for 10 years with Jean Pavillard, the two, together with Karl Klassen, former president and executive director of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, began to hatch the idea for AIARE. Prior to working with Jean in Crested Butte, Tom worked in the avalanche industry in Alaska. He was a daily weather observer for the Alaska Avalanche Forecast Center, did avalanche control work for the Coronado Mine and worked with Jill Fredston and Doug Fesler, two well known avalanche educators, at the Alaska Mountain Safety Center. Tom was the general manager of Hatcher Pass Lodge in Alaska for 10 years where he was responsible for the many aspects of running a business as well as keeping guests safe in a mountain environment. He is a professional member of the American Avalanche Association, a AAA Certified Avalanche Instructor, a fully certified ski instructor and has guided skiing trips in Alaska, Colorado and Europe. Tom was instrumental in the development of AIARE course materials and is the former Executive Director of AIARE. He is also the recipient of the American Avalanche Association's Bernie Kingery Award for dedicated professional practice in the field of avalanche education.