Alaska’s First Female Heli-Ski Guide, Pilot Duo Hopes More Women Will Follow Their Lead

“You might have to work harder as a female,” Lel Tone replies when asked about barriers she’s faced over her career as ski patroller, avalanche forecaster, and heli-ski guide, “but I don’t have a chip on my shoulder. It’s just motivation to be better than everyone else.”

Soft spoken and perpetually upbeat, Tone was one of Alaska’s first female heli-ski guides, leading her first clients 24 years ago. However, until this winter, she had never flown with a female pilot.

“I know a handful of female guides like Kim Grant at Points North and Kristen Kremer at Valdez, but never, in the history of ever, have I flown with a lady pilot,” said Tone, “and you can feel the difference.”

Tone grew up in Switzerland with parents who took her skiing for the first time at the age of two. “They bought plastic skis from the grocery store and strapped them to my winter boots,” said Tone, with a smile, “then we went on a family ski trip to Austria.”

Being exposed to skiing at a young age helped Tone develop a comfort in the mountains, which led her to where she is today. After graduating high school she took a job ski patrolling at Sunday River, a resort in Maine. “Even as a teenager I knew how important nature was in my life. I’ve spent a lifetime working towards being outside as much as I can.”

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After college, Tone moved to Lake Tahoe and was hired as a ski patroller at Palisades Tahoe. With a medical background and desire to help people, she was drawn to snow science. “It felt like the practical next step. My first year I started cutting my teeth in avalanche education and forecasting.”

In 1999, Tone took a job in Alaska as the medical coordinator for Points North Heli-Adventures, but soon started guiding clients in the Chugach. “They were short staffed so I was thrown into the fire. I was scared shitless, but I knew my job was to keep people safe.”

Since then, Tone has guided Warren Miller film crews, competed in extreme ski comps, and co-founded S.A.F.E. A.S, a series of women’s avalanche safety clinics, all while patrolling at Palisades and heli-ski guiding in Alaska for two months each season. With her résumé, Tone is the type of person you should be intimidated by, but that’ll never happen, because she’s so friendly.

“Lel is a complete badass, one of the best guides we have,” says Meghan Hansmeyer, the Lodge Manager at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, where Tone works in March and April, “but she’s all about you. She’s the ultimate hype woman; she brings out the best in everyone. She doesn’t care how steep the line is or who skis first—and she even makes time to help with dishes at the lodge at night.”

Heli-skiing is one of the most macho and masculine corners of the ski industry, but Lel goes about her job in a unique way. “She always encourages questions from quests,” says Hansmeyer, “and takes time to get to know everyone in a real way. She makes the experience fun for everyone.”

When asked about her leadership style, Tone hedges, saying that she always starts with listening. “I often get told I’m a mama bear,” says Tone, who has built a career with a nurturing mentality. “I try to recognize when guests feel a little uncomfortable or scared shitless and I help them work through it.”

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While she has never run up against blatant discrimination, Tone concedes, “there are no shortcuts for women. You can’t just be middle of the road as a female. It doesn’t matter who you know or where you went to school, you just have to be really good at your game. If you can prove yourself to your peers, you’ll rise through the ranks. I embraced that wholeheartedly from the start.”

The rare overt sexism Tone has experienced came from guests. “Occasionally I meet new clients at the landing pad who look at me differently,” says Tone, who at 5’2” doesn’t look like your typical heli-ski guide. “When that happens, I just want to prove them wrong. After a few runs it’s always gone.”

Although heli-ski guiding appears individual from the outside, Tone thinks collaboration is the most important part of the job. “As a guide, I have systems that set me up for success. They save my ass. Pilots have their systems, too,” says Tone. “So it’s a collaborative effort and you have to compromise.”

After a quarter-century of guiding, Tone says she can quickly spot the small differences between pilots, but this year a big difference stood out. “My heart swelled the first time I saw my pilot was a chick,” says Tone. “I’ve never been one to scream from the mountain tops, but I do wish there were more women in our field. It’s just a different vibe flying with a lady.”

Growing up on Whidbey Island just north of Seattle, Kimber Warder started dreaming of flying as a kid. “I wanted to be a commercial airline pilot when I was young and I never doubted that dream. What I love is that it keeps you in the moment. It can be stressful in bad weather, but it’s so much fun to fly.”

Warner got her helicopter license 19 years ago and started her career with firefighting and construction work across the country. “It was all over the map. East Coast, Florida, Mexico, Colorado, California, and now Alaska,” says Warder, who likes traveling to new places, but cares more about who she works with.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Lel,” says Warder. “She’s always in a good mood. She takes her time with guests and truly gets to know them. Communication is key with any job but especially in a pilot-guide combination, and Lel is so easy to work with.”

Despite a calm and quiet exterior, Warder approaches her work meticulously. “I do a lot of research and am cautious with weather, fuel, and risks in general,” says Warner. “There are so many more risk factors in Alaska. My main goal is to get everyone back. I want to do this all the time, not just today.”

Warner is always trying to learn from the guides she works with. “The best part of heli-skiing is that there is no formula. Every dropoff and pickup is different, so you’re always learning,” says Warder. “Every guide does it a little differently, so you have to communicate. I try to be direct with what I need and ask them what they want, too.”

After more than a decade of experience, Warder got her first job at a heli-ski lodge in Utah six years ago. Then, after working in Idaho for four seasons, she  moved to Alaska last year. “The mountains in Alaska are unlike anything else. They create some unique challenges, too,” says Warder.

Like Tone, Warder has experienced sexism in her career, but tries not to focus on it. “That’s the world we live in, so I just show up and do my best job,” she says. “If a guy pilot says something and I say something else, they’ll take his word. That’s the inherent bias, but it can’t bug you all the time or you’ll be upset all the time. I want to be a positive person, so I’ve learned how to move on.”

Together, Tone and Warder create a unique energy in the mountains. “Kimber has a light and warm personality and is very professional,” says Hansmeyer. “Like Lel, she knows how to make people feel safe. We have a lot of guests who have never been heli skiing before and these two make it comfortable for everybody, whether they have hundreds of days or they are just a beginner.”