CASA Tours Staff
CASA believes that great guides are more than just great skiers and snowboarders. Our guides are all spanish speakers, with excellent skills and lots of experience in the mountains. They each have an intimate relationship places we visit and truly love to introduce people to new experiences.
We value knowledge and experience on the snow above all else, and our staff are not only experts in snow safety, but they combine years of international ski patrol experience, with expert knowledge of the weather and snowpack patterns in South America. We require that all guides hired by CASA hold a current CPR/First Aid Certification, an Avanche Awareness Certficiate and completion of an EMT or Wilderness First Responder course. On top of all that, we believe that good guides make a ski tour. That's why we've got the best out there.
CASA Guides
Mike Taylor - Director of Chile Operations
Mike Taylor has been involved in the ski industry for over 15 years, and worked at resorts in 4 different countries, with experience ranging from repairing ski equipment to driving snowcats. These winters he works as a ski patroller at Kicking Horse Resort in British Columbia, Canada and guides for Canadian Powder Adventures and Chatter Creek Lodge. Mike’s mountain certifications include; OFA lll and OEC first aid, and his Canadian Avalanche Association (CAA) Levels l and ll certifications. Mike teaches CAA Level 1 avalanche awareness courses and regularly performs playing guitar and singing from his eclectic songbook.
Craig Ross - Director of Argentina Operations
You won’t find many Argentine-born Scotsmen in the world, and even fewer that are as skilled in the mountains as Craig Ross. Don’t let his Scottish accent fool you, Craig was born near Buenos Aires and spent the last 15 years living in Bariloche. A certified Argentine Association Mountain Guide (AAGM) Craig is in charge of CASA’s Argentina operations. Craig and his wife Sylvia are raising their 2 daughters Sarah and Camila to be Bariloche’s future rippers and climbers.
Travis Toelkes - CASA Guide
Travis spends his North American winters guiding skiers and snowboarders around Montana’s Yellowstone Club. Travis comes from Northern California and worked in the adventure travel industry for the last 10 years. Travis is a PSIA Level 3 certified snowboard instructor, holds his Level 1 American Avalanche Association certification, and Outdoor Emergency Care certification. Travis is also a licensed massage therapist. Although Travis loves the snow he also enjoys traveling the world in search of remote surf breaks.
Claire Dibble - CASA Guide
Claire originally hails from Maine but like most CASA guides spends much of her time traveling the globe. Claire teaches at the Traveling School and has led high school courses in Chile, New Zealand and China. Claire has a unique photographic eye and is a wordmaster regularly adding to her blog, the Silent e [http://dibblephoto.blogspot.com/]. Whether on a snowboard or skis Claire takes care of business on the mountain. A true renaissance lady, Ms. Dibble is a pleasure to have on tour. Claire currently spends her North American winters in Golden, BC and is involved with the Banff Film Festival.
Lucas Jacobson - CASA Guide
Lucas began his mountaineering career at the age of 16. Growing up in the mountains surrounding Bariloche Lucas fell in love with alpine sports. He has traveled, skied and climbed throughout Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Canada and Europe. Lucas is a member of Club Andino and teaches ski mountaineering courses to local Bariloche youths. Lucas is a certified Argentine Association Mountain Guide (AAGM), is a certified wilderness First Responder and volunteers for the local Bariloche mountain rescue team. Besides speaking Spanish and English Lucas is fluent in Italian.
Juan Pablo Terrado – CASA GUIDE
Originally from Buenos Aires, Juan Pablo moved to Ushuaia 5 years ago and has settled in raising his family on the isle of Tierra del Fuego. Juan Pablo spent several winters ski guiding in Switzerland before making the permanent move to Ushuaia. Juan Pablo is a certified Argentina Association Mountain Guide and Wilderness First Responder. He has instructed and ski patrolled in both Argentina and Europe, is a paragliding and climbing instructor and a representative for Movement Skis. Juan Pablo earned a degree in Tourism from the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires and runs mountain biking and hiking tours in Tierra del Fuego National Park in the summers.
Los Jefes
M David Johnson (Gomez) - President & Owner
Dave Johnson, aka “Gomez”, hails from topographically challenged Connecticut. At the age of 18, he moved west to the Rockies where he graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Since 1996 he has had a PO Box in Bozeman, Montana splitting time between North and South America. Dave worked as a guide in the adventure travel industry for more than a decade, running active vacations throughout the Americas in order to support his rabid travel habits and ski addiction. Dave began guiding for CASA in 2002, purchased the business in 2007, and has led all the trips CASA offers. Dave’s on-mountain skills include: American Avalanche Association Levels I & II Cert, 12 years EMT certification, 6 years Big Sky ski patrol, and 4 years guiding/instructing at Moonlight Basin.
Aaron Bear Chan - Marketing Director, Co-Founder
Aaron is CASA’s director of marketing and one of the co-founders of CASA. He spent ten years traveling around South America, working as a guide and becoming an expert on Latin American culture. He led tours throughout Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, from the Amazon to the Andes to the Pacific Coast. Aaron continues to pursue his career as a social entrepreneur, hoping that his efforts will have a positive impact on the international communities of the world. Aaron holds an MBA from Thunderbird University.
Jeremy Thomas - Sustainability Director, Co-Founder
Jeremy Thomas is CASA’s sustainability director and other co-founder. A childhood spent in the California Sierra Nevada and Colorado Rockies provided Jeremy with a passion for vertical terrain. An accomplished mountain and river guide, Jeremy has skied and kayaked all over North and South America, and has traveled extensively throughout the world. Now a proud papa, Jeremy, his wife Abby and son Desmond live in Lake Tahoe where Jeremy is an ecological restoration scientist.
Aaron Bilotta - CASA Ambassador
Born and raised on blue ice and hard pack, Aaron grew up in a die-hard New Hampshire ski family. Realizing powder really is better, Aaron relocated to Alta, Utah where he worked as a patroller. Feeling the urge to go bigger Aaron moved to the Tetons. Aaron holds his American Avalanche Association Level 1 & 2 and EMT certifications and is an honorary member of the Jackson Hole Air Force. Aaron and his wife Jessica call Victor, Idaho their home where Aaron works as a speech therapist in the Jackson Hole public schools. Aaron’s funny Bostonian sense of humor adds spice to our tours, as well as his love of the Andes and the Chilean culture. You won’t find a funnier man or a better skier in our midst.
Sarah Weinberg - CASA Ambassador
Sarah worked nine years as a ski patroller at Fernie and Red Mountain in Canada, Snowbird, Utah and Valle Nevado in Chile. She competed in the National Women’s Powder 8 contest two years and often wows people with her fluidity and grace on snow. She has traveled to 36 different countries speaks Spanish and German and is learning French. Sarah holds her Canadian Avalanche Association Level 1 and EMT certifications. Sarah also teaches Avalanche Education courses at the University of Utah and is the events coordinator for Build Green Utah. In short she is one hell of a girl!
Getting Around in Chile and Argentina
With CASA Tours getting there is truly half the fun. For shorter distances, we typically use two large vans, driven by professional South American drivers, allowing our guides to be rested and at their best for safety on the mountain. Our drivers are part of our team, and help to include a part of the local culture in our trip. What better way to get to know the locals? We make sure there is plenty of room and comfort during your travels with us.
We also make sure not to leave out the cultural and physical beauty of the countries we visit, by making roadside stops at some of our favorite places along the ride, such as wineries, waterfalls and some of the real local lunch stops. For long distances, such as the trip to the Chilean south, CASA includes an internal flight on a commercial jet.
Our Drivers
