Rick Armstrong

Athlete to Athlete Interview:

Mark Synnott with Rick Armstrong

Bio:

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Rick Armstrong has been skiing since he learned to walk. His ski adventures have taken him from the 14,000-foot peaks of Colorado to the remote backcountry of China and Mongolia. Now based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Rick has accomplished many difficult and exposed first descents in mountain ranges around the world, including the first ascent and descent of the north face of Diamond Peak in the Chugach range of Alaska. Rick was also the first person to have both skied and snowboarded the famous Grand Teton in Wyoming (not to mention being the second person to fly over it in a paraglider).

Rick’s roots lie in ski mountaineering, and his background includes extensive ice and rock climbing, snowboarding and paragliding. He works as a heli-ski and ice-climbing guide in Alaska and as a paragliding instructor in Jackson, Wyoming. He is a wilderness EMT, class-3 avalanche forecaster and an alumnus of Fort Lewis College. Although Rick prefers the seclusion of the remote backcountry, he has found time to be in 37 ski and snowboard films. You may have seen him being interviewed on MTV, ESPN and the Discovery Channel or admired some of the 200-plus photos of Rick that have appeared in magazines such as Powder, Ski, and Skiing.

Nickname:

Sick Rick

Favorite Destination:

Antarctica

Favorite The North Face Product:

The Red Point Hoodie. It makes life more comfortable in variable environments.

Proudest Moment:

When my daughter was born, and being one of the pioneers of HFJI skiing in AK.

Cause(s):

Global warming, clean water, and terminal illnesses in kids.

Words To Live By:

Inspire & Be Inspired!

Favorite Book:

Oh the Places You'll Go, by Dr Suess

Ambition:

Break the world record for distance in a paraglider.

Inspiration Within the Sport:

Life inspires me. Watching youth and their progression inspires me.

Three Things I Always Pack:

Coffee, a RedPoint Hoodie, a Gore-Tex Hyvent Shell, and a can of whoop ass.

Funniest Story:

Being stuck with Mark Synnott on the summit of Mt. Waddington, CA for 3 days with no entertainment except for ourselves. We ended up making up what the bears on a Celestial tea bag would say.

Career Highlights:

South Georgia Island Ski Expedition:

• First ski descent of Mt. Norman (4,100 vertical)
• Two first ski descents out of Larson Harbor
• Second ascent attempt of Mt. Nordenskol (7,600 ft.)
• First ski descent out of Paradise Harbor

Mt. Waddington Ski Expedition:

• descent of northwest summit of Waddington and Combatant Couloir

Aconcagua Ski Expedition:

• Polish Glacier Direct, Los Andes, Argentina, and Patagonia Honeymoon Expedition, Torres Del Paine: three first ski descents including solo of Mt. Almiento

Grand Teton:

• First ski descent of Vision Quest Couloir, Mixed WI IV, 5.9 The Tetons, Wyoming
• Grand Teton: First ski descent of Vision Quest Couloir, Mixed WI IV, 5.9 The Tetons, Wyoming
• Second snowboard descent of The Grand Teton (first person to have both skied and snowboarded the Grand Teton)
• Second person to fly a paraglider over the Grand
• Member of first pair to fly a tandem paraglider over the Grand

Other Peaks:

• Tian Shan Mts. Expedition, China: three first ski descents in Bogda Feng region
• Ski descents: north face of L’Aiguille du Midi, Glacier Ron, Couloir Cosmic, Aiguille de Vert, Mt. Blanc
• Antarctica: two peninsula ski expeditions, as seen in the film, A Land that Time Forgot
• First ski ascent/descents: Ziesses Needle, Lost Friend Couloir on Lowe Peak (named by us after Alex Lowe), Sunshine Daydream, Shulykin Peak, Mt. Mill, Ice Princess
• Attempt on Deo Tibba (6,000 m.) Manali, India, March 1999 (NBC series)
• First ski descent of Nez Perce East Peak Sliver
• First winter ascent and ski descent of Teewinot Crooked Thumb Couloir
• First ascent/descent of Chock Stone Couloir, Rendezvous Mountain
• First ski descent "The Cave Line," Corbetts Couloir (unrepeated)
• First ski descent of Hawaii Five-0 -- The North Shore, Rendezvous Peak
• Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s “Businessman of the Year”

Films/Book Highlights:

• Warren Miller’s The Storm, Snowriders, Fusion, In Search of Powder and Black Diamond Rush
• Teton Gravity Research’s The Prophecy, The Realm, Uprising, Harvest, Continuum and Area 51
• Matchstick Productions’ The Tribe, Soul Sessions and Epic Impressions
• RAP Films’ Cosmic Winter and Snow Drifters
• OLN Adventure Series: Aconcagua Ski Expedition, Nov. 2000, Fall 2001
• NBC Primetime Adventure Series, “Descending India”: ski expedition in the Himalaya