Amy Jane David: At Home in the Backcountry
How this professional skier, guide, and media maven makes it her mission to empower others in the backcountry.
Amy David sending it into the sunshine. Photo by Hillary Maybery.
“Backcountry” is consistently defined as remote, undeveloped, sparsely inhabited, and difficult to access. And being precisely there is at the heart and soul of professional big mountain skier and wilderness backpacking guide, Amy David. On any given winter day, you’ll find her aboard her speed machine with her skis in tow, in search of epic lines or smashing her skills game and taming the sled’s eagerness to buck like a bronco.
She makes it look easy—in those quintessential backcountry photos shot by the masterful Hillary Maybery and others—over and through the marshmallow fluff-like powder and bouncing through the trees and off the crags. She describes the similarities between ‘the float’ when you’re powder skiing and finding the flow on her snow machine. So much so, that sometimes the skis just go along for the ride. The adventure of going faster and farther off the beaten path feeds her determination to consistently get better in this male-dominated sport, serving both as a Polaris Ambassador and member of the Empowersports Women’s Riding Council.
Amy David aboard Polaris. Photo by Hillary Maybery.
Amy grew up in Pinedale, Wyoming, a small town nestled in a high alpine valley at 7,175 feet elevation, and known for its rich history in exploration, ranching, and fur trading. Her childhood playground offered endless opportunities for outdoor recreation and quenching one's curiosities of what could be found in the surrounding mountain ranges—the Wind River Range, the Wyoming Range, and Gros Ventre Mountains.
Having earned her BA in the Psychology of Communication and a minor in Outdoor Education and Leadership from Westminster College, Amy has intentionally shaped her career to bring the best of both together. She is the founder of Action Inspired Productions, an adventure-based multimedia content company, and also the Media Coordinator for the Friends of the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.
By way of her time spent in Salt Lake City, Amy now lives near Stanley, Idaho in the Sawtooth Mountains as a caretaker on a ranch accessible only by snowmobile in the winter months—a few miles off any main road in a place that perfectly speaks to her purposeful wanderlust. As we had the chance to catch up, I couldn’t help but feel like Amy has a special partnership with the mountains themselves—like her energy is found through their two-way collaboration.
Photo by Amy David in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho
One might think it’s the solitude of the backcountry that fuels her internal fire; but rather, it’s sharing these wild experiences with others, and building people up through the power of adventure and oftentimes the unknown. She gracefully moves between her role as a winter sports athlete for companies like Icelantic Skis and Rab, and her role as a guide—helping people and passing on what she loves—so others can understand the gear, learn how to navigate, and feel safe in the unfamiliar.
Charting her course as a professional athlete has taken her to the far reaches of the world, to podiums across the Freeskiing World Tour, and to the covers of magazines. She’s been in front of and behind the cameras—creating stories, being the story—always inspired by and inspiring others through action. As a professional athlete, so much of one’s time, energy, and commitment can turn inward; yet while Amy does focus on continuous growth in sport and otherwise, she is definitive about understanding and evaluating the best role for her in any given situation, and about leaning in to those she can learn from.
Amy David finding the good stuff. Photo by Hillary Maybery.
She continues to augment her backcountry certifications, which include Wilderness First Responder, Avalanche Pro 1, AMGA Alpine Skills, Adaptive Sports Ski Instructor, and Leave No Trace Trainer. She is currently an American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) Ski Guide Apprentice on her way to achieving the next-level guiding opportunity for winter off-trail and glacier terrain. She appreciates how her time guiding skiers in the backcountry forces her to look at things differently in the sense of how she would ski it on her own, versus how she can help a beginner to intermediate skier conquer their first couloir.
From Amy’s perspective, supporting others in their quest to accomplish things they never thought possible is as gratifying as carving that perfect line down a steep cirque. Of course, there are those epic powder days when she may feel that inkling of wanting it all to herself, but at the end of the day, many smiles outweigh the power of one.
Amy takes guidance from the best through her mentor, Margaret Wheeler. Margaret was the second woman in the US to complete her full AMGA and IFMGA guide certification at the international level. An active member of the guiding community, she is an instructor of guide training for the AMGA and serves on its board of directors and as president of the organization. Not surprisingly, Amy is taking this opportunity to give back herself, bringing Margaret along on the snowmobiling side of things—like a two-way mentorship.
In the summer months she leads multi-day backpacking trips for Sawtooth Mountain Guides and continues her work as the founder of the retreat program for And She’s Dope Too, where she leads women of all ages and experience levels on week-long educational wellness wilderness trips across Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
Amy exudes this combination of calmness and confidence that tells me I could learn so much from this woman some twenty years my junior. While her accolades in the sport of skiing are undoubtedly impressive and I’d sure love to mirror her line on a powder day, what captivated me during our conversation even more so was her compassionate humility and her driven ambition. And when you think about stirring these together in a big ‘ol bowl with a nice wooden spoon, what you come up with is a pretty inspired recipe of a human being.
So let’s take what we did just there in the bowl, add the courage, grit, and work ethic instilled at an early age on the ranchlands of the West, and you can see how the lure of the highest peaks doesn’t seem to pose as much of a challenge or a threat as it does an invitation.
An invitation for Amy David to head into the backcountry on a scouting mission, and then bring others along to experience a few transformational days.
An opportunity for others to spend time with someone who can teach so much, but isn’t above learning from others.
A chance to be coached through dealing with potential fears in the backcountry.
And the benefit of learning her methodical approach to backcountry risk assessment and keeping it fun!
Amy David leading the way. Photo by Jeremy Lato.
VéloSkiCaffè looks forward to publishing a story written by Amy sometime down the road.
Head on over to AmyJaneDavid.com and give her a follow on Instagram at @amyjanedavid
As we continue to reach out to and have conversations with the pioneers, pacesetters, and just some really fun people laying it down and bringing pure awesomeness to our smile-inducing pursuits like cycling, skiing, and coffee; our goal is simple—live, learn, and share in collaboration with like-minded adventurers like you.
