Rick Hunt

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Hunt

Rick Hunt started skiing at the age of four in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and so from a very young age he learned to feel comfortable on some of the most challenging terrain in North America. Rick and his brother, Jon, grew up skiing in Teton Village, just outside of Jackson, where their mother took them regularly while they were growing up. It wasn't long before the Hunt brothers became local legends there.

In the early '90s, the brothers headed to Alaska where they made the first descent of Diamond in the Chugach Mountains. "That was really the highlight of our lives, skiing Diamond together outside of Valdez, right next to the Tsaina Lodge — it's like the Corbet's Couloir of Valdez."

Their helicopter took off from the Tsaina Lodge with Rick, Jon and Doug Coombs on board. It was the second year of operation for Doug Coombs' Valdez Heli-Skiing outfit, and though other renowned skiers had expressed interest in getting first tracks, Diamond hadn't been skiable that first year. According to Rick, this was their opportunity.

"Chet was flying us, and Jon asked him what the peak was. Chet said, 'That's Diamond.' Then Jon asked if there was an LZ (landing zone) up there, so we flew up and skied it."

Rick began work as a cameraman in the early '90s and has shot both adventure and ski films, including footage for Warren Miller, PBS, Teton Gravity Research, and numerous commercials. While shooting the South American Extreme Skiing Championships in Las Leñas, Argentina, a few years ago, Rick's ski mountaineering experience proved to be an indispensable asset when he had to carry the TV host down the mountain over his shoulder.

He and a partner were coming off the top at Las Lenas and went into a steep area. The TV host was a snowboarder who they thought could handle it, but the slope they were on had frozen and it rolled over and got steep.

"We tried to coach her down, but she was sketching out," Hunt said. "The runout was really rocky, so I just decided I better carry her down before she killed us all."

This expedition will mark Rick's first trip to Antarctica. "I've never been across the ocean in a boat, so I'm looking forward to the whales and sea life. Hopefully climbing the mountain will be somewhat routine — I know it will be challenging, but that part I've done before."

Rick lives at home in Jackson with his wife and two children, ages 3 and 5.