Mark Puleio

Discipline:UIAGM/IFMGA Licensed Mountain Guide who's passions run deep in Ski Mountaineering, Backcountry Skiing, Alpine, High Altitude and Rock Climbing

Favorite Mammut Gear:
Champ Pants,  Pulse Baryvox, Revelation ropes and Flight packs rock!

Favorite Climb/Ski:Couloir Davin in the Le Cusset Valley, France is by far the most aesthetic line I have been graced with through the bases of my boards .  Climbing Forbidden Corner on Yamnuska in the winter of 93 stands as an all time classic for me.

Favorite Climb/Ski Area:
La Grave for skiing and Red Rocks for climbing

About Mark Puleio:
I am a native New Englander who has always been passionate about skiing, which naturally led me toward a life in the mountains and a myriad of exploratory pursuits therein. I pursued a degree in Wilderness Leadership from Prescott College in Arizona in 1994. This comprehensive learning and mentorship opportunity provided a solid and diverse foundation to begin my career as a professional mountain guide.  After working for a decade as a climbing instructor and guide (rock, ski & alpine), I immersed myself in certification training and assessment with the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA).  In March 2008, I completed my full guide certification becoming an internationally licensed IFMGA/UIAGM guide, the highest achievement for mountain guides worldwide.  It’s an honor to become one of a handful of guides in New England to receive this recognition.  Since moving to Vermont in 1996, I have helped to create curriculum and instruct skill-focused leadership development programs for a number of local colleges and universities, focusing on technical climbing, skiing and avalanche awareness. These experiences complement and inform my guiding style by providing me with a broader understanding of experiential education practice and development for aspiring wilderness leaders.  My mountain interests have lead me to extensive rock climbing throughout the U.S. and Canada, alpine climbing in the Alaska Range, Canadian Rockies, Alps and North Cascades, skiing in the Wrangell/St. Elias Ranges of AK, Chic Choc’s of Quebec, Rockies of Idaho and Colorado, Sierras, New England, French, Swiss and Italian Alps, high altitude expeditions to Alaska, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies and New England.  I value the experiences and path I’ve taken as a lifetime professional mountain guide. After 15 years, I’ve come to understand my work more as a lifestyle than a career.  This lifestyle provides the time to pursue my grand passion in life...my family.  When I am not teaching my clients to be independent in the mountains and sharing in their joy, I am at home learning this from my children.  It is mostly in the dawn and twilight hours of the day when you can find be taking care of my personnal movement needs in my eternal dance with the Mountain.