Columbia Falls man offers folks a different view of Park

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

Stephanie Mangigian can’t go any further. Well, she says she can’t go any further. Complains she can’t go any further. But then guide Greg Fortin offers to take her coat and she gets a drink of water and you know what she does?

You know what she decides to do on this glorious day in Glacier National Park with sun shining and the skies blue and the mountain views all around her?

She decides to go further.

Because going further means you get up the trail just a little bit higher and you see just a little more stuff. See stuff you haven’t seen before. See stuff you may never see again. See stuff you will never forget.

Because Mangigian isn’t from here. She’s from the East and the East doesn’t have mountains like this, doesn’t really have endless miles of trails that lead to critters like bighorn sheep and mountain goats and wolverines.

So Fortin smiles. Takes Mangigian’s coat, folds it up and straps it to his pack. It’s all in a day’s work. He’s probably guided hundreds of Stephanies this year. So he knows some gentle prodding, some patient urging, will get her to go.

Guiding is an inexact science. But the best guides seem to have a patience beyond compare, the ability to prod folks when they need prodding and yet, still somehow know when it’s time to turn around.

Fortin seems to have struck that most delicate balance.

“It (guiding) is a lot about helping people accomplish their goals whether they realize it or not,” he said in an interview after the trip.

The Columbia Falls guide takes several groups a week into the winter wilds of Glacier. Fortin owns Glacier Park Ski Tours, the only permitted ski and snowshoe guiding company in Glacier.

He grew up in the far northeast corner of New York — a place closer to Quebec than the hustle and bustle of any of the state’s famous cities. He always enjoyed the woods in his youth and moved to Montana about 10 years ago and fell in love with Glacier.

Fortin bought the Park guiding business from Rusty Wells and has since transformed it into a service that caters to groups visiting local resorts like Grouse Mountain Lodge and Meadow Lake Resort. They may be here for a week of skiing on Big Mountain, but as a change of pace, they want to spend a day skiing or snowshoeing in Glacier.

On this particular trip, a group of about 10 hearty souls embarks on a journey up the Elk Mountain Trail. Fortin teaches them backwoods ethics as well as discusses the flora and fauna of the Park, stopping to examine animal tracks along the way. They even see a set of wolverine tracks.

The guide service includes equipment, the Park entrance fee, transportation and lunch. It caters from large groups to individual outings. The permit allows him to explore most of the Park, though he can’t guide north of the Camas Road.

In the summer, Fortin plans on offering bicycle tours in the Park.

The excursion gains elevation until the view opens up to a expansive sight of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex across the valley.

Fortin and fellow guide Jim Bulera point out features of the peaks, particularly nearby avalanche chutes, cornices and drop-offs, and why it’s important to avoid them.

While there’s still an awful lot of daylight left, Fortin senses that the low elevation lungs of the Eastern group have had enough high country and they turn back.

Everyone is all smiles. Even Mangigian, who has regained her breath and her step. There is already talk about coming back in the summer.

Glacier Park can do that to you. In a heartbeat.

For more information on the service and rates go to http://www.glacierparkskitours.com.