Who We Are
Our team is based in the Sierra Valley just north of Truckee, CA giving us a unique venue to host trips and courses. In addition to providing specialized avalanche education, we also offer services for production logistics, slope safety, backcountry support and snowcat accessed splitboarding and ski touring.
Our primary focus is providing education to the industry and people that drive our sport. Teams and film crews spend more time in the backcountry riding lines, building jumps and traveling in the mountains than most. We want to make sure that they stay safe and make the right decisions.
Max Wittenberg
Founder/Guide- AIARE PRO instructor, AIARE Course Leader, Emergency Medical Technician, Rope Rescue Technician, Heli Ski US Recognized Guide
Max hatched the idea of the West Wind Collective when he saw a niche needing to be filled within the guiding community. He has spent the last decade and a half guiding and teaching. Having guided and taught in Alaska, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, California, Washington and New Zealand he brings a wide range of knowledge of varied terrain and snowpacks. Aside from turning and burning with West Wind Collective, he is snow safety director and heli ski guide for Alaska Backcountry Guides, Motorized instructor for Sierra Avalanche Center, PRO instructor for AIARE, staffs a rural county ambulance and is part of a REMS team for disaster relief efforts.
Jason Champion
Lead Guide-AAI Level 3, AMGA Certified Splitboard Guide, WFR, CPR, Heli Ski US Recognized Guide
Jason is an AMGA certified Splitboard guide, an Alaska Heli ski guide, and an AIARE avalanche educator. He has been guiding for sixteen years. Jason is Lead Guide for Splitboard Guides International, Pulseline Adventure, and West Wind Collective. Jason works in the Chugach range of Alaska and the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. His specialty is slope safety for Ski and Snowboard projects as well as big mountain contest events such as King of the Hill and The Natural selection Tour. Backcountry snowboarding and mountaineering is his main focus, and teaching snow safety and best practice is his professional pursuit. In the summer, Jason operates a small painting company and enjoys raising his family in the beautiful Sierra Valley. In the Winter Jason is happy to be camping in a remote location somewhere in the mountains of the western United States.
Andrew Alisandros
Guide - AA1 Pro2, Wilderness First Responder, AIARE Course Leader, Advanced Ski Guide Course
Andrew was born and raised in Florida, but quickly tired of swamps and alligators, and decided to trade it all in for bottomless powder turns and splitter cracks. Since moving to Tahoe in 2014 he has dove head first into splitboarding and rock climbing and continues to look for bigger lines and harder climbs while exploring and guiding the ranges across the Americas. However, he always finds his way home to the Sierra Nevada where he spends most of his time. The mountains are where Andrew feels most himself and while perfect turns and climbing big rocks is “super rad”, sharing the experiences with people and the knowledge he has gained in the mountains over the years is truly his passion.