Guides
Meet Powder Universe's experienced guides. Each of our guides is a qualified professional who knows the destinations like the back of their hand and ensures you get the most out of your trip.
Founders
Pette Halme
The founder of Elämysmatkat and Finland's first internationally accredited (UIAGM) mountain guide has been skiing and climbing in the mountains, above all in the Alps and Japan, for many decades. Pette is the other owner of Lumiversumi.
Vesa Rouvila
Another of Lumiversumi's owners, Vesa is a long-time Japan and Hakuba guide for Elämys-Ski, a Finlav-trained snow safety instructor and a retired fighter pilot. He has led ski trips and treks around the world.
Other Guides
Jimmy Oden
Jimmy is a passionate skier with 34 years of experience in skiing and guiding around the world. In 2002 Jimmy became an internationally certified mountain guide and a member of Les Guides Verbier. For ten years he worked as an instructor for IFMGA mountain guides, and during this time he wrote his book "Free Skiing – How to Adapt to the Mountains". In 2010 Jimmy moved back with his family to Åre, Sweden, where he and his wife founded the ski and outdoor clothing brand Elevenate.
Ville Strandman
Ville has been skiing for over 40 years, more than 25 of them freeriding. He is a certified ski guide with the Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA) and a snow safety instructor with FINLAV. He works as a freeride guide and focuses on avalanche safety and safe adventures in the mountains and backcountry.
Sami Haapasalmi
Sami is a mountain guide who found his calling by a somewhat surprising route: a passionate ski-bum lifestyle eventually led him to mountain guide school, and he stayed on that path. For Sami, the mountains are both work and a way of life, and his heart beats above all for skiing. What matters most to Sami in guiding is sharing his passion with others, helping people find their own limits safely, and experiencing together moments that stay with them for a long time.
Andrea Berrino
Andrea is a UIAGM/IFMGA mountain guide living in Piedmont, Italy. His relationship with the mountains is all-encompassing: his hobbies include mountaineering, rock climbing and ice climbing. His true passion, however, is skiing in all its forms. He focuses especially on off-piste skiing, ski touring and heli-skiing. His aim is to offer authentic, safe and inspiring mountain experiences by sharing his expertise and deep respect for the alpine environment.
Riki Nakajima
Riki has worked as a ski guide in Japan for over 10 years. In his younger years he was actively involved in Japan's freestyle skiing scene, but later his passion shifted to backcountry freeriding. Riki is also dedicated to developing freeride culture in Japan, including by organizing competitions. Above all, however, he loves the powder snow, hot springs and exciting ski trips abroad that stem from Japan's unique nature and culture.
Sirpa Burgess
I am an international wilderness and nature guide. My passion is long-distance wilderness adventures, whether on skis, on foot, or by canoe. I lead guided trips year-round in Finnish and Swedish Lapland, Norway, and the Alps. It is wonderful to help people experience the calming effect of nature, the dramatic landscapes of the fells and mountains, and the beauty and silence of the wilderness.