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In Memoriam
Peter C. Lev
1940-2025
Peter Charles Lev, 85, passed away on April 27, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. Born on March 4, 1940, in Los Angeles, California, Peter spent most of his life in the mountains: climbing, skiing, avalanche forecasting, and, as he often said, escaping the “real world.” His passion for the outdoors shaped both his adventurous spirit and his life’s work.
Peter began guiding for Exum Mountain Guides in 1960, where he found not just a job but a calling. In between summers guiding Peter attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 1964. As he continued to build up his experience with Exum, he also served as the rock-climbing director at the Minnesota Outward Bound School from 1967-70.
In 1978, he purchased a portion of Exum from Glenn Exum, helping carry forward Glenn’s legacy and playing a key role in shaping Exum into the respected institution it is today. After retiring from Exum in 2006, Peter continued guiding for another four years with Sylvan Rocks in the South Dakota Needles, finally hanging up his guiding gear at age 70. He continued to climb and ski, well into his late seventies.
Peter was a member and/or guide for several major mountaineering expeditions, including the North Face of Mount Robson (1969), the American Dhaulagiri Expedition (1973), the U.S.-USSR Pamir Expedition (1974), the American-Indian Nanda Devi Expedition (1976), Island Peak (1977), Mount Huntington (1980), and Tent Peak, Tharpu Chuli (1984).
Beyond climbing, Peter dedicated much of his life to skiing, snow science, and avalanche forecasting. He worked as a ski patroller at Vail Mountain (1964–65) and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (1965–67), a ski instructor at Bridger Bowl (1967–70), and a heli-ski guide for Wiegele Heli-Skiing (1975–81) in British Columbia. He served as a research assistant for the U.S. Army Mountain Snowpack Project at Montana State University (1967–70), a snow ranger for the U.S. Forest Service (1970–75), an instructor for the National Avalanche School for the Forest Service (1972-83), an instructor for the American Avalanche Institute (beginning in 1976), an associate professor of Snow Dynamics at the University of Utah (1982–90), and an avalanche forecaster for Alta Ski Area and the Utah Department of Transportation (1983–90). Peter also wrote extensively on avalanche terrain and served as an expert witness in several court cases involving mountain accidents.
Despite his many accomplishments, Peter was always a humble man. He didn’t care for the spotlight and often spoke about how the ego is the most dangerous thing you can carry into the mountains. He was a strong leader and a steady mentor to many people throughout the years.
More than anything though, Peter was a devoted father to his daughter, Alexandra, taking immense pride in passing down his love for the mountains to her. In the final years of his life, his greatest joy was becoming a grandfather to Gemma, a role he embraced with deep love and joy.
Peter Charles Lev, 85, passed away on April 27, 2025, in Portland, Oregon. Born on March 4, 1940, in Los Angeles, California, Peter spent most of his life in the mountains: climbing, skiing, avalanche forecasting, and, as he often said, escaping the “real world.” His passion for the outdoors shaped both his adventurous spirit and his life’s work.
Peter began guiding for Exum Mountain Guides in 1960, where he found not just a job but a calling. In between summers guiding Peter attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 1964. As he continued to build up his experience with Exum, he also served as the rock-climbing director at the Minnesota Outward Bound School from 1967-70.
In 1978, he purchased a portion of Exum from Glenn Exum, helping carry forward Glenn’s legacy and playing a key role in shaping Exum into the respected institution it is today. After retiring from Exum in 2006, Peter continued guiding for another four years with Sylvan Rocks in the South Dakota Needles, finally hanging up his guiding gear at age 70. He continued to climb and ski, well into his late seventies.
Peter was a member and/or guide for several major mountaineering expeditions, including the North Face of Mount Robson (1969), the American Dhaulagiri Expedition (1973), the U.S.-USSR Pamir Expedition (1974), the American-Indian Nanda Devi Expedition (1976), Island Peak (1977), Mount Huntington (1980), and Tent Peak, Tharpu Chuli (1984).
Beyond climbing, Peter dedicated much of his life to skiing, snow science, and avalanche forecasting. He worked as a ski patroller at Vail Mountain (1964–65) and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (1965–67), a ski instructor at Bridger Bowl (1967–70), and a heli-ski guide for Wiegele Heli-Skiing (1975–81) in British Columbia. He served as a research assistant for the U.S. Army Mountain Snowpack Project at Montana State University (1967–70), a snow ranger for the U.S. Forest Service (1970–75), an instructor for the National Avalanche School for the Forest Service (1972-83), an instructor for the American Avalanche Institute (beginning in 1976), an associate professor of Snow Dynamics at the University of Utah (1982–90), and an avalanche forecaster for Alta Ski Area and the Utah Department of Transportation (1983–90). Peter also wrote extensively on avalanche terrain and served as an expert witness in several court cases involving mountain accidents.
Despite his many accomplishments, Peter was always a humble man. He didn’t care for the spotlight and often spoke about how the ego is the most dangerous thing you can carry into the mountains. He was a strong leader and a steady mentor to many people throughout the years.
More than anything though, Peter was a devoted father to his daughter, Alexandra, taking immense pride in passing down his love for the mountains to her. In the final years of his life, his greatest joy was becoming a grandfather to Gemma, a role he embraced with deep love and joy.
Jerry Balint AKA ‘Cool Breeze’
Jerry led a full and active life. After serving four years in the U.S. Air Force, he settled in San Diego, California, in 1957. He took up sky diving, making more than 300 jumps over the next few years. He became an avid surfer while living in San Diego. On a hunting trip to Wyoming he fell in love with the Old West atmosphere. He chose to live in Jackson Hole permanently in the later 1960s because of the rugged outdoor lifestyle and the world-class skiing.
He was hired on the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort ski patrol in 1976, where he worked for nearly 35 years. Along with Peter MacKay, he was instrumental in starting the avalanche dog program during the 1980s. During more than two decades, he had three dogs in the program. Jerry and his avalanche dogs also assisted Teton County Search and Rescue in numerous avalanche incidents.
In 1992, Jerry with his dog, Coup, found the first skier buried in an avalanche who was rescued alive in North America. For a number of years, Jerry, along with his avalanche dog, worked with search and rescue teams in Alaska on the Extreme Ski Contest. During the summer months until about 2012, Jerry was employed in the recreational division of the U.S. Forest Service in Jackson.
Jerry loved upland bird hunting with his dogs, spending many weeks in the fall hunting birds in Idaho and Montana, as well as Wyoming. Other activities that drew him to the Wyoming outdoors included big game hunting, fishing and his beloved horses. Jerry would spend weeks at a time on horse pack trips in the Wind River, Absaroka and Gros Ventre mountain ranges.
Jerry loved his motorcycles. He and his wife, Jeanni, got married in Sturgis, South Dakota, during the annual motorcycle rally in 2000. On summer Saturday nights in Jackson he was a regular at the Grand Teton Music Festival symphony.
Having grown tired of the long Jackson Hole winters, Jerry and Jeanni spent the last 15 winters in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. There, Jerry enjoyed spending time with his dog at the lake, taking his small boat out fishing and going to the gun range.
Former ski patrol leader Corky Ward, quoted in David Gonzales’ book “Jackson Hole: On a Grand Scale” (2001), said of Jerry, “A boss’s nightmare. He’s a prankster. He’s got the world by the tail. … And when things go bad, when I need somebody very professional who has total grasp of rescues, he’s one of the first people I look to.” Gonzales mentions that Jerry’s fellow workers nicknamed him “Cool Breeze,” a reference to Jerry’s affable and adventuresome personality.
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