Team Timberline 2007
At Timberline Tours we're extremely proud of our staff of outdoor professionals. They set the tone for the company and are consistently rated as the top reason our guests return year after year. All are qualified, experienced and nice folks too! Scroll through this page to meet a few of the people that set Timberline apart.
 Greg Kelchner founded Timberline Tours in 1971 as a full spectrum guide service for the then tiny ski town of Vail, Colorado. As the town has grown, so has Greg's impact on the community and the world of river running. Now regarded nationally as a leading commercial rafting expert and industry spokesman, Greg manages to squeeze in a couple of major river expeditions each year.
 Co-owner, head boatman Billy Mattison's river skills and leadership have become legendary in paddling circles. As well as pioneering many of Colorado's most demanding river runs, Billy is an accomplished mountaineer and Assistant Director of the Vail Ski Patrol. Whether it's a Class VI kayak run in Corsica, guiding a group in Gore Canyon, or a Gore Exteme adventure, sound judgement and an unquenchable enthusiasm have been the hallmarks of a whitewater career spanning almost thirty years.
About the picture: Billy at the finish line of Primal Quest last September. (Fifth place finish). He is a member of Team GoLite/Timberland www.golite.com. Billy has had numerous adventure racing accomplishments over the last several years including a Team Vail Eco Challenge win in 1998.
 Lisa Reeder
Lisa spent alot of time near the water growing up in California. She arrived in Colorado in the early 1980's and acquired an immediate interest in the many rivers of the state. After embarking on several raft trips she moved to Vail, learned to kayak, and went through Timberline Tours Raft Guide training program. She also landed herself on the Timberline Women's Raft Team that is presently the U.S. women's team. She has travelled around the world to rivers in Africa and most recently the Czech Republic racing for the women's team. When she is not on the river, Lisa spends her time as Sales and Marketing Director for Timberline Tours where she is dedicated to first class service booking trips and selling adventures. She and her husband have recently become part owners of Timberline Tours.
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 Chris "Mongo" Reeder
Guiding rivers throughout the United States for 15 years, Mongo has a number of first descents under his belt. Most often found on Class IV and V rivers, Mongo is truly at home on the tecnically challenging rivers of Colorado. During his "free time" from rafting and working with Vail Ski Patrol during the winter, Mongo began his own business, Mongo Products. Mongo Products has been creating bombproof rescue and technical equipment for the adventure sports community since 1990. Mongo most recently added the "Mongo Guide Vest" (fishing vest) to his line and it has been very successful www.mongoproducts.com. Mongo has also been a member of the mens U.S. Raft Team for the last three summers. The team had a great showing last fall in Ecuador at the world championships where they finished third place overall, the best finish by a U.S. Mens team ever. They also had a Gold Medal finish in the Sprint part of the competition.
 Tim Kennedy
A natural on the river, Tim began guiding professionally when he was 17 years old. After working for 6 seasons as a guide and safety kayaker in West Virginia, Tim headed west for Colorado, where he has worked for the past 6 summers with Timberline Tours. As one of our top Class IV/V guides and safety kayakers, Tim now follows challenging whitewater around the globe, making this a year-round career. Tim spent the winter guiding in New Zealand.
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 Shirley Smithson
Shirley's first river trip was on a private trip in the Grand Canyon in 1984. You could say she enjoyed herself as she now has over 40 Grand Canyon trips in both oar and paddle rafts on her resume. She has been guiding rivers in the West and Southwest ever since and has been with Timberline for three years. A life long skier, she moved to Vail in 1998 and now manages a ski demo shop on Vail Mountain in the Winter months.
 Olli Dose
A native German, Olli has explored rivers throughout the world. Argentina, Austria, Costa Rica, France, Honduras, Norway, Peru, Chile and the United States have all been stops on a whitewater career spanning two decades. A skilled kayaker, he made the first descent of the Rio Cuao in Venezuela and the Rio Subterrano in Nicaragua, and was a member of the German Kayak Rodeo National team. For the last three years, Olli has been busy with Blue Snake River Travel, a rafting and kayaking company on the big water of the Rio Futaleufu in Southern Chile. Olli is also a member of the men's U.S. raft team that placed fourth overall in the World Championships in Ecuador last fall.
 Ken Oliver
Ken has devoted much of his life to perfecting the art of running whitewater rivers. He has a wealth of both personal and professional experience in rafts, kayaks and canoes which consistently inspires confidence in others. Ken has a full repertoire of skills from rescue to the latest rodeo moves allowing him to be completely comfortable in the constantly changing, dynamic world of free flowing wild rivers. To augment his skills, Ken spends his free time chasing whitewater around the world; traveling to West Virgina, California, Mexico, and Patagonia. Come to Timbelrine Tours and share in Ken's passion for whitewater.
 Antony McCoy
Antony, a native South African, has been following the summers for the last 7 years, river guiding, safety boating and leading overland adventure trips in Colorado, Chile and South Africa. He has spent summers kayaking in both New Zealand and Zimbabwe enjoying the whitewater. Currently he is running Extreme South Adventures, a Multi-sport Adventure company based in South Africa, offering sea kayaking, hiking, mountain biking, river and surfing trips. He returns to Colorado for the northern hemisphere summers to guide whitewater for Timberline Tours.
 Peter Larkin
Peter, a native irishman, has worked with Timberline Tours for the last several summers. He heads up our class III trip leader staff and most recently has become a part of our Class V rotation. Peter has a presence on the river that one certainly enjoys being involved with. Peter has previously worked in Turkey on the Dalaman, Firat and Zamanti rivers as a guide, trip leader and safety kayaker. He has also spent time guiding in India and has spent the last three Colorado winters guiding in Chile.
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