During a late night conversation at the Baldface Lodge bar, Billy Anderson, Pat Moore and Jeff Pensiero reflected on the recent “close calls” of fellow professional snowboarders in the backcountry. Throughout the meeting there was a common question, why was there not a standard for backcountry safety amongst the snowboarding community? During the years to follow, Risk Maturity was born spearheaded by Baldface lead guide Demien Whitely. John Buffery later took charge and coined the name of the class, embodying his relationship with the mountains as a seasoned avalanche professional, safety consultant and vast knowledge of risk analysis. Through the legacy of the Baldface guiding team and the hospitality that Jeff provided, hundreds of professionals have now gone through the class with stellar results.