An avid adventure enthusiast, Mike is always sporting a smile...the FASTER, the BIGGER!
Mike Cleary
If you ask Mike when he learned to ski he may tell you, (Heli-Skier founder) "Pete taught me how to ski that winter before I turned eight! I skied with his family in Tahoe constantly when I was a kid."
Although that very well may be true, it's unlikely that Brady had the skill set to coach Mike, a year his senior, at the age of seven!
The reality is, these two juniors taught themselves how to ski...maybe with a couple lessons...probably from Troy Caldwell, when he used to give "freestyle" lessons at Alpine in early to mid 70s.
"In our early teens, I remember when we first learned how to 'do helicopters!' (an arial 360 jump) It was really hard to pull off, and seemed like a cool trick at the time. These days I'd be scared scared to rip my knees to pieces if I didn't stick a soft landing or over rotated!" lol!
Mike logged a lot of seasons in Tahoe in his youth including a tenure with the Tahoe Adaptive Ski School at Alpine, back in the day...
Mike's transition from youth through adulthood added a lovely wife, four beautiful daughters and a few vacation properties appropriately located! Most of his family are accomplished skiers, and one is a ski instructor.
One of his homes, which is nestled in a unique residential mountain community near Donner Summit has a two-car garage, but there is no room to park a Jeep 4 X 4, a family Suburban or any other typical vehicle in the garage. Nope. It's full of adult, high performance, mostly winter-mountain toys! Mike is certainly not above enjoying dinner with friends & like-minded neighbors, having a couple beers, and then firing up his snowmobiles and going out to play in the woods...in the dark! (Duh! That's why they have headlamps, right!?)
Not surprisingly, Mike never took up cross country skiing or Alpine touring. He prefers power tools! If he's not riding a jacked-up snow sled, then you'll probably see him piloting an off-road 4 wheel RZR!
Among other adventures experienced throughout their lifetimes, in February of 2022, Mike Cleary and Heli-Skier founder Brady were fortunate enough to visit the Rubys, near Elko, NV.
They both thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality provided by Ruby Mountain Heli, and the Royer family, who have been pleasing guests forever and certainly earned their place in the history of heliskiing!
One of the highlights of skiing The Rubys is a LONG couloir called The Come Line.
We assume every visitor gets a chance to ski it! It's ICONIC.
Mike & Pete were sure glad to sample it!
Mike Cleary & Founder Brady after their Come Line descent!
