Episode 119: Jim Hancock - Fishing the Gunnison River

Jim Hancock is one of the finest people you’ll ever meet and one of
the hardest working, too! I’ve know Jimmy a very long time, from
Aspen of course, where he started working for the Aspen Ski Company
in 1977. He worked in many fields for them: snowmaker, powder
guide, instructor, race director, and by 1981 he’d proven himself
to take on enormous responsibility when he became World Cup Chief
of Course and ultimately the Chief of Race. He shined brightly. The
team he assembled to prepare the slope for the high speed downhill
and tech events for the best skiers in the world became his trusted
family, and when anything was needed they dove in head first. He
was beloved by all and they anointed him as their Pope. Jimmy is
also embedded with hunting and fishing, and for the last 30 years
has been an elk hunting guide every fall. He’s an adventurer at
heart and doesn’t fear the unknown. The Black Canyon of the
Gunnison is a narrow, daunting canyon with walls that stretch 2500
skyward. The river at its floor falls steeply and in some sections
form giant rapids with the ability to flip rafts at the beat of a
heart. But, too, it’s the home of the most amazingly prized rainbow
and brown trout that have never seen the pressure that most rivers
know too well. Many years ago Hancock saw something that few
thought possible, fishing it by raft, and then sharing it with
those that love to dare in the pursuit of great fishing in God’s
country. His operation, Gunnison River Rats just sold to Elk
Mountain Expeditions in Aspen, Colorado but he is still a guide
taking multiple trips a summer down there. On today's podcast we
cover the forging life of Jim Hancock!