Mountain Guide (IFMGA)
Systems have specifications. Mountains and polar regions have their own.
Objective hazards, snow, weather, terrain — and the question of what AI and sensors can really do out there. As an IFMGA mountain guide, that difference is exactly what I engage with.
Concept
Firn
Firn is the transition between snow and glacier ice. Compressed, multi-year layers of snow store information about time and change.
By analogy, firn describes the consolidation of many observations into a load-bearing basis for decisions. Here: the gap between system specification and operational reality, distilled and reviewable.
Focus areas
What I engage with.
Three themes, one thread: the difference between what the paper says and what happens outside — judged out in the terrain, not at a desk.
Not a fad · since the 1950s
AI isn’t hype. It survived two winters.
The idea of thinking machines is centuries old, the research field over 70 years. Twice the euphoria collapsed when the promise outran its impact — the two AI winters. The idea survived both. Those who use it operationally test impact against promise.
Separate promise from impact, and you know this line. Judgement, not euphoria.
Stance
Models assist.
Judgement stays with people.