Aimee grew up getting dirty in the Utah Mountains, where she says backpacking and skiing were just the way of life. A former Mazama Board Member, Aimee has helped out with many of our class offerings, from Advanced Rock to First Aid. When not adventuring, Aimee is the co-founder and director of operations for Graphic 45, an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company.
Name: Aimee Filimoehala
Pronouns: she/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 2017
Present-day outdoor activities: I love being in the mountains, especially off the beaten path. My favorite activities include rock, ice, and alpine climbing, and exploring the mountains on skis.
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I was fortunate to grow up in Utah at the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, where I was exposed to hiking and skiing as a child.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? After hiking and backpacking for years, I decided to climb Mount Adams. Early into the climb, I grasped that alpine climbing was much more demanding and consequential than your typical hike. I realized I wanted to acquire the necessary skills to be safe in the mountains, and I signed up for the Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) the next spring.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offerthem? Join an organization like the Mazamas or a meet-up group. I’ve met many amazing nature-loving people who have taught me so much.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I’m inspired by the members of Portland Mountain Rescue and the time they volunteer to help with Search and Rescue (SAR) missions on Mount Hood.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow andwhy? Pick one. Alpinesavvy.com is a great resource for PNW climbing information like GPX tracks and route beta! I’ve downloaded maps and tracks for dozens of climbs.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? I’m hoping to get down to Peru and explore some of the Cordillera Blanca soon.
Flora is an elder in both the Mazamas and the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington state. She jokes that just means she’s old, but in fact, she’s been very involved for many years in both organizations. She climbed 40 mountains – never the same one – and was active in trail tending for the Mazamas. At 88, she says this winter’s ski trip to Eastern Oregon might be her last, and it’s time to hang up her skis. But she plans to continue to lead “old lady hikes,” for the Mazamas as long as she can.
When not outdoors, Flora’s had a varied career, washing dishes in hospital kitchens, driving a school bus, testing water quality, helping with cardiac research and volunteering at the Forest Center at Multnomah Falls. She is a retired RN.
Name: Flora Huber
Pronouns: She/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 1954
Present-day outdoor activities: Leading “little old lady hikes”
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? That’d have to be clam digging on the coast or bullfrog fishing on the Willamette River with my family and my father and his friends.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I had a teacher at Lincoln High School, Mrs. Obie, who was a sponsor for our square dancing club. She was a Mazama, her and her husband. We’d ride up to the Mazama Lodge in the back of their jeep with a bunch of kids. This was before seatbelt laws. We’d rent the stove at the lodge for 50 cents a day, so we could cook our breakfasts. Mrs. Obie taught me how to ski. Once I learned, I’d hitchhike up to Timberline Lodge and huff it up the Glade Trail because I didn’t have $5 for the lift ticket.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offerthem? Just keep going and persist. There’s going to be more and more people. Get up early and get out on the trail.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Mazama climb leaders have always inspired me, and I had so many good ones. They’re just wonderful people who devote their time and energy to the outdoors.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow andwhy? Pick one. I just read a book called Letters from Yellowstone. It compiled letters from a woman who was a med student who traveled to Yellowstone to be part of a group that cataloged flowers and vegetation in Yellowstone. Of course, it was the turn of the century, and she was quite an activist and loved the outdoors. I found it so very fascinating, how she persisted in her quest despite people who thought she wasn’t capable of being a scientist because she was a woman. Apparently there’s supposed to be another follow up book.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? Nothing too exotic. I’ll be leading a hike next Tuesday, and I hope to keep doing that three or four times a month. That’s adventure enough.
A Mazama Summit Certificate from Flora’s first climb.
Ann Marie graduated from high school in Japan before settling in the Pacific Northwest and calling it home. She fell in love with the outdoors while in college, where she was introduced to climbing in 1991. She climbed a lot in the early years before moving to the Midwest and starting a family. Upon returning to the Northwest in 2004, she got back into climbing and wanted to find a group to climb with. Finding the Mazamas opened a whole new world of adventuring. Ann Marie is a provisional leader in the Leadership Development (LD) program.
Name: Ann Marie Caplan
Pronouns: She/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 2018
Present-day outdoor activities: Rock climbing, cycling, alpine in the summer
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I remember hiking with my family when we lived in Hawaii. On one hike, we had found an abandoned kitten that they let me take home and keep.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I learned about the Mazamas from a friend, Mark Milobinski. He was a climb leader and was going to lead a couple climbs (Hood and Eldorado) and invited me to come along. I joined so I could climb with him. I then decided to take ICS (Intermediate Climbing School) to brush up on my skills and be more in line with “the Mazama way” of doing things. From that point on, I was all in with the organization. I was drawn in by the community of like-minded climbers who love to adventure like I do.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offerthem? Don’t worry about being the strongest or fastest. There are plenty of us who are here for the people and the journey.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I am inspired by people who push themselves to do things they may feel they are not ready to do. My favorite thing about assisting on climbs is the pure joy people feel when they overcome mental or physical challenges they otherwise may not have done without the Mazamas.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow andwhy? Pick one. This is a tough one, as I am not one to choose favorites. I am a fan of Alpine Savvy because John Godino is cool. (@alpinesavvy on Instagram)
What’s on your adventure bucket list? I’ve always wanted to trek to Everest Base Camp. I would love to see the Khumbu Ice fall in person.
Diane hails from the Midwestern prairie landscape now mostly converted to cornfields and pig farms, but found her way to Oregon where her love for outdoor recreation, especially snowboarding, intersects with her professional passion for environmental ethics. Having worked for a conservation non-profit, Diane went to law school to become a more effective environmental advocate. She now works as an environmental lawyer in the public sector, advising Oregon natural resources agencies, primarily the Department of Environmental Quality, on water quality issues.
After trying splitboarding a handful of times, she applied for the Backcountry Ski Touring (BCST) program as a student in 2018, looking to solidify her skills and meet like-minded people. Some of the folks from the class are still her best snowboarding buddies. And she thinks that BCST provides such a unique opportunity for people to learn important skills that are beneficial in reducing accidents, keeping access open, and getting people the experience they need to enjoy the sport.
Diane is now chairing the BCST committee, responsible for the successful implementation of a complex curriculum that involves 7 lectures and 6 field sessions/on-snow tours. But she was initially hesitant to become a tour leader and assume increased responsibilities. At the time there was only one other woman tour leader. Diance thought about where her fear was coming from and decided to lean into it. After all, forcing yourself to teach something is the best way to really know it.
Her motivations come from both the ownership she feels for the program, and the fact that so many of her backcountry friendships have been cultivated here. She wants others to have that opportunity too.
While Diane may think of herself as an unlikely BCST leader, moving from the volunteer coordinator role into the committee chair has felt surprisingly natural. She already has a vision for 2025 to ensure continuity and is experimenting with building out new volunteer roles and subcommittees to respond to the growing list of past students excited to pay it forward as volunteers.
Name: Diane Lloyd
Pronouns: she/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 2014
Present-day outdoor activities: I love splitboarding – it’s my main activity. Like many, I have an 8-5, Monday through Friday job and it’s just too expensive and crowded to enjoy the resort every weekend. I’m also a hiker, backpacker, rock climber, and a bit of a mountain biker – but all of these sports take a backseat to snowboarding!
What’s your earliest outdoor memory: Growing up in Iowa, a landscape redundant with monocrops, I went to summer camp as a kid. This was the first time I experienced hiking and campfire cookouts surrounded by tall grass and verdant trees that seemed so much bigger back then. This experience inspired my interest in the environment and excitement for outdoor recreation, so I continued to seek out “wild landscapes,” which were a formative cornerstone of my professional and personal journeys.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I remember exactly when I heard about Mazamas from a friend. Hearing about the Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) made me think that it would be a good way to meet new people, get outdoor experiences, and gain new skills in a fun and organized way.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? I think the most important thing as outdoor recreation increases, is for people to get involved with the management of public lands. Exercising the “leave no trace” ethic is fundamental, and for public lands users there is a responsibility to understand the shared use (and competing interests) involved on public lands. As recreators, we’re also stewards, and it’s on us to balance sport and conservation efforts as active participants. Instead of getting siloed in your lifestyle sport, stay open to considering other uses or conservation efforts that are overlapping.
Here’s a few ways I’d recommend getting involved:
Depending on your recreation type, you can seek out info on social media and websites that describe the issues, advocacy efforts, and budgets for public lands. For example, state parks are often heavily used by mountain bikers, while national forests are used by backcountry skiers and snowboarders.
Provide comments during open public comment periods. A successful example of this recently was for Mount Hood’s backcountry permitting process. This type of engagement directly influences decision making.
Advocate for sufficient funding for public lands and natural resource management agencies.
Lastly, minimize your own impact on land, wildlife, and water quality by educating yourself and others in “leave no trace” principles. Being a good steward on a micro level means taking good care of your own sh*t, literally, at times.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Many of my ski partners are inspiring individuals with busy careers and other competing priorities, so time on the skin track together is really special. Splitboarding is a social activity and it allows for time to talk and share things that inspire each other.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I’m following the podcast “Buddy Check” right now, which is about (romantic) relationships with climbing partners. It dives into traditional gender roles, heterosexual relationships, and climbing. Turns out, humans play out those traditional, heteronormative gender roles at the climbing gym, which speaks to dynamics I may have felt at times but never really deeply analyzed.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? .So many things! I love volcano skiing in the spring, so this year I’m scoping out lines with conditions that are harder to time just right – Bailey, Diamond, Thielson and El Dorado are on my radar, but I’m also interested in some other objectives off the beaten track, like getting lines in the Steens or Strawberries. Even though international snowboarding trips are always exciting, there is so much to do around the Pacific Northwest!
Cassie grew up in Utah and found the Mazamas the way many do, through an internet search for hiking. She signed up for a dog-friendly hike with the Adventurous Young Mazamas and now leads similar hikes, in part to continue exploring the Pacific Northwest and also to give back to the Mazama community.
Name: Cassie Soucy
Pronouns: she/her
Year Joined Mazamas: 2019
Present-day outdoor activities: Hiking, backpacking, Zumba, and dog-walking 🙂
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I grew up in Utah exploring my grandparents neighborhood and the high desert in general. My cousins, siblings, and I would construct grand adventures in the epic park nearby that we affectionately called, “the Pit”. When we were done adventuring, we’d retreat to my grandmother’s garden to fill up on a bounty of berries and fruit.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? When I moved up to Portland, I was searching for a community to get outdoors with and truly just Googled ‘hiking groups in Portland’. The Mazamas popped up in my search, and I found the Adventurous Young Mazamas. My first hike was one led by our current AYM chair, Heather Polonsky, and I chose it because it was dog-friendly. I didn’t have a dog at the time but got to meet several great pups (including Linus,Heather’s dog). My involvement with the Mazamas has only increased since, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help lead hikes providing others the same opportunity for connection and community that I found.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offerthem? My best piece of advice is to have fun! There is so much beauty here in the PNW – from incredibly challenging hikes that get you to remote areas to exploring our urban trail systems here in Portland. Any walk, hike, or backpack can be epic with the discovery of a new favorite flower or getting to the top of a summit.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow andwhy? Pick one. My favorite fiction book is The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, which is in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. She is an incredible author who masterfully constructs a world impacted by climate change and seamlessly integrates commentary on racism through the characters in the novel. I highly recommend it if you want to immerse yourself in a new world while challenging yourself to think about how issues related to race, gender, and climate are reflected in our own world.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? Climbing Mt. Hood, section hiking the PCT in Oregon, enjoying our glaciers, and seeing whales on the Oregon coast.
