Category: Membership

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Meet the Mazamas

Petra was raised in the Middle East and Washington, D.C. and has lived in nearly every region of the U.S. She took our Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) in 2009, which launched a career in the outdoors. She’s a former NOLS instructor, a current instructor of wilderness leadership and experiential education, an on-again/off-again wilderness therapy guide, a paddler, a dedicated long-distance walker, a hiker, and an aspiring mountain biker. She has been in the Mazama Leadership Development Program since May 2019 and a Portland Mountain Rescue member since August 2021.

Name:  Petra LeBaron-Botts

Pronouns:  she/her/hers

Year Joined Mazamas: 2009

 Present-day outdoor activities:  Mountaineering, rock climbing, backpacking, thru-hiking, skiing, mountain biking, paddling my canoe.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I spent my formative years in the Middle East and remember a lot of exploring the vast Arabian Desert. A different kind of wilderness, but still wild and awe-inspiring. I also remember trips to the U.S. to visit my extended family and falling in love with the high desert ecosystem of eastern and southern Oregon.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? When I moved to Oregon after finishing college in Indiana in 2008, I felt that I had some sort of responsibility to learn how to ski. I enrolled in the Mazama Nordic Ski class. It was in that class that I met now-president Greg Scott! He told me about this thing called BCEP. I almost didn’t register, thinking I had no interest in climbing mountains. How wrong I was! Taking BCEP in 2009 changed the trajectory of my entire life, kicking off my move to an outdoor education career.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Take the leap! There are so many reasons we give ourselves for why we can’t. We don’t have the time, don’t have the money, are too out of shape, are too scared. All the best things in the world lie beyond those reasons. There are so many people who want to help you discover the outdoors and so many resources available to help you do it! Just say yes!

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I became a part of Portland Mountain Rescue in 2021 and have felt continually inspired by the men and women in the unit. They are compassionate, brave, humble, and dedicated, and I hope to be more like them when I grow up. I am also continually inspired by my nearly-77 year old mother who hikes thousands of miles around the world every year. At the age of 75 she did a 26-mile day with me! 

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? My absolute favorite corner of the internet is @dusttodigital on Instagram. They post video clips of live “music,” in all iterations, from every corner of the globe. I don’t even want to say anything more – just go watch.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? The Arizona Trail, the Oregon Desert Trail, Te Araroa, Patagonia, Antarctica, backpacking the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, seeing a manta ray while diving, diving the Galapagos, bike-touring in eastern Europe, and much more.

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Meet the Mazamas

Katie is a recent East Coast transplant who is excited to explore the Pacific Northwest. She joined the Mazamas last year and just completed our Nordic Ski School. She is helping to bring back the Mazama evening programs and is eager to help advance the Mazama mission to inspire everyone to love and protect the mountains.

Name: Katie Grinnell

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Year Joined Mazamas: Oct 2022

Present-day outdoor activities: hiking, camping, rock climbing, running, kayaking, SUPing, water skiing, downhill skiing, Nordic skiing

Earliest outdoor memory: My earliest outdoor memory might be playing on the playground! I loved the monkey bars and would show off my skills to anyone, or try to beat anyone… I’ve always been competitive. 

How did you hear about Mazamas and what prompted you to engage with the organization? When I moved to Portland from the East Coast I was looking for an org to help me learn to recreate in these mountains safely and to maybe even summit Hood someday! I have lots of experience recreating outside but the peaks of the PNW are different from my lovely Appalachians and safety is of utmost importance! I think I used Google and the Mazamas popped up so I did my research and thought it would be great to be part of such a storied history and also have the ability to take classes to keep learning new skills and meeting people!

Advice for people recreating outside: Go with friends, invest in a good pair of waterproof hiking boots, and practice LNT always!

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I’m inspired by the people I interact with everyday; as a social worker I often interact with people when life isn’t particularly easy and their joy and determination and intelligence inspire me to keep fighting to make the world a better place for everyone and everything. 

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that I follow and why: I could never pick a favorite book as I am always reading and find new books to love but a great read that every outdoors person should have on their shelf is Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

What is on your adventure bucket list? There are many places I want to go and experiences I want to have but as a new resident to the PNW I would love to go backpacking in the Three Sisters Wilderness this summer! 

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Meet the Mazamas

Forest grew up in Seattle, lived in Bellingham, on Orcas Island, and in Australia. He moved to Portland in 2010, where he teaches high school current events and civics/government for Portland Public Schools. Forest is a registered member by blood of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, he is part Chickasaw and also white. He is working his way through the Mazamas Leadership Development program to become a climb leader and has set a goal of leading all 16 of the NW Peaks.

Name:  Forest Brook Menke-Thielman

Pronouns:  He/Him

Year Joined Mazamas: 2019

Present-day outdoor activities:  Climbing, Hiking, Skiing, Running (road/trail), Cycle Touring (though not in awhile), General Alpinism, New to Ice Climbing, occasional kayak/canoe excursion. 

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Probably complaining to my parents that I hate the beach… I’ve changed. 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I looked up how to climb Hood online and somehow came to the Advanced Snow and Ice class.  That was what I wanted to take originally, but I realized I had to start at the basics, so I enrolled in BCEP. 

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Do your research. It’s free to talk to people that have experience with weather conditions and gear, like Rangers, folks at the Mountain Shop, other Mazamas, etc. While remote outdoor activities can be inherently dangerous, many people that get significantly hurt or die just weren’t prepared for the weather, or to get lost, or didn’t know how to use the gear they had or didn’t have.  

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one. Currently ice climbing.  I didn’t have a chance to get down to Ouray or Hyalite this year like I had originally planned, and I have been supremely jealous of everyone’s photos who did. 

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? The_Govy500 on Instagram; good reason to take 35 back through Hood River. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Mount Kenya (the true summit) for sure.  It just looks so awesome, so remote, and so challenging. It’s like 22 pitches of alpine trad. Better start training!

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Meet the Mazamas

Sarah is a Colorado native who moved to Portland from New York City in 2020. She finished our Basic Climbing Education Program in 2022, joined Mazamas shortly thereafter, and is a recent Intermediate Climbing School graduate who loves ice climbing and steep snow alpine routes. Sarah is working to start a Mazama affinity space for women, femme-identifying, and genderqueer people.

Name:  Sarah Diver

Pronouns:  she/her/her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2021

Present-day outdoor activities:  Indoor and outdoor rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, alpine touring, downhill skiing, hiking and backpacking, trail and road running

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? My earliest memory outdoors would be running through the woods at the YMCA’s Camp Shady Brook in Deckers, Colorado. I am from Denver originally, and every summer I went to Shady Brook for a few weeks, where I fell in love with mountains and forests. I remember very clearly how much I loved the smell of the pine trees baking in the sun. Very magical. Second only to the special hell that was learning to ski at age 5.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  In 2019, I signed up for an all-women’s charity climb of Mt. Adams, where we raised over $10,000 for breast cancer and MS research. While we did not summit, I was instantly hooked and wanted to be able to climb more glaciated peaks. When I moved from New York City to Portland in 2020, I literally just googled “Portland mountaineering” because I wanted to learn those skills – Mazamas was the first thing that popped up! I applied for BCEP in 2021, and the rest was history. Since then I’ve been extremely lucky to be mentored and encouraged by many experienced Mazama climb leaders and volunteers.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them?  I think when someone first begins recreating outdoors more frequently, it’s easy to get “summit fever” and think only of checking peaks or goals off their list as they gain competency. All of the activities I do outdoors I think of as lifelong pursuits, and I personally try to cultivate a sustainable pattern of growth in a holistic sense: what is sustainable for my body? The  environment? For my personal safety both mentally and physically? The mountains are on a much longer, more geologic timescale than all of us as it is. My advice to those interested in being outdoors is to prioritize how they can care for the natural places they visit and for themselves first – and the rest will follow.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one.  Honestly, what has been most inspiring is watching all of the wonderful people I’ve met through the Mazamas do what they do. Having just graduated from ICS this spring, it’s been amazing to see so many friends conquer their fears, learn new skills, and fulfill personal goals throughout our time together. Whether they are ultrarunners or just learned to lead climb, being around other motivated Mazamas who get after it has been incredibly inspiring – makes me want to continue to stay in shape and learn more to keep up too!

 What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you followand why? Pick one. One of my favorite Instagram accounts is @pastagrannies. These British
filmmakers are in the midst of a multi-yearlong ethnographic documentary attempting to detail all of the various regional handmade pasta techniques in Italy. They find ancient Italian grandmas and film them making pasta. It’s amazing.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? People who know me well know that I am
very passionate about ice climbing. So, my long-term adventure bucket list therefore includes as much alpine and water ice as I can reasonably and safely access.

I’m also very interested in traverses as I find we in the Pacific Northwest
often have an “up-and-out” mindset, where we approach-summit-descend-go home-repeat. I like the idea of visiting less traveled peaks or terrain by seeking less conventional
routes that connect different mountains. Perhaps this is a pipe dream, but in the meantime,
I hope to do the more established Ptarmigan and Tatoosh traverses this summer, both in
Washington.

In general, I’m not someone who has a “tick list” I’m working from, as that’s not really a
priority for me. I am chasing the experience of being out there, appreciating the incredible beauty of our planet while I still can, and challenging myself. What I strive for each trip is the elusive, if not impossible to attain, “type I fun mountaineering.” To me, this means that I have prepared enough physically, mentally, and technically to be able to comfortably travel over any terrain presented along the route, while also being challenged enough to where I have to think critically in the moment. In the future, I’d love for Type I fun mountaineering to include as much technically interesting terrain as possible – ice, snow, and rock. That would be peak living!

 

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Meet the Mazamas

This Mazama, like so many other members, spends as much time as possible in the outdoors. He divides his time recreating and volunteering with the Mazamas, and running his own adventures through his company, Loco Por La Ventura.

He has been instrumental in launching and continuing the Mazamas first all-Latino Basic Climbing Education Program team and a Latino Affinity Group. He aims to introduce as many Latinos as possible to the natural splendors of the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Name:   Anibal Rocheta

Pronouns:  He/ Him/His

Year Joined Mazamas: 2015

Present-day outdoor activities:  Mountaineering, rock climbing, bouldering, canyoneering, spelunking, hiking, backpacking, outdoor education.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I lived the first two years of my childhood around the mountains with my grandma, which was my first and memorable connection with nature and the outdoor environment.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I’ve been teaching and being outdoors in my lovely country Venezuela for the last 15 years and then moved to the USA in 2015.

I heard about the Mazamas through google when I came to Portland. At that time, I had no idea how to continue my mountaineering/climbing development. Then I just showed up at the Mazamas’ front desk, and a kind person (btw I don’t remember her name) oriented me on how to move on with my adventurous spirit.

Now I’m part of the process of climbing, volunteering, and teaching the Latino community how to introduce outdoor activities into their lives and learn at the same time with the Mazamas.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Please check referral pages, read a book, and look for people with interests in common. If you are in PDX, please visit the Mazamas and they will help out. Also, if you want to practice Spanish and know about adventure, I have a dedicated website for outdoors (just check out www.locoporlaaventura.com)

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one: I am very inspired by passionate and driven people who help other people to move forward. I admire those who show the safe and enjoyable mountaineering world, especially Ueli Steck. He was a Swiss mountaineer who pushed human limits in many ways. He was a great inspiration to me.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? IG @colinobrady is an account of a local climber who crosses Antarctica solo and also he is a motivational speaker with an awesome emotional history. He is an incredible human being.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? I climbed Mt.Urus Este (Peru) in 2013, and I hope to climb Denali, Aconcagua, and a few wild peaks of the Alaska Range mountains. I also would love to hike the Pacific Crest Trail at some point.

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It’s an Exciting Time to Be a Mazama

By Kaleen Deatherage, Mazama Interim Executive Director

On January 31, 2023 I became a member of the Mazamas. 

This wouldn’t be noteworthy, except that while I’ve come close—the chicken ledge on Mt. Thielsen—I’ve never summited a glaciated peak. Until the results of our special election were tallied and our new restated bylaws were passed, my failure to achieve that last 80 feet left me ineligible to become a Mazama. 

And yet, for the past 14 months I’ve led the Mazamas as your Interim Executive Director. I’m a native Oregonian who grew up camping, hiking, and recreating in the amazing outdoor spaces of the Pacific Northwest.  

I am PASSIONATE about protecting our forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains. I spend countless hours of my free time teaching young people to love and respect the outdoors through my volunteer service to the Boy Scouts of America. Every summer you’ll find me at Scout Camp teaching merit badges like orienteering, wilderness survival, and emergency preparedness.

I’ve completed three 50+ mile backpacking trips on the Pacific Crest Trail. In 2014, I was one of four adults who took eight  teens on an 11-day backpacking trip at the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico that included summiting Mt. Phillips and then spending the night at an elevation of 11,742 feet. Last summer, I was back at Philmont where we made the summit of the highest peak on the ranch, Mt. Baldy at 12,441 feet.   

I’ve lost count of the number of trail tending teams and conservation projects I’ve participated in, because I want to be a role model for what stewarding our natural resources can look like. All of these passions and interests make me very similar to most of you who have been Mazama members for many years. 

And now, I can join you, as a member and together we can continue our legacy of teaching people to love, safely use, and protect our forests and mountains. This is an exciting time for the Mazamas. There are lots of people in our community who, like me, haven’t summited a glaciated peak–yet, or maybe ever.. People who care about recreating responsibly and who want to be of service and steward our precious outdoor environments.

As of January 31st, these similarly mission-oriented people can now be added to our ranks. So let’s shout it from the rooftops, COME BE A MAZAMA. 

I’ll be sharing our new membership standards with the entire Scouting community in Oregon and SW Washington. I’m going to share it with my peers at Page Two Partners, great people who similarly love to be active in the outdoors. Many of them even  said to me when I began working with the Mazamas, “Oh, I’d love to join the Mazamas, I just haven’t had time in my life to learn how to and then summit a glaciated peak.”   

Becoming a larger organization with a growing membership doesn’t diminish us, it enhances us. So, I leave you with this question. Who are you going to invite to become a member of the Mazamas?

Join the Mazamas Here.