We are launching an occasional Friday feature. We’re just getting started, but we hope y’all want to learn more about the Mazamas. If you are a member and wish to participate, the questions will remain the same, so drop your responses and a photo of yourself in an email to ginabinole@mazamas.org
We’re kicking things off with Ali Koch, co-founder & director of adventure for Peak Recovery , which through the Alano Club of Portland has partnered with the Mazamas and is sponsoring a nine-member Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) team this year.
Name: Ali Marie Koch
Year Joined Mazamas: 2015
Present-day outdoor activities: splitboarding, mountaineering, snowboarding, hiking, snowshoeing, outdoor yoga
What’s your earliest outdoor memory (can be anything—iceskating, hiking, sledding, biking, fishing, fort building): My mom teaching me to ski on Mickey Mouse skis at the age of 3 in Lake Tahoe and playing in tide pools near our home in San Francisco.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? My mom did BCEP in 2008 and joined the Mazamas. She then started climbing all kinds of mountains with Mazamas and eventually started volunteering as a hike leader. She’s the one who encouraged me to start hiking to suppport my mental and physical wellness. She took me up my first glaciated summit in 2015.
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Find an outdoor mentor (or a few) and ask them to show you the ropes. In addition to my mom, my dear friend and fellow Mazama, John Creager, has been an amazing mentor to me!
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one. I am inspired by people who remain humble as they accomplish amazing feats. I am also inspired by other people in mental health or substance use recovery who use nature and movement as medicine.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? IG @mountainsformentalhealth an account run by a therapist who climbs mountains to raise awareness around mental health and suicide prevention
What’s on your adventure bucket list? I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2019, and I hope to climb Aconcagua, the tallest peak in South America soon. #1 on my bucket list is Vinson Massif, the tallest mountain in Antarctica.
I am inspired by her journey and her commitment to wellness and especially teaching of others. I really believe she has a special gift for educating others on these topics. I also am amazed at her courage and determination to do this kind of mountain climbing.
Awesome undertaking! As a Mazama CL, one of my CL mentors was in recovery and used climbing as an antidote to alcohol addiction. Your mom was also on my 2008 BCEP team and left her own mark in the arena of alpine sun protection (as a clinician) — one I had no trouble preaching as a BCC/SCC cancer survivor, and one of the delayed hazards of alpine activities. I’m sure your efforts will inspire others as well!