Nick joined the Mazamas this year to take part in our Advanced Rock course, but he’s been an outdoor enthusiast for years and enjoys hiking, backpacking, snowboarding, biking and more. When not in the wild, he runs his own tech support and production company and is a classically trained musician, instrumentalist, singer, composer and former yoga instructor.
Name: Nick Hankins
Pronouns: He/Him
Year Joined Mazamas: 2024
Present-day outdoor activities: Cragging, Alpine Epics, Hiking, Backpacking, Camping, Photography, Slacklining, Skiing, Snowboarding, Running, Biking, Fixing Vanny (my elderly campervan)
What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Technically accurate, but super throwback…swinging on a swing set in France when I was about 4 or 5 on a sunny day and a girl walked over and kissed me on the cheek.
How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? My friend Julie told me about the Mazamas when I was climbing with her at Movement. She literally said “You should join the Mazamas and take their Advanced Rock class. I took it last year and it was awesome. You’d love it.”
As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? As certain sectors of the world seem to be trending more and more towards chaos, the sanctity of the great outdoors and protected natural spaces has never been more important. As best as you can, try to be considerate of other people’s spiritual experience in these spaces…whether that means adhering to the Leave No Trace principle or leaving your bluetooth speaker and your drone at home (preaching to myself about the drones) or smiling at someone as you pass them on the trail or taking education classes like those offered by the Mazamas to enrich your experience and to propagate best practices that help keep everyone safe, which in turn helps to keep these sacred spaces open and available to all of us. Join a community of like-minded friends and get away from the doom screens as often as you can! I recently deleted Instagram and Facebook on my phone and instead share photos and videos with my friends on a shared Discover Server.
What activities/situations/people most inspire you? People climbing hard in beautiful places. People living simply and minimalistically. People going out of their way or sacrificing their own safety or freedom to help or to stand up for those in need.
What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? Pick one. I love the Reel Rock documentaries. They’re produced really well and the stories and cinematography is always top notch.
What’s on your adventure bucket list? I have a number of destinations and crags and alpine peaks on my bucket list, but the one I obsess about the most is a top secret route on the Oregon coast that I’m planning to rebolt and revitalize.
Love it! Especially your statement “ the sanctity of the great outdoors and protected natural spaces has never been more important”.