Tag: Climbing

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Meet the Mazamas (Election Edition)

Joining the Mazamas has been transformative for Debbie, and she treasures the education she’s received, the friends she’s made and the myriad volunteer opportunities she’s embraced within the organization. 

She’s a Mountain LEAD certified educator and a climb leader who has co-led the queer BCEP team the past two years as an ally with her husband, Kirk. For the past decade, she has worked as a licensed psychologist serving adolescents and young adults. Prior to that she worked in accounting and finance for 20 years. Read more about Debbie and other Mazama Board candidates.

Name:  Debbie Dwelle

Pronouns:  she/her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2015

Present-day outdoor activities: Mountaineering, rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing, amateur nature photography (mostly wildflowers)

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Camping with my parents and making campfires with my dad. I’m still mesmerized by a good campfire!

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I heard about the Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) through a friend. I had done some backpacking and had summited Mt. St. Helens in the summer (not a 10/10 experience…). I knew I didn’t have the technical skills to do more than that and was interested in learning more, so I applied. My BCEP experience opened up a whole new world for me, including an introduction to technical climbing skills as well as meeting an entire new community of amazing people. The other volunteers, sense of community, teaching opportunities, and being present when others reach their goals are what’s kept me engaged and active in the organization for the past several years.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Learn how to do things safely from others who have trusted experience. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t let others try to tell you what you “should” do. Explore new things on your own terms, discover what sparks joy, and do more of that! 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I am most inspired by strong female role models. I appreciate humans who don’t accept limitations put on them by others and instead forge their own path, whatever that looks like!

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? Pick one. It’s tough to pick just one! I’d say my favorite social media platform is Instagram. I have a wide range of interests, so I appreciate that I can quickly get information/updates on a variety of topic areas in one place, including climbing, soccer, nature photography, mental health, advocacy, music, humor, etc. I’ve been able to curate my feed such that it [mostly] sparks joy. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list? So many things! As far as mountaineering goals, I have Mt. Rainier and Mt. Olympus currently on my bucket list. I also generally want to do more alpine rock climbs. I’ve spent the past several months recovering from injury, so I’m just excited to get back outside for more adventuring!


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Meet the Mazamas

Lily grew up in Northeast Portland and enjoyed cross country skiing and playing sports as a kid. In her adult life, she has continued to engage in those activities as much as possible by coaching girls lacrosse.  

She  completed our Basic Climbing Education Program last year and has summited Mount Hood, Unicorn Peak and South Sister. She assisted with a BCEP team in 2023, intends to assist again in 2024 and also is serving on the BCEP committee, which is gearing up for its info night on Jan. 11.

Name:  Lily Cox-Skall

Pronouns:  she/ her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2022

Present-day outdoor activities:  Mountaineering, backpacking, hiking, running, cross country skiing

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Going cross country skiing with my parents as a kid – I used to hate it! Lol

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with theorganization? A few of my friends had taken BCEP and posted about it on social media, prompting my interest!

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Partaking in outdoor skill training can give you so much more confidence in the outdoors. Before I took BCEP, I felt like I had to rely on others to be knowledgeable about navigating outdoor scenarios. Since learning technical skills, I feel comfortable organizing and leading day trips and backpacking trips that I may not have in the past, and it’s given me the opportunity to get more of my friends and family outdoors with me!

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Since joining the Mazamas and BCEP in particular, I have been so fortunate to meet so many amazing and inspiring people. In particular, one of my BCEP team leads, Ann Marie, inspired me so much throughout the course and beyond. On top of a million other commitments, Ann Marie volunteers to help students learn new outdoor skills, and she is so patient that it made it a lot easier to get through the intimidation of doing new and scary things. When it comes to badass mountaineering women who inspire me, I definitely hold her on the top of my list :).

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I recently finished the book Bravey by Alexi Pappas! It is a really inspiring memoir that inspires me when it comes to setting goals and accomplishing them.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? I want to go climb the Acatenango volcano in Guatemala!

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Meet the Mazamas

Kaitlyn launched right into climbing and skiing after moving to Oregon in 2017. She took the Mazama Advanced Rock course earlier this year and quickly jumped into volunteering for the organization. She is now serving on the AR committee, helping folks hone their climbing skills and encouraging others interested in learning to lead trad climbs to apply for AR 2024.

Name: Kaitlyn Beecroft Sweeney

Pronouns: She/Her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2022

Present-day outdoor activities: Rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking, and building mountain bike trails in Tillamook.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? My family used to go camping in West Texas when I was around 8 or 9. I remember riding bikes with my sister around a lake.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I first heard about the Mazamas from a co-worker, and later after I started climbing I wanted to take a course that covered high angle rescue. The Advanced Rock course really drew me in and I have enjoyed meeting and learning from many great people since becoming involved.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? I would encourage them to keep it as light as they want and have fun. At the end of the day it’s all about doing things you enjoy with people you enjoy spending time with. Sometimes that’s a big multi-day adventure and other times it’s a short day hike.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one. My family and friends inspire me.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I’ve been following competition climbing since the Olympics. It’s cool to see how much it has grown. Always impressed with the route setters and athletes.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? So many things! If I had to pick one, I’d love to go to Indian Creek.

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Meet the Mazamas

Trixie relocated on a whim to Portland in 2011 when her husband’s company laid him off. They started their own business, Trixie & Milo When not running a company, Trixie enjoys traveling, backpacking and getting outdoors to explore and challenge herself.  

She loves adventure, laughs, bringing people together, creative problem solving, Thai food and volunteering on her favorite mountain, Mount Saint Helens. 

Name:  Trixie Honeywell

Pronouns:  She/Her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2022

Present-day outdoor activities:  Hiking, backpacking, trail running/speed hiking, mushroom foraging, volunteer climbing steward on Mount Saint Helens, and hula-hooping on top of mountain summits.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? When I was 9 years old; climbing trees, and exploring Brookside Gardens (a park near my house in the Maryland/DC Metro area). I remember taking off on my bike after school, and meeting up with friends and siblings at the park. We would adventure out and try to carve out new trails and forts in the woods before we had to be back for dinner. Fireflies would start appearing at dusk and that was our cue to race back home. 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  In 2019, I became obsessed with climbing Mount Hood after flying over it. I Googled “Can people climb Mount Hood,” and was blown away by the gnarly images of the pearly gates and quickly knew I had to climb it. I had already tackled Mt. St. Helens, and was interested in something more technical. I had no luck finding anyone to tackle Hood with me, then a friend suggested that I join a group like the Mazamas. After looking into it, I considered taking BCEP in 2020. After Covid I was finally able to join BCEP in 2022. I’ve enjoyed the amazing group of instructors, volunteers and peers, and to this day, we have kept in touch, hiking together regularly. 

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Do it!  Don’t be afraid to ask questions; from simple things like, “Do you know what to pack for a day hike,” to “How do you go to the bathroom in the woods?” No question is too silly. We have these experiences to share and learn from each other. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Mountains always get my endorphins going! Even when I doubt myself, and think that I’m not good (or skilled) enough to make it – something always happens during the challenge, and when I finally reach the summit, I am literally, and figuratively, on top of the world! Summiting always gives me a great sense of accomplishment. 

 What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? Anything to do with volcanoes!  My latest obsession is anything to do with the Mount Saint Helens eruption.

 What’s on your adventure bucket list? Pico de Orizaba. I love to travel. I’m planning on traveling to Mexico in the near future and climbing this amazing volcano. 

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Meet the Mazamas

Truth first joined the Mazamas in 1990, went through our Basic Climbing Education Program, and took Mazama Nordic Ski classes. In the ’90s, she climbed mountains, helped out with BCEP, and skied a lot with us. She pressed pause and raised a family, remaining active in swimming, running, and taking fitness classes. She returned to the organization a couple of years ago and has become a hike leader. Professionally, she works as a mediator.

Name:  Truth Johnston

Pronouns:  She/They

Year Joined Mazamas: 1990 and 2021

Present-day outdoor activities:  Rock and alpine climbing, hiking, Nordic skiing, snow shoeing, biking, Mt. St. Helen’s Institute (Climbing, Hiking and Ape Cave Steward and Ambassador), snorkeling, pickleball, rafting, kayaking, gardening, and DIY house projects.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I lived in Colorado until 4th grade, and my grandpa called me his little mountain climber.  I remember climbing on sandstones, one called Alligator Rock near my Aunt Truth and Uncle Andy’s mountain cabins.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  I met someone at work and another at church who were Mazamas when I first moved to the Northwest.  The co-worker, Joe Whittington, lead, Mazama David Nelson, others from work and I up to the top of Mt. Hood in 1990.  Felt like I was on top of the world.  Shortly after, my husband and I took BCEP and Mazama Nordic ski classes.  Years later after my kids were raised, I went on a private climb with Joe Whittington and I knew I had to get back to the Mountains with the Mazamas.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? There are many groups that focus on the outdoors, but Mazamas stands out to me because of our emphasis on education and safety.  There is something so special about valuing all ages and skill levels on climbing teams.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one.  I like seeing a team come together to meet a big challenge.  This synergy meets the challenge and turns it into a great story.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why?  I am a big fan of the Great Courses (audio or video college-like recorded classes).  My favorite subjects are space, science, music, personal communication, linguistic, and history.   And the subject list continues to grow.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? I really don’t have a bucket list.  It seems new things come up for me to try.  And when I do try them, they become new loves.  The most recent is multi-pitch climbing.

My two non-outdoor passions are mediating (resolving conflicts) and participating in Braver Angels (bridging political divides).

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Meet the Mazamas

Brian grew up in the Midwest and Florida before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2015, where he fell in love with the outdoors by hiking in the Olympic Mountains and skiing at Crystal Mountain. After moving to Portland in 2019, he began spending more time rock climbing outside and decided to take BCEP in 2022 and ICS in 2022-2023.

Name: Brian Hague

Pronouns: He/him

Year Joined Mazamas: 2022

Present-day outdoor activities: Mountaineering, climbing, hiking, backpacking, skiing, biking, running

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? My earliest outdoor memory was learning to ski at Snow Trails in Mansfield, OH. Night skiing is somewhat of a Midwest pastime, and learning to ski on a seemingly huge 300-foot hill was a core childhood memory. Getting to stay up past my bedtime and fall asleep on the drive home was definitely part of the fun as well. It was really cool to rediscover skiing years later after moving to the Pacific Northwest.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?: I was doing a lot of rock climbing after moving to Portland in 2019, and I wanted to get more into mountaineering after summiting Mt. St. Helens a couple years prior. I heard about the Mazamas and the Basic Climbing Education Program through some folks in the Portland Climbers of Color community. I decided to apply for BCEP, and that opened my eyes to the whole world of what was possible in the mountains. I was really grateful to have a tight-knit BCEP group and an amazing climb leader (Pushkar Dixit) who encouraged us to keep climbing after BCEP. After that, I went straight into ICS, where my interests started to gravitate towards backcountry skiing and trad climbing.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Education is such an important tool in the mountains, and I encourage everyone to keep learning and diversify where they learn from. BCEP and ICS were so amazing because we learned a variety of skills from a variety of people. I’ve also discovered a lot of great techniques from books and other climbers/guides. I also recommend finding people you enjoy climbing with and cultivating those relationships. While many memorable moments happen during climbs, I’ve found that just as many happen while talking on the drive up or chilling at camp.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? The diverse backgrounds and skills of everyone I’ve met in the Mazamas are the most inspiring. It’s so cool to see people enjoying the outdoors and utilizing the skills they learned to accomplish some pretty incredible feats. I also get a lot of inspiration from professional climbing athletes and how they overcome physical and mental obstacles. Examples include Nina Williams’s highball ascent of Ambrosia in Bishop, CA and Alex Honnold’s HURT (Honnold Ultimate Red Rock Traverse) in Red Rocks, NV.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? For All Mankind is one of my favorite TV shows as of late. It’s an alternate history sci-fi drama where the global space race of the 1960s never ended. The plot is incredible and the writing does a great job at commenting on social, political, and technological issues.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Oh so many things. I love the history and lore surrounding the classic routes, so those are always on my mind. Epinephrine and the West Ridges of Prusik Peak and Pigeon Spire are some examples of bucket-list climbs. Ski tours of Baker, Rainier, and Crater Lake are high on my list. I also find traverses very interesting due to the adventure aspect and logistics involved in linking multiple peaks. The Forbidden Tour, Ptarmigan Traverse, Tatoosh Traverse, Three Sisters Traverse, Spearhead Traverse, and a Pasayten Wilderness peak bagging traverse would all be lovely to do.

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Meet the Mazamas

Kate, who most recently served as the Mazamas Advanced Rock Committee co-chair, is a former Chicagoan and lover of all things rock climbing and snacking. She loves to climb long multi-pitch routes, with thin hand cracks, run out slab, and techy foot work. She says she never climbs without a full snack pack on her harness. When not climbing and/or volunteering for the Mazamas, Kate works as a physical therapist and mom to 3-month-old Remy.

Name:  Kate Scanlan

Pronouns:  she/her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2017

Present-day outdoor activities: rock climbing, skiing, surfing, and hiking with our newborn

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? I grew up in the Midwest and always loved when there was enough snow to dig out igloos as a kid. Snow days were the best! 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  I moved to Portland in 2016, and my coworker told me about her Basic Climbing Education Program experience. I was already a sport climber but I was curious about climbing the mountains I could see from my new home here in Portland. I took BCEP in 2017 and it’s how I made my first friends in Portland. It turned out I didn’t like long slogs on snow all that much so the next year I took Advanced Rock. The people I’ve climbed with through AR and the trips I’ve taken thanks to those skills have been some of the most rewarding moments of my life.  I joined the AR committee after I finished AR because I wanted to see more women and diversity in the class, and I’ve been a member ever since. I love the community, and I love getting to contribute to positive change in the Mazamas and the climbing community at large. 

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them?  If you’re new to an activity don’t be afraid to ask for help. We were all new at one time or another. Just because you’re inexperienced doesn’t mean you don’t belong. And if you’re experienced don’t forget where you came from. We all have mentors that helped us get where we are, so pay it forward when you can. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one.  Right now my biggest inspiration is moms who climb and climbing families. As a new mom, I’m working out how to maintain my identity as a climber while welcoming this role as a mother. There are pro climbers like Emily Harrington that show one way to adventure with a baby that’s certainly inspiring, but she has a climbing nanny and climbing is her job so it’s not entirely attainable for an average climber like me. The parents I see at the crag with their little ones are my biggest inspiration and give me hope for melding these two great joys in my life.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why?  The Little Prince has always been a manifesto of sorts to me. It reminds me of what is truly important when it’s so easy to get caught up in our consumer-driven, fast-paced lives. I read it when I want to reconnect to the best version of myself.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Soooo many things! My big climbing goal that really inspires me is Fine Jade in Castle Valley, UT. Desert towers are so iconic and striking. They’re my favorite adventure days. Non-climbing related, I dream of kayaking in the arctic with narwhals.  And in the future I really hope to share a rope with my son, Remy.  

 

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Meet the Mazamas

A native South Carolinian, Duncan lived in Maryland, Virginia and Rhode Island before moving to Oregon. His face is a familiar one at the Mazamas, and we’re fortunate that he is a devoted instructor. He’s a professor at Linfield College and volunteers much of his time teaching and overseeing first aid courses for the Mazamas. He also leads Basic Climbing Education Program teams, leads and assists on many climbs throughout the season and steps in as needed for other programs, like Families Mountaineering 101.

Name:  Duncan Hart

Pronouns:  he/him

Year Joined Mazamas: 2009

Present-day outdoor activities:  Alpine climbing, camping, cycling, gardening, hiking, kayaking, and sandbox play

What’s your earliest outdoor memory?: Riding on the handlebars of my brother’s bike before age 3 and yes, we did not wear helmets back in the day.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? My manager would drag himself into Monday morning meetings with a big smile where he would spend a few minutes sharing Mazamas weekend adventures stories. At the time, doing the kinds of activities that Mazamas do seemed unimaginable to me. One day he asked where I wanted to be in life, and my response was that I wanted to be in a pair of snowshoes on Mt Hood. The response was priceless, “Well that sounds kind of risky. You really should have some BCEP training before going into the mountains.”  

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Be responsible not only for yourself but for others. Thirty years ago, we moved to the Pacific Northwest for the natural beauty and outdoor access. Today, we might be loving our mountains and outdoors a little too much. The inner drive to get that next great selfie is taking some people beyond their physical limits and into risky situations. The policy response is to place access restrictions on public lands. I feel that more people should be educated on the 10 essentials and that a smartphone is never an adequate substitute for planning and preparation. Having more people in the outdoors with Wilderness First Aid skills would also be a very good thing. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Acts of human kindness. Each of us does simple things every day that can make life better for others. Sometimes it is reaching out to a teammate who was involved in a challenging situation with you. “Hey, how are you doing?”  A casual check-in like this can make a big difference in the first 10 minutes, later in the day, or even the next day after a tragedy or a near miss. Traumatic events affect each of us differently. Pay attention to the subtle details and listen. When we come together as Mazamas for an outdoor or educational experience, we often become a close-knit team. What we do as Mazamas is a dangerous sport, and bad things can and do happen. It is those formal and informal leaders within the teams who have the right sense of timing of when and how to do a check-in that inspire me.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? The Society for Science & the Public is a nonprofit that publishes a monthly Science News magazine that seeks to promote the understanding and appreciation for science and the vital role it plays on people and the planet. The articles are synopses of peer-reviewed white papers published in the last two months. I am interested in following the environmental issues and where this scientific community is focusing. Everyone can make individual choices both big and small that can result in a positive impact on the environment. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list? My wish is to take all of my grandchildren up a glaciated peak. I pick up summit rocks as gifts and tell them that someday they will need to take them back (hopefully with me). Climate change is a reality. If we inspire our youth, someday they will tell their grandchildren stories of the time when there were glaciers on the mountains. Maybe one of those children will grow up with the answers on how to save our planet.

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Meet the Mazamas

Lucky for the Mazamas, Sohaib felt like he was missing out on big mountain adventures and moved to Portland from Atlanta in 2019. His trajectory in the Mazamas organization matches his enthusiasm, taking part in our Basic Climbing Education Program in 2021, followed by Intermediate Climbing School in 2022. He’s now in our Leadership Development program, rapidly moving up the ranks and inspiring others to love and protect the mountains.

Name:  Sohaib Haider

Pronouns:  He/Him

Year Joined Mazamas: 2021

 Present-day outdoor activities: Mountaineering, hiking, on- and off-trail running  

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Falling asleep watching the stars in the backyard of my home in Sargodha, Pakistan during summer nights. It is (or was) common to sleep in the backyards or rooftops during hot and humid summer nights in the South Asian subcontinent. 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? Here’s my story. You decide if it was a complete coincidence or if it was destiny. Some of my friends from grad school in Atlanta moved to Seattle and they were skiing and mountaineering a lot. I felt I was missing out on the action, so I moved to Portland in October 2019 for a new job and to have better access to the beautiful mountains of the PNW. I wanted to summit Tahoma/Mt. Rainier and Wy’east/Mt. Hood with guided groups like my friends did, but just as I was settling into Portland, the pandemic happened and there weren’t any guided climbs anymore. 

I was hiking a lot in the spring/summer of 2020 and went to hike the Elk-Kings Trail. The All Trails app said the Mazamas have adopted this trail. I was like, ‘what on earth are the Mazamas?’ So I googled the Mazamas. I realized I can get climbing education with the Mazamas and summit Mt Hood with them, so I applied to the Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) in 2021. I got on a Wy’east/Mt Hood as my first climb after BCEP, which was phenomenal experience.  The rest is history, and I have been more involved with the Mazamas ever since and just led my first Mazamas climb as a provisional climb leader.  

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? I am a big advocate of wilderness first aid and accident management training. Accidents happen all the time under perfect conditions. I have witnessed three accidents in my two years of climbing. Please be prepared with the knowledge and tools for accident management and for rescue scenarios. I highly recommend a Wilderness First Aid course with the Mazamas or similar courses with other organizations. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Kind and patient climbers, who climb hard and pay it forward and educate others inspire me. People who are working against climate change are my heroes. In climbing, I am inspired by big snowy mountains and solitary off-the-beaten path alpine routes.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I have enjoyed many documentaries and books in the past two years, but I have followed and enjoyed Mazama Bulletin and Patagonia publications most consistently. I like the Mazama bBulletin because it’s the news of my community, and I especially enjoy reading articles and posts from friends. Articles like “Strong Long” by Ian McCluskey and “My route to Mazamas & Vanishing Glaciers” by Peter Boag are so well written, humorous, and inspiring. I like many titles from Patagonia books, especially Yvon Chouinard’s books because they’re about preserving the outdoors, climbing, surfing, history, and building environmentally friendly businesses. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Big snowy mountains and solitary off-the-beaten path alpine routes : )

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Meet the Mazamas

Lindsey is a queer climber in recovery, and the chair of our Nordic Ski committee. She welcomes any and every chance to get out into the mountains! Summer weekends are for hiking, climbing, backpacking and camping. In winter, she trades in her hiking boots for cross-country skis.

She joined the Mazamas to improve her skills and meet other folks who love the outdoors. BCEP introduced her to the amazing Mazamas community, and she is eager to grow and share her love for the outdoors.

Name:  Lindsey Addison

Pronouns:  she/her

Year Joined Mazamas: 2018 

Present-day outdoor activities: Hiking, climbing, cross-country skiing  

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Sledding for sure – snow days are the best! Swimming till my lips were blue in the summer. Camping in state parks with my dad and sisters.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  I took BCEP in 2018 after summiting Mt St Helens for the first time – I wanted to learn how to glissade because it looked fun!

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them?  Don’t be completely unprepared – do some research on your own, ask friends for advice or find mentors through the Mazamas or elsewhere.  But, don’t get analysis paralysis either.  Get out there and learn by doing – we all were beginners once!

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Watching people learn new outdoor skills!  It takes courage to be a newbie.  But it’s so rewarding when it “clicks,” and you see them light up.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? TV show: The Great British Bake-off.  I’m a baking nerd, and they are just so nice to each other, unlike American reality TV.  Social media: Jessie Diggins (US women’s Olympic cross country skier, @jessiediggins) – she’s amazing!  Trains so, so hard.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? There are a lot of national parks I haven’t visited yet – Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and all the ones in Utah are on the list.  I’d also like to do more hiking abroad – the Dolomites and Japan for example.  And some more destination cross-country ski trips like Methow Valley or Yellowstone.