Tag: Mountaineering

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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

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

Ray Sheldon leading his last climb for the the Mazamas in 2018 of Plummer Peak.

Raised in Portland, Ray attempted his first climb, Mt. Jefferson, in 1954. He joined the Mazamas in 1960 and has been active and involved ever since. He started leading climbs in 1964 and has taken the Mazamas to the summits of the Cascades, Tetons and Switzerland.

These days, Ray, 90, still spends time outdoors, mostly hiking and trail tending. Married nearly 70 years to his wife, Betty, they have 3 children, 7 grandkids and by his last count, 8 or more great-grandchildren.

Name:  Ray Sheldon

Pronouns: He/Him

Year Joined Mazamas: 1960

Present-day outdoor activities:  Trail tending, hiking, walking

What’s your earliest outdoor memory: I remember living on the Willamette River in a houseboat and fishing for catfish, bass and other warm-water fish at night. There were so many happy times outdoors when I was a kid.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I started work with the Oregon Fish Commission in 1953 and within a month was transferred to the fish hatchery at Marion Forks. Mt. Jefferson was right next door, and I had the urge to climb that mountain. The Mazamas seemed like the organization to help me accomplish that.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Definitely get involved with the Mazamas.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Old-time climb leaders who were my mentors definitely were the reason that I led like I did, climbed like I did. Oliver Fursman was one. And later in life, there was a neighbor and Mazama climb leader back in the 50s and 60s, Rony Inderbinen. He was my age, but he was a 4th generation Matterhorn/Swiss Mountain guide. We just hit it off really good, and I used him as a source for other climbs when we’d take Mazama outings to the Alps.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? I dare you to read it. The Ascent of Rum Doodle by W.E. Bowman. It’s down in the Mazama Library,

What’s on your adventure bucket list? There are things I sometimes dream about, but they aren’t important to me anymore. I think everything I really thought I’d like to do I’ve had a chance to do

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Meet the Mazamas

Teresa has mountaineering in her blood. Both her parents were active Mazamas who instilled in her a healthy respect for the outdoors. She was just 6 when she first summited Mt. Hood, motivated by the prospect of keeping the small ice axe her dad had rented.

School and life led her away from the Northwest for many years, returning in 2016. That year, she and her husband enrolled in our Basic Mountaineering Education Program to refresh their skills, reacquaint themselves with the splendor of the PNW and make climber friends.

She graduated from ICS in 2019, enrolled in the Mazama Leadership Development Program, began volunteering for Portland Mountain Rescue and led a BCEP team last year. When not climbing, and even when she is, Teresa loves to take photos and share her love for adventure with as many people as possible.

Name:    Teresa Dalsager

Pronouns:  She/Her 

Year Joined Mazamas:  I was lucky to get to check out some Mazamas activities as a kid with my Dad, but officially joined in 2016, when I moved back to Oregon. 

Present-day outdoor activities:  Mountain climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, backpacking, rock climbing, skiing and swimming.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory: Creeping into the forest (it was actually the woods) with my siblings and cousins behind my grandparents house in Stevenson, Wash. 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  As I’ve already mentioned, my Dad was a member when I was a kid in the 1970’s.  I moved away after high school and upon returning to Portland in 2016 my husband Fred and I joined almost immediately to meet people who climbed.  It was the best decision.  We joined BCEP, made a bunch of friends, started climbing regularly and got more involved by volunteering and taking courses.  My relationship with the Mazamas was a springboard for joining Portland Mountain Rescue. 

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them?  Learn mountaineering fundamentals and accident prevention through a trusted organization like the Mazamas.  Resist the temptation to learn these skills on the fly through a meet up group or anyone who can’t readily provide their experience and qualifications. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? People inspire me.  We all have different strengths and skillsets.  It’s fulfilling to witness people overcome obstacles and reach their personal goals through determination, commitment, and sometimes sheer grit.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why?   Book: A Prayer for Owen Meany, written by John Irving.  The main message of the story is “not to judge a book by it’s cover.”  This is a metaphor for not judging people based on the way they look. Check out the book or see the movie based on the book called Simon Birch.  You’ll be inspired too.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? . Patagonia, Nepal (Spring 2024), Kilimanjaro, & Via Ferrata adventures in Europe. 

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Meet the Mazamas

Milton enrolled in our Intermediate Climbing School in 2016. He had previous mountaineering experiences climbing in Colombia and Peru, and some rock climbing in Georgia and North Carolina.

He is part of our Leadership Development team and has helped out with our Basic Climbing Education Program, ICS and crevasse rescue skill builders. When not outdoors, he works as a bilingual information systems specialist.

Name:  Milton Diaz

Pronouns:  He/ Him/ His 

Year Joined Mazamas: 2016

Present-day outdoor activities:  Mountaineering, climbing, splitboarding, snowboarding

What’s your earliest outdoor memory?  Climbing with my dad in Colombia when I was 12.  We climbed Nevado El Ruiz, which is 5,389 meters with his group of friends.  After that, I got hooked climbing snow peaks in the Sierrra Nevada El Cocuy.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I was looking for a mountaineering club when I moved to Portland in 2015.  I could not enroll in BCEP because I missed the registration date, but I signed up for ICS and then got hooked climbing the volcanoes in Washington and Oregon.  After ICS I took the Backcountry Ski class with the Mazamas and started doing more backcountry tours in the North Cascades, Mt. Saint Helens and Mt Hood. Last year I did  the Steep Snow and Ice class, and I’ve been climbing more technical routes,  also doing some ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon and started leading my own climbs like El Dorado.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Take a mountaineering class like BCEP that teaches you the basics like self arrest, climbing techniques, rappelling, and knots, and then take ICS if you want to be on more challenging climbs and start leading your own climbs with friends.  

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? I got inspired when I read climbing reports on Facebook and the Mazama Bulletin.  I like to see people going outside and challenging themselves doing what they love.

 What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? My favorite book is Touching the Void by Joe Simpson. It is a true inspiration for all, what he did to survive after falling in a crevasse, even crawling on a glacier alone!  

 What’s on your adventure bucket list?  All the peaks in the North Cascades.  So far I have climbed Mt Shuksan, El Dorado, Ruth Mountain and some failed attempts to Sahale but there are some many beautiful mountains out there that I want to climb. I also want to climb the North Ridge of Mt Baker and the Kautz route in Mt Rainier.

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Meet the Mazamas

Lisa has been climbing mountains since she was little kid. She has served our organization in many capacities, volunteer climb leader, BCEP leader, canyoneering leader/instructor, teaching:  ICS, AR, MFA, Crevasse Rescue, Rock Rescue, Skill Builders, FM101, CPR & First Aid and an organizer for our Used Gear Sale.

When not climbing above the earth’s surface she likes to cave and SCUBA dive below it. She also supports other organizations and is rappelling off of the 536-foot U.S. Bancorp Tower this August to raise money for domestic violence survivors and veterans who suffer from PTSD.

Name:    Lisa Ripps 

Pronouns:  She/Her 

Year Joined Mazamas :  I started doing things with Mazamas in the late 90’s but only joined in 2007.

Present-day outdoor activities:   Mountain climbing, Hiking, Canyoneering, Biking, SCUBA Diving, Bird Watching, Snow shoeing, Skiing, Kayaking, Ice Climbing  

 What’s your earliest outdoor memory:  Catching frogs while camping with my family 

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?   Mazamas had a reputation in Portland as the best of the best.  Very safety conscious, and a group that was serious about mountain climbing.  I had already climbed a number of mountains including Mt Hood years before I joined Mazamas, then I decided I should take BCEP to learn more and to meet more climbers. 

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them?  Get some good training so you can enjoy the outdoors safely and more confidently. 

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Pick one.  The BCEP students who are non-traditional.  Who have not grown up hiking and spending time outdoors, and who might start out less physically fit.   

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why?   Deep Survival (Laurence Gonzales) – Led me to consider why we do what we do, and how each of us deals with challenges when they occur. 

What’s on your adventure bucket list?  Kilimanjaro, Borneo, Antarctica, more Pacific NW climbing

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Meet the Mazamas

Jeremy grew up on a lake in Minnesota, fishing and camping with his family. He spent three years in Bozeman, MT in college before permanently moving to the West Coast. He met a great group of friends through the Mazamas and our Basic Climbing Education Program, and now he spends most of his free time rock climbing or mountaineering with them. 

Name:  Jeremy Luedtke

Year Joined Mazamas: 2020

Present-day outdoor activities:  Alpine and sport climbing. I recently summited Mount Shasta with Gary Bishop and have multiple ascents planned for the remainder of the summer. I have also been doing more outdoor rock climbing with a great group of people I have met through The Mazamas.

What’s your earliest outdoor memory: I grew up in Minneapolis & my mom was from the north woods closer to Canada. Her family still lived in northern Minnesota and almost every weekend in the summer we would go camping near her hometown and hang out with her family. My earliest outdoor memories were learning how to fish from my grandpa during these trips. He was a cranky old Norwegian fellow who was happiest outdoors and loved to fly fish. While he was always gruff (even around his grandson), he showed his affection by always taking the time to take me on adventures in the woods and teach me about it.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization?  After I moved to Portland, I ended up working with a Mazamas member who was on the Lodge Committee. We would chat at work about getting outside and into the mountains. He told me about the Mazamas, and said I would enjoy it.

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Take advantage of the educational opportunities that Mazamas offers, such as the “gym-to-crag” class or the Sunday Skill-Builders, or volunteer to help with BCEP. Most of my friends, and all of my climbing partners are Mazamas that I met through these opportunities.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? Honestly, it is the instructors and volunteer assistants at Mazamas classes that I take. Personally, I believe that climbing fun & climbing safely go hand-in-hand. The instructors at Mazamas classes have so much passion about sharing both technical skills and safety best practices, that it inspires me to get outside even more.

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why? Alpine Savvy, @alpinesavvy. It is both a website and an Instagram account. It is an encyclopedia of climbing knowledge. Definitely a resource that all climbers should subscribe to.

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Easter Island. I know it sounds funny because I don’t think you can do any climbing there, you just walk around and look at stuff. The fact that the island is so remote (the nearest inhabited land to it is 1,200 miles away), and filled with over 1000 giant stone heads is fascinating. Of course, it is also off the coast of Chile, and I heard there is some halfway decent climbing in Patagonia I could do on my way there…

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Meet the Mazamas

Emily is a self-described thrill-seeker who loves to explore the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. They’re fairly new to mountaineering, but summited Mt. Shasta in 2022 and are looking to add more peaks to their resume post-BCEP, which they credit with “absolutely changing my life.” 

Name: Emily McEntire

Pronouns: They/Them

Year Joined Mazamas: 2021

Present-day outdoor activities: Canyoneering!!! Mountaineering, Climbing, Hiking, Paddle-boarding, Exploring

What’s your earliest outdoor memory? Running around in the miles of forest behind the townhomes I lived in. I’m an only child, and I’d spend hours by myself exploring every little corner of that place just zen-ing with the wind and the trees. There was a frog pond nearby as well, and I’d go sit and listen to the sounds of all the creatures that lived there.

How did you first hear about the Mazamas, and what prompted you to engage with the organization? I was looking for community when I moved back to the West, and a hiking friend mentioned BCEP. I had also been researching Zion National Park where I learned about Canyoneering, and after I saw the Mazamas offered that as well, it was a done deal. Haha

As more people seek to recreate outdoors, what advice would you offer them? Live and explore!!! I’ve heard so many people say “I wish I could.” You can!! It’s yours for the taking!! Just, approach it with respect, and of course safety in mind.

What activities/situations/people most inspire you? People with a thirst for life charge my batteries. People who live life with enthusiasm and compassion, and I’ve found more than many of those people within the Mazamas. There’s so much experience, and ambition, and miles underfoot, it’s a blessing to be surrounded by, and get to adventure with so many of my own personal heroes!!

What is your favorite book/movie/TV show/social media account that you follow and why?  Lately I’ve been reading “The Rock Warrior’s Way.” I try not to spend too much time on social media, but I do love seeing everyone’s adventures on Insta and Facebook. I’m always tickled to see everyone’s summer smiles!!

What’s on your adventure bucket list? Oh there’s so many!!! I grew up in the Tacoma area, so Mt. Rainier is at the top of my mountaineering dream list, and I’m slowly planning a canyoneering trip to Zion next year. The crystal caves down in Mexico caught my eye as well. Really I just want to rappel the world!! Haha