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Where Do We Go From Here: How to Become a Citizen Activist

November 17th, 2016

In the past year, I’ve ramped up my efforts with environmental activism, and many people have asked me how to get involved. I’m writing this blog post with the hope that it will serve as a handy starting point – I want to make citizen activism cool and trendy, and inspire the next wave of the environmental movement. We especially need more young people to get involved and show up! Come join me.

Why You Should Become a Citizen Activist:

After the historic 2016 November election, it’s more important than ever for citizens to get involved as activists. Why? Because of what we stand to lose. If we don’t speak up for clean air and water and access to public lands, no one will. The natural resource extraction industries are so well-organized and connected to public policy. Going up against them is going to take a monumental effort, like David against Goliath. But we can do it. I believe in the underdog and the power of passionate citizens speaking up for a healthy environment. Here are some tips I’ve put together to help guide you on your journey to becoming a citizen activist.

First Steps. Start Thinking Like An Activist. Be curious, ask hard questions and have the bravery and courage to find the answers:

Look at your surroundings. Ask yourself, how does power come to my house? How does water get to my house? Where do those come from and what hands and companies touch them on the way? Learn about the systems that bring water, gas and electricity to your town or city. Start a dialogue with your utility provider and ask for renewable options if you don’t have them. Find out what’s in your water – what contaminants exist and how those pollutants are getting there. Do some investigative research. Pay attention to local air quality. Activism happens most effectively on a grassroots level.

One example of the effectiveness of grassroots activism is with Park City deciding to go 100% renewable by 2030. I attended a Park City Council meeting last fall. A bunch of us from the snowsports and outdoor recreation industries spoke, asking for aggressive standards for renewable energy. I argued that if Park City passed this measure, they would show strong leadership for mountain communities. It passed and now they are working with Rocky Mountain Power to figure out how to achieve the goal. A few months later, Salt Lake City passed a similar resolution. Now, that’s becoming a model for mountain towns around the US, and it’s going to radically transform our grid here in Utah.

Attend Public Meetings on Important Issues:

To find out about important local meetings, join a non-profit or even better, multiple non-profits (see lists below). Start by signing up for email alerts and read those emails! Donate time or money or both. I highly encourage you to support non-profits at both the local and national level. The reason is – the local non-profits will ask when they need citizens to show up and speak! That’s how I’ve found out about all the public hearings. They’ll also help you prepare a statement if you want to speak. Pay attention to their calls for action.

Speak at those Public Meetings:

If you decide you want to be a speaker, rad! It’s not an easy job, but I highly encourage you to do it. If you’re going to speak, do some research on the issue. Again, those local non-profits can help guide you, but do some independent research too. I always like to research the opposing viewpoints so I can craft my statement in a way that addresses their main points/concerns. Prepare and practice in front of someone or record yourself. Time it to make sure it’s under two minutes (or whatever the allotted time is). Keep it short and sweet. Including some facts is ok, but it’s best to focus on an emotional or personal story about the issue. The legislature and public policy acts on emotion, plus a personal story is more captivating to listen to. Leave the heavy facts to the scientists or other professionals. If you decide to attend a big public meeting or hearing, be prepared for a long day. Pack food, water and bring a journal and camera to document what happens.

At the meeting, be respectful and kind to those around you who have differing opinions. Don’t be afraid to be friendly and talk to them to share perspectives. Find common ground you can both agree on, and keep the interactions amicable. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received about this was during a trip to Washington, DC with a group of athletes for Protect Our Winters. Senator Bernie Sanders stopped by our table during lunch to give us some words of wisdom. One of the things he told us that I’ll never forget is,

“You can disagree without being disagreeable.”

This is one of the most powerful, important pieces of advice to remember in your journey as an environmental activist. Remember, it’s not enough to win the battle. We have to win the hearts and minds of other Americans. Most people can bond over a love of the outdoors. It’s something that binds us all as humans. I love sharing stories about my lifestyle and career with the coal miners I meet at public hearings, and hearing about their lives and jobs too. One of them told me he would love to work installing solar panels, and would change his career path tomorrow if he could find a job doing it. Not every interaction is going to go as well or end as positively as you’d like, but it’s always worth a shot.

Finding Non-Profits to Get Involved With:

Below is a list of some of the environmental non-profits I like working with but do some research and support those that align with your interests and values. This is just the tip of iceberg. There are so many non-profits that are working hard and looking for people like you to support them.

Another way I find out about local non-profits is by checking out which ones Patagonia supports through their grant program. Patagonia donates 1% of their profits to environmental causes through the 1% for the Planet program. I’ve learned so much about activism from being a Patagonia ambassador, and they have a dedicated, environmental team who has helped educate and inform me about issues and campaigns. You can use this info too – there’s a detailed list of non-profits for every state and most countries in their environmental and social initiative catalog. Or, use their interactive map tool to find one of their environmental grantees near you.

National Non-Profits

Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, Protect Our Winters, NRDC, Nature Conservancy, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Wildlands Network, American Rivers Council, Access Fund, American Alpine Club, Outdoor Alliance, David Brower Center, Environmental Defense Fund,  Leave No Trace, Conservation Alliance, Environmental Working Group

Utah Non-Profits

HEAL Utah, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Grand Canyon Trust, Utah Rivers Council, Tree Utah, Glen Canyon Institute, Utah Moms for Clean Air, Bears Ears Coalition

Other state Non-Profits

Conservation Colorado, Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, Montana Wilderness Association, Tahoe Fund, Save the Boundary Waters, Friends of the Boundary Waters

 

Give the gift of environmental stewardship: As I said earlier, one of my first memories of being involved with environmentalism was when a relative gave me a Nature Conservancy membership for my 12th birthday. I received a calendar and started getting mail so I could stay involved. Last Christmas, I gave my one and two-year-old nephews river animal adoptions (they come with stuffed animals and with certificates of adoption) from the American Rivers Council. I plan to continue to give in their names and hope it will instill an attitude of stewardship and environmental activism in them from a young age.

Read books:

Some of my favorites – Tools for Grassroots Activists – one of my favorites! Highly recommended.

Canaries on the Rim – required reading for any Utah resident.

The Monkey Wrench Gang

Silent Spring

Vote with your dollar:

Support companies that are committed to social and environmental responsibility. Find companies that are certified B-Corps – these companies meet the highest standards of verified environmental and social performance.

My Thoughts on the Next Wave of the Environmental Movement:

The lifestyle and career I’ve chosen with its flexible schedule has allowed me the time to devote to environmental efforts. Attending public meetings is inconvenient and time-consuming. I believe the whole system is designed to make it difficult for the average citizen. Often, the hearings aren’t announced only days in advance, and then, they will change times and locations at the last minute. They happen during the middle of the week. It takes a lot of time to prepare and rehearse a statement, and even more time to get there, get a seat in the room, get a number in a lottery to speak, and wait for your turn. Don’t forget to pack a lunch, water and food. Then there’s sign making, organizing with non-profits and businesses, and inviting people to come and join you. But these meetings need citizens like you to attend. Last year, I attended and spoke at several big public meetings organized by the EPA and the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell. At the first two, I went to, I felt the environmental/outdoor recreation representation was vastly outnumbered by the coal industry. It makes a big statement to policy makers when you can flood a room with everyone in matching colors or shirts. Walking into that is intimidating.

The next wave of the environmental movement is going to take a lot of committed people and companies who are willing to donate time and money. As I’ve stressed, it’s a lot of work and organization to attend these meetings. We need more companies who are willing to lobby and get involved politically to protect their interests in the same way the fossil fuel industry does. They need to send employees on the clock to to public meetings, so they can be compensated for their time there. I’m sure that’s what the coal companies do to get so many of their coal miners to attend. We also need more training for these employees and other citizen activists on how to lobby for their livelihoods, just like the coal miners have learned how to do. It’s starting to happen. At the Bears Ears hearing in July 2016, there was a huge wave of support from outdoor industry companies – Patagonia, Black Diamond and Osprey had great representation. But we need more! So please join us!

My Background:

My first memory of environmental activism was when I received a Nature Conservancy membership and calendar for a birthday present when I was 12-years-old. I cherished that calendar, filled with pictures of beautiful, wild places they were working to protect, and it was a gateway to bigger involvement as an activist. I dabbled with some involvement in high school, planting trees with Tree Utah and learning about the work of HEAL Utah, while reading classic environmental literature like The Monkey Wrench Gang and Silent Spring. When I was in college, I did an internship with the environmental adviser to Governor Gary Herbert, Ted Wilson. I learned so much from Ted while working at the Utah State Capitol. Whenever there was a controversial bill or issue, he would bring all the diverse stakeholders to the table to share perspectives. I learned that in order to solve problems, we must find common ground with our adversaries.

 

While I enjoyed my summer internship at the Governor’s Office, I decided that I could be more effective using my platform as an athlete in the outdoor industry to advocate for change, so I decided to focus on my ski mountaineering and my work in the outdoor industry. Since then, I have been involved in many campaigns relating to climate change, clean air and water and access to public lands, while working with a variety of non-profits and businesses to advocate for the environment.

I hope this was informative! If it was, help me share it by posting in your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or via email. There’s a lot to learn, but it’s a fun process. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope you’ll join me on the opportunities ahead – to continue fighting against climate change, for clean air, water and a healthy environment, and for continued access to our public lands!

 

Posted in Uncategorized

Reflections from a year of Activism

July 25th, 2016

 

 

 

Over the past year, I’ve devoted more time to attending meetings and hearings on various environmental issues ranging from regional haze in Utah’s national parks, to the BLM’s coal leasing process, to the proposed national monument in the Bear’s Ears area of southeastern Utah. I’ve learned so much from attending these, but perhaps the best takeaway is the importance of hearing the opposition. It’s easy to feel headstrong and committed to your values on the importance of wilderness when you are in your own little bubble, but seeing people in rural Utah whose lives depend on coal mining and hearing their perspectives gives you empathy in the environmental battle. Likewise, it’s an opportunity for you to share your point of view with them. Confronting opposing views isn’t easy. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done – to step into the belly of the beast with patience and hope instead of fear. Being on the front lines of these battles can be terrifying, until you understand we’re all there trying to preserve a way of life we’ve grown up with and we know and love.

See all those yellow shirts in the background? That’s the coal industry.

One of the biggest things I’ve seen happening in the world is that people aren’t taking the time to seek out dissenting opinions. Debates are becoming increasingly black and white. Hot button topics are fueling a passionate divide between groups in America and the rest of the world. We see issues as an “us against them” fight, rather than an opportunity to look an issue from a different perspective. Even if we don’t agree with the opposition, we still need to treat those with viewpoints with respect and empathy. And if we take the time to truly listen, there’s so much we can learn. I truly believe that together, we are stronger. Instead of having clear cut positions, there can be a spectrum of values – layers of grey in the normally black and white lines that are being cut.

The way we are getting our news is further polarizing us. Instead of reading newspapers, we’re getting it through apps. Those apps are streamlining the experience into what they think we will “like” to get us to stay on their sites longer. It makes sense that we get more of what we like. But it doesn’t progress us as humans. I think it’s setting us back. I listened to a really interested Freakeconomics podcast about the current state of the internet where they said, “Facebook shows us what they think we’ll like vs what might actually be important. The best computer scientists are working to keep you on Facebook for ten minutes longer. Most people’s feeds are dominated by happy news.” BTW, I highly recommend subscribing to Freakeconomics podcast. This post is in no way supported or endorsed by them, I just thoroughly enjoy listening to it, and I learn so much every time I do.

I love puppies, food videos and beautiful scenery just as much as the next person, but I also like to be challenged. I like to see and read things that make me think about something in the world differently. I urge you to seek out opinions and media that you don’t “like,” that might make you uncomfortable, and to delve into those topics too.

It’s just like the environmental hearings. If we can get inside the hearts and minds of people with opposing viewpoints, we’ll have a better chance of creating solutions that improve everyone’s lives. When we make assumptions about the way a person is, we lose an opportunity to ask them to tell their story.

At the coal hearing about reforming the BLM’s process for leasing public lands for coal mining, the room was filled with pro fossil fuel industry folks and coal workers. I ended up striking up a conversation with two of them, Mike and Brendan. They were from rural towns near Price, UT. Coal mining is all they’ve ever known. It’s the only job that is available. Mike told me he would work as a solar installer tomorrow if he could find work doing it. After I talked to them, I saw it as less of an “us vs. them,” battle, and instead as a battle of trying to preserve our jobs and the livelihood we’ve come to know. We both are going to have to make transitions – as the climate warms up, I’m going to have to become more versatile in my career. Snow is no longer something we can depend on, and I’m adapting by learning how to alpine climb, so I can still summit the mountains of my dreams even if they aren’t skiable. I’ll still be fighting for legislation that will curb fossil fuel emissions, to try and keep our planet from warming more, but I’m going to have to adapt. They too are going to have to adapt to a changing world as coal is being phased out. If we can talk about these transitions together, and prepare, it will make it much easier for both of us. And that was what our conversation was about. It’s a lot easier when you can brace yourself for an uncertain future and make preparations then when the rug is pulled out from under you. Having that conversation with Mike and Brandon that day really opened my eyes to how we can create win-win situations all around.

New friends in strange places.

I had a similar experience at the Bear’s Ears meeting in Bluff, UT. We had to start lining up to get a seat inside the meeting building hours in advance (in triple digit degree heat!). Next to our group of environmentalists and outdoor industry folks in line was a group of men and women from Blanding, UT, who had taken Protect Bears Ears shirts from the tribes and put an X through them. I tried to talk to them to see if we could find common ground. Often, starting up the conversation with these folks is the hardest part. It’s a lot easier to stand next to each other in line, awkwardly not saying anything and having no interaction. We had a civil conversation. We were polite and respectful – sharing stories about what we did for living and the kinds of experiences we grew up with. I learned more about the intricacies of the issue. I didn’t change my position, but it challenged my way of thinking about it, and that’s the crux of all of this. We have to force ourselves to confront dissenting viewpoints. And we have to try to avoid making stereotypes about groups, because that harms everyone. It’s not just environmentalists vs. natural resource extractors. We’re climbers and campers and skiers and hikers and mountain bikers and tribes and non-profits, moms, dads, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, ATVers, hunters, gatherers, gravel extractors, archaeologists, anthropologists, mountain guides, miners, developers – all with interests to protect and people to support.

 

Our world is rapidly changing. The way we access our news, the way we access the wilderness, how we power our grid – the only certainty is change. But how we react to change and deal with crises will define us. I urge us to seek out opposing viewpoints in the news and the information we consume, to be brave in a time of uncertainty, to understand our values and have a commitment to them, but also to seek opportunities to find common ground with our adversaries and acknowledge them. We all want to be heard and acknowledged. And whether you are on the winning side or the losing side, to keep hope for the vision of the future we want to create.

 

Here’s the other thing I’ve learned

We need more environmentalists and outdoor recreationalists joining these conversations, showing up to the meetings and getting involved in these efforts. The thing is, the oil and gas industries spend so much money lobbying, if we don’t show up, you can almost guarantee they are the only ones who are making their voices heard. Their industry is incredibly well-organized, and they have tons of experience being effective lobbyists. We have to keep pushing ourselves to organize and execute strategic campaigns. I hope you’ll join me at the next hearing, or contribute comments or write an op-ed to support the next campaign.

 

Posted in Eco Activism, Film & Photography

Swallowing Frogs: Impediments and Injuries in the Life of an Endurance Athlete

April 13th, 2016

When I first began traveling internationally as part of my ski mountaineering career, my mom often would help me pack and give me a ride to the airport. As she dropped me off, she’d say, “Don’t be afraid to swallow some frogs.” What she meant with the saying was that there inevitably would be hiccups and unpleasant things that would arise on the upcoming trip. “Swallowing frogs” was a euphemism to help deal with those things that were irritating and perturbing. Instead of “choking” and not moving on or letting a cloud hang over the experience, look beyond the distasteful thing, do a quick swallow, adjust your attitude and realize the next bite will be delicious. The overriding amazingness of the trip would outweigh the intermittent distastefulness. Don’t let those frogs bog you down!
I find this attitude has applicability to many aspects of life, especially when it comes to recovering from an injury as an endurance athlete. When I first started training, the gains were through the roof. Progress came easily. Everyday, I felt so good; I thought nothing would ever slow me down. I could do successive big days, and I never seemed to need extra rest to go on. I strived to be a year-round endurance athlete, and, as soon as the snow melted, I was out running the trails and pushing myself to do more difficult climbs.
I’ve always felt that I was the underdog, the one who people perceived would fail because I’m so petite. I trained extra hard because I wanted to prove people wrong, but mostly, I wanted to quiet the voice in my head that told me I wasn’t strong enough. Throughout my entire twelve-year career of being a sponsored athlete, I’ve been terrified of being injured for so many reasons but a big one is because I didn’t want to appear weak. I’ve worked to the max to become the strong, capable mountain woman I am, and never let any injury or illness get in my way.
Until last May… Years of intense training and over-extending physical limits eventually catch up with the most motivated, best intentioned endurance athlete. I came home from Peru, after a season of back-to-back trips, and I was exhausted. I tried to get back into training, but I wasn’t recovering from my workouts. Eventually, my coach advised me to get some bloodwork done, and I found out I had low ferritin. For all you endurance athletes and coaches out there, here is some great literature on ferritin. Read up and share this article! Iron Depletion
My coach recommended that I take some time off training until I could get my ferritin levels up. But this blog post is supposed to be about my foot, so I’ll get to that.
After two months of chilling, with a lot of iron supplementation, my ferritin levels were back up, and I was ready to rock! I was so excited to run and travel and climb and train hard! I had pent up angst to get out, feelings of inadequacy and weakness to overcome. My life was a whirlwind again with trips and running and climbing. I ran my fastest mile ever while on a business trip to Chicago, did a big trip to lobby in Washington DC with Protect Our Winters, then did some super-steep runs up Broads Fork and Alta through the first snow. All in a week. At the end of my run at Alta, the ball of my foot was aching, but I thought it was a just a normal pain.

Wearing high heels is a risk factor for this type of injury, and although I always do as much as I can to prevent foot aches, I think it was a contributing factor to mine.

One of the runs that led to my demise…
The next day, I was exhausted, but it was Halloween, and I had made plans with some friends to do our annual costume climbing at Bushwhack crack. It’s a crack climb I’ve led many times, and feel very comfortable on, but because I was so tired and it was so hot, I struggled at the beginning. I placed an extra piece of gear, accidentally Z-clipped and stood up on my left foot. All the force of the rope pulling me back went through my left foot, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The foot pain that began after the Alta run was amplified tremendously. At that point, I had to correct the mistake and finish the climb, so I stopped thinking about the pain in my foot. After all my friends climbed and we were hiking out, I couldn’t put any weight on the ball of my foot. I hobbled over the talus to get to the car. I knew something was wrong, but, convinced that I could not have an injury, let alone a serious injury, said to myself, “It will get better in a day or two.”

I went to a physical therapist the next day to get his opinion, he thought that I had sesamoiditis and recommended treating it as a soft tissue injury-I kept walking on it and trying to do what I wanted to do. After almost two months of energy sapping pain, I finally went to a doctor. I got an x-ray and, sure enough, the sesamoid bone in my foot was fractured.

broken sesamoid 🙁
The sesamoid bone sits on the bottom of the foot under the big toe and is nestled inside the tendon that goes from the toe to the heel. Basically, the ball of my foot broke. Every single step puts huge forces through this teeny-tiny bone. It, undeniably, takes the spring out of your step, but, even standing is painful. Walking is tormenting. Climbing stairs feels endless. Looking down an airport hallway seems like a marathon distance. Every time I would push off my big toe, the bone would stretch apart or rebreak a little. For that reason, and because that part of the foot gets very little bloodflow, it’s a difficult bone for the body to heal.
I have pondered why it took me so long to get it checked out with an x-ray-I think that it harps back to not wanting to admit that I had an injury. I felt that somehow my whole life, my career, my friendships, my goals, my aspirations, my passion – everything has been built around my ability to walk and run and climb in the mountains! After the x-ray, I spent about 6 weeks in a walking boot, only swimming and riding the stationary bike and limiting time on my feet and still not wanting to disclose an injury to anyone other than my close family and friends.
I’m super grateful to my boyfriend, Rob Lea, a former world champion triathlete, for teaching me how to swim. This was a game changer. As soon as I embraced swimming, life got better. He’s the best coach, and swimming together gave me the chance to have the closeness that we have had climbing, hiking and running together. I have to exercise, and swimming became my solution.

 

As the powder started to fly, it got harder to stay off my feet. But I had my eyes on the longer-term prize of being able to ski in the spring. My doctor and PT told me to modify activities, modify orthodics and shoes, adn let pain be my guide. They said I could ease into skiing as pain levels permitted.

So I started slowly, first just spending an hour in my ski boots, then longer. Then, I started slowly easing back into longer days. Ski touring, with its rockered ski boots and soft snow surface, proved to be ok on the foot. Some days would still be painful, but the pain was a more manageable level. It still breaks my heart to not be able to climb and run like I want to, but I’m trying to swallow that frog and focus on other areas I can excel.

stoked to be on a bike with dirt all over my face!

By mid February, I was able to ski my first couloir. After that, I was able to ski a number of steep lines in the Wasatch this winter and work on several photo and video projects. I set a new goal to swim a mile in 2016 (which I completed in early January), and a summer goal to ride a century on a road bike. I read forums about people with this injury and some say it takes months, even a year, to heal. I want my foot to have a full recovery, so I’m planning to be conservative this summer and take it day by day and focus on biking and swimming. The pain is a nuisance, but overall, I’m grateful for good health.
I’m striving to be like a Jade plant. When you break off a branch of a Jade plant, it regrows in another unexpected place. I realize now how precious long days in the backcountry are, and I treasure them immensely. I’m learning that an athletic career isn’t defined by the setbacks, but how you react to, adapt and overcome those challenges. I’m keeping a positive mindset, and it’s very healing for me to be able to write about this now. I’m not going to lie. There have been moments over the past few months where I have been nearly despondent, worrying that I’ll never be the athlete I once was. There’s been a great deal of mental and physical discomfort with this injury, but I’m also working to find growth and progression– the opportunity to add something else to what I am. A biker, a swimmer. Maybe a future triathlete? Maybe I’ll learn aid climbing! I’m still in love with mountaineering, skiing and living in the mountains. But my body and life are telling me to step back and make sure my body is healthy. Activities like swimming, biking and maybe triathlon are ways to keep the inspiration going and fitness high. In the end, my heart and soul will always be in the mountains. If my big mountain dreams were easy, they wouldn’t be as satisfying. In the short term, my mind and body need other types of rejuvenation.
It’s hard to live up to personal and professional expectations. Fitness goals take years to reach. Setbacks are normal and OK. One thing I haven’t talked about yet: the culture that congratulates people for over-extending. Social media can make it seem like everyone is a super human, never needing any rest. It’s truly incredibly what the human body is capable of, but it has limits. We are not machines. Let’s learn to recognize and talk about the disease of over-extending. There’s a healthy way to train and recover but it’s easy to push it too hard. Endurance training in any sport can be like a drug. The athletes that have the longest, most successful careers will be the ones who learn how to use the adrenaline and endorphins and other brain chemicals responsibly.
I asked my mom where she got the swallowing frogs expression from. One of her friends told it to her. Everyday, she wakes up and realizes she’s going to have to swallow some frogs, but then she can face the day better. Admit that there are some irritating impediments, but don’t let them get you down. Get over them and move on. It’s not the year I envisioned for myself, but I’m having a ball nevertheless and pushing myself in other ways. I’m learning new ways to prepare those frogs (grilled frogs legs anyone? How about we marinate them?) and am actually starting to enjoy the taste of frogs everyday!

Posted in Skiing, Uncategorized

How to Become a Pro Skier–Tips to Fund Your Dream

March 8th, 2016

There are many ways to become a professional skier, even if you didn’t grow up skiing competitively. Below, I’ve listed some things that I’ve learned in the dozen years I’ve been pursuing this profession. This isn’t the only way to fund your dreams, but I’ve found it’s what’s worked for me.

-Don’t listen to your parents when they tell you to go to graduate school and become a lawyer, doctor or businessperson. Don’t listen to anyone. They don’t understand your dream. Only you know what’s possible for you.

-Live within your means. Move to a place where you can do that and ski regularly. There aren’t too many ski towns like that left, but they are out there. Don’t acquire debt. Then ski a lot. Find other pros or aspiring pros to ski with. Contact local videographers and photographers to shoot.

-Figure out your personal brand and start building it. Keep your social media pages and websites updated with information that shows who you are. Research your ski idols and figure out how they built their careers. Contact potential sponsors that align with the personal brand you’ve developed.

-Plan to spend some time each week on the computer. Being in charge of a ski career is similar to running a small business. Prepare to learn how to do your own accounting, marketing, advertising, sales, negotiations and production.

-Set realistic goals for yourself. Start working on them. Figure out what your sponsors goals are, and figure out how you can contribute to their goals. Being able to throw a double cork or skiing the gnarliest line doesn’t mean you should get sponsored. Figure out the value you can bring to the companies you want to work for.

-Keep a job with a flexible schedule that allows you to ski during the day until you can make enough skiing to quit your job. Live with your parents (even though you disagree about your career choices doesn’t mean you can’t be agreeable to live around) or couch surf with friends. If you travel, keep it cheap. Offer to make dinner for the hosts whose couches you will be crashing on. Do dishes, keep it tidy. Leave any “base camp” you visit cleaner and better than you found it.

-When you’re not skiing, and you’re trying to make ends meet, Hustle. Pick up odd jobs. Organize and run yard sales for your friends and families to make some extra skrilla. You’d be amazed at how much you can make for piles of stuff people want to get rid of. Get a food sponsor. You gotta eat.

-When you do get that call from the photographer, it’s time to get some shots in the bag. Be professional. Show up on time, with your gear organized. Don’t be hungover. Don’t talk too much, listen to the direction from the photographer. Now you are going to realize that being a pro skier isn’t exactly what you think it is. Powder days are spent moving at snail paces with film crews. Shooting is about finding quality snow and terrain, not how many laps you can get in.

-Develop a thick skin for rejection and public criticism. You will hear a lot of nos, from sponsors, from photographers, from other athletes. Keep doing what you love and persisting. Have fun and be safe. Make sure you have health insurance and consider disability insurance.

Posted in Uncategorized

HEAL Utah Podcast

February 13th, 2016

I recently sat down with Matt Pacenza, executive director of environmental non-profit, HEAL Utah , to catch up about what it’s like being a professional skier, activism in the outdoor industry and what athletes are doing to help clean up the air.
Check it out here and let me know what you think!

http://www.healutah.org/caroline-gleich/

Posted in Uncategorized