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October 25th, 2018

There are few things I love more in life than climbing up a snowy mountain to ski down. I want to ensure future generations can have the same experiences. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀On Cho Oyu, I was surprised that we didn’t reach the snow line until 21,000 ft/6,400 m. As a citizen of the earth, I am concerned about climate change. Glaciers are receding at unprecedented rates. In my home state of Utah, more snow is falling as rain, and the ski season is getting shorter. I worry about more than my favorite pastime; I worry about the effects of rising sea levels, powerful hurricanes and access to drinking water (that comes from snow and glaciers). ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀It is imperative that we vote for folks who will take action on climate. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀To help inform your voting decisions, check out the @pow_action_fund #VoterGuideBook via the link below or in my profile: https://powaf.civicengine.com/

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October 25th, 2018

Theres nothing quite like losing your ability to breathe to make you appreciate your lungs. This photo was taken right before I went on supplemental oxygen on Cho Oyu. I was so sick-maybe as sick as I’ve ever been. I knew I needed to descend to a lower altitude yet I was terrified that I wouldn’t even be able to walk myself down. I had no energy. At that point, I didn’t even care about the summit. I was in so much pain, all I wanted was to descend (I wanted my mommy), and as I fell in and out of periods of sleep, I kept dreaming about going home. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀After I got down to base camp and started recovering, I kept going over the details of how I got sick and where I went wrong. It went beyond learning from a mistake; I was dwelling on it, and wasting precious energy I could be using to recover. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I came to learn, it doesn’t matter how you got knocked down. It’s how you get back up. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m grateful I had such an awesome team to take care of me and help advise me. I thought I was going home-I’m glad they helped me see recovery was possible. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀There will always be setbacks. It’s how you handle them that matters. You can give in to the overwhelming sense of hopelessness or you can rise up, stay positive and get back out there. Maybe it won’t happen right away-it might be years-but if you stay focused on the goal and play a long term game, it will happen.

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October 23rd, 2018

We get by with a little help from our friends. One of my favorite parts of my Cho Oyu trip was seeing the yaks. The Himalayan yaks are impressive creatives. Both male and female yaks have horns. They grunt instead of moo. They are skillful mountain climbers and can navigate long stretches of talus at extremely high altitudes. As I start training for a new set of goals in the mountains, the yak will continue to serve as my inspiration. When it gets hard, channel your inner yak.

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October 22nd, 2018

Follow your heart and take a stand on something that matters to you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀As I was putting together a slideshow about activism and adventure last week, I thought a lot about how I built my career and found my voice to speak up about climate change, public lands, gender equality and other issues. There were a lot of missteps along the way, places when I doubted myself and took a wrong turn. I didn’t always believe I could build a career as a ski mountaineer, much less, to merge that with the type of activism I wanted to do. I spent much of my early 20s doubting what I was doing, worrying that I should be getting my MBA or JD or some other combination of letters behind my name so I could make a difference in the world. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀But the pull of the mountains was too great, and when I’m climbing up to ski down a mountain, I know this is what I’m meant to do. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her to trust her intuition and follow her heart to the mountains. Because when you’re acting out of love, you will bring positivity to whatever you touch in the world. Being able to merge sport and environmental activism is a lifelong dream come true. Trust yourself and keep using your voice, even when it’s just a whisper. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Photo: camp 1 (21,000ft/6,400m) on Cho Oyu en route the summit. Captured by @rob.lea

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October 20th, 2018

Make a voting plan. Get your friends involved. Midterms matter and this midterm really matters. Thanks @patagonia_snow for spreading the word. #MidtermsMatter ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀https://www.patagonia.com/midterm-elections-2018.html

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