My life of adventures began in 1988 with my first camping trip - that was all it took. I was hooked! When I graduated from the University of Georgia in 1989 with a Health and Physical Education degree and no idea what I really wanted to do, I had just discovered the outdoor life and wanted to explore the west - the Grand Canyon, Highway One and Big Sur, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Yellowstone - all those exciting places. My friend and I packed a truck and headed out for what became a life altering experience. "I want to find myself" is such a cliché but that is exactly what happened to me.

We were doing the North Loop on Mt. Ranier. It is a 40 mile hike that hits all the zones in an alpine environment. We started off in the most gorgeous green meadow full of wild flowers and over run with playful marmots. We hiked up through a beautiful mature forest to a lake surrounded by trees. We continued up through the tree line and came out into a high alpine meadow just as the sun began to set. Then it happened - my epiphany! In the space of a second I knew who I was and who I wanted to be. I wanted to take kids into this awe-inspiring world, kids who had not found the secret to happiness and were searching for it in drugs, sex or material things. It was an incredibly strong feeling and I actually started crying!

I had no idea how to go about doing this. I had never heard of outdoor education at the time, even though I was a Phys. Ed. major, but soon learned about the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) based in Lander, Wyo. I signed up for one of their courses and loved every minute. The next year I took their instructor's course. I've heard that when you are on the right path, things will fall into place and coincidences will happen on a regular basis. Well, that was happening to me!

I had met a guy on the instructor's course who told me about a place in Jackson, WY. where emotionally disturbed children lived and participated in outdoor therapy courses. I called and there was no opening for that position but they offered me a job on their night staff. Within a week of arriving, an opening came up and I took it. It was challenging living in that environment day after day! I felt like a police officer or, heaven forbid, a parent. But, in the woods on wilderness courses, I felt I made a real difference in their lives. That was when the boys did their best work and that made it all worthwhile.

It became harder and harder for me to make the reluctant boys participate. After a couple of years, I wanted to guide people who actually wanted to be living outdoors! I contacted NOLS and became an instructor for them - I loved the teaching aspects of it. I spent all my time in the library as well as in the wilderness, learning everything I could about it. They trained me in many disciplines - climbing, backcountry skiing, avalanche awareness, mountaineering, canyoneering. I got to travel to course sites in the southwest, the northwest, Alaska as well as many parts of Wyo. I worked there for about 8 years. I loved it and, as a bonus, I met my future husband, Rob, when we were stuck in a snowcave for 2 1/2 weeks together!

After a while it was hard, as a couple, to spend 8 months a year living in the woods apart. We notified the owners of Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, where Rob had guided for years, to let us know when they were ready to retire. Little did we know it would be in just a year! The year we, and 2 partners, Jim Ratz and Phil Powers (also ex-NOLS), bought JHMG was a big year for me. We built a house and had no sooner settled in than I was invited to join what would become the first American All Women's Expedition to climb an 8000m peak, Cho Oyu (26,909'), without oxygen or sherpa support. None of our team had done an 8000 meter peak so it was a great learning experience as well as travel experience. I was fortunate to make the summit but realized that kind of suffering was not for me. I went home happily and am grateful to be working in the Tetons with a little Alaska guiding in the spring to spice things up a bit.

I still live in Jackson Hole and still co-own and guide for JHMG. I also ski patrol for JH Mountain Resort, work occasionally for Alaska Mountaineering School in the spring and, to spice things up a little more, am on Teton County Search and Rescue. My husband, Rob, is now Technical Director of the American Mountain Guide Assoc. as well as head guide/owner of JHMG. We take time off in the fall to climb and mountain bike with our 2 dogs. I am lucky enough to have made adventure not only my passion but my profession as well. What a life!

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