Climbing Magazine Feature Essay. April 2008.
“I’m a mountain guide — which might mean I’m a control-obsessed thinly veiled masochist or that I’m a climber who likes teaching people how to stay safe in the mountains. It definitely means taking risks. I’ve guided thousands of pitches from 5.0 to 5.11, ice, big mountains, and long hikes. Although I’m not a full-time guide anymore, I’ve worked, loved, and lost in the guiding world for a dozen years.
As a young guide, I refused to admit fear or apprehension. Part of this was being a 21-year-old female guiding 50-year-old men around the glaciated peaks of the North Cascades. But guiding didn’t give itself easily to me. Injuries, academia, and life always intervened so that I was constantly forced to question my choice…”