Finding Gender Equity and Community in the Outdoors — The AWE Summit Scholarship Foundation
What do you do to fill up your days? In my day-to-day life, I spend a lot of time with my dog, Rocco. We like going on walks, hikes, and especially bike rides daily. In the winter, he spends more time cozied up by the fire while I go out and ski our local mountain, a sport I fell in love with a few years ago. I work in a bike and ski shop to support my endeavors and fuel my passion. Once the snow inevitably melts, my focus switches to biking and bikepacking. Since I’m not superhuman, I do relax through reading (Fourth Wing trilogy, anyone?), watching a show, and recently, trying my hand at crocheting.
How did you get started in adventuring? As a kid, I delighted in the camping trips my family was able to put together for us. Playing outside in the woods was and is unparalleled. In my teens, I started learning about all the possibilities and adventures to take and became eager to try them all. My passion first landed me in the whitewater scene, which I fell out of after the youth kayak course ended. Shortly after, I took a weekend with my sister to go out together for our first backpacking trip in the Sawtooths. I have been seeking nonstop adventures since trying something new and seeing what is possible.
What barriers have you faced in your outdoor pursuits? Outdoor recreation is an interesting space for me to participate in. As a passing cisgender person who is actually transgender, there is an interesting mix of things going on. Being raised as a girl, there are many internal barriers and experiential barriers that arise for me. Growing up, the opportunities we have in our largely gender-segregated society. For example, I sold cookies as opposed to learning to tie knots as a scout. Despite my background, I do acknowledge that I experience privilege as a white guy, so walking into new situations is externally simpler since I don’t trigger unfair biases. Outside of my childhood foundation, looking at today, my practical concern when participating in outdoor recreation is safety. Do I trust the people around me? Will I be safe? How can I make it through this trip in complete stealth? I have learned things that help on my trips, and I despise some things I have to do, and still, I always hold that anxiety and fear with each trip into the backcountry.
