by emphasizing that there is no single way to get started in the outdoors. Like at all. Everyone is different. But EVERYONE has to start somewhere. Some of us get lucky by growing up in an environment where you got to experience the backcountry at a young age. However, that is just luck, and not something you choose. How do you go about choosing the outdoors if you're getting into it without growing up around it?! Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources and tips to get you started in the backcountry safely. I also want to recognize that I may coming from a different racial, gendered, sexual, and socioeconomic class than everyone who will read this list. If you have something in mind that I may have missed, please feel free to reach out to me so I can add it! I want everyone to be able to recognize their paths to the outdoors.

This one is maybe the most obvious, as it is probably the most recommended if one were to ask on Facebook or whatnot. I think the best part of these clubs is that you meet people and make connections. The classes are great, and there is a lot to get out of them, but it is also a great place to meet other people who want to challenge themselves in the same way you do. The Seattle area has some of the obvious ones such as the Mountaineers, the WAC (Washington Alpine Club) and BOEALPS. However there are other smaller clubs out there as well that are well worth looking in to such as Climbers of Color, the Venture Out Project, OSAT, or any number of these great organizations listed here by WTA. Sometimes, the smaller the club, the closer the connections, and the better you learn.

I have a whole area on my Gear page where I go over books and websites I use. Check it out here!

If there's a trip that you feel is just out of your reach, but you really want to do it, take a look at the option of doing it guided if you have the means. There's a lot of negative bro energy out there towards people who pay for guided trips, but ya know, you actually learn a lot while you're on those trips. Especially if you go with a rad company like Northwest Mountain School, Mountain Madness or Pro Guiding Service. Maybe you don't learn enough to know how to get out and do it yourself, but you learn what you DON'T know when going on a guided trip if you pay attention and ask questions. And sometimes that is even more valuable, because then you can learn which gaps you have in your outdoor skills, and know what to pursue in the future. In doing this, you are also supporting your outdoor community by paying guides who do their job really well.

This one was something I was initially hesitant to put in here, mostly because online forums and Facebook groups can be SO DANG BRO INFESTED. Sometimes I just get sick of it and want to leave every outdoor group I am a part of. But I know a lot of people in my life - men and women - who have found great partners via these channels, so I think it is worth mentioning. The one thing I would suggest is to find groups that are maybe a little more focused and less broad to ask for partners. This meaning, searching for climbing partners on "Washington Outdoor Hikers and Climbers" could give you mixed results depending on what you're going out to do. But posting on a group like "PNW Women's Technical Climbing" could find you better partners since the group is catered towards climbing. All in all, go into this lightly, and watch your safety nets as you travel with your internet-found partners.

Last and probably most obvious, get out there and take classes! Even if they're just one-off classes. One of my close friends who I ski with frequently, has the best ski form of anyone I know. She is also the only person I know that frequently does the Wednesday night ski lessons at Snoqualmie Pass. Even when her form is perfect in my mind, she still takes classes. And somehow gets even better. Don't be afraid to take classes! There is always something to learn. Below is a list of awesome opportunities that are local to the Seattle / WA areas that I know are great:

Okay okay, some of you who are reading this will think I am crazy for putting this here, but did you know that the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) has had a co-ed program since 1998? Granted, it is for older kids, who are 14-20 years old. However, this is how I personally got into the backcountry when I was 17. Like any club-based organization, some of the crews are hit or miss, but I happened to get lucky with a local high-adventure Venture crew that climbed volcanoes, rafted class 4 rapids, sea kayaked week long adventures, and even would do big expeditions to Denali and the Himalayas and whatnot. Yea, no joke, with youth. The crew I was in is called Cascade Leadership Challenge, and yes, you should look them up if you're in Seattle, and you should either participate if you're 14-20, or volunteer if you're older! Volunteering with scout crews can cause you to meet a whole ton of people and make connections that you can refer to in the future. That is part of the beauty of scouting, even though, yes sometimes scouting has it's downsides. Often times, volunteering and making connections in these realms can be ways to learn and grow and challenge yourself in the outdoors, so check it out! Don't be afraid to feel like you're starting small! Maybe you have a rad crew in your area and you didn't even know it.

Scholarships are a great way to remove that intimidating price tag that is in the way of you pursuing an outdoor education. Below is a non-exhaustive list of the recurring outdoor scholarships that I am aware of. Reach out to me if there's more that you know of!

• EDGE Outdoors puts on a great scholarship to get more BIPOC out skiing.

• The Access Fund has grants running frequently. Often they're for rebolting or restoring, but sometimes they're for climbers themselves.

• American Alpine Club's Live your Dream grant gets people of all levels outdoors.

• Zack Martin Breaking Barriers Grant supports humanitarian efforts and outdoor pursuits.

• Next Challenge Expedition grant supports beginners in the outdoors.

• National Geographic has a host of scholarships available.

• Venture Out Project offers scholarships for their trips for people in the LGBTQIA+ community.

Okay, so this one obviously requires you to really know yourself and make sure you have a good safety net while you're out there solo. One of the biggest reasons I suggest this is: Often times you meet other people and make big connections when you're going solo. I personally have learned and grown a ton while going to climbing gyms solo, and while skiing at resorts solo. One of my biggest successes with this was when I was skiing Crystal frontcountry by myself a couple years back. I had just hopped on Chair 6 to go ski Powder Bowl, and this old dude with a thick white mustache hopped on the chair with me. (My brother calls these mustaches Guru Staches, and I think the title is fitting). We chatted up the chair, and he said he was going to go ski Powder Bowl as well, so we skied it together. At the bottom, he turned to me and said "That was pretty good for someone who was trying not to fall all over the place." For real, that's what he said. At first I was taken aback, since I had been skiing since I was three, and thought I knew what I was doing. But then I thought about it, and realized, I had never really had any sort of formal training, and I didn't know what it actually looked like to have good form. I grew up with a Dad who was a ski coach, but being the stubborn teenager I was, I hadn't ever really been open to learn from him. (Sorry Dad!) After a pause, I swallowed my pride and said, "Okay, what could I have done better?" (If he was going to critique me like that, I was going to try to get something out of it...) And he gave me a lesson on form for about an hour before he skied off to do something else. I attribute a lot of my downhill skiing form these days to the lessons I learned from the Guru Stache that day. Oh and I also attribute it to what I learned later from my Dad, because after that, I went to him and asked him for all his tips and tricks ;) I am happy to say that I am not an angsty teenager anymore, and I feel so grateful to have someone like him to learn from.