In awe

Two years ago, I was approached by the Outdoor Industry Association to become an ambassador for a new nonprofit they were creating, Outdoor Nation. After reading all the jargon on how it would empower youth to reconnect their generation to the outdoors, I figured that it would just be another non profit that recognizes youth that are already doing the empowering and give them a pat on the back to raise funds, but no more. The organization started out much like I thought it would be, with online survey and the works, then the amazing happened - they put on a HUGE outdoor summit in New York that had representation from all 50 states and looked like a cutout of america: black, white, urban and suburban. By the end of the summit discussing the barriers that are holding our generation back (yeah, us, not them, discussing us), I was almost in tears just seeing the inspiration around me.

After that spark of amazingness, my brother, what is now the leadership team, and I pulled an all nighter writing our Outdoor Nation declaration. Without any adult prompting, we spent from 7PM until 6AM writing a document that we didn't even know was going to be used. And that was AFTER a daylong summit in 100 degree heat. Used it was, and the results from that experimental summit have influenced policy for AGO, the Obama administration's campaign to get kids outside.

One year and some growing pains later, I was beginning to get wary. Our voice was heard, but legislation and the government campaign weren't very prompt in their results. There was so much momentum at the original summit that I felt could have been harnessed. The Denver summit, one of five planned regional summits, was approaching, and I didn't know what to expect.

Its a good thing I didn't know what to expect, because if I expected anything, it would have been blown away. Not only were the issues established quickly and solutions sought, but the solutions led to programs, and four of the highest voted programs received funding. I'll say it again. Four youth created and led regional programs are being funded. Multiply that by 5 and, well, you have 20 programs going this year under one roof. Next year there may be more. And since AGO listened to us last year, with our even greater groundbreaking success this year, who knows who will pick us up within the year to come? Outdoor Nation has not only the chance to spark a revolution, but to foster it into a wildfire.

Burn Baby Burn

Surfs up

Since the weather looked like it was going to be a triple H day, (hot hazy and humid, for those of you lucky enough NOT to know the term) we packed up and hit the beach. At first I struggled to keep my balance on my 9'3" SUP board, not taking powerful strokes and just staying upright, but with each forray into the surf, I got my sealegs more and more. By my third trip, as I came in, when a wave gave me a push I didn't even flinch. Seeing this, my dad egged me on enought to get me to give surfing a go. I would say that the waves caught me more than I caught them, but nonetheless, I did get a few short rides! Since we had to pack up to soon, as always, I'm already planning my next surf trip at the shore!

The best way to see the city

Before the heatwave took too big a hold on us (as in can't get out of the pool in fear of heatstroke!), we decided that it was time for a crazy bike experience. We rented a few bikes on the upper west side of New York City and took off down the west side highway, weaving in and out of jogger and rollerbladers, getting passed by road racers and making plenty of pit stops along the way to do what you do in the city: eat. In the village, we stopped for brunch at a hummus bar, caught a glimpse of the statue of liberty and world trade memorial as we rounded the tip, then hit up a farmer's market at the southside seaport, caught a mouthwatering breeze as we crossed through chinatown, ogled at the jewelry stands in SOHO, and made a final stop at the end of the elevated park in the meatpacking district for a beergarten beer before grabbing some mexican paletas and calling it a day.


Even if you have been to the city a million times, experiencing it from the bike lane is a whole different animal and a great way to tour the whole thing. After experiencing so many parts of NYC in one day, I can believe that it is really just a little island. The amazing part is how natural it feels to have it so culture packed!

Up next: the GW bridge! Who's in?

To build a fire

When a good friend of mine, James, noted that the weather was cool and perfect for busting, I just smiled and nodded. What, weirder things had come out of my NJ friends' mouths. When he proposed that he show me that night, I again nodded, determined not to hurt his feelings. Little did I know that when he showed up for dinner, he was going to thoroughly kick my ass in busting... a fire! The process includes three sticks, a string, a rock, some chapstick and a whole lot of muscle. After sawing for 30 seconds, James had an ember and with ten minutes a roaring fire. Me on the other hand had to give up after ten minutes of mediocre sawing and call it quits to watch the flames. It took him an entire week of camping to perfect the technique, so I'm shooting for getting it before school.

Sequence of my life

While doing some balance work on my paddleboard, my dad (of course) kept egging me on, so I started attempting handstands. Luckily, he captured the results: a mini millisecond of a handstand!

Don't worry, I talked him into trying a running mount (wish I got a picture of that splat!)

can you say paradise?

This is the view from the dinner table at the the lake in Jersey. Nuff said, huh?

Some serious beach BBQ

As it goes, at my house during the summer, good weather means good water volleyball. The worse everyone is at it, the better the game! Last weekend, we had a blast playing with family friends. Of course, with my SUP on the porch, we were able to get everyone AND my amazing grandma going!

brown suede shoes

Like anything, people always notice when you have new shoes. After seeing a pair of really cool moccasins at a farmers market, I have been itching to make a pair for a while. Yesterday, I finally just sat down and did it. The process was two hours of cutting up little pieces of paper then taping them back together for the template and an hour of annoying the neighbors by punching elk leather over plywood with a nail then putting it all together.

The results were a great pair of super supple shoes. I have been wearing then nonstop since and everyone has a comment to add. I can't wait to try another design!

Manual driving, legless

"So," I asked Tommy, the amputee whose car I had just jumped in on our way to a climbing crag, "Is it hard to drive stick without a leg?"
"Its illegal"
"Oh"
Apparently, the only thing that is bad about driving stick with an above knee amputation is that you burn through a lot of clutches. Its not like I can pull my foot back, he pointed out. Duh. To combat the cost of burning through a lot of clutches, Tommy learned how to install them himself. I think I should do the same!

As an amputee, his story was different from others. He never went through a depression or drug abuse. Actually, he wonders from time to time whether he is the same person as he was when he was in the army. He has no recollection of anything before his accident and has a hard time remembering things still. As a result, everyone in the climbing group jokes with him as he is on his way stuffing his prosthetic foot in a crack whether he knows what he's doing.

Another member of our entourage was from Japan and would lead climb (clipping himself into the bolts) really hard stuff. Completely blind.

I felt honored to be a part of such a group and along with the inspiring and sometimes nuts stories were some pretty good climbs!

there are NO BARRIERS

Yesterday, I attended the No Barriers summit for disabled in Winter Park, Colorado, to gain some perspective into a world that I might want to go into: prosthetics. It is amazing. Most of the people I met have to expend more energy to do the same things I do (like wearing a 60lb pack that you can't take off), but most of them were better and went farther. In my midst was a high school soccer player with one leg (below), an iroman athlete and blind mountaineers. It was really amazing how even quadriplegics could get a taste of climbing on the contraption that I am using above, which, like most things they breezed up and I struggled on big time. Whether or not my path eventually leads to prosthetics, I will never see one as a barrier again.