Next Level Skiing S5, E6 | Angela Hawse: Finding Your Center

S5, E6 – Angela Hawse: Finding Your Center

Angela Hawse has forged a path for women in the outdoors. She is among the first American women to achieve International Federation of Mountain Guides certification. The renowned mountain guide from Ridgway, Colorado recently won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Mountain Guides Association for her “contributions of significant value” to the guiding profession. She is the first North American to serve on the IFMGA board and the first woman to serve on the IFMGA’s technical committee.

Since taking those first avalanche classes on Red Mountain Pass in the 1980s, Hawse has shown us a way to move through mountains with intention, grace and balance. In this episode of Next Level Skiing Hawse talks about her first its on snow at Snowshoe WV, her career arc from Prescott College to pioneering ski and mountain guide, the physical adjustments she’s made to sustain a decades-long career in a male dominated industry, balancing the new digital tools with intuition in the backcountry and using her voice to raise awareness of the threats from a warming climate.

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TOPICS

[0:50] A YMCA trip to Snowshoe, W.V. as a 16-year-old. 
[1:40] Telemark skiing and backcountry education at Prescott College in Arizona
[3:00] Avalanche classes on Red Mountain Pass in 1984
[4:20] Following the AMGA guide track in the early 1990s
[6:10] Telluride ski patrol for two years to hone ski skills
[7:30] Earning the 60th IFMGA guide certification in the world in 2010
[8:20] Ski guiding in Japan, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Antarctica
[10:10] A lack of female role models
[14:10] Overcoming physical challenges of being female in a male-dominant realm
[15:20] Even with the evolution of the space, there is still work to do 
[16:30] Opening the technical ice world for women with Chicks with Picks
[18:00] Created a safe place to try with Chicks Climbing and Skiing
[20:00] Finding your center to be balanced, both physically and mentally
[21:00] Moving with a sense of balance to accommodate less strength than men
[23:10] Having a personal coach for fitness
[26:20] Using digital tools in the backcountry alongside intention and awareness
[30:10] Employing decision-making and risk-assessment framework in the backcountry
[34:00] The Lifetime Achievement Award from AMGA after 16 years as an instructor, 11 years on board and last four years as AMGA president
[38:00] Sharing experience and stories through Protect Our Winters to advocate for climate change awareness and policies

MORE EPISODES

S5: E1 – Chris Tatsuno: A Lot Less Ego, A Lot More Amigo
S5: E2 – Lee Cohen: The Cosmic Release
S5, E3 – Krista Crabtree: The Strength of Femininity in Skiing
S5, E4 – Nadar Jamal: Empowerment Through Skiing
S5, E5 – Steve Casimiro: The Transformation of Skiing
S5, E6 – Angela Hawse : Finding Your Center
S5, E7 – Mark Morris: An Ambassador to Life
S5, E8 – Adrian Ballinger: Putting Work into Fun