About the Contributors

Austin Peters

Austin Peters in Nepal

I like words that fit situations perfectly. I try to balance well planned endeavors with highly spontaneous actions. I never run. I enjoy getting lost in books. I like climbing alpine ridges, kayaking rivers and standing on the tops of continents.

I have worked as a farm hand, a mountain guide, a graphic designer, and a civil engineer. I once taught salsa dancing lessons.I have lived in Alaska, Africa, and Argentina. I love skiing.

I can sing songs from more musicals than most people have ever heard of. I like to play piano and guitar and have been known to play for hours from memory. In a pinch I can recite all 25 minutes of Alice’s Restaurant.

I like long road trips. I love the winter. Sometimes I stand in the rain. Great music from all kinds of genres has the ability to warm my soul. I love cooking good food. When I am emotionally distraught I meddle with the science of baking.

I love rocks and I like water. I especially like water in its hexagonally symmetric, aggregate crystalline form. I think that sport climbing is neither. Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line. Occasionally I willingly do things I dont want to do because I know it will be worth it later.

Beth Chase

I am an avid cyclist, dog lover (in an appropriate way), and an aspiring climber and ski mountaineer.

I don’t get up in the morning unless there is coffee available and I don’t finish a meal unless there is dessert.  When I am bored I go to the bookstore and wander the aisles.

I work in the bike industry and have been called a bike snob in the past.  Please don’t hold it against me.  I have raced mountain, road and cyclocross events but my favorite is recreational mountain biking. I also enjoy the occasional grueling hill climb.

I like gourmet cooking at home and in the backcountry. I consider myself an expert on excel spreadsheets and pop culture. I am very proud of my dog.