Brooke Hess

I was on skis before I could walk, in a climbing harness before I could read, and in a kayak before I could drive. It's difficult to articulate how much these outdoor activities mean to me, but here goes:
I have watched the northern lights play in the sky while roasting caribou sausage over a campfire on an island in the middle of the Slave River. I have woken up to the sound of monkeys playing in the trees above my tent on the banks of the White Nile. I have shared Sour Patch Kids with ski partners atop summits in the Eastern Sierras, just before dropping into a couloir filled with spring corn snow. I have kayaked past a mama black bear teaching her two cubs to fish on the Middle Fork Salmon. I have trained with the world’s top athletes in Argentina and stood on podiums at races in New Zealand. I have worked so hard to achieve goals in my sport that my mom got worried. But when I achieved those goals, she was right there on the side of the river watching. I have received a marriage proposal from a young boy living in a village next to the White Nile in Uganda. He was disappointed when I politely turned him down, but still offered to share his jackfruit with me. I have competed at World Championships for Team USA, getting to wear my country's colors at opening ceremonies.  I have seen sights so beautiful I cried, and I have laughed so hard I peed. 

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I am inspired by writing projects related to the outdoors, river conservation, and science. If there's a way to combine all three - even better!

I am currently a core paddler on The Grand Salmon - a source to sea expedition of the Salmon River, doubling as a conservation project promoting the removal of the four Lower Snake River dams and a moratorium on the Stibnite Gold Project, in order to save the rapidly dwindling Snake River Basin salmon populations from extinction. You can learn more about this project at www.salmonsourcetosea.com