Show Notes:

Brigitte’s Links:

• Beyond Limits Education Website: https://beyondlimitsedu.com

Episode Intro:

Happy Wednesday, my dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. In today’s episode, I’m excited to catch up with my good friend Brigitte Denton. We met at a National Outdoor Leadership School Instructor Course back in 2008, and I can’t believe it has been almost 17 years!

Brigitte has lived in the Eastern Sierra (Mammoth Lakes, CA) since 2007, moving from Southern California, where she grew up with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. She has a Bachelor of Science degree and teaching credential in Biological Sciences. Before moving to the Sierra, she spent 18 years as a Los Angeles County Fire Department Ocean Lifeguard and EMT, protecting the lives of beachgoers. She also spent seven years teaching middle school integrated science. In 2003, she became a Wilderness EMT and later left traditional K-12 teaching to pursue outdoor education.

Since 2007, Brigitte has guided and instructed courses in mountaineering, backpacking, and sea kayaking, exploring areas of Alaska, the continental U.S., and Europe. These days, Brigitte works for Mono County EMS as an Advanced EMT. She also runs her own business, Beyond Limits Education (BLE), teaching a variety of medical courses and providing education consulting and instructional design services.

Brigitte is an outstanding educator and passionate about helping people. She is tough and also has a very soft heart. In this episode, we dive deep into various topics related to education. She shares the twists and turns of her life, from school teacher to outdoor education and then to EMS. When I asked about how she dealt with burnout and depression, she opened up and shared her struggle and a slow recovery after a near-death accident. Fascinating stories! Now please enjoy this wonderful episode with Brigitte Denton.

Things We Talked about:

• 10 years of active guiding
• Pandemic changed Brigitte’s course
• City influence
• Connection with water
• Accidentally became a K-12 teacher after college
• From marine science to education
• burnout at K-12
• multiple jobs to make ends meet
• the guiding days
• longer expedition and group development
• what kind of guiding Brigitte loves
• what happened after pandemic?
• An ankle injury triggered deep thinking
• The EMS land
• what did Brigitte come out of depression and what did she learn from the near-death accident?
• Self-care

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast,

Happy Wednesday, and Happy Lunar New Year of the Snake! This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today, we have Izzy Lazarus as our guest. I’ve known Izzy for a while, but it wasn’t until last fall that I finally got to meet her in person when she came to Red Rock for her AMGA Rock Guide Exam. I knew I had to have her on the show.

Izzy grew up in NYC, playing hockey, skateboarding, and finding a connection with the ocean. Her mountain pursuits began with a pre-orientation backpacking trip in the thick Vermont woods, and she’s been hooked ever since. Courses in rock and ice climbing and outdoor leadership led her to work at the Colorado Outward Bound School after college. Izzy spent several years working multi-week climbing, mountaineering, backpacking, and backcountry skiing courses, both domestically and abroad. In 2017, she moved to the Tetons to work as an alpine and backcountry ski guide. Between Teton seasons, she traveled and worked in the Southwest desert region and various peaks in the Northwest and Cascades.

Several years later, life took her back to Vermont to work for the UVM Outdoor Programs Dept and guide on the side. Izzy has a passion for adventure that is only surpassed by her love of education, teaching, building connections with people from around the world, and cooking!

Izzy is a Certified Rock Guide, Assistant Splitboard Guide, and Apprentice Alpine Guide.

We talked about Izzy’s different transitions in life, from a big city to the great outdoors, from seasonal guiding to a full-time job. We discussed what ignited these transitions, how she managed the changes, and what she learned from her experiences. Izzy always seems to have a positive outlook on life and genuinely cares about the people around her, wanting to learn from them. Izzy’s energy and positive attitude towards life are truly radiant. I had so much fun chatting with her, and I bet you’ll enjoy our conversation too.

Izzy’s Links:

Things We Talked about:

Show Notes:

Laurie’s Links:

• @laurie_wattclimbs
• https://linktr.ee/Laurie_Watt
• https://www.mooneymountainguides.com/

Episode Intro:

Dear guests of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, Happy Wednesday! This is your host, Ting Ting, from Las Vegas. On the first episode of the new year, 2025, we have Laurie Watt as our guest. Laurie has just been awarded the “Best Guide of the Year” by the AMGA.

Laurie fell in love with hiking and skiing in the mountains as a kid, but it wasn’t until she had sent her kids off to college that she was able to fully embrace mountain life. While raising her family, she also cultivated a 32-year career in physical therapy. In 2006, she moved to Switzerland with her family for her husband’s job. Living in the Alps quickly reminded Laurie of her love for adventuring in the mountains. After returning to the States in 2011, she expanded her skill set to rock and ice climbing. Once the kids were off to college, Laurie decided to make a major career change and committed to becoming a guide. Through training, mentorship, and many days out, she is progressing through the American Mountain Guides Association’s rock, ice, and alpine disciplines.

Laurie works full-time as a guide for Mooney Mountain Guides in New Hampshire, guiding rock climbing, ice climbing, and mountaineering. In the summers, she travels to the Pacific Northwest and guides on the glaciers of Mt. Baker. She offers women-centered programming in rock, ice, and mountaineering. In addition, Laurie also works as a climbing coach for the Holderness School Climbing Team.

In this episode, we dive deep into how Laurie cultivated a great mentorship from the side of a mentee, how she challenged the common narrative on aging and used the life skills she accumulated from being a PT and a mom to enrich guiding, and how she sustained the physically demanding guiding career.

Things We Talked about:

• Came in guiding late around age 50
• had been living a “normal” life – college, job, family until the “pivotal” moment to regain the love of the mountains
• back to the States went straight towards Mt Washington in winter
• why does Laurie enjoy hardship?
• when was the seed of becoming a guide planted?
• what were the biggest doubts back then on career change?
• what did she need as a mentee?
• self awareness versus self perception
• deep discussion on mentorship
• might be late on the guiding profession but all the experiences accumulated beforehand were still valuable
• skills Laurie didn’t think useful but turned out to be very useful in guiding?
• how to stay employed as a guide in Northeast
• taking care of a guide’s body
• making guiding sustainable
• was guiding the way she thought?
• what kind of guiding does Laurie do?
• how did the family react to her career change?
• the narrative of aging
• best guide tool: listening