Ashley spent her formative years riding horses around her parents “hobby farm” on the plains of Kansas. But an earlier childhood outside the Wasatch Mountains and trips back west instilled an incessant need for mountain living. At 11 years old she began the journey of learning to snowboard, and moved to Colorado to prioritize that pursuit and to attend university. Later on, spending several years as a hutkeeper at the OPUS Hut was a catalyst to her passion for splitboarding and navigating the San Juan alpine snowpack, allowing her to put 100 days a season on her splitboard for now almost 6 years. During her time there she obsessed over the stories of mountaineers and was especially Influenced by Arlene Blum’s book Annapurna: A Women’s Place. Luckily, she was able to put that energy into a few ski mountaineering trips in Alaska and Canada. After OPUS she pursued her EMT certification and spent some time volunteering on the ambulance in Telluride. Now she works as a guide for Mountain Trip, teaches wilderness medicine, works as a bike patroller, and is a 6 year Search and Rescue volunteer. She has also begun her pursuit of the AMGA Ski Guide track. She is incredibly excited to dive into her first season teaching with Silverton Avalanche School and sharing her deep passion for avalanche education and backcountry travel. She holds a NREMT-B, WEMT, Pro 1, Canada Avalanche Association Level 2, and Rigging for Rescue training.