"We’re all taught to try to avoid “negative” emotions like sadness, but through my dad’s tragedy, I’ve learned sadness is the gateway to love"

“All I saw were lean climbers crushing it... I started to question my place in the sport and wonderered if this was something I could even do”

"Around the age of 35, I decided that having a kid would be my biggest adventure yet."

“It is our collective responsibility as a society to create spaces that provide freedom for those how have systematically had theirs withheld.”

Hiring a guide is akin to hiring any other trade professional. Just like hiring a mechanic, you want someone who is reliable, well trained, and gets the job done right.

Open Aperture was different from any other photo clinic I’ve seen. It was a clinic to create more seats at the table. Geared for under-represented communities, it was intentionally presented as a space where one could comfortably navigate new skills in a group of affinity — a celebration of diversity.

No one can better tell the story of an underrepresented group's experience better than those directly affected. With guiding and rigging support by The Mountain Guides, the Open Aperture Photo Clinic sponsors six participants to join MHW ambassador Nikki Smith for a photography workshop to help sharpen their skills and empower them to document their respective groups.

When I did find women in print, it was generally an image of them smiling big in the middle of a low-angle powder turn (as if that was the only thing worth shooting in regards to women and skiing). I remember asking myself, “Where are the girls hucking cliffs?!”