Preethi Chandrasekhar

Eager Traveler

✈️ Session: Ways to Safely Travel Solo and Save Money When You Can't Split the Bill

Preethi founded the EagerTraveler blog and Instagram account as a way to share travel stories and in 2020 turned it into an LLC when she began working with tourism boards (both in the US and abroad) to help drive destination awareness campaigns. She's a full time content creator/photographer/speaker whose mission is to help people get outside and explore. She's traveled to over 50+ countries and recently founded her own hiking community to help people get outside.

Karla Amador

52 Hike Challenge

🌲 Session: How Creating a Weekly Day Hiking Goal Will Get You Closer to Solo Backpacking

Karla is co-founder of the 52 Hike Challenge; a global movement empowering hundreds of thousands of people around the world to get outdoors and take advantage of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits gained through hiking once a week for a year. In 2020 Karla was named “Woman of the Year” in Small Business by the National Hispanic Business Women Association.

Anastasia Allison

Kula Cloth

♻️ Session: Hygiene and Reducing Waste for the Solo Backpacker

Anastasia Allison is a former park ranger turned full time entrepreneur and the founder of Kula Cloth. She has tested gear extensively for Backpacker Magazine and REI, is a wilderness first responder and has been backpacking and climbing in the Pacific Northwest, and around the world, for over two decades.

It is her hope that through your backpacking adventures, you will connect more deeply with yourself, others and our planet.

Kim Titchener

Bear Safety and More

🐻 Session: The Solo Hiker's Guide to Bear Safety

Kim has dedicated nearly 20 years of her life to developing and delivering wildlife safety and awareness programs. Kim is committed to reducing human-wildlife conflict, and in turn, keeping wildlife on the landscape. She has delivered training programs to more than 70,000 participants and has developed policies and protocols for the oil and gas industry, forestry, construction, and railway sectors. Kim is a recipient of the 2023 Roland Michener Conservation Award, presented by Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Sherry Johnson

Backpacking Badass Alumni & Ambassador

⛰️ Session: Starting Your Solo Adventures After 50

A lifelong resident of the Midwest, Sherry has loved the outdoors since she was a kid. Sherry took her first backpacking trip in 2019 and wanted to learn more. In 2020, she joined She Dream's of Alpine's signature program Become an Outdoor Backpacking Badass Program and has not looked back! Hiking and backpacking has led Sherry to becoming an Ambassador for the Backpacking Badass Program, a mentor for the 52 Hike Challenge Over 50 Outside Program, completing several multiple day backpacking trips (including section hiking big thru-hikes) and co-leading a weekend beginner backpacking trip. Outdoor adventures do not end after you turn 50, they just begin!

Aaron Mayhew Owens

Backcountry Foodie

🍴 Session: Solo Safety: Eat Well on the Trail to Avoid Hitting a Wall

Aaron is a registered dietitian and backpacker with over 20 years of experience in the field of nutrition and in the backcountry. In 2017, she left her clinical dietitian career with dreams of thru-hiking and starting a business focused on backpacking nutrition. Aaron created Backcountry Foodie while preparing homemade, lightweight meals for her thru-hike attempt of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017 and subsequent section and thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, Colorado Trail and the Condor Trail. Seven years later, Backcountry Foodie is a thriving business serving thousands of hikers worldwide.

Meg Atteberry

Fox in the Forest

⛰️ Session: How to Safely Solo Summit 13ers and 14ers

Meg Atteberry is a long-time outdoor blogger and vlogger focused on empowering you to get outside on your greatest adventure. They deliver in-depth, local knowledge on secret scenic spots in Colorado, the American Southwest, and beyond. When they’re not scaling cliff walls or exhausting themselves running up mountains, they’re relaxing by the campfire with their partner and 2-year-old daughter.

Ellen Miller

First American Woman to Summit Mt. Everest from BOTH Sides

⛰️ Interview: Why We Need More Women in the Backcountry and How Going Solo is Revolutionary

Ellen is the first American woman to climb Mt. Everest from both Nepal and Tibet. She has also climbed other Himalayan 8000-meter peaks Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Denali, Aconcagua, Mustagh Ata, and other peaks around the world.  In 2002, she was voted Colorado Sportswoman of the Year for longevity and achievement in athletics. Ellen is a USATF Certified Level 2 Endurance Coach, and worked with the US Women's Mountain Running Team for 16 years. As a bi-lateral hip replacement recipient, she supports and encourages other aging athletes to continue their pursuit of passion in sports.

Katie Thompson

She Dreams of Alpine Team

💬 Session: 7 Key Elements to Include in Your Safety Plan when Going Solo Backpacking

Katie discovered her passion for outdoor adventure in her late 20s, and has been chasing delights on the trail ever since. After acquiring her MS in Recreation Therapy, she joined Team Alpine at the beginning of her journey into backpacking. This led her to leave California for the lush landscapes of Oregon, where she is building community and being a leader on the trail. Katie is a backpacking coach and Customer Success Manager for She Dreams of Alpine, empowering students to live the adventurous lives they’ve been dreaming of.

Kellie Adkins

She Dreams of Alpine Team

🧭 Session: Outdoor Navigation 101 for Solo Hikers and Backpackers

Kellie has a deep love for all things WILD. Before joining the She Dreams of Alpine team in 2021, Kellie wore many hats in the outdoor industry.  She has worked as a biologist doing field research with freshwater turtles and desert tortoises, has done forestry work in the Indiana Dunes National Park, and worked as a public lands manager that oversaw more than 700 acres of public parklands and programs (where she won a 40 Under 40 award). Today she is a coach and Community Manager for She Dreams of Alpine, helping our students develop their own badass skills so they too can live on the wild side of life.

Allison Boyle

She Dreams of Alpine

🥾 Session Day 1: Is It Even SAFE to Go Solo Backpacking? Group vs. Solo Backpacking

🥾 Session Day 2: "Why Do I Feel So SCARED Going on Solo Adventures?"

Allison is the founder and CEO of She Dreams of Alpine and her signature course Become an Outdoor Backpacking Badass. In addition to being an outdoor educator Allison is also a certified Life Coach, and brings this mindset/lifestyle coaching into her backpacking education to help her students have massive break throughs in their adventurous journeys. Allison teaches women how to become truly confident, safe, & self-sufficient in the outdoors (specifically through the skill of BACKPACKING) so that they can finally start taking real ownership of their safety on the trail and start making some real momentum on their big adventurous dreams – no matter what level of experience or time in their life they’re starting from.