Alpenguides
Our camp staff guides are the #1 reason to choose Alpengirl as your summer adventure camp!
Your Alpengirl teen camp guides are seasoned outdoor women who have an excellent rapport with teenage girls, are experienced leaders in adventure travel, and are intuitive educators. These skills are combined with professional certifications such as Wilderness First Responders, Lifeguards, and Yoga Instructors. In addition to our own Alpenguides, we contract professional guides for some educational and adventure elements. All leaders associated with Alpengirl are positive and fun role models. Alpenguides have superhuman powers! Read On...
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Sola Known Superhuman Powers: Sola wakes up with the sun every morning. Her special powers to inspire and sustain consistent goodwill are absorbed from the initial rays of morning's first light. Her belief that each day holds the capacity to be great and beautiful emanates from her, much like the rays that promote her super-ness. An undetectable trigger located in the twinkle of her eye, is activated when she smiles. With it she can fight the good fight - and occasionally breathe underwater. Abilities: Sola's abilities abound to make life happen, to enjoy life's simple pleasures, and to enjoy them while living a sustainable life. Forever optimistic, she has even been caught smiling in her sleep, and believes there is always a lesson to be learned. She possesses the invaluable ability to integrate work and play, and her determination in all things is something of legend. History: Born to Midwestern parents who believe that there are only four stars to sleep under, her passion and appreciation for the outdoors was not seeded through a wilderness experience. With family camping excursions that equated to a comedic series of mechanic malfunctions, blown tires, spastic repelling of mosquitoes or simply, erecting a tent in the back yard, while mom and dad slumbered in their bed, she found her love of outdoors elsewhere. Via neighborhood expeditions, Sola came to hone her special relationship to the sun and played from sunrise to sunset, in a subconscious motivation that would fuel the Adventuress within, as she grew. In her aggressive play, she unofficially gained her first tastes of wilderness medicine in her ability to diagnose anything from a bone bruise to a broken arm, based solely upon personal experience. With her rogue education in the finer points of wilderness living, Sola brings her certified skills as a Wilderness First Responder, CPR to Alpengirl, where she looks forward to shining her positive influence on some adventurous youth of today. |
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The Faum Known Superhuman Powers: Declared "Miss Sunshine" by fans of her sporting prowess, the Faum can often be found smiling or even laughing in the face of adversity. Fueled by her winning smile, the Faum hikes long distances with a water bottle that is always "half-full", she possesses a seemingly eternal optimism that has proven contagious. The Faum leads her comrades onward and upward, with that incessantly sunny smile on her face - reported by one observer to be permanently affixed. Abilities: The Faum is most celebrated for her ability to illustrate elusive, exotic animal species (i.e. the F.A.U.M. - a little-known & even more rarely seen Fire-proof, Aquatic, Up-right Mole which inhabits the fumaroles of Yellowstone Nat'l Park). In addition, she is proficient in hoisting extremely heavy bags of food items to deter the attraction of wildlife. She is also a competent Faum-liaison excelling as a communicator and facilitator of such. History: At 20, the Faum doesn't possess a long history, though her accomplishments thus far are impressive, and she proclaims her life to be rich and fulfilling. Her connection to wilderness began at the age of only five months when she spent her first night under the beautiful starry skies by the San Juan River in Utah, wrapped in a sleeping bag she shared with her mother. She spent her early years in Texas and then moved to Lyon, France in 4th grade. The big city did not provide much opportunity for backpacking & the outdoors, but she prevailed and came to love skiing and horseback riding, all the while perfecting her fluent French. She spent her high school years in New Mexico adventuring outdoors and playing basketball, softball, and world percussion instruments. 5 summers were spent attending Alpengirl camps: with a range of adventures from Montana to Alaska, and back again. She became a Super AIT (Alpenguide in Training) in Washington, and continued in her adventuring experience as an Alpenintern, and returned to Montana as an Assistant Alpenguide. She has enjoyed leading and participating in diverse backpacking trips across the west from Kanab Creek in Arizona to the Chugach Mountains in Alaska. The Faum continues to evolve as an academic mole pursuing a degree in Recreation Management & Leadership at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. The Faum holds certifications in Wilderness First Aid, Lifeguarding, NAU Outdoor Leadership and CPR. She brings her lengthy Alpengirl experience and avid outdoorswoman enthusiasm to Alpengirl as an Alpenguide. |
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Dendro Known Superhuman Powers: Dendro has the superhuman ability to identify trees of all kinds. This amazing power of memory also has given her the uncanny ability to remember names and faces of all those who cross her path. Abilities: Dendro is well known for her ability to make those around her feel comfortable. Gentle and considerate, she can make people feel at ease in all sorts of new situations. She has also been given the title of super crafty which brings with it many abilities. She is known to be found knitting up warm hats, weaving baskets, or creating natural sculptures. This magic of crafting has given her the amazing ability to take what others might call nothing and transform it into something special. History: Margaret grew up in the Mountain State of West Virginia. It was there that she first found her appreciation for the natural surroundings around her. She spent many afternoons climbing trees and exploring the woods in her backyard. It wasn’t until she left home for school in Tennessee that she truly gained her Dendro superpowers. It was in the small town of Sewanee that she realized her abilities for tree identification. She spent many days out wandering in the forest learning to identify every tree not only by leaf but bark, twig, and bud. At the end of her college career she found herself looking west and planted roots in the Santa Cruz Mountains amongst the tallest trees of them all the coastal redwoods. She spent two years teaching environmental education to inner city students, introducing them to the magic of the forest amidst giant redwoods. She decided to reach for new heights and moved up to Washington State where she is currently working in Olympic National Park. It is there that she has settled in among the lush temperate rainforest. For Dendro it has it all: mountains, snow, big trees, lakes, rivers, and the ocean. She spends her days taking students out in the forest teaching science, finding bugs, playing games, measuring trees, and conducting research with students of all ages. She brings her skills as a Wilderness First Responder as well as her abilities to inspire awe for all the natural beauties around her. |
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Sparkadelic Known Superhuman Powers: Inspired by campfires, funk and soul rhythms, and Alpengirls, Sparkadelic can spontaneously ignite into what experts call her "dance of fire." This superhuman powered free-style expression through movement resembles flickering flames mixed with smoke spirals, grounded by glowing embers. Abilities: This power of dance allows her to start a fire when needed most, she has been observed starting cozy group campfires in soaking wet forests with wet wood and no paper! Her cerebral ability to preserve song lyrics allows her to sing along to almost any song she hears. Her favorite song lyric is, "free your mind and your spark will follow!" History: Sparkadelic was camping, sea kayaking, canoeing, sailing and collecting blueberries as a mere spark in rural Massachusetts. She has always appreciated the simple pleasures that nature has to offer and has shared this with young people by working in Wrentham, MA as a summer camp counselor throughout her high school years and eventually moved to Montana and worked for the MT Conservation Corps assisting youth in building and repairing trails and mapping sections of the Continental Divide Trail. She has financed her own college tuition by enjoying work as a childcare provider for local families, a horse wrangler, and as a Community Food Co-op employee. She endeavors to make a difference in the lives of others by continuing to work in supportive environments that encourage kids to excel! She's made the Deans list at MSU and her next step is student teaching, most likely in Alaska or California. She is heading towards Graduate College next spring and has future travel plans for far away places on this beautiful globe! Current Base & Operations: MSU - Bozeman, MT. Sparkadelic is commonly spotted with her trusty companion Mr. Chester, loyal dog friend and scented wonder! In winters, she can be found slope-side practicing her telemark ski turns or boarding in the backcountry. In warmer weather you'll find her breathing in fresh mountain air while horseback riding, camping, hiking and soaking up the sun on the river having a good time-rafting and swimming. Sparkadelic is trained in mediation and is certified in Wilderness First Responder and CPR, she is also a dedicated yogini. |
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Amazuca Known Superhuman Powers: "Ama" brings strength and power from the Amazon woman. She uses these to conquer the unconquerable, surmount the insurmountable, bring strength to the weak, empowerment to the meek, and wild adventures to those who dare to seek! "Zuca" brings a touch of sugar, or azucar, to all she encounters. She can bring happiness to the sad, goodness to the bad, turn frowns into smiles, and have tons of fun all the while! Abilities: Being able to do a little bit of everything has been a theme in Amazuca's life. Whether it's staring down a 20 foot wave on the Colorado River in her raft, or instilling a sense of passion, fun, and confidence into 10 wild and crazy kids sliding downhill on their bellies with snowboards attached, or to be a good buddy to someone in need, Amazuca prides herself on her ability to rise to any occasion and to adapt to whatever situations are presented in life. History: Amazuca's roots grew deep into the fertile soils of Columbus, Ohio. Here her adventures began exploring neighborhood creeks for the creepy and the crawly and chasing fireflies on muggy summer nights. Much of her life was spent engaged in competitive sports. Sometimes dizzy from so many laps up and down the pool, basketball court, or around the track, she would often unwind her mind on blank canvas or on a drawing board. Always looking to excel, and always thirsty for more of the exciting and new, Amazuca soon loaded up her truck and set her sights to the west. Wanting to see and do it all, she nestled herself in the high country of Flagstaff, AZ - a stones' throw from mountains, deserts, rivers, and oceans. Here she studied hard, and continued to play even more. Her strength and work ethic were put to the test during the summers while building trails in the mountains of southwest Colorado and conservation work in northern Arizona. Following the wild winds, she was carried to the distant tropical isles of Hawaii and the Caribbean for adventures in sailing, surfing, and schooling. Along the way, she earned a degree in Biology and a new interpretation of her life; that it was meant to be lived in the great outdoors. Eventually, she was blown back home to the southwest where all of her passions and hard work delivered her to the most spectacular place on earth, the Grand Canyon. A true love affair developed between her and the Canyon as she spent many moons running the rapids of the Colorado River, telling its stories, exploring the rugged backcountry, and living absorbed by the Canyon's magic. When she's not in the Canyon, Amazuca spends winters teaching snowboarding, traveling, chasing rainbows with her doggie, knitting hats and plotting new adventures. She is certified as a Wilderness First Responder and in CPR. |