Athlete's in Residence High Five

 

Our Athlete in Residence program, or "AiR", is the first program of its kind in the country. It's simple (and cool): We invite well-known adventurers to live and play around Estes and to create authentic stories about their time exploring "as a local". But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to adventure here. Whether you run, rock climb, hike, fish, paddle, or pedal (or are looking to start), Estes Park is the best place to start your own residency of sorts—and lifelong outdoor passion. Read about our most recent AiRs below.

Courtney Dauwalter

Courtney is an ultra marathon runner living in Golden, Colorado with a preference for the races that are really, really long. She was the overall winner of the Moab 240 Mile Endurance Run in 2017, ran 279 miles at Big Backyard Ultra in 2018, was first female at Ultra Trail Mont Blanc 100 mile in 2019, and has competed in many ultra marathons around the world. Her curiosity for what the human body and brain are capable of is what keeps her heading out the door every day to train.

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Paige Claassen

Paige travels. She climbs. She founded a nonprofit organization that builds classrooms in rural Africa. She runs a production company with her husband called Olifant Productions that focuses on adventure storytelling. Whether working on a creative film project from her dark studio or hanging 100 feet off the deck on her latest climbing objective, Paige puts her heart into everything she does. The beauty of obsession lies in the pursuit to give everything her absolute best, and to feel proud of her work, no matter the outcome.

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Joey Schusler

Joey Schusler is a professional adventure athlete, mountain biker, photographer, and award-winning filmmaker who has been a passionate member of the outdoor industry for more than a decade. As a Boulderite, he's spent time in and around Estes, but never with his biggest passion, mountain biking. Athlete in Residence brought Joey to the Estes Valley to find out whether or not there's any mtb-ing to be had. Spoiler alert: he found it. 

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Anton Krupicka

Anton Krupicka is most well-known as a mountain ultrarunner, with several high-profile race wins and course records in his past. Recently, however, he has become most interested in a more diverse set of human-powered mountain adventures, using his endurance background to often combine running, biking, and skiing with climbing to access remote objectives. His trip to Estes involved biking from his hometown of Boulder, and biking trails and roads around Estes, a multi-pitch climbing adventure, and a high-altitude alpine trail run. 

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Jacob Moon

Jacob Moon is a self-taught freelance photographer from Bellingham, WA. Since a young age, he has always had an insatiable curiosity for the natural world. This curiosity has driven him to develop many skills such as rock & ice climbing, backpacking, camping, pack rafting, and backcountry skiing. These skills have helped him reach and experience remote places around the world. His other passion is telling his stories through social media, blogging, video, and meeting people in person that follow his work in order to teach and inspire. Jake spent his time in Estes exploring with his wife and daughter after road tripping in their van and linking up with Chris Brinlee Jr. for some alpine mountaineering. 

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  • Moon Lake Estes

  • Moon Edge of Time

  • Moon Ice Cream

Caroline Gleich

Caroline Gleich is a professional ski mountaineer and adventurer based in Salt Lake City, UT. When she’s not on snow, she loves trail running, alpine climbing, ridge scrambling, biking and dreaming about her next human-powered adventure. You may have seen her on the cover of Powder, Backcountry or Ski Magazines or in a ski film. A nature lover since birth, Caroline uses her voice as an athlete to advocate for social and environmental justice, working on issues like climate change, clean air and cyber harassment with non-profits such as Protect Our Winters, HEAL Utah, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Wilderness Society, Tree Utah and Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation. Caroline’s goal is to inspire people to get outside, live a healthy, active lifestyle and protect the places we love to play. Prior to coming to Estes, she tore her ACL, so her time here was focused on healing and rest, in preparation for her Mt. Everest summit bid. …She summited on May 24th with her fiancé.

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Brody Leven

Brody Leven is a unique mountain maniac. He’s a professional ski mountaineer who prefers climbing to descending. He’s never eaten meat. He was raised in flat, northeastern Ohio as a freestyle skier and soccer player. He sucks at surfing and is terrified of avalanches (which seems reasonable). He wears a suit about once a year, to talk with congress about climate change. He’s ridden his bicycle across the USA and run ultramarathons. He resides in Salt Lake City, Utah and is obsessed with climbing and skiing the world's mountains. His time in Estes was full-value. He ran trails, climbed rocks, and skied big lines in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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