Amanda Baseler is a freelance writer and outdoor professional, who as spent the last 15 years providing outdoor experiences for others. Originally from Tennessee, she discovered her love for the mountains after spending summer after summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina as a camper and camp counselor. After graduating from the University of Tennessee, she moved west to Utah for what she thought would be a three month stay. One ski season turned into 12, as many people knowingly nod their heads, as she fell in love with mountain-town life and mountain-town people in Park City.
A recreational therapist by trade, she grew her career working for a non-profit facilitating adaptive recreation experiences for people with disabilities as an instructor, mentor, and manager. Through her work she had the opportunity to travel across the mountain west to places such as Yellowstone, Seattle, Moab, and Grand Targhee, yet the most impactful trip was experiencing the Grand Canyon by raft with several families and team members. Through her role she learned the power of storytelling and sharing with others the benefits of finding accessible recreation. She continues to teach adaptive mountain biking and skiing in nearby Crested Butte.
After becoming a mom to her son and moving to Colorado, Amanda turned her focus to writing, sharing outdoor resources and information with others. She believes it is important to include resources for all people who are researching recreation and travel and ties in her adaptive background to her writing. She has been featured in 57Hours and Insider and she also enjoys blogging, sharing stories and tips to new parents about how to navigate the outdoors with their small children, as she has also benefitted greatly from those resources!
Amanda is a lifelong equestrian but spends most of her time these days on a mountain bike saddle or on skis, exploring new mountains and trails in Colorado. She once wanted to start her own adaptive water-ski program (which she would still do!) but enjoys the slower pace of a raft or paddle board on the water just the same, especially if any of these are shared with her husband, son, and dog.
Background
- Topics of expertise: Outdoor recreation such as mountain biking, snow sports, water sports and camping, instructing and guiding, adaptive recreation and accessibility, parenting in the outdoors and recreating as parents
- Years of experience in these topics: 3-25 years
- Favorite topic to write about: outdoor recreation and providing resources and tools to help others find joy in the outdoors
- Favorite piece of gear you’ve ever tested: an Arc’teryx ski kit
- Favorite travel destinations: anywhere that she can bike, ski, or be in the water.
- Past applicable professions: Recreation Therapist, Program Manager, Instructor and Guide, Community Manager
Education and Experience
- Education: B.S in Recreation and Leisure Studies, Therapeutic Recreation
- Certifications: Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, Wilderness First Responder
About the Writer
- Location: Gunnison, Colorado
- Places You’ve Lived or Extensively Traveled: Utah and Colorado, and has traveled across the west, visiting places such as Jackson, Truckee, Hood River, Seattle, and Stanley, Idaho. She also has traveled across much of the southeast, through Tennesse, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Maryland.
- Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn
Amanda Baseler
