Heather Balogh Rochfort is an award-winning freelance writer and managing editor of Territory Supply. For the past 15 years, she has written about adventure travel and the outdoors for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Outside, Red Bull, CNN, Runner’s World, Sports Illustrated, and more.
Her career began in college at the University of Colorado-Boulder where she earned a (now non-existent) degree in News-Editorial Journalism in 2004. From there, she began freelancing for a few local newspapers, eventually starting her own blog in 2005 to chronicle her adventure travels throughout South America and the American West. By 2010, it was one of the most widely-read blogs in the country, kickstarting Balogh Rochfort’s writing career.
In addition to her work as a journalist, Balogh Rochfort is a five-time author with two additional books set to hit shelves in 2025. After launching her seventh book, she swears she’ll never write another…but that’s what she said two years ago. She is also the on-air hiking expert for The Weather Channel.
Today, she feels like the most fortunate human alive since she gets to live and work where she loves. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Balogh Rochfort lives outside of Aspen, Colorado with her husband and daughter. She has never met an outdoor sport she doesn’t like (except rock climbing), but her favorites include backpacking, skiing, mountain biking, bikepacking, backcountry skiing, trail running, canyoneering, and SUP on the wild rivers that wind through the Rockies.
Background:
- Topics of expertise: Gear reviews, adventure travel narratives, in-depth profiles, and how-to guides
- Years of experience in these topics: 20
- Favorite topic to write about: Outdoor gear
- Favorite piece of gear you’ve ever tested: Kula Cloth
- Favorite travel destinations: Via Ferrata in the Italian Dolomites, hut-to-hut hiking in New Zealand, or packrafting in Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic National Park
- Past applicable professions: I spent a little time as a middle school Spanish teacher, and I also managed my family’s landscaping business.
Education and Experience:
- Education: B.S. in Journalism, M.Ed in Special Education
- Awards: Bronze Medal in the North American Travel Journalists Association Awards for her story Wild Ice; Best Feature in the 2022 SoCal Journalism Awards for her story Time to Run
- Books or other publications: Backpacking 101, Women Who Hike, Sleeping Bags to S’mores, Moms Who Hike, and Hiking with Kids: Northern California
- Other place you write for: The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, Red Bull, REI, Sierra, Outside, Sports Illustrated, and 5280
About the Writer
- Location; Aspen, Colorado
- Places You’ve Lived or Extensively Traveled: I’m a lifelong resident of Colorado. But I also spent nearly 18 months in South America, six months in Spain, and hundreds of nights in a tent exploring the American West
- Preferred Pronouns: she/her
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Heather Balogh Rochfort
