Core Principles for Living
MADELINE'S CORE PRINCIPLES FOR LIVING
**be happy**
**always learn**
**inspire others to live their dream**
**live MY life**
**set goals and live to reach them**
**learn from the mountains and their weather**
**bask in the serenity of nature**
**be healthy so as to live happily**
**utilize renewable resources**
**live in every moment so as never to lose a second**
I was inspired by Ryan Hawks (www.flyinryanhawks.org), a free-ride athlete who passed away in a ski accident, to create core principles for living. These simple sentences keep me focused on what truly matters in this game of life. In my opinion, being present is key to my success as a human being. There is so much to be inspired and motivated by when you pay attention to “the now.” The present is what truly sponsors my lifestyle. It has allowed me to find fun and creative jobs with flexible schedules, network with new friends in remote places, and travel the world backcountry skiing every month of 2016.
Cardiff Bowl Alta, UT March 2016
This year started in Alta, Utah where I skied the best snow of my life day after day. Not every month had been this way. In fact, I would argue that I have skied bomber snow less than 50% of my days out touring. But I'm used to this growing up on ice in the mid-west. Powder is hardly the motivating factor in my living wildly and opting outside. Being a ski racer from Michigan, I truly had never skied power until moving to Utah. The powder is what sucked me back into the snow sports world but it is the mountaineering that hooked me. Other than the months of July, October, and November I skied every week of 2016 and just about every day until leaving for Alaska in May.
Mt. Hood June 2016
Earning your turns is soft on the body, gives you lungs of steal, and turns nature into church. There is nothing sweeter than approaching the summit and realizing that every moment has been the best part of the day.
Refugio Frey Parque National Nahuel Huapi, Argentina
This year I have skied in Utah, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, California, Argentina, and Chile. I saw lava, competed in my first free-ride competition, and afforded the travels through hard work, perseverance, and mixing cocktails for a spectrum of individuals in a variety of places. 2016 has not only been satisfying but has also given me a lot of time to think about what I truly value in life: the continuum of being constantly inspired by everything and always open to new experiences.
Refugio Frey Parque National Nahuel Huapi, Argentina
This may sound silly, but I didn't foresee that this year of backcountry skiing would drastically change my life, but it has. I have always skied but now I am able to do so professionally. From waiting tables to hunting avalanches my world has taken a turn towards true passion.
Refugio Frey Parque National Nahuel Huapi, Argentina
I am currently working with the Snowbird Ski Patrol in Utah being trained in cliff rescue, using explosives for avalanche control work, first responding to medical and trauma accidents, and getting a better grasp on big mountain skiing. I am currently on the 5 year track to become an AIARE (The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) instructor which could have me instructing avalanche education courses across hemispheres. I am also working with the Utah Avalanche Center to assistant teach Backcountry 101 courses in the Central Wasatch Mountains in Utah.
Red Baldy Snowbird, UT
Following my passion took sacrifices and was darn right scary at times: watching my feet morph and take shapes I didn't know were possible, not knowing how I was going to make the money fast enough or what I was going to eat next. Side note: grilled cheese crusts off of customers plates actually builds your immune system, it is a fact. Skiing 8,000 foot descents off of active volcanic summits, seeing lava spitting back at me from craters in Chile, and hiking to terrain in Alaska most people access with steel people movers makes every delicacy I didn't eat or memory foam bed I didn't sleep on worth it. Life for me is about living and learning, not preserving, just savoring the crest of each and every moment.
Mt. Hood July 4th 2015