Caroline Gleich is a professional ski mountaineer and endurance athlete who has accomplished many impressive physical feats, including climbing Mount Everest with a torn ACL and becoming the first woman to ski all 90 lines in The Chuting Gallery. But Caroline doesn’t just enjoy the outdoors. She fights for them. A passionate environment and equality activist and community leader, Caroline has made it her mission to advocate for action on climate change, public lands, Indigenous leadership, sexism in the outdoors industry, and more. Her mission-driven keynotes inspire us to get outside, live a healthy active lifestyle, and protect the places we love to play.
Here are 5 lessons from Caroline's recent accomplishments on how to be unstoppable in the face of fear, hatred, pain, hardship, and people laughing at your dreams.
1. Set personal goals that make people laugh. Then do the work and accomplish them.
When she told a well-known photographer and an athlete that she really looked up to that she wanted to ski all the peaks of the Wasatch, they laughed. In 2017, Caroline Gleich became the first woman to descend all 90 ski lines in The Chuting Gallery, a cult classic guidebook that lays out a set of 90 ski mountaineering lines across Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.
2. Don't let haters stop you. Continue to show up despite them.
When she was targeted by sexist, misogynistic internet trolls and stalkers, she stood her ground. “At every turn in my career, I’ve battled sexism and harassment. I will not back down and disappear, giving in to the belief that I don’t belong. I will not distance myself from the world of ski mountaineering that I love so much. I will continue to show up and speak up.”
3. Raise your voice for the causes you care deeply about.
It’s been said that the simple act of caring is heroic. But for athlete activist Caroline Gleich, caring is only the beginning. As a professional ski mountaineer, endurance athlete and activist for the environment and equality, Caroline personifies action. She testified in DC, to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, pushing for legislative action on climate change. Caroline completed her first 50-mile run, a “Hope Run” through Bears Ears to raise awareness for public lands and indigenous leadership. She brings the same enthusiasm and tenacity she dedicated to her athletic pursuits to her mission: inspire people to get outside, live a healthy active lifestyle and protect the places we love to play.
4. Have difficult conversations.
She started a podcast, “The Caroline Gleich Show,” where she tackles issues like sexism within the outdoor industry. Backcountry Magazine said Caroline approaches her high-altitude objectives with preparation, guts and passion. But it’s her humility, vulnerability and willingness to lean into uncomfortable topics that have enabled Caroline to reach a broader audience.
5. Push through the pain.
With a torn ACL, she successfully summited Mount Everest with her husband, Rob Lea in what she called A Climb for Equality.
HELL YES! is proud to introduce you to our exclusive client, the unstoppable Caroline Gleich. Caroline Gleich is a keynote speaker on climate change, the environment, leadership, and women’s equality. Her mission-driven keynotes inspire us to get outside, live a healthy active lifestyle, and protect the places we love to play. To book Caroline Gleich to speak at your event, drop us a line: yourfriends@hellyes.co.
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