WILD VOICES

a senior marketing representative and admissions officer more to fishing than the catch. You observe the birds eating or based in Lander, Wyoming. There, fly fishing was a the wind pushing the bugs and how that affects fish popular pastime, so she taught herself how to fish behavior. You need to respect the water: how you treat on the Popo Agie River. the wild and where you step,” Nelson said. “You need “I kept getting stuck in trees. I was terrified awareness of the technical way you interact with fish going on the water alone. It was stressful and — what products do you use on your skin, which frustrating. But when I set my mind to doing affects bugs and the water? I’ve seen the fishing something, I at least want to be mediocre at it. I industry and particularly white folks have a tunnel was challenging myself to catch at least vision that this is just about fish, which one fish. I ended up fishing every worries me that they’re not caring for single day,” she said. anything else.” When a NOLS instructor position Nelson smiles as she Self-centeredness leads to a hoarding opened up for a river instructor enjoys some time out on mentality in the sport’s culture, which course, Nelson applied for that, too. the river. photo by Ryan Duclos inspired Nelson to launch the Awkward

Out of 300 applicants, she landed the job. For three years, she juggled “Hózhó means, balance, harmony and Angler Instagram platform and podcast. Her mission is to hold space for guiding and instruction alongside her walking in beauty. There’s so much uncomfortable conversations and administrative role. more to fishing than the catch. You storytelling with a focus on elevating “I love field instruction and it was a milestone, but I was struggling with my observe the birds eating or the wind diverse perspectives, social justice and equity on the water. job inside of headquarters,” Nelson pushing the bugs and how that As Nelson and I worked on retying our said. “There was toxicity and I affects fish behavior. lines, which had become tangled again, I experienced a lot of discrimination. I asked her how folks can support was dedicated to the mission of the inclusivity. While holding my rod for me, company but seeing the ethics she said, "The perfect place to start with within the organization was hard to deal with, so I had to leave.” inclusivity is yourself: understand who you are and be comfortable in your In 2018, Nelson took a job with Vail Resorts as the learning and identity. Then you can understand where other people come from, too, and development senior specialist, where she offered one-on-one consulting develop compassion. We like to think we aren’t the problem — you should with senior leaders, managers and teams to guide them on effective identify that you are both the problem and the solution.” communication and growth in a classroom setting.

That same year, Nelson also became an ambassador for BFF. “Throughout Follow Nelson on Instagram at @awkwardangler. my experience as an angler, I’d get stared at for not only being the only woman, but the only woman of color, especially at boat ramps. That opened my eyes to the fly fishing industry as it is. I noticed all the MORGAN TILTON is an award-winning adventure journalist specializing in outdoor magazines and advertisements had no people of color. Through Brown industry news and adventure travel. She grew up on Colorado’s Western Slope, where she

Folks Fishing, we come together to call out the fly fishing industry for a first explored the mountains by way of foot in her backyard of Telluride, a movement that lack of representation and hostility on the water, and to be that continues to inspire her curiosity and joy. Crested Butte is home.. representation in the space,” Nelson said. Over the past two years, she helped establish BFF’s Angling for All

Pledge, the first-ever industry commitment and curriculum for organizations and individuals to adopt diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Components of the pledge were inspired by the Outdoor CEO Pledge, which was founded by Teresa Baker to address the same issues in the broader outdoor industry. By the time the pandemic hit, which caused Nelson to be furloughed, she was ready to launch her own business: REAL Consulting, which she co-founded with Sydney Clark — the former NOLS Diversity and

Inclusion Manager — to address the racial equity and inclusion needs of organizations. The duo facilitates intergroup interactions with an end goal of reducing prejudice, working with a wide range of outdoor industry retailers, outfitters, brands and manufacturers, as well as communities and government agencies.

As a Diné (Navajo) woman, Nelson believes in Hózhó, a Navajo philosophy that recognizes a holistic connection between humans, our environments and ecosystems. With that mindfulness, fishing can be a gateway to conservation — as long as diversity exists on the water.

“Hózhó means, balance, harmony and walking in beauty. There’s so much

False Summits

WORDS & PHOTO BY SUZANNA LOURIE

“Just a little bit further,” you think, willing one heavy footstep at a time to inch tediously closer to your perceived goal.

You can do this. Cresting the ridge, you release an audible exhale. You did it. Before your lungs can finish contracting, relief gives way to a blow of disappointment. Anger. You realize the hard truth: You haven’t quite made it. Not yet. You’ll have to dig a little bit deeper.

This photo was taken at such a moment, from a false summit below the 13,321-foot Trico Peak, a high point in the San Juan Mountains where three Colorado counties — San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray — merge.

It was 6 p.m. when I left my car at the top of Red Mountain Pass and started skinning towards Trico’s east flanks. The days were long, the distance was short — it seemed reasonable. After two hours of losing the trail and icy boot packing, I was exhausted and out of time. 8:35 p.m. The sun was setting as I sat on a pile of rocks and cried knowing full well I had no choice but to surrender since I wasn’t prepared for a ski descent on icy slopes in the dark. I don’t know how long I sat in my selfpity. All I remember is looking up to see the sky on fire. A dazzling orange and pink light show danced across the western horizon, illuminating snow-filled blows that seemed to glow ethereally blue beneath the blaze.

My ego was no match for that light show. Tears and anger dissolved like vapor into the crisp air. I snapped this photo to remember why I climb. It reminds me how much there is to learn within failure and that room for growth is as infinite as the San Juan sky. Beauty and power can’t be confined by our mind’s clever dichotomies. I could come back for the summit, but this moment in time, I knew, could never be repeated.