Introducing our AdventurUs Women Winter Escape Instructors

Creating a space for adventure starts with bringing together incredible, knowledgeable instructors to guide the way. These women are an integral part of every adventure, and we are so grateful that they are willing to share their insight and expertise to enrich the experience of every guest on an AdventurUs Women retreat!

We’re excited to introduce our AdventurUs Women Winter Escape instructors!

Meet Courtney!
Wanderlust Tours

Originally from Upstate New York she graduated from the University at Buffalo and spent her free time hiking in the Adirondack Mountains. She left NY for a 145 day thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail where she fell in love with Central Oregon and its High Desert!

In her free-time you can find her exploring the great outdoors by way of trail running, kayaking, rowing, climbing mountains, and skiing. Her dog Clementine found her in Bend and now enjoys frolicking in the outdoors almost as much as she does. Courtney is excited to share the knowledge, passion, and excitement she has for the outdoors with others!

Meet Ingrid!
Glide Nordic Ski School

Our lead guide, Ingrid Granlin, grew up Nordic ski racing in Smithers, British Columbia. Her love for winter and skiing started as early as she could walk. In college she began coaching kids, then worked as a coach training facilitator teaching community level coaches in BC and Alberta for the National Coaching Certification Program and Cross-Country BC.

Eventually, she realized her strengths lay more in technique instruction, rather than coaching, and gained her level III Canadian National Association of Ski Instructors (CANSI) certification. She then became a level III Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Instructor. Ingrid has taught as a professional instructor for over 20 years in Canada, the US, and Switzerland. She currently teaches for various camps around the west and is the owner of Glide Nordic Ski School.

Meet Kimberly!
Wanderlust Tours

After 20 years of growing up in North Carolina, Kimberly began taking frequent trips to the western US, where she became enamored with the wild and diverse landscapes of Utah, California, Montana, and more. In 2019, she hiked much of the Pacific Crest Trail, determined to spend even more time in the natural places she loved.

On her hike, she visited Oregon for the first time and promptly fell in love with Bend and the surrounding beauty of Central Oregon. She knew she had to make the move to be out west permanently, and has since split her time between living in Bend and guiding in National Parks across the country. She is passionate about sharing her love for natural spaces with others through tours and her landscape photography. On any given day, you can find her out on the trails or on a wall, hiking or climbing with a camera in her hand and her two adventure pups, Ande and Lucy, by her side.

Meet Patti!
Deschutes SAR Volunteer

Patti has been a volunteer with Deschutes County Search and Rescue since 2015. As a kid her’ adventure’ focus was tennis and horses, Rodeos and roping.

After retirement her adventures included multi day backpacking in The Alps, Pyrenees, and Patagonia. And fortunate for those with her, she was able to provide medical care to those in her party and others on the trail.

Patti's law enforcement and therapist background make her a natural fit for SAR where she is currently on the FTL, snow mobile, ATV and Incident management teams. With her background as a rock climber, adventure racer, mountain biker, and her professional first responder experiences, joining SAR provided her the additional tools to provide safety and security for those she adventures with.

She says, “My focus is to help others learn to adventure safely and return home to their families and, if they get into trouble, utilize the tools they’ve brought with them to stay safe until rescue arrives.”

Meet Mary!
Deschutes SAR Volunteer

Mary is a native Oregonian and has spent most of her life outdoors. She is a retired traffic engineer and has always focused on safety first. A friend and former co-worker of Mary’s in SAR said “Mary, come join us, you’ll love it”. With her kids grown, and being retired, she thought, now what? So she applied! Mary was accepted into the Academy in 2019. She loves the “logistical piece” of missions, what equipment is needed, fitting all the pieces together, and bringing everyone home safely.

Meet Dani!
Deschutes SAR Volunteer

A lifelong lover of nature, Dani has spent most of her life enjoying the outdoors. Much of that time was spent participating in either competitive or recreational endurance sports and camping. She has been an alpine skier since the age of five and has two decades of experience as a competitive trail runner and off-road triathlete. She found a new love when she began backcountry skiing two years ago. Her summer passions include mountain biking and trail running while winters are enjoyed on touring or alpine skis. 

In 2021, after almost 15 years of being a stay at home mom, she was ready to do something more to follow her passions. In January 2022 she took her first American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) avalanche course to ensure she understood the hazards that winter in the backcountry could pose. She loved this course and interestingly, it sparked a very strong desire for her to put more time and effort into supporting and educating others about the backcountry.

That was when she applied for the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue team (DCSO SAR). She was accepted and graduated from the academy in May 2022 and couldn't be happier with the opportunity!  She joined the SAR medical team and has been certified as SAR Medical Support Level (MSL). She has gained a wealth of training, knowledge and experience in a short time that go hand in hand with her previous life experiences in the outdoors and her natural draw to helping others.

In October '22 Dani also applied for and was one of 10 people chosen from the Pacific Northwest for the '22-'23 AIARE Women's Mentorship Program. The program is designed for women who are looking for sustainable careers in the avalanche industry. She has thoroughly enjoyed the last few months of mentorship from some of the smartest, most motivated people in the avalanche industry who just happen to be women!

In her free time she is committed to her two trail dogs, Shasta and Mojo and practicing yoga and meditation. She can't wait to share her knowledge and stoke with others around her!

Meet Shanda!
Deschutes SAR Volunteer

Shanda had very little backcountry experience prior to joining SAR. A Central Oregon native, she got her first taste of adventure in 2015 when she was invited on a five day backpacking trip. With Pinterest as her handbook (she would be introduced to a compass four years later) Shanda got to experience first-hand the camaraderie of women and the mental health benefits from recreating in the outdoors. Shanda has a B.A. in Psychology from Eastern Oregon University and is passionate about empowering others to create change. 

Shanda joined SAR in 2019 seeking to grow confidence, learn skills, and build community. With the ability to bring folks together and have fun, her ambitious athleticism brings humor and good energy to any adventure. Prior to SAR, her only medical experience was watching Grey’s Anatomy, but with supportive mentors and access to a wealth of knowledge, she has achieved Medical Support Level. In 2022 she completed her AIARE avalanche certification and plans to build on these skills. Outside of SAR and work, Shanda enjoys downhill mountain biking, split (snow)boarding, sport climbing, hiking, and paddleboarding. She lives in Bend with her husband and daughter.

Meet Rosanne & Sherman!
Deschutes SAR Volunteer

Rosanne has been a SAR Volunteer since 2017 first with San Luis Obispo SAR, then she joined Deschutes County SAR in 2020.  

She has always been an outdoor and animal enthusiast. She started riding horses at age 4. Eventually showing in English, Hunt seat, Eventing, Dressage and Western. In her teens she started backpacking and trail running and from there she started working for a Mountaineering company and where she took guests out on Backpacking and Cross Country Ski adventures. She was given the opportunity to work as a Wrangler in Yosemite National Forest and enjoyed taking groups out on trail rides in that beautiful environment for 2 years. She has always enjoyed helping people learn about the outdoors and stay safe while doing it.

In 2016 she took her 16 year old son on a backpacking trip in Central Oregon and he ventured out on his own in the afternoon. He was an experienced backpacker and said he would be back to camp by 1. By 3:30 he had not returned and with night quickly approaching with temps to be in the 30’s Rosanne phoned DCSAR – while waiting for SAR teams she kept hoping to see the dog teams arrive. The thought of dogs searching for her son was comforting in a way only animal/dog humans can understand. This story has a happy ending – her son returned to camp after dark on his own (after helicopter and SAR teams were deployed!) 

This event started Rosanne on her SAR career – she wanted to train a dog for Search and Rescue so other families could know the comfort of a K9 team out searching for their loved one. In 2017 she became an EMT with focus on Wilderness medicine and started training her current K9 partner Sherman.

Sherman is a 6 year old yellow lab. He is certified in Wilderness Area Live find and Human Remains Detection. He is deployed in the snow for both Live and HR and also is Water (River and Boat) HRD deployable. He is what is called a “multi purpose” SAR K9. Their journey has taken them all over the US for training opportunities and their partnership is nothing short of amazing.

Meet Maggie

When you take class with Maggie, you can expect a powerful practice rooted in intelligent sequencing and mindful energetics woven throughout. Originally from North Carolina (a UNC Tar Heel at heart), Maggie made her way to Bend by way of Chicago where she spent the last decade as a full-time yoga instructor, personal trainer, and corrective exercise specialist. No matter the type of movement, Maggie aims to make it approachable and joyful.

Her teaching style is defined by her deeply rooted passion for what the human body can do, and her insatiable curiosity to understand our human potential through the lens of movement. With every class, she hopes to create the space for her students to move safely, breathe more deeply, and feel better well after the asana practice ends.

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Our Winter Escape Retreat Weekend is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to spend a weekend adventuring through the snowy mountainside of Sisters, OR with all of you!