Known Superhuman Powers:
Whether you’re heading out on your first backpacking trip, tasting an unfamiliar dish, or tackling your first climbing route, Zesty Z has a way of inspiring others to step beyond their comfort zones and embrace new challenges. Zesty Z makes the best of any situation, whether it’s setting up camp in the rain, dressing a blister, or bushwacking through an overgrown trail.
Abilities:
Full of zest for life, Zesty Z will entertain you with animal facts so wild you won’t even realize you have been hiking straight up hill. She loves ecology and plant identification. She is always ready to dance in the rain or improvise a campfire story with stick puppets. She makes sure you will never go hungry with a chocolate bar (that may or may not be melted) and her signature trail mix of every dried fruit imaginable.
History:
Growing up in Oregon and Colorado, Zesty Z spent her childhood backpacking,
climbing, and exploring the outdoors. She studied Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University. While in college, she served as the Vice President of the CSU climbing team and was always planning camping and climbing trips for her friends. She spent a summer as a bumblebee research assistant and will happily nerd out about bees with anyone who asks. Passionate about environmental and experiential education, Zesty Z created her own homeschool environmental science class and spent a summer as an outdoor preschool teacher. After graduating from CSU, Zesty Z spent six months in Italy biking, climbing, working on farms, and practicing Italian.
Current Base & Operations:
Zesty Z is based in Fort Collins, CO. As a nature school instructor, she teaches survival skills and ecology to elementary and middle school students. She also works at a local climbing gym and shares her passion for climbing with youth through coaching. In her free time, she can be found rock climbing, hanging out with her dog, baking a chocolate dessert, studying Italian, or trying a new sport.