Jen Olson, Passionate Climber
“I love the feeling, the moment of release, it’s satiating, almost tingling…
Wondrous, captivating, enticing and so candid.
Free to be me! Uninhibited, daring to perform unequivocal feats, meeting challenges face to face,
Oh the joy, the elation, the satisfaction of abandoning fears, they float away to be replaced by intention and focus.
All this by just:
Farting in the wilderness.” – Jen Olson
Jen Olson is a passionate climber and an ACMG/IFMGA mountain guide. She has background in various kinds of teachings like cooking in a backcountry ski lodge as well as being an air traffic controller. She grew up in Calgary, Alberta and has since been doing mountaineering/mountain climbing as early as the first half of the 90s and have been to climbing expeditions and climbing festivals. In 2007, she went to Pakistan with Lilla Molnar and was able to put up a new route in the Nangmah Valley. She also participated in the five first ascents of waterfall ice climbs in the remote Icefall Brooke region of the Canadian Rockies.
When she was little, it was her parents who took her to skiing and camping together with the University of Calgary ODPU Program (Outdoor Pursuits) friends and professors, and then with the ACMG (Association of Canadian Mountain Guidos) and guiding community. Although she breathes, eats and drinks mountains, her free time is spent in practicing Yoga, reading, watching dances and wishing she was dancing. She also values her time with loved ones.
Her passion for mountain climbing, and mountains in particular, define her character; they motivate her, inspire her, and offer her a place to work and test her self, providing intense experiences shared with close friends. Before she climbs, she preps herself before starting. She would feel hopeful and adventurous but intimidated by such grand beauty. Her desire to explore, to cover the unknown and to be bold yet small against the might of the mountains are the things that drive her. She would fear the worst yet always strives to have success after.
In the foreseeable future, she sees herself teaching/guiding as well as doing something with her brain. And of course, still doing cool trips, like mountaineering for example.
Links to Jen Olson: