Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested podcast, welcome back, this is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. In today's episode, we sit down with Theresa Silveyra, a Portland-based mountain guide whose journey into the outdoors is as disciplined as it is inspiring.

Originally a professional music teacher with a master’s degree in piano performance, Theresa transitioned into the world of guiding after seeking a fresh start away from the burnout of academia. Today, she is a trailblazer in the Pacific Northwest, serving as one of only two female rescue leaders with Portland Mountain Rescue and working with elite guide services like Alpine Ascents. Join us as we discuss her incredible feat of climbing Mount Hood over 100 times, her work in creating the 'Color the Cascades' gear scholarship, and her powerful perspective on why every climber—regardless of their background—already belongs in the mountains.

About Theresa:

Theresa grew up in Southwest Washington with the Cascade volcanoes in her backyard, but it wasn’t until after grad school that she began recreating outdoors and eventually fellin love with climbing. She had the incredible privilege of starting her guiding career in 2021 with the non-profit organization Climbers of Color, co-leading mountain and alpine rock leadership courses for BIPOC participants. In 2022, she stepped into the role of Assistant Mountaineering Director, helping lead CoC's program development through 2024.

For the first few years, Theresa balanced guiding with her career as a music teacher. In 2023, she transitioned away from the classroom to become a full-time guide and dedicate herself to pursuing AMGA certification; she is currently an AMGA Apprentice Alpine and Rock Guide. Thesedays, she can be found guiding her favorite peak, Mount Hood, with Timberline Mountain Guides, or teaching ice climbing in Ouray with San Juan MountainGuides during the winter. She also joined the Alpine Ascents team in summer 2025.

Outside of professional guiding, Theresa is a dedicated volunteer with Portland Mountain Rescue, serving as a RescueLeader, Training Committee co-chair, and Board Member. Since 2020, she has also directed Color the Cascades, ascholarship program providing mountaineering gear to women and genderqueer people of color in the Pacific Northwest.

Links:

• Theresa's instagram
• Color the Cascades instagram
• Portland Mountain Rescue instagram
• Timberline Mountain Guides profile
• Alpine Ascents profile
• San Juan Mountain Guides profile

Quotes:

• Enter the climbing and mountaineering space knowing that you already belong and just not questioning that.
• I've always enjoyed just being invisible... but it's really important to be able to be that person that maybe I needed when I was first getting started.
• Everything’s developed over time and making sure that I’m practicing and playing consistently over a long period of time to really make sure that I know something.
• The level of discipline required to sit down and get better at this craft... has really played out well for me in developing the technical skills I need in guiding.
• I just like being able to share something that brings me a lot of enjoyment and happiness and hoping that it does the same for somebody else.
• I decided that I needed to step into those traditional guiding spaces so that I could have a job... I was definitely nervous stepping into a space outside of my bubble.
• It was the first time in my adult life where I had no idea what I was going to do for work... I finally threw away the crutch.
• I feel like it’s really valuable to have people from underrepresented communities in thosetraditional guiding spaces.

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast. Welcome back. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today, we are joined by a true trailblazer, Norie Kizaki.

Bornin a remote Japanese village where her family oversaw a Buddhist temple, Norie’s path to the mountains was anything but traditional. After moving to the U.S. for graduate school and falling in love with the Rockies, she navigated therigorous AMGA certification process to become a mountain guide.

In this episode, we dive into her transition from the corporate world to the outdoors, her experiences as an immigrant in a male-dominated industry, and the deeplypersonal choice she made to prioritize motherhood alongside her professionalaspirations. Let’s welcome Norie Kizaki.

Quotes:

• On her rural upbringing: “We didn’t really have much of a mountaineering culture really when I was growing out… outdoor exercise was for rich people. It didn’t really occur to me that people do that.”
• On her “American Dream”: “I started to dream about going to America… just growing up in this tiny little village I just wanted to see outside world and outside world it wasn’t just Japan.”
• On her mentorship with Angela Hawse: “I met female guides including Angela Hawse and I was very inspired. I didn’t know that profession existed and I didn’t know that woman could do it.”
• On the difference between guiding and personal climbing: “If you wanted to be a really good talented rock climber, you should not become a guide… guiding is completely different from personal climbing.”
• On shifting priorities during her fertility journey: “I really did struggle with I really want to do this course… and I just decided that what? It’s not really worth it. I need to stop this for now [to focus on becoming a mother].”
• On what she wants to be remembered for: “I think I want my grave to say caring mother even if it doesn’t say I am a guide… that was it. And then I decided what if I wanted to say caring mother even if it doesn’t say I am a guide.”
• On overcoming intimidation as an immigrant: “I realized I had to work much harder if I look different and if I speak differently… I didn’t want to be a victim, I didn’t want to be sorry for myself for looking different or being different or speaking differently.”
• On the “Mama Guilt”: “I always have to balance motherhood and guiding… it’s always a balancing act and it never ever feels like it’s balanced and it’s never going to be balanced unfortunately.”

About Norie:

Originally from rural Japan, Norie moved to Colorado in 1996 for graduate school and has been guiding for more than 20 years. She completed her AMGA programs in 2021, marking several historic milestones: she is the first mother to complete the Mountain Guide Program, the first Japanese woman to achieve IFMGA status, and the first woman of color to become an AMGA/IFMGA guide.
In recognition of her expertise, she was named the 2023 Guide of the Year by the American Mountain Guides Association. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Norie spends her winters ski guiding in Japan. She and her husband also sponsor the Kizaki-Wolf Scholarship through the American Institute for Avalanche Research & Education (AIARE) to support underrepresented populations in the outdoors.

Show Notes:

Emilie is a an AMGA/IFMGA Mountain Guide but she likes lots of things that have nothing to do with mountains: cats, true crime podcasts, and books about early Arctic exploration to name a few.
When she is guiding, she’s a generalist and finds equal enjoyment on sunny rock climbs, steep ice, and snowy slopes.
If she’s not home in Salt Lake City, UT, she likes traveling the world….the more unusual the place, the better!

Emilie’s Links:

• http://www.emiliedrinkwater.com

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested Podcast, welcome back. This is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. Today I am joined by a veteran of the guiding world, Emilie Drinkwater. With over 25 years of experience, Emilie’s career has taken her from the rugged ice of the Adirondacks to pioneering leadership programs for women in Afghanistan. As an IFMGA-certified guide and a member of the AMGA instructor team, she brings a wealth of knowledge on what it means to make guiding a lifelong profession.

In this episode, we dive into her transition from the Northeast to the West, the cultural complexities of guiding abroad, and a recent, harrowing health scare that changed her perspective on the risks we take in the mountains. Let’s get into the conversation with Emilie Drinkwater.

Quotes:

• On her start in guiding: “I literally begged my way into a job guiding people… Guiding’s kind of my only marketable skill at this point. So luckily I like it and I have no plans of stopping anytime soon.”
• On being a female guide: “I love the title of your podcast because my whole career is like I have these opportunities because a female guide has been requested. And I’m often in a place where I’m… a bit of a rarity.”
• On the reality of the profession: “Guiding it’s a good career for extroverted people, which I’m not. And so, yeah, any job, it’s most of the time it’s great, but there’s definitely times where I’m tired or stressed or have a little feeling of burnout.”
• On the value of instruction: “I always learn from students… every single program I learned something new and I’m like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never seen or heard that before.'”
• On guiding in Afghanistan: “When we think of terrorists and Taliban… the majority of people in Afghanistan are just generous and kind and they’re poor. They don’t have money, it’s a tough place to live.”
• On the guide’s mindset during a health crisis: “As guides we are really used to being uncomfortable all the time… our tolerance level may be dangerously high. And that is something I’ve learned is I need to say something sooner if I’m not feeling good.”
• On finding the right partner: “A perfect partner is somebody who compliments you… somebody that you’re on the same page with—they’ll support you, but also you have a similar enough skill set.”
• On the definition of success: “Success begins with a willingness to try… because I think if you tried something you probably learned a lot from it… the success comes in trying and learning from each bit of it.”