GateWay Mountain Center
Connecting People to Nature
Peter
Mayfield |
Peter has been a successful
leader, pioneer and innovator in mountain sports programs for
the last 27 years. He has started three innovative businesses:
CityRock, Yosemite Guides, and the Gateway Mountain Center, through
which he has designed and delivered creative and successful outdoor
educational programs for thousands of California youth. Peter
has served as Chief Guide for the Yosemite Mountaineering School,
and as Chief Examiner for the Professional Ski Instructors Association
(Far West). As the founder and General Partner of CityRock Gym,
the first large urban climbing gym, Peter was a catalyst for
the growth of indoor climbing in North America. As a consultant
Peter has designed and developed adventure programs for Disney,
Discovery Communications, and Posades Resorts. As a creative
mountaineer Peter has succeeded on first ascents on Yosemite's
El Capitan and Half Dome, climbed new routes in Peru, Patagonia,
and the Alaska Range, and pioneered difficult snowboard descents. In
addition, Peter has competed in sport climbing World Cups, Cross
Country Skiing US Nationals, and performed for ten years with
the aerial dance/climbing troupe, Project
Bandaloop. |
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Emily
Williams |
Emily was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA. She is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Recreation, Parks & Tourism with concentrations in Environmental Education and Natural Resource Tourism. Emily has over 15 years of outdoor/environmental education experience, which includes: Directing an Elderhostel program in the Lake Tahoe area, Environmental Interpretor for CA State Parks, Outdoor School Director and Naturalist, Program Coordinator for Coastal Watershed Council and many years as a camper and camp counselor. She currently works part-time for Sagehen Creek Field Station developing and implementing environmental education activities in Sierra County Schools and is a part-time Director for Gateway Mountain Center. When not working, Emily enjoys hiking, camping, snowboarding, kayaking and cross country skiing. Emily is also a certified yoga instructor and teaches classes regularly. |
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| Aaron Hagen Education Director/Guide  |
After getting my Forestry degree at Berkeley, I joined Americorps to do habitat restoration work in the Davis and Woodland area. I then got my teaching credential at Davis and moved to the Tahoe area, where I have continued to work on habitat restoration projects. I've been teaching Science, all the sciences, at my small school in Truckee for the past 9 years. |
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Anna Toso |
Anna started her career in
environmental education in 1983 as a farm and wilderness teaching
intern at Slide Ranch, eventually becoming the program director
for a number of years. Anna has been involved as a naturalist guide,
teacher trainer, consultant, and director for a variety of other
programs on the coast of California and in the Sierra Nevada, including
Yosemite National Institute's Headlands Campus, Sierra Institite's
South Lake Tahoe E.E. Program, Elderhostel (coastal programs and
in the Sierra Nevada), Trips and Trails, and Gateway Mountain Center.
Anna enjoys a hand-on approach to sharing the natural world with
people of all ages and abilities. |
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| Annie Overlin Guide  |
With a BS in Botany from Colorado
State, Annie has had a life long interest in botany and specializes
in the floras of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range and the Great
Basin, and currently works as a botanist on a variety of different
projects. Annie has a broad understanding of how plant distributions
relate to geomorphology, hydrology, and surficial geology. She
has been a naturalist guide for Yosemite Guides and the Gateway
Mountain Center since 2002. Annie has also been a sponsored athlete
for rock climbing and has travelled all over the world to climb. In
her spare time, she likes to ride her bike, paint, and spend time
with her family and one year old daughter. |
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Chris Kelly |
In 2000, I started teaching
with Naturalist at Large 5th -12th graders. Natural History
and science were taught as well as fun group games and ropes courses/team
building programs. I taught throughout California including:
Joshua Tree, Catilina Island, Point Reyes, Malibu State Park and
Sequia National Park. In 2001, I settled in Lake Tahoe where my
outdoor adventures brought me to Squaw Valley as a board patroller
and in summers I started guiding local trips with Tahoe Trips and
Trails, working with Elderhostel and Corporate groups. I now work
with Tahoe Adventure company as well leading mountain bike/kayaking/hiking
tours. When not working I enjoy cross country skiing, mtn. biking,
hiking, and snowboarding! |
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| Kelly Boire Guide  |
Kelly Boire recieved her degree
in horticulture and botany while working abroad at an organic farm
in Sussex, England. After relocating back to the US, she
settled in Truckee, CA and has worked as a naturalist/guide in
the Lake Tahoe area, Yosemite, Mendocino, Point Reyes and Moab,
Utah for the past 7 years. Through hiking, mountain biking,
kayaking and lecturing she shares her knowledge and love of the
outdoors by teaching others to explore and enjoy the natural world
with enthusiasm and a sense of fun! |
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Marc Chaney |
Marc Chaney was born and raised
in Carmel Valley, CA. He graduated from California State University,
Chico with a Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Interpretation/Education.
Marc interned for the USDA Forest Service in the Lake Tahoe Basin
teaching students about Kokanee salmon. Currently he is an AmeriCorps
member with the Sierra Nevada Alliance Partnerships, serving with
the Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the Sierra Watershed
Education Partnerships. Marc is currently a Wilderness First Responder
and First Aid Certified. Marc loves to recreate, it doesn't matter
where he does it. He loves to surf, swim, hike, camp, kayak, snowboard,
snorkel, explore, and discover. |
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Nicole was lucky enough to
be born and raised on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, in Tahoe Vista.
She is a graduate of Humboldt State with a B. A. in Interdisciplinary
Studies, with concentrations on, environmental science, political
science, and women’s studies. She’s worked at a community
supported agriculture farm, several after-school and summer outdoor
adventure/naturalist programs for youth and worked as an environmental
educator in Yosemite National Park. Nicole is currently serving
as an Americorps member with the Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships.
She plans to go back to school to get her teaching credential and
a master’s degree. Hiking, backpacking, swimming, snowshoeing,
playing at the beach, and kayaking are just some ways Nicole spends
her free time. She also loves gardening, reading and cooking. |
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| Robin McElroy Guide  |
Robin McElroy was born and
raised in Alaska as an avid skier and backpacker. After graduating
from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Bachelor of Arts,
she moved to Tahoe where she has been living for the past 3 years.
Her jobs, besides guiding for the Gateway Mountain Center, include
ski patrolling at Squaw Valley, guiding whitewater rafting for
Tahoe Whitewater Tours and guiding lake kayaking, hiking and mountain
biking tours for Tahoe Adventure Company. For fun Robin competes
in the US Freeskiing Tour and World Tour of Big Mountain skiing. She
also enjoys backcountry skiing, mountain biking, hiking, backpacking,
fly fishing and kayaking. |
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