Montaia Expeditions

06/10/2024

Not everyone in your life is going to
value care over currency.

Not everyone in your life is going to
value relationship over success.

Not everyone in your life is going to
value love over money.

Not everyone in your life is going to
value integrity over profit.

Not everyone in your life is going to
value friendship over finances.

Not everyone in your life is going to
value growth over gain.

But some of them will.

And for those who truly do?

24/08/2024

Mornings at 3,000+meters…
(That’s 9,000ft for my Americans)

Either way…
Switzerland you are gorgeous.

18/08/2024

I was raised as a child of the mountains.

Because of this, there are some habits that I have (thanks to good old daddio Robert Atlee) that might seem a bit unusual in mainstream society.

For example, sometimes, I see how many weeks I can go without bathing in artificial bodies of water (such as household showers/baths).

The first few days I often feel a bit grungy, as my body conditions itself to not being stripped of its natural oils with artificial soaps, and doused with the chlorine/flouride we find in most city water systems.

But then, we hit day 5/6 and I notice that my hair has started to soften, my skin has begun to glow, and by day 14/15, my body simply stops making the excess oils that it was urgently over-producing to compensate for the natural layer of protection it was being stripped of when I scrubbed myself “clean” in the shower.

The human body is an incredible thing. It will balance itself and find equilibrium in almost any situation we put it in. But I do believe there are steps we can take in order to reconnect to our own biome, through connecting to the earth’s biome.

I’m not telling you to give up you iPhone, your car, your many conveniences that make life what it is in the 21st century. I am simply sharing some moments from my own existence that bring me joy and help me reconnect to a simpler, wilder, significantly less sudsy way of life.

28/03/2024

It’s that time again folks! We are transitioning from snow birds into summer cats.

If you are a hiker, climber, backpacker or overall lover of nature - who is looking to spend your summer months out of the city and go somehere expansive and refreshing…keep reading.

There are 3 rooms opening up in our little mountain paradise - a 9BR co-living space nestled at the base of a granite ridge, between Bishop and Mammoth Lakes, CA.

The room prices range from $900-$1250/month and we are ideally looking for folks interested in 3-6-12month leases.

This is an ideal spot to live if you work remotely but live wildly - as we have high speed river óptic wifi and yet we are a 30minute drive from the closest “town”.

Because we are pretty specific about the vibe we curate in the space, there is an application process, so I’ll post the link in the comments below.

The Mountains are calling!
(The question is - will you answer?)

06/10/2023

Have you ever been on an adventure that was “guided” well, but “facilitated” poorly?

In the last few years of my career in experienced design, I have gotten more and more into leading expeditions in nature. And part of that has been attending and participating in other leader’s journeys and other organization’s retreats!

One of the biggest things I realized is that EVERYONE in a position of leadership needs at least some degree of facilitation training, regardless of how high quality the content is that’s being offered.

We tend to think that it’s only the ‘retreat organizers’ or ‘workshop hosts’ who need to fine tune their skills in these domains - but we are wrong!

Good facilitation skills can be used in situations:
-> as simple as organizing a family dinner,
-> as standard as leading a community AR night,
-> or as high stakes as leading an 8 day trek in the wilderness.

Are you looking for a facilitation tune-up?
Or maybe to dive into this realm for the first time?

I invite you to join me in attending the upcoming TAF (The Authentic Facilitator)
-> a 12 week virtual training for those (like myself)
-> looking to fine tune their facilitation skills.
-> Links in the comments below ♥️

20/08/2023

What is the
WEATHER EVENT
that you’ve experienced in
your lifetime - that has most impacted you?

21/06/2023

THIS is what I am most excited about sharing with you.
THIS is why I do what I do.
THIS is the present and the ancient combined, the emergent and the ancestral united.

This 5 day journey of Modern Rites takes place in the high mountains of the California Eastern Sierra.

It includes 3 days in the backcountry and 2 night sun the front country, as well as rituals of initiation, fasting, and a 24 hour solo experience.

Held at Montaia Basecamp, and guided by Porter Eichenlaub, Kaela Atleework, and the vast alpine wilderness herself (always the greatest teacher).

Reach out to either of us for more details. We are both deep in this work, and here to to answer your questions and get curious together about the process.

07/06/2023

Have you ever spent a night alone in the wild?

Have you ever gone without food for 24+ hours?

Have you ever emptied yourself enough to have the space to be guided, inspired, informed by the wild and natural world around you?

For centuries, humans have been putting ourselves through trials and various initiations as markers of entering into new phases of life.

Because many of these rituals occur traditionally around the time of puberty, or coming-of-age, many of us as adults in the western world have not had the opportunity to go through, or be witnessed in, our own personal rite of transition/transformation into our full adult selves.

Could this be your time?

July 24-28,
Eastern Sierra, California
Join us for this Modern Rites expedition.

This wilderness immersion will be guided by myself and my dear friend and colleague Porter Eichenlaub and will include 2 days of backpacking and 3 nights in a front-country cabin.

If you feel curious, inspired, or simply called want to know more, I will post links in the comments below to both the website and the application form to join us.

~ in wildness and compassion ~

01/03/2022

We are the wild ones.

We sleep outdoors whenever possible.

We prefer to take my baths in mountain streams.

We choose a skinny dip over a swimsuit every day.

We have callouses on our feet from walking bare.

We have leaves in our hair and the wind at our backs.

We are the wild ones.

Are you?

Drop a 🌿 in the comments if you are.

13/04/2018

So many realizations that really everything we do, choose, buy and eat have consequences...

13/04/2018

So inspiring to see how this family does it!

Family grows 7000 pounds of organic food per year on a tenth of an acre, supplying 90 percent of their vegetarian diet… They spend less than $2 per day per person on other kitchen staples and make over $20,000 a year selling excess produce Fifteen minutes from downtown Los Angeles, …

13/04/2018

Definitely worth a think if you shave!

11/04/2018

I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of this over the next decade!

10/04/2018

Always one of my favorites!

Calendula officinalis is one of the easiest-to-grow medicinal herbs and so versatile in its healing properties that it invariably finds its way into the hearts and gardens of all herb lovers. It is typically grown as an annual, but can be cultivated as a short-lived perennial in warmer climes (Zone....

10/04/2018

We heal ourselves to heal the world.

Inner work... Outer reach.

04/04/2018

Soil microbes have been found to have similar effects on the brain as Prozac without side effects and chemical dependency. Learn how to harness the natural antidepressant in soil and make yourself happier and healthier in this article.

03/04/2018

This sounds like an alternative worth checking out!

Hay Bale gardening: no weeds, no fertilizers and less watering!! What a simple but amazing concept!! Saturday, September 5th, 2015 | Filed under Handy Tips, People and Places Tweet 66 Comments To me (who isn’t much of a gardener), I thought this was a very simple yet successful way to garden – e...

03/04/2018

Food for thought! 🌞🌻🌿