Eleanor

Instructor

Eleanor grew up in Alabama but now calls western North Carolina home. During her time at Western Carolina University, she worked for Base Camp Cullowhee as an outdoor guide, leading rafting, backpacking, paddleboarding, and canoeing trips for students. She was also a climbing instructor at the school’s rock wall. Over several summers, she was a trip leader for a North Carolina summer camp; she also worked at a local outdoor outfitting store, and she’s a freelance photographer as well!

Education

Western Carolina University, bachelor’s degree in marketing and entrepreneurship

Certifications

Wilderness first responder

Favorite hobbies

A few things I am currently stoked on: SUP yoga, hikes with rock scrambles, traveling and meeting new people, reading fantasy books, and my most recent craft endeavor: sewing pants! I also love photography, capturing my own adventures as well as elopements, weddings, and engagements!

Favorite outdoor achievement

Coming full-circle in my time at college with the Base Camp Cullowhee program was extremely fulfilling. I attended the freshman orientation program my first year and then got to lead the same trip as a guide my senior year! Seeing a place I had come to know so well be experienced for the first time by my participants made me fall in love with outdoor recreation and the mountains all over again. I was so excited to be able to provide them with the same experience I had and watch them grow over the week.

Favorite outdoor memory

I made so many amazing memories with the Mountaineering Club at Glasgow Caledonian University during my semester abroad in Scotland, but my favorite of all would be learning how to do ice axe arrests! That day was my first time hiking in deep snow, and I was so in awe of the blanketed mountains seen for miles in every direction. Sliding down the hill doing ice axe arrests, I felt like a kid again. My friends and I couldn’t stop laughing!

Favorite place in the world

My favorite place in the world has to be Cullowhee and Sylva, NC. It truly became my home during my college years, and I made so many great memories in every corner of town. It will always be super special to me!