Sarah McLellan

A Massachusetts native, Sarah is returning to Adventure Treks for her fourth season as a trip leader. However, her tenure with AT began long before that, as she spent four summers with us as a student! This past winter, Sarah was a children’s alpine ski instructor and Nordic ski instructor at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. During her time at Saint Michael’s College, Sarah was a student coordinator for the Adventure Sports Center; she not only organized the training and programming, but also led whitewater kayaking, sea kayaking, canoeing, and skiing trips for participants as well. She’s worked as a zipline guide at the Sunday River Ski Resort in Maine, and she was an instructor for the LL Bean Outdoor Discovery School, leading stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking classes, taking students on hikes, and teaching archery courses.

• Education: Saint Michael’s College, bachelor’s degree in English and international relations
• Certifications: Wilderness first responder, PSIA alpine level 1, ACA river kayaking level 2, ACA kayak touring level 2, ACA tandem canoeing level 2
• Favorite outdoor memory: My favorite outdoor memory is from last summer on my Lost Coast backpack with students on California Challenge 2. It was the last night of the backpack, and our third-to-last night of the entire trip. We had just finished dinner, and we were on this very isolated beach. There was no one else around, the ocean was in front of us with cliffs behind us, and the sun was setting. It was beautiful, and I was surrounded by amazing people.
• Favorite outdoor achievement: My biggest outdoor achievement was summiting Mt. Olympus as a student with AT. It was my first big summit, and while I remember how difficult it was, I also remember how it felt to be at the top!
• Favorite place you’ve traveled: Either St. Andrews in Scotland or Prince William Sound in Alaska.
• Favorite hobbies: I love anything art-related, like painting, sewing, and crocheting. I like making things for my friends and love reading and writing. In terms of outdoor activities, I love skiing, backpacking, and whitewater boating.
• Best advice you’ve received: A mentor told me “hesitation breeds disaster.” This was in the context of whitewater kayaking, referring to the amount of time that I would spend overthinking a line, which would ultimately lead to psyching myself out and making silly mistakes. While it’s important to think our lines and our actions through, sometimes overthinking them can also be a mistake.
• What do you hope to learn this summer? I’m excited to learn more about the outdoor areas in which I’ll be recreating!
• What are you most excited for this summer? I’m most excited to be part of more AT communities filled with people who love the outdoors as much as I do.