Vanessa grew up playing soccer and attending school with her three siblings in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. After graduating from university, she moved to Estes Park, Colorado to make her way living and working in the mountains. Drawing on years of experience instructing rock climbing and outdoor education, Vanessa joined the wilderness medicine team in 2017. Now, she spends the cooler months in the classroom and her summers patrolling the backcountry and responding as a Wilderness EMT in Rocky Mountain National Park. Vanessa's passion for the ocean equals her passion for the mountains; when not in Estes with her husband and pup, she enjoys wind in her sails on open water.