Call for Candidates for the Coalition of American Canyoneers Board of Directors

It’s election time at the Coalition of American Canyoneers.
Time for you to decide leadership positions for the Board of Directors and we encourage new candidates to come forth during this election cycle.

The Coalition of American Canyoneers is a volunteer based organization for the members by the members. We meet once per month via phone and have up to two retreats per year with electronic communication in between. We are always in need of individuals who are interested in getting involved to help us promote canyon access, conservation, education, and safety. We will hold the election via email vote from August 25 – September 6, 2019 and the results will be announced the week of September 9th.

There are four openings for a two-year term. Tiffanie Lin and Mike Zampino (incumbents) are retiring from the current board.
The following people have declared their candidacy:

Rick Demarest (incumbent)
Danielle Monroy (incumbent)
Kevin Anderson
Jason Bowman
Willie Hunt
Christopher Hagedorn

If you have questions or are interested in running for a Board of Directors’ position, please send a short bio and photo before August 23, 2019 to: election.board@americancanyoneers.org

Candidate bios will be posted below from August 24th through the election cycle and reminders will be sent to our members to vote.

Rick Demarest (Incumbent)

I’ve been wandering in the Utah and Arizona deserts since 1985. First, on Colorado River trips through the Grand Canyon and then exploring the canyonlands southern Utah. Fascinated by “what’s up there?”, I eventually found my way to technical canyoneering.

As the owner of a rafting company, I’ve been involved with land managers and rangers for the NPS, BLM, and USFS. Having seen river regulations imposed in a few areas without any public input, it’s clear that as canyoneering continues to grow access regulations will follow. It has happened in Zion and is in progress in the Grand Canyon, Arches and southern California. Most of my work with the CAC is on the tech side – the website, editing, and creating graphics for presentations.

Danielle Monroy (Incumbent)

I have been an educator for over 30 years and have sat on many boards, state and county commissions; serving as President of several. I like organizing events – whether it’s putting together a canyon clean-up event or a social gathering or fundraiser, I throw myself 100% into everything I do.

The sport of canyoneering is unique because we love exploring these wild places and need to protect their natural state. A relative newcomer, I discovered it with my family in Zion six years ago and have been gobbling up every canyon and training opportunity that comes my way. I have descended several hundred canyons here in the United States and also in Europe. I enjoy leading and organizing canyon group trips and have been blessed to have been mentored by some amazing athletes in this sport. Sharing my knowledge with others is equally rewarding. I would be honored to continue to serve in an official capacity through the CAC.

Kevin Anderson

I’ve had a passion for the outdoors for as long as I can remember. Accompanying this passion is a deep desire to protect our public lands for all to enjoy, as well as a responsibility to be a good steward while enjoying the great outdoors. I’m in my senior year of canyoneering having only discovered this amazing sport a few years ago. As with everything I’m involved in, I give 100% effort in educating myself and others to ensure a safe and enjoyable adventure.

Our public lands are becoming increasingly crowded as more and more people venture out seeking some semblance of solitude. Protecting open access and preserving our public lands through education plays a fundamental role in ensuring future generations can enjoy canyoneering as much as we do. I’d be honored if selected to serve on the CAC board to continue educating, protecting access and promoting safety for current and future adventurers. Thank you for your consideration.

Jason Bowman

I have been a climber and backpacker since a very young age which led to me joining a volunteer mountain rescue team in Arizona in 2007. I quickly became very active in the regional and national mountain rescue community and was introduced by fellow rescuers to canyoneering. Since then I have descended countless canyons all around the western US and Canada and made canyoneering my primary outdoor pursuit. I frequently attend canyon rendezvous, have participated in several canyon clean-up projects, and regularly teach canyoneering awareness courses to several mountain rescue teams.

In 2016 I moved to Oregon to accept a full time career in search and rescue. I feel that my extensive background in both volunteer and paid SAR has given me a unique perspective on working with land managers and promoting safety, both key to the CAC’s mission. I would be honored to serve the CAC on its Board of Directors.

Willie Hunt

I’ve been an avid adventurer all my life, exploring woods, bayous, and storm sewers as a kid in Houston, TX. When I moved to Indiana, I got seriously into cycling, caving, rock climbing, and soon after mountaineering in the early 1990’s. When I moved to California around 2000, I enjoyed easy access to big mountains, world class rock climbs, and canyons which were new to me at the time. I did a few canyons here and there, but in March 2017, I got into canyoneering in a major way and found that SoCal has so many fun canyons. And some 250 canyon runs later, I’m still loving it, even more!

Over the years, I’ve helped out many cleanups, trail building & maintenance, access issues, teaching proper techniques and conservation. Being good stewards is critical to maintaining access, whether on public or private land. I’ve seen far too many awesome places closed to the public when the users could have done much better to keep them open. As such, I’d be honored to serve the CAC to help keep canyons open and well kept for all to enjoy.

Christopher Hagedorn

Christopher is a professional outdoor educator, wilderness guide and leadership instructor based out of Hanksville, Utah and Woodinville, Washington. He has been climbing, canyoneering, exploring and teaching throughout North America for 25 years with extensive time in the North Cascade Mountains, Southern Appalachian Mountains and Dirty Devil/Robbers Roost Wilderness of Southern Utah.

From the time he was 12, Christopher decided to pursue the dream of becoming a US Astronaut. Following 30 years of preparation which included a B.S. Degree in Geological Science, a M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering and three rounds of application to NASA he made the difficult decision to redirect his passion and energy towards the development of a unique outdoor adventure and leadership education company that became Get In The Wild. The satisfaction in seeing others achieve their dreams while simultaneously learning essential outdoor safety skills provides him great satisfaction as he continues his lifelong adventure journey.