Laura is a professional member of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) and the Canadian Avalanche Association, and has a Master's degree in Leadership and Learning.
She has spent her life guiding and adventuring in captivating and remote landscapes around the globe including climbing, skiing, paddling and ocean expeditions in North America, Asia, Europe, New Zealand, the southern hemisphere, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic. Laura was the fifth woman in Canada to become a fully certified ACMG Ski Guide.
Laura spent her early years on the rugged west coast of Canada before moving with her family to the interior of British Columbia where the outdoors was an inherent part of her family life. She lived in New Zealand for ten years where she worked as a mountain guide and avalanche forecaster in the southern Alps, and pursued her training as a Boatmaster (NZ Coast Guard) and sailing skipper.
From a young age, Laura has been fascinated with the natural world—the changing influences of weather and climate, its varied landscapes, and the interactions of the people within them.
She is an educator at heart and alongside her international guiding career has taught in the fields of environmental sciences and outdoor recreation, conducted research on high-risk decision making that was recognised by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and held leadership and technical advisory roles in the international adventure recreation sector.
Laura has a passion for culture and the arts and is a landscape oil painter using palette knives and large canvas formats. She now lives in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada.