Photo Courtesy of Madelyn Fahnline in Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest, Colorado (Unceded Arapaho, Ute, Cheyenne, and Ochethi Sakowin lands)

This profile was originally featured in our Fall 2022 Trail Break issue.

“I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and hope that someone else will save these places; if they are to be protected it takes action in the present and people who will speak up for them.”

Originally from Colorado, Maddie learned to ski when she was just three years old. She is a backcountry skier, ice climber, and an advocate for wild places.

Maddie got involved with Wild Winters when her local backcountry ski spot, Moose Mountain in Northeast Minnesota, was threatened by a proposed ski resort expansion plan which would have put one of the finest backcountry ski areas in the midwest in-bounds.

She supports WWA because she believes in the mission and knows that “the fight for our public lands is complex, and it is hard to be a small grassroots organization going against a mega corporation.” She adds: “Winter Wildlands Alliance stepping in and providing assistance, resources, and boosting those grassroots efforts is invaluable.”