Zoe Hart

 ZOE HART - Alpinist.

Zoe claims to be from Chamonix, France these days, and her accent twisted from years of travel and foreign boyfriends will throw you off.  But, if you look deep into her past, you'll find a birth certificate with roots on New York City, and a childhood in New Jersey.

A NOLS course in Washington State at the age of 19 kicked it all off. After a childhood filled with suburbia and prep schools she found the Wild, Wild West.  Learning knots, she speculated...."hmmm I wonder what we'll do with these".  Ten years later she hasn't stopped.
Begrudgingly finishing a college degree in English Literature at Boston College, the summers, winter breaks and spring breaks were filled with jaunts out west to learn bits of climbing, skiing, and mountaineering.

In 2000 with an expensive, and still unused Boston College Degree in British Romantic Literature, she began working as an apprentice guide in Washington State.  Pieces began to fall into place and she willingly jumped on board each adventure that presented itself.  A Trekking and easy climbing trip to the Himalayas, Sikkim and India, was her first real foray out of the country in the fall of 2000.  In the winter of 2001 she followed a whim to a place called Chamonix in France, that apparently had mountains.  She bought a pair of telemark skis, a ticket to Paris, a "Let's Go France" and hopped on a plane thinking "I'm gonna learn to ski".  Two weeks of snow and clouds, and finally the skies cleared showing the mecca that Zoe had stumbled upon.

The learning curve was steep.  For a blue eyed 21 year old girl in a mountain town climbing and skiing partners were easily found.  Zoe skied the Cosmiques Couloir 45-50 deg in her first three months on telemark skis.  Climbed four 800-1000m routes on the North Face of the Aguille du Midi in her second season in Chamonix.  And luckily made it home alive.

Now, ten years later, Chamonix holds her roots, if you say she actually has any.  Zoe sleeps more nights in Chamonix than anywhere else during the year, but that's not saying much.  Over the past ten years she has guided, climbed, and skied all over the world.  Alaska, Argentina, Ecuador, Canada, Scotland, Britian, France, Italy, Switzerland, Morocco, Pakistan, India and beyond.

Currently Zoe guides internationally, she also makes part of her living off freelance writing and gear testing and design consulting for Patagonia.  Rumor has it she has swung a hammer, been a nanny after breaking her hand, and can lay tile.

While considered an all-arounder, Zoe's passions lie in shivering on bivies, suffering, light packs, and alpine style.  Why else wake up each day?

Her secret are that she loves baking cakes, knitting, wild and crazy hot pants, and still has a little bit of her security blanket which accompanies her on all alpine routes tucked in the pocket of her Dax Parka!!