Kim currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. She grew up in a small town north of Calgary and moved to Calgary over 6 years ago for work and school. Monday to Friday she works in finance, and during “the other hours” you’ll find her in the mountains climbing, mountaineering, or camping.
“Life is magical and the stoke is real!”
Ultimately, she is just trying to make the most of her days.
We love following your adventures throughout the beautiful Canadian Rockies. Where do you call home, and what are some of your favorite local spots for adventure?
Home is in Calgary, Alberta! It is so hard to pin-point my favorite adventure spots because every single outing and spot brings something special to the table, regardless of the location. But in the winter months I do get most excited about trips to The Icefields Parkway and the Ghost Wilderness Area, while this summer I seem to be drawn to various rock climbing destinations in British Columbia, along with Lake Louise.
The Canadian Rockies are a a place where you have access to a variety of outdoor activities year-round, such as hiking, rock climbing, ice climbing and snow sports. What are some of your favorite activities, and how did you become involved in them?
My main focus this summer seems to be rock climbing. I love that it is a continual challenge, and requires constant development both mentally and physically. Scrambling was my weekend routine until my girlfriend invited me to a local crag one night. And voila, that was the night that a new hobby/obsession was born for me. I was hooked! In the winter you’ll find me split boarding or ice climbing as much as possible. I am new to both backcountry riding and ice climbing so its always an epic adventure full of good times and type 2 fun. I was always a resort rider until my friend enlightened me on the “beauty” of split boarding. Before I knew it, I was taking my AST1 and re-learning how to ride heaps of fluffy waist deep powder while providing humor every time I crashed, which was/is often. Ice climbing came with mountaineering. I knew that it would be a required skill to get up some of the peaks that I continually fantasized about.
I’ll never forget my first evening of ice climbing… my friends took me out after work one evening which resulted in climbing with a headlamp because it gets dark early. To this day I joke that I looked like a seal waddling up the wall. And to be honest I wasn’t overly stoked on ice climbing until about my 5th day out. As I progressed over the season I soon realized that ice climbing is beyond magical. The lines are so aesthetic and hold fairy-tale-like beauty that a lot of people don’t or will never get to experience.
How has living a life of outdoor adventure made a positive impact on your life?
Nature has this way of bringing calmness and balance into my life. When my thoughts and life in the city get busy, I use nature as a form of therapy. The activities that I do quiet my mind and leave me feeling super grateful for my health, family, and friends. If I didn’t have good health or supportive people in my life, half of my adventures wouldn’t be possible and that is a super surreal thing to think about.
What are some of your adventure and travel goals?
The list is endless and I’m a huge dreamer so it’s always changing. Honestly, I just want to climb and touch all of the rocks around the world! The Bugaboos is a really special place close to home and I’d like to be able to climb some of the bigger routes there one day, but until then I’ll take on the easier routes and continue to work hard. One of my climbing dreams is to camp on a portaledge one day. But that comes with big wall climbing, and big wall climbing comes with a plethora of experience and skills that I do not have. One of the big mega dreams that I have is to climb in Patagonia (drool). But I do realize that the skills and experience required for such an adventure will take me a very long time to attain. So, ultimately, the present goal for myself is to keep improving and have fun while doing so.
Who do you look up to? How do they inspire you in how you live your life?
My friends aka mentors! No words can express how grateful I am for the amazing humans in my life. They teach me things, comfort me, keep me safe, and always make me laugh. Classifying them as friends doesn’t even seem suiting because they are more like family.
What are some of the funniest/most memorable stories or achievements from your travels and adventures?
This is a hard question because there are so many priceless moments to choose from.
But here we go: my first time peeing in a harness resulted in my entire pant leg and shoe being soaked in my own urine for the entire day (type 2 fun).
Or witnessing friends get “screaming barfies” for the first time is always something to be cherished. Screaming barfies usually happen while ice climbing; they are highly painful sensations that appear when your hands go from being severely cold to warm very quickly. They can make the toughest individuals squeal and cry in a matter of seconds.
And my most memorable time was having to share a very small single person bivy bag with my gf in a field of deer pee because we had a storm come in while we were climbing.
We at This Adventure Life want our readers to live life fearlessly in the pursuit of living their ideal life. What would your advice be for someone who wants to live fearlessly and pursue their wildest dreams?
There really is no perfect time, you just have to take the leap and trust that everything will work out eventually. There is always blue sky after the storm. I think the most challenging part of anything hard or new in life is taking the initial step to create that real life vision for ourselves. The truest of tragedies is seeing people settle because they are scared to change their own destiny. Look around you; how many people are in okay relationships, okay jobs, hanging out with okay friends, and living an okay life? Far too many if you ask me.
If the mountains and my adventures have taught me anything, its that life is precious and rather short. If you cant stop thinking about something and the thought of it scares you, my advice is to do it! Great things don’t come from comfort zones. So go ask your boss for that raise, break up with friends that no longer add value to your life, register for a new class, or book that dream trip. You really have nothing to lose.
Where is your next big adventure?
I am actually heading to Europe in August! I will be climbing The Dolomites in Italy for a week followed by some hiking in western Austria. And Kalymnos, Greece and/or El Pocaterra, Mexico is on my radar for a 2018 sport climbing trip. So many things to do and not enough time it seems!
Follow her on Instagram: @krruby
At This Adventure Life we celebrate the lives and stories of the people who live life fearlessly. #livefearlessly