Cathy grew up hiking, climbing, backpacking, running and riding horses in Southern California. She moved to Colorado in 1981 to pursue a degree in Outdoor Recreation at Colorado State University. She went back to school in 1998 to become a physician assistant. Cathy has been a PA for 23 years, spending 17 years at an internal medicine office before transitioning to hormone therapy. She loves to travel, ski, snowshoe, cycle , hike, backpack, climb and scuba dive. She wanted to combine her work with her love for the outdoors, so became involved in the Wilderness Medical Society and has participated in a study on high altitude pulmonary and cerebral edema and acetazolamide in Nepal. She began volunteering for First Descents in 2009 as a camp medic at a Jackson Hole rock climbing camp. She fell in love with the FD mission and has volunteered ever since.