For Andrea Charest, climbing is entwined with community. She and her husband Steve own Petra Cliffs, a climbing gym and mountaineering school in Burlington, Vermont, where they also work as guides. She’s volunteered much of her time over the years to Crag Vermont, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and advocating for climbing access in the Green Mountain State.

She empowers her fellow climbers to take the lead, and has a knack for enabling others to move past their perceived limitations.

Earlier this year, Charest became an AMGA-certified ice climbing instructor, a hard-earned goal years in the making. 

In this conversation, we talk about her journey through the ice instructor exam, and how she balances business, play and parenthood. Charest shares her love for the global climbing community, her excitement around the continued growth of Petra Cliffs, and the importance of helping climbers make the transition from the gym to the crag.

This episode is brought to you by Rab Equipment

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Host: Abbey Collins

Guest: Andrea Charest

Producer + Engineer: Mike Horn