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Monserrat Alvarez Matehuala

Monserrat Alvarez Matehuala

Climb

Pronouns: She/Her

Hometown: Raleigh, NC by way of Oxnard, CA by way of Mexico

Current Location: Boulder, CO

Favorite Zone: Lumpy Ridge in Estes Park, CO

Proudest Achievement: Summiting la gran mujer on my ancestral lands, Iztaccihuatl, with my best friend Arianna

Favorite Advocacy Org: Indigenous Women Hike (it was so hard to just pick one!)

Biography

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My name is Monserrat Alvarez Matehuala (Guachichil & Mexica) was born in Ventura, CA but grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina where I fell in love with community organizing and the outdoors. I am a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants, and it is my mami who nurtured my passion for social justice at a young age. It has been a long journey to reconcile my social justice journey and my calling to be on the land, but I am here making it all come to life. I am outdoor educator, instructor, community organizer, climber, and danzante currently based in Boulder, CO. Over the last eight years, I have worked with various organizations in the outdoors to create more spaces for my communities. I am part of national founding team for Brown Girls Climb, work part-time at Women’s Wilderness, and local leader for Latino Outdoors. I have worked hard to prepare myself to be a good educator and instructor for my communities and enjoy days when I can bring intergenerational and multilingual spaces together. I am bilingual (hopefully trilingual in a few years) certified Single Pitch Instructor, Apprentice Alpine Guide, JEDI consultant and Master LNT educator. When I am not working, I am teaching ancestral food classes, learning about herbs, and tending to my chicken and ducks.

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ATHLETE MENTORSHIP INITATIVE

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The SCARPA Athlete Mentorship Initiative presented by Mountain Hardwear has been created to connect and engage the SCARPA and Mountain Hardwear Athlete teams with accomplished athletes from historically marginalized communities aspiring to take their sport or career to the next level. The mission of this program is to connect mentors with mentees focused on the sports we serve to provide participants with opportunities for personal, athletic and career development with the goal of helping to create a more inclusive and diverse community of athletes.

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Q & A

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  1. Who is your mentor?: Madaleine Sorkin
  2. How did you get involved with your respective sport? : I started working in the outdoors eight years ago and through my work, I was introduced to rock climbing. I was really turned off by the culture of the sport, but eventually made my way back to rock climbing five years ago.
  3. Who were your influences early in life? : My answer is always mi mami, my mother. She has worked my entire life to not only give me and my brother opportunities she never had, but to also create change for our communities. She is a cook, community organizer, activist, and overall chingona. As an undocumom, she sparked my interest in social justice work and at the age of twelve was driving me to first protests. My mom is definition of chingona, a badass woman, and she comes from a linage of strong mujeres like mi abuelita Lucha and my aunties Laura, Delia, and Irma.
  4. What draws you to the outdoors? : Being on the land is my life calling. As someone who didn’t grow up outdoors and on the land, I felt really disconnected from who I was as a person for a long time. The land has brought me back to center and offered so much healing in my life. I still remember my first camping trip when I was five years old with my family in Mexico. As an adult, I was able to pursue more of that tranquility that being outdoors brought me. Being on the land has helped me not only find my own healing and peace but build community through all of it.
  5. What’s your dream trip or expedition? : I have been dreaming this up for a long time and hope that it will one day come to fruition: an all Indigenous women’s expedition across Mexico’s volcanoes including Citlaltepetl, Popocateleptl, and Iztaccihuatl.
  6. What makes a good skiing/climbing/running/hiking partner?: A good climbing partner for me is someone who will be encouraging, fun, grounded, and not afraid to speak up and keep us safe. Also, highly enjoy a climbing partner who likes to dance, can switch between Spanish and English and likes to share yummy crag snacks 😊
  7. How are you going to pass on what you learn in the mentorship program to others? : Most of what I do is for my communities and anytime I can work to improve my own learning and skillset, I know that I will bring it back to my community in one way or another. I spent a lot of my time mentoring new climbers, facilitating community events, and teaching community clinics. I know that after this mentorship program, I will walk away feeling more prepared and confident in my abilities.