Aniiu Ambassadors
CHRIS DAVENPORT
Two-time World Champion skier Chris Davenport is widely regarded as one of the premier big mountain skiers in the world today. Among his many ski mountaineering achievements, in 2007 Chris became the first person to ski all fifty-four of Colorado's 14,000-foot peaks in less than one year. He has numerous first descents of peaks around the globe under his belt and has guided and skied on Mt. Everest. Chris has been featured in more than thirty ski films by Warren Miller and Matchstick Productions. He is also a TV commentator for ESPN, ABC sports, and Outside Television. Chris is also an Olympic (2010, 2018) and World Cup announcer for ski racing events.
Chris is the author of two beautiful coffee-table books that celebrate North America’s mountains, Ski The 14ers and Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America. He was recently named one of ESPN’s “10 Greatest American Freeskiers of all Time”. Chris is an honored member of the USA Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame. Chris serves as a director of non-profits Protect Our Winters, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) the Aspen Valley Ski Club, and New Hampshire’s Holderness School. When not traveling the globe Chris resides in Aspen, Colorado with his wife and three boys.
Pursuit: Big Mountain Skiing/Ski Mountaineering
Hometown: Aspen, CO
Favorite Aniiu glove: Tyree Short
Other sponsors: Aspen Snowmass, Norrona, Ortovox, onX Backcountry, Red Bull, SCARPA, Sweet Protection and more
Follow on Instagram: @steepskiing
KATIE MCKINSTRY STYLOS
Katie is an ice climber who drytools, and does art for a living. Finding herself living and basing out of Bozeman, Montana she is heavily inspired by the mountains around her and the experiences she shares with people in the community. Katie has had a major focus
in the last few years on hard drytooling in horizontal roofs around the world. Katie is the first American woman to climb “A Line Above the Sky” a D15, and the fourth woman in the world to climb the grade. Along with notable ascents of Oblivion D14, and Edge of Tomorrow D13. She has a love for big projects that require long projecting, intense focus, and hard training. When she is not out climbing hard in horizontal roofs you can find her climbing big ice climbs around North America. Katie is a big advocate of pushing yourself but also inspiring others and sharing knowledge with the community, especially women.
Pursuit: Drytooling, Ice Climbing + Mixed Climbing
Hometown: Meridian, Idaho
Favorite Aniiu glove: TBD
Other sponsors: Rhino Skin Solutions
CONNOR CHILCOT
Connor grew up enjoying the wild spaces of the Sierra Nevada, CA. At a very young age he fell in love with Yosemite Valley. Through surfing and climbing Connor developed an affinity for the outdoors and went on to study zero waste and resource management in college. During college Connor could not sit still and that drive led him to begin his mountain guide program. He eventually moved to Colorado then the PNW and finally settled back in Lake Tahoe, CA. Through his 20’s he spent time climbing / skiing and guiding all over the world. He is an IFMGA certified mountain guide and loves to share experiences with others in the world's most wild places.
Pursuit: Ice and Rock Climbing
Hometown: Truckee, CA
Favorite Aniiu glove: Ossa glove when it's really cold; Viinson Light for a daily glove.
Other Sponsors: DPS Skis, Feathered Friends, Grivel, Liberty Mountain
DYLAN CONNOLE
Dylan is a climber, guide, and coach passionate about all forms of climbing from getting after it on hard climbs to sharing mountain experiences with everyone. After wandering into a small climbing gym in college, he spent the next 10 years pursuing climbing around the globe and developing new routes across North America. Whether it's developing boulders near his childhood home in Maine, bolting new routes in Mexico, or pushing his skills into the mountains, Dylan loves all types of climbing, and is working on progressing his skiing to meet the demands of the Rocky Mountains where he now lives. He works as a guide and coach where he shares his skills and experience helping to fulfill his clients goals and is passionate about inspiring young climbers to pursue their passion in the mountains.
Pursuit: Ice, Alpine, and Rock Climbing; pushing more into skiing
Hometown: Dixmont, Maine
KYLIE FLY
Kylie grew up in a little farm town called Caldwell, Idaho. She is an identical triplet and travels for a living as a professional adventure photographer. She is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah and has a pup named Griz (who looks exactly like a grizzly bear) and a Sprinter named Smokey.
Pursuit: Ice and Rock Climbing; Snowboarding and Splitboarding
Hometown: Southington, CT
Favorite Aniiu glove:
Other sponsors: Cypher Climbing, Liberty Mountain
Follow on Instagram: @kylie.fly
STEFAN HADEED
Passion for expression and movement has always been the driving force in Stefan's life. Growing up in Portland, Oregon, Stefan found meaning in kicking and pushing around on his skateboard as well as writing music. In his teens his love for movement and expression took root in the mountains and has failed to waiver since. First starting to climb at Smith Rock, his love for the sport quickly grew to develop every aspect from sport climbing to alpine walls. Now a full time guide he spends his time not only pursuing his own goals but guiding people through theirs as well.
Pursuit: Ice, Alpine and Rock Climbing
Hometown: Portland, OR
Favorite Aniiu glove:
Other sponsors: Edelweiss, Grivel, Liberty Mountain
Follow on Instagram: @stefanhadeed
CLINT HELANDER
Clint moved to Alaska in 2003 to attend college. A rowdy group of friends introduced him to ice climbing and mountaineering. After these formative years, Clint honed his skills and applied them to the remote mountains of Alaska. Since 2008, Clint has established many first ascents in the seldom visited Revelation Mountains, a group of jagged peaks at the southwest edge of the Alaska Range. He combines his climbing with his other passions, photography and writing, to craft powerful imagery and stories that have appeared in countless publications. He is most proud of his eight-day first ascent of Mount Huntington’s complete south ridge in 2017 with Jess Roskelley.
Pursuit: Ice Climbing
Hometown: Anchorage, AK
Favorite Aniiu glove:
Other sponsors: Beal, DPS Skis, Grivel, Liberty Mountain
Follow on Instagram: @clinthelander
HANNAH "HOOTY" HOETMER
Hannah is a multi-mountain-sport enthusiast based in Eagle County, Colorado. Inspired by the landscapes that surround her, Hannah enjoys the challenge of getting from point A to point B in any landscape with the technical skills she's acquired, the gear in her pack, and her physical ability. This has led her to train in many disciplines including rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, skiing, ultra running, cycling, aid climbing, and more. While she is primarily focused on alpine climbing and endurance pursuits as an ADP Athlete for The North Face, she's known to say yes to any activity that involves getting outdoors with her friends or learning something new.
Hannah devotes much of her time to increasing access to outdoor recreation for historically underrepresented communities by mentoring other female mountain athletes, and leading adaptive activities for The Lockwood Foundation. She is dedicated to helping 30 women achieve their outdoor goals before she turns 30 years old as part of her "30 before 30" project. She is also a volunteer rescuer, EMT, and rope access technician for Vail Mountain Rescue Group. All of her pursuits support her core values of building community, chasing adventure, embracing challenge, and living life to the fullest.
Pursuits: Alpinism, Rock/Ice Climbing, Skiing, Ultra Running, Cycling, Mountaineering... you get it, anything outdoors.
Hometown: Goddard, Kansas
Other Sponsors: The North Face, COROS, The Feed
Follow on Instagram: @hootymer
CHRIS LILE
Chris grew up exploring the hills of rural Idaho, where he developed a love for the outdoors and a thirst for adventure. He moved to Wyoming to attend school and quickly fell in love with the surrounding mountains. A rock climber at heart, Chris eventually gave into ice climbing and skiing after suffering through two Wyoming winters digging boulders out of the snow. Since then he has developed a passion for all three disciplines and seeks whatever conditions seem most fun. Now a year-round guide, Chris shares his knowledge and experience with others, helping them to embark on their own adventures.
Pursuit: Rock Climbing, Ice Climbing, Backcountry Skiing
Hometown: Caldwell, ID
Favorite Aniiu Glove: Tyree Short
Follow on Instagram: @lile.chris
DUSTIN LYONS
Dustin began climbing in 1996, and has been in and around the climbing and outdoor industry ever since. Dustin was co-owner of the retail store Hansen Mountaineering, and co-founded the Serac Mountaineering Club, which trained members in all aspects of climbing and mountaineering safety and techniques. The club ultimately grew to hundreds of members and took people all over the world to climb big mountains in Mexico, South America, Europe, and Asia. Dustin was one of the original organizers of the Wasatch Ice Festival, an ice festival that ran from 2001-2004 and drew thousands of participants from all over the Intermountain West and athletes from all over North America. Due to his love for ice climbing and the emergence of ice climbing competitions, he also designed and farmed ice climbing towers, locally in Midway, Utah. In 2021, with business and climbing partner Susan Sims he opened a dedicated dry tooling gym in Orem, Utah called The Scratch Pad, where he coaches members of the U.S. National Ice Team including the current U16 World Champion. Dustin is a valued member of the local ice climbing community, and is passionate about bringing people together and building community and continuing to search for fun new FA’s.
CHRIS NOBLE
One of the premier outdoor writers and photographers of his generation, Chris Noble has documented and participated in adventure around the globe for half a century. A former contributing editor to Powder and Outdoor Photographer Magazines, Noble’s work has appeared worldwide in books, anthologies and magazines, including Life, National Geographic, Outside, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Geo, Alpinist, Climbing, Rock & Ice, and Adventure Journal. During the eighties and nineties, Noble served as the primary expedition photographer for The North Face, documenting adventures from the slopes of Everest to the jungles of Borneo.
More recently he has aided environmental and social justice organizations such as the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Round River, and Lily Yeh’s Barefoot Artists in their efforts to create a more just and sustainable world, and he has authored two books on climbing and the climbing lifestyle Women Who Dare: North America’s Most Inspiring Women Climbers and Why We Climb: The World’s Most Inspiring Climbers.
SOFIA OPMANIS
Like everyone else, when Sofia moved to Utah at the age of 18, she quickly got hooked on climbing. Pairing that with a passion for travel, she's taken her climbing adventures from Utah to all corners of the globe. Her love for climbing has only grown stronger, thanks in large part to her incredible mentors. Despite her success as an entrepreneur and her new venture into homesteading in Zion, Utah, Sofia still finds time to chase ice.
Pursuit: Ice Climbing
Hometown: Rockville, Utah
Instagram: @sofiaopmanis
JORDAN REVIS
Connecticut town, immersed himself in skiing and snowboarding from a young age, discovering a love for rock climbing at his local YMCA day camp. Relocating to Waltham, MA, in 2021, he observed the lack of diversity in the New England climbing community, prompting him to take action. Joining the Western Mass Climbers Coalition and assuming the role of vice chair of the JDEI Committee, Jordan actively participated in the Appalachian Mountain Club, organizing BIPOC climbing events and recognizing the need for representation. Frustrated by the absence of African descent leaders and professionals in the New England climbing scene, he decided to become a mountain guide, aiming to break barriers and foster inclusivity within the climbing community. Jordan is determined to show that everyone is welcome, and diversity is essential in elevating historically underserved voices in the climbing world.
Pursuit: Ice and Rock Climbing; Snowboarding and Splitboarding
Hometown: Southington, CT
Other sponsors: Cypher Climbing, Liberty Mountain
Follow on Instagram: @revissaywat
NATHAN SANDIDGE
Nathan is just psyched on being in the mountains. From ice and rock climbing, to skiing and trail running, he enjoys being out exploring in all conditions. Originally born and raised in Denver, CO, he travels all over the American West in pursuit of having fun and showing others the ropes along the way as a professional mountain guide. He sleeps in a van, and lives wherever his stoke takes him.
Pursuit: Anything in the mountains - Rock/Ice/Alpine Climbing, Skiing/Splitboarding, Trail Running
Hometown: Denver, CO
Favorite Aniiu glove: Viinson Neo Cuff
Other Sponsors: The Feed, High Mountain Gear
LAUREL WALKER
Laurel grew up on a small family farm in upstate New York. She fell in love with the mountains at a young age and has been cross country skiing, ice skating and climbing trees since she could walk. During grad school, Laurel discovered the amazing mountains of Alaska and Colorado and has lived in the western U.S. ever since.
Laurel is a writer, editor, and athlete specializing in mountain sports. With a 10+ year background in competitive ultrarunning, she now uses that endurance and drive to not only pursue running but also a variety of climbing styles, as well as backcountry skiing. Laurel enjoys moving efficiently through the mountains whether that be on skis; rock, ice, or mixed climbing; running, or combo of them all. When she isn’t out pursuing her own projects, you can find Laurel mentoring others in the outdoors.
Pursuits: Rock, ice, alpine and mixed climbing; backcountry skiing, ultrarunning
Hometown: Hyde Park, NY
Instagram: @zenrunner50