Chelsey Cook

Chelsey is a writer, educator, and mountain guide. She did her undergraduate at the University of Limerick (Ireland) and Plymouth State University, where she earned a Bachelor’s in Archaeology. Following a stint in the US Army in Alaska and several years of traveling the world, she went back to school for a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge (UK). There, she examined and deconstructed the historically masculine-coded adventure narrative to create something new and more inclusive.

Now, she works as a freelance writer, specializing in the intersection of the outdoors, conservation, and the human experience. She has published over 150 articles, ranging from environmental news to gear guides to articles on climate change. She also writes mixed-genre narrative nonfiction and poetry and is currently undertaking a second Master’s in Coastal and Maritime Cultures.

When Chelsey isn’t writing, she can be found outside. Chelsey has been a professional mountain guide for over six years, guiding expeditions on Denali’s West Buttress, teaching mountaineering courses, leading trips in the Brooks Range and Lake Clark National Park, and facilitating all women’s adventure travel in Peru and Tanzania. She loves mountaineering, trail running, packrafting, fishing, and mountain biking, and is also a pilot, a yoga teacher, and an EMT.

On her bucket list: A packrafting trip to visit Norse sites in Greenland. A solo traverse of the Brooks Range. Catching a grayling. Building her own cabin. Learning to fly her plane in the backcountry.

Some of her favorite things: Cats, of all shapes and sizes. Afternoons spent reading. Long cross-country skis in the woods. Her Kindle. Pringles.