Contributors to Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine
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Scott Dubar Scott DuBar is a freelance illustrator based in Charlottesville, VA. He is a graduate of VCU School of the Arts where he recieved his degree in Communication Arts magna cum laude. Scott’s work covers a wide range of lifelong interests including old style cartooning, surrealism, humor, as well as issues concerning human rights and the environment. |
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Julia Green Julia Green grew up in the wilds of suburban Washington D.C. She is a freelance writer and editor and an equal-opportunity hiker, provided there are adequate snacks. Her best friends are the em dash and red-winged blackbirds. |
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Chris Gragtmans Chris is a 3x Canadian Freestyle Kayak Team Member and 8x top 4 finisher in the Green River Narrows Race. He resides in Asheville, NC, where works with his paddling sponsors, writes for Blue Ridge Outdoors, and manages his apparel business, TerraVida.” |
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Robert Grattan Robert Grattan is a native Virginian who wandered outside one day and has had trouble focusing on anything else since. He spends his time biking and fishing, and currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley. |
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Robert McGee Robert McGee is a Pushcart Prize nominee and recipient of a fellowship from the NC Arts Council. He’s currently seeking representation for The Fifth Man, a screenplay about a mysterious Chinese basketball player who becomes an overnight sensation in the NBA. The original draft was written years before Jeremy Lin joined the Knicks. |
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Bettina Freese Bettina Freese is raising little boys and tadpoles, teaching them how to properly crash a bike, staying strong and flexible with gymnastics and yoga, while helping people recoup from injuries through rehabilitative massage. |
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Jennifer Pharr Davis Jennifer Pharr Davis is a hiker, writer, and speaker and owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Co. She has hiked over 11,000 miles on six different continents and in 2011, she became the first female to hold the overall record on the Appalachian Trail. |
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Peter Barr Peter Barr is the author of Hiking North Carolina’s Lookout Towers and the founder of the North Carolina chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, a group dedicated to preserving historic fire lookout towers. He has hiked all 900 miles of trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as climbed to the summit of every southeastern mountain peak above 5,000 ft., the first to achieve that feat. Following a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2010, he will be releasing his second book, a hiking guide to peakbagging in the Southeast. |
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Travis Graham Travis Graham plays outside, buys gear, and practices law in Roanoke, Virginia. In that order |
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Dan Conway Dan Conway was born in Fairfax, Virginia. He is a student at Virginia Tech. |
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Greg Melville Greg Melville is a former editor at Men’s Journal and author of the book “Greasy Rider.” He writes the “Adventure Adviser” column on Outside magazine’s web site, and has contributed to such publications as the New York Times, Runner’s World, and National Geographic Traveler. He’s an Aquarius, his likes include long walks on the beach and s’mores, and he dislikes mean people. |
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Lynn Willis Lynn Willis is a freelance graphic designer and photographer based in Boone, NC who likes to go on adventures and document them as they unfold. He works full-time as Studio Manager in the Marketing Department for Mast General Stores and captures outdoor and adventure images in the Blue Ridge Mountains in his free time. His top three playtime passions are telemark skiing, mountain biking and climbing, but the biggest joy and passion is being a husband and father of his two girls. |
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Kathryn Stewart Kathryn Stewart is lucky enough to call the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains her home. She writes to celebrate and protect them. |
| PHOTOGRAPHERS | |
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Jeff Zimmerman Jeff is a commercial and editorial photographer specializing in active lifestyle and adventure photography. Jeff loves to travel and is an avid cyclist and rock climber. He recently joined 1% For the Planet. |
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Harrison Shull Harrison is a freelance photographer based out of Fayetteville, W. Va., who specializes in outdoor adventure, lifestyle, landscape, and aerial images. He has spent almost 20 years exploring the Appalachian region documenting people at play in the outdoors. Samples of his work can be found at his website: www.shullphoto.com. |
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Steven McBride Steven McBride has been working as an advertising and editorial photographer for over 18 years. An adventurer at heart and a family man, he is inspired by nature and all of its unlimited photographic possibilities. He has photographed on location in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Yet Steven is most at home in the mountains of North Carolina where he lives with his wife Shannon and their two young boys. An avid mountain biker and hiker, Steven looks to stay outdoors as much as possible. |
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The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and Patagonia have recently submitted a video contest of a dream expedition on the NOLS website. My two older brothers, John and Blake, and I have decided to submit our own video of a dream expedition! An explanation of the contest rules can also be found on the NOLS website, and our main goal is to tour the United States and see how sustainable our country is. The contest objective is to “submit a video answering the following question. What is your dream expedition, and how will you get ready for it?” Here is our take…
3 brothers, one mission: to see the progress our country is making towards a more sustainable future, to share that with others, and inspire environmental ethics.
The Dream Expedition has 2 parts. First, is to travel across our home here in the United States and learn more about what we’re doing as a country to move forward sustainably and to share that with others. The second part is to inspire others through our outdoor adventures. So when we’re driving our hybrid car across the country to back home and everywhere in between — we plan to explore each unique environment and camp throughout the expedition. While participating in the activities offered by the diverse regions of our country: Alpine Climbing, Fly Fishing, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Ski/Snowboarding, Surfing, Trail Running, and Kayaking, we will stop along the way and document the stories from companies, non profits, farmers, universities, and anyone else helping to move the US forward in a responsible manner. For example, in Wisconsin we will talk to people at Growing Power, Sweet Water Organics, the Urban Ecology Center, the Driftless Folk School, etc. while climbing at Devils Lake, kayaking throughout the Apostle Islands, hiking a section of the Ice Age Trail, fly fishing in the Driftless region, etc. Our outdoor pursuits will be documented with the hopes of inspiring others to make responsible environmental choices to preserve our natural landscapes.
These outdoor activities and this process will be repeated throughout every state we travel through. Our goal is to show others what we’re doing as a country to become more environmentally responsible and to provide others with the tools necessary to collaborate with those doing these great things in their communities. By getting more involved in our communities, we’re hoping that together we will be able to show others why it’s so important to preserve our natural environment and move forward in a sustainable direction.
One journey. One goal. 3 brothers.
We hope to someday actually accomplish this expedition as well, interviewing many people nationwide. Only time will tell, and hopefully our dreams will come true!