Rise Outside

01/25/2022

Hey y’all next co-founder to be introduced is Katerine Grajales-Betancur (it’s easier to pronounce than you think) .

Kat (she/her) emigrated from Colombia to the US as a small child, and grew up in northern New Jersey. The outdoors was not a place she frequented during her youth due to lack of resources, exposure, and education. Kat was introduced to climbing in college during a trail cleanup in Harriman State Park. She continued to climb and search for her community. Eventually she became a co-leader of for the NJ chapter and began to grow in the community she was searching for.

Climbing helped her realize the value the outdoors brought to her life. Kat hopes to share the experiences the outdoors has to offer with folks who have never had the privilege of recreating in the outdoors. Kat is very new to the outdoor education space and is looking forward to taking her Single Pitch Instructor exam, and sharing her love of climbing with all.

If it weren’t for her community Kat would have never been able to pursue a career in the outdoors. She is excited to give back to her community and help facilitate opportunities for other folks.

When Kat isn’t out hiking or climbing she can be found practicing her salsa 💃 moves somewhere where no one can see her because she’s a horrible dancer.

Rise Outside is a non-profit (501c3), full-function guide service that uses a dynamic funding model to support free or low-cost guided programming.


📍Recreating on the stolen lands of:
P1 Munsee Lenape Territory P2 Boriken Taino territory P3 Wabanaki Territory

Photo Credit P1 P2 P3

01/24/2022

Meet the founders continues with Alan Kline! 😄
Alan (he/him) is an AMGA certified Rock Guide and is an AMGA Ice instructor course graduate. He started guiding in 2007 in the desert southwest and ended up guiding all around the west for many years. Alan has been guiding in the Gunks and up and down the east coast since moving to the area in 2010. Alan also has his Wilderness First Responder and previous experience as an EMT-B. 
In his years of guiding Alan has particularly enjoyed his time spent increasing accessibility to those with traditional barriers to positive, supportive outdoors experiences. This inspired him to start dreaming of a non-profit guide service many years ago. 
Teaching is another passion for Alan who looks forward to his role in Rise Outside as a mentor, technical guru, and guide. The light of Alan’s life is his family, which he works hard to spend as much time with as possible.
📍Recreating on stolen lands: Haudenosaunee, Mohican and Munsee Lenape territories

01/20/2022

Our meet-the-founders week continues! Next up Alexis Krauss 😊
Alexis (she/her) is a longtime lover of the outdoors and teaching. Alexis has been guiding adventures in the outdoors since 2016 and especially loves sharing the transformative power of nature with youth.
She is a co-founder of , a climbing and leadership program for New York City girls and gender-expansive youth. Alexis is a working musician and one half of the band
She is an outdoor educator for , a guide with and an Single Pitch Instructor. She has spent the past year working in the Shawangunks with . She especially loves sharing her passion for rock climbing with kids and families.
As a co-founder of Rise Outside, Alexis is most interested in offering affordable, accessible, creative and inclusive outdoor adventure programming to youth and local community organizations.
Rise Outside is a non-profit (501c3), full function guide service that uses a dynamic funding model to support free or low-cost guided programming.
You can follow Alexis here
📍Recreating on stolen lands. P1 Ute territories. P2-4 Munsee Lenape and Mohican territories
📷 P1, P2 , P3 , P4

01/20/2022

Hey all, thank you for supporting Rise Outside! This week we’ll be introducing you to our co-founders, continuing with Eric Ratkowski! 🙃
Eric (he/him) is tall and from Detroit. He has guided for eight years, and works as a Ranger at the Mohonk Preserve. Last year Eric co-authored the new Gunks Climbing guidebook, with and . He fills his time climbing, traveling to climb, riding his bicycle, volunteering for the ParaCliffHangers (), First Descents (), and Kingston Emergency Food Collective (), and recently, running ( ).
Growing up in the flood plains of southeast Michigan, Eric was not born into the outdoors. He began climbing in a gym, in Houston (of all places), in graduate school (). A winding path from there led through New York City (), Fogo Island (), and finally to New Paltz to live and guide. He believes strongly in the right of all people to access the same gifts the outdoors have given him. “Rise Outside is my small corner of this work, which is ongoing and always evolving.” Eric is a lifelong wanderer that will grow up some day, but has no current plans to.
Rise Outside is a non-profit (501c3), full-function guide service that uses a dynamic funding model to support free or low-cost guided programming.
You can follow Eric here .
📍Recreating on stolen lands. P1 and P3: Munsee Lenape territories. P2 and P4: Ute, Cheyenne, Arapaho territories. P5: Cheyenne, Apsaalooké (Crow) territories.
📷: 1: 2: 3, 4, 5:

01/20/2022

Hey folks, thank you so much for supporting Rise Outside! This week we’ll be introducing you to our co-founders, starting with Marian Perez 😁
Marian or May (she/they/ella) is
an outdoor enthusiast from New Jersey who moved to New Paltz, NY to pursue their outdoor passions full time. She is an event assistant with , a community member and leader for New York, mentor for , an Single Pitch Instructor, and an advocate for diversifying the outdoors. You can also catch them being a human jukebox, making donuts with , and starting dance parties with those around her.
Being a first generation American with parents from the Dominican Republic and living in NYC, May didn’t grow up in the outdoors. She found the most excitement being outside at music festivals in college and went hiking with friends to check out abandoned buildings. She ended up working for an outdoor retailer soon after being denied a job as a server in a nursing home where her mother worked, and has been in the industry for over 10 years. Marian noticed the lack of diversity in the outdoor industry and wants to take up space and help those who have been under represented.
Rise Outside is a non-profit (501c3), full-function guide service that uses a dynamic funding model to support free or low-cost guided programming.
You can follow their adventures here , and support the organizations they are apart of.
📍Recreating on stolen lands. Munsee Lenape territories.
Image description: two pictures of Marian on the Shawangunk Mountain range. First is a selfie with Millbrook Mountain in the background, second is on a climb called Arrow before the final crux, taken by overlooking the land below the cliff.

01/14/2022