Betsey’s Backstory:
Betsey grew up in the woods of Northeast Vermont by Smugglers’ Notch. Independent and full of energy, she spent her childhood exploring behind the family cabin, snowboarding, camping, making fairy houses, climbing anything and everything, and listening to her folks tell stories about their travels. At twelve years old, she was diagnosed with scoliosis, presenting with two separate curvatures in her spine. Originally doctors said that observation would be sufficient management, but by the time she was fourteen, the scoliosis had advanced to the point that surgery was advised. Betsey’s first surgery was in the summer of 2010, during which her spine was fused from T2-L2. Surgical complications led to Betsey missing about half of the four years of high school, along with opportunities to participate in school sports/activities, and she was bullied about her funky back all the way up until she graduated in 2013. None of this, however, put a damper on her young dreams.
The summer after graduating high school, Betsey had her second and third scoliosis-related surgeries. The additions: hardware in the front of her lumbar spine for stability and a continuation of the posterior fusion down to her L4. After she recovered, she decided to go to college to pursue a career in nursing. Betsey wanted to help people who were in her situation and she felt like nursing was the best way to do that. She started getting active outdoors again too. It was a wild transition: figuring out balance without bending, finding the right gear that didn’t exacerbate her new chronic pain, and learning that if she wanted to slide on snow again it’d have to be on skis and not a snowboard. A year and a half into nursing school though, Betsey had to take medical leave. The hardware that was helping her fusion stay together was coming loose, and another surgery was imminent. She underwent her fourth spinal surgery in September of 2015, during which doctors replaced the loose screws and fused down to L5. Betsey’s back is fused from T2-L5 now.
During the recovery from this surgery, Betsey read (and re-read) books like Annapurna by Arlene Blum, Travels with Charley by Steinbeck, The New American Roadtrip Mixtape by Brendan Leonard, Kiss or Kill by Twight, Savage Summit by Jennifer Jordan, Higher Love by Kit DesLauriers, The Calling by Barry Blanchard, and Queen of the Mountaineers by Cathryn J. Price. These mind-blowing novels made her realize one thing: she had to escape the “Shire” (what she lovingly calls Vermont) and go West. She bought a rusty ‘99 Honda CRV for a few hundred bucks, took out the back seats, and built a platform bed in the back out of wood she liberated from the dump. Betsey rescued Clover, a blue heeler dog, and trail-trained her while she recovered. The summer of 2016, the pair set out together, fresh eyed and bushy tailed. Betsey had big plans to explore the American West, living out of her little car with her little dog until she found the right spot to drop anchor and make home.
Betsey was 21 at the time and was beginning a journey to learn about herself away from the hospital scene. The flora, fauna, and geography on the West Coast was all so exciting and new; hiking higher than ever, driving down incredible roads she never thought existed, experiencing the mountains that she thought she’d only ever read about. Learning to adapt to her lack of mobility in her spine, how to manage her chronic pain with no one else around for support, how to cope with stressful/uncertain situations alone. Betsey met up with friends that helped her figure out how to climb and ski again with her funky fusion- experiences she’ll always be beyond lucky and thankful for. While she was exploring Montana, her housecar broke down and she had to spend a couple weeks in the Bozeman area while it was getting repaired- that’s when she realized the hype about this part of Montana was real. The peaceful remoteness and isolation she felt in the outdoors there was special. She continued her travels after the car was fixed, but always had Southwest Montana on her mind. After spending time in the PNW and driving down the coast, after returning to the Southern Rockies, she still couldn’t get the rural, rugged mountains of Montana out of her mind. Betsey ended up living and working around Big Sky Resort there, working as a snowmaker/snowcat operator, skiing bigger and bigger backcountry lines, and even went on a backpacking trip in South America with two of her childhood friends. At the end of 2018, a broken L5 vertebrae and loose spine hardware forced her to go back on light duty/bedrest. She had her fifth spinal surgery in August of 2019 in Salt Lake City, during which her spine was fused all the way to her tailbone: T2-S1.
Now, Betsey’s recovered from her fifth scoliosis surgery and is beginning to go on more serious outdoor trips again. When she was finished recovering after the covid-19 pandemic hit, Betsey and her partner moved into their DIY fused spine-friendly van. She’s been improving her mountain fitness and training five-six days a week with Summation Athletics since May 2021, and her bedrest dreams are becoming realistic goals now!
