As one of many children in a single-mom household, Nancy didn’t grow up with exposure to expensive adventure sports. But she was born athletic and attuned to Mother Nature, and she had this knowing that she’d find her place in the mountaineering community.
The more established athletes in Chamonix took young Nancy under their wing, lending her gear and giving her access to routes for free.
She quickly grew into a skillful skier, cyclist, climber, and more—there was no sport she hadn’t tried and couldn’t do.
Nancy built a career around doing what she loved, where agencies flew her to different mountain towns around the world including New Zealand and Canada, and took photos of her snowboarding, paragliding, and cliff jumping in action. After modeling extreme sports for 20 years, Nancy continues to live in Chamonix with her pup Debu and is out in the mountain every day - ski touring in the winter, trail running and hiking in the summer.
Maintaining an active and minimalist life in the mountains requires taking good and resourceful care of one’s body. Nancy’s had her fair share of injuries, and she listens to her body in discerning when to push herself, when to rest, and when to seek help.
She has an assortment of ice packs in different shapes and sizes in her cabin to treat bruises.
She also keeps a camphor-infused wrap in her hiking bag in case she twists her ankle, as the wrap can reduce pain with a cooling sensation until she hitchhikes back to town. While independent and self-sufficient, Nancy knows that expanding bruising in a large muscle like the thigh warrants a doctor’s visit, because a hematoma (trapped bleeding) requires procedural evacuation.
