In Pursuit of Adventure: Tash Orellanos
Tash, one of our 2024 Summit Scholarship recipients, is a rock climber from Miami, Florida, who is also a self-proclaimed wanderer. The first time they experienced the mountains, it was love at first sight. Tash felt it in their bones, and since then, it’s captivated and filled their life with joy. After those first moments with the vast wilderness, Tash has gone on to climb Mount Shasta and dreamed of more, but as you can probably guess, living in Miami has its pros and cons when it comes to mountaineering.
But, if there’s one thing that Tash knows about, it's overcoming barriers. At the age of 18, Tash was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which can limit their bodily movements at times when their body is under stress. Since then, they’ve worked to spread awareness to encourage others with chronic illnesses to say a big "fu*k you" and stick to their passions. And now, we get to celebrate Tash, who will be continuing to follow their own passions in New England’s backcountry with fellow wanderers.
We had the opportunity to get to know Tash a little better, and goodness, you don’t want to miss these stories and thoughts below. Keep on scrolling and enjoy getting to know Tash.
Hi Tash! Can you describe how you felt when you found out you had won? Initially, I was in a bit of a shock. I had received a call while working with Miami Girls Rock Camp and quite literally was jumping for joy, punching the air like a cartoon character. Everybody around was looking at me as if I were crazy, but I couldn't help it. I wore a stupidly large grin across my face and couldn't stop uttering the words "no way, no way, no way.”
What do you do to fill up your days? Aside from working in the field of behavior analysis, I am currently enrolled in an apprenticeship program to become a certified beekeeper! I am currently returning to Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as biking, which will hopefully transform into mountain biking in time. There is no other rush that can match BJJ and mountain biking besides climbing. Climbing pretty much takes the rest of my leisure time (as it should). If I could, I’d be at The Edge Rock Gym at every waking hour, every day of the week.
How did you get started in adventuring? For as long as I can remember, I was always a wanderer. Be it from a local park my family would travel to or Disney World, I'd always be exploring. The first time I went on a true adventure was when I had freshly graduated from high school and went on my first solo trip to California.
The first week was spent in the city, and the next week or two in the mountains. Being born and raised in flatland Miami, our only "mountains" were sad, man-made bumps that the city had the audacity to call "hills." As soon as I had stepped foot onto the foreign western landscape, I felt right at home, practically running up and down the mountain with, yet again, a stupidly wide grin on my face. I instantly felt it in my bones that I was meant to be among the mountains. The vastness of the wilderness, the serene sounds, all of it captivates me and fills me with so much life.
What barriers have you faced in mountaineering? Although I've only mountaineered once at Mount Shasta over half a decade ago, I can tell that the drastic change in altitude is one of my biggest barriers. Living in Miami all your life has its pros and cons, one con being that we have sea-level lungs. However, I've brought an altitude training mask back into my regimen to acclimate my body.
Another barrier I have faced circles back to my fibromyalgia. When at Mount Shasta, my fibro flares (when symptoms are prevalent) were intense and had me feeling a bit bitter as I wanted the experience to be "perfect," whatever that’s supposed to mean. As physically challenging as the chronic illness can be, it's just as challenging mentally, if not more, but I have worked a lot in strengthening my mental fortitude. In retrospect, it made me feel all the more grateful to the mountain as well as myself for having pushed through that pain and sharing that with my group.
Tell us about a time in the outdoors that solidified your love and desire for mountaineering. The one and only time I had mountaineered did the whole job of solidifying the fire inside of me that burns ever-so-bright for mountaineering. I distinctly remember reaching a steep part of the mountain that was mainly loose rock and being terrified to slip and fall to my death, but that made me all the more present in the moment. Once we made it past that point, the group took a break to catch a breath, eat a snack, and boy, did we have a view.
To add a cherry on top, a bald eagle had perched on a branch right in front of us. I had never had such a close encounter with wildlife like that before. We were all left speechless, admiring the eagle as they had their back turned to us, peeking at us over their shoulder here and there. In my culture, that was a divine sign that we were being protected and looked after, so it meant all the more to me. That encounter gave me the strength and energy to keep going, regardless of the fear and pain, and to make sure that this wasn't the last time I would mountaineer.
Tell us about a person that inspires you. Someone who inspires me is my maternal grandmother or my abuelita. She endured many trials and tribulations during her lifetime. She was born in Colombia and truly put in her blood, sweat, and tears to offer better opportunities for my mother in the United States. She had to stay behind in Latin America to work as my mother emigrated but would later rejoin my mother when she had enough money saved up to make the move herself. That woman was as tough as nails, and she taught me not to half-ass things. She practically taught me how to be a human, and although we did not always see eye-to-eye, I knew I could rely on her and look to her as inspiration in times of need. She was my first best friend. She has since passed, but I feel her presence every now and then, reminding me that she is still there for me and looking over me. In her last years, she was unable to walk without mobility aids and eventually lost most of her desire to dance, so if I don't dance for myself, I make sure to dance for her and those who no longer can.
Tell us about your biggest mountaineering ambition or dream! Quite frankly, my biggest mountaineering ambition shifts every day. Some days, all I can think about is experiencing a first ascent. Other days, it's all about deep water soloing in Mallorca, Spain. After watching Jason Momoa's show, ‘The Climb,’ I dreamt of Mallorca, day and night, for the longest time. On other days, it’s climbing across my father's motherland in the Andes. To climb where my ancestors thrived for generation upon generation and nurtured such a connection to Pachamama... to say "it would be a privilege" would be an understatement.
What do you hope to learn during your experience as a Summit Scholarship recipient? I hope to learn how to overcome my inner critic as I am no stranger to the imposter phenomenon and can sometimes forget that I am doing all this for fun and not to be the perfect climber or hiker or what-have-you. I hope to become a better hiker by learning from my group members and learning how to better connect with people who are essentially strangers in a short timeframe. It'll definitely put my introversion to the test, but since I'm quite certain we all share similar passions and values, I have faith that it's going to be a wonderful time.
I also hope to network with these people to climb in different areas around the world and learn about different organizations offering opportunities like this one!
Tash - your adventure into mountaineering continues, and we are stoked to have you as our first recipient joining one of The Venture Out Project Queer Backpacking adventures! Over the course of four days, Tash will learn the basic skills of packing, map reading, camp set-up, and backcountry cooking with plenty of time for community building, and then, of course, they’ll sleep under the stars!
To follow along with Tash’s journey, visit our expedition partner, The Venture Out Project, on Instagram or Facebook.
