2023 Events Are Here!
When Footprints started, I wanted our camps to be in southwest Colorado. The San Juan mountains - famous for the Hardrock 100, among other things - are where I developed my sense of purpose in the outdoors, and it made sense to use that same place to offer a similar sense of purpose to others. That’s what Footprints does for people: we offer a sense of purpose in a big, dynamic, and changing world. Our first two camps in Colorado in 2021 and 2022 brought out the best in our mentors and campers in a way that seemed to mirror the extraordinary landscape around us.
Now in our third year of operations, Footprints has grown from offering events to becoming a well-rounded organization with many opportunities for our followers. We have recently partnered with Freetrail, a network of podcasts, articles, videos, and more that is sharing love of trail running with people around the world. We will provide news and resources about climate action to their followers, while opening up a world of supportive runners to our followers. It’s a way to integrate climate action into the everyday conversation about running, which is how we take this big scary thing and turn it into a regular and understandable (and fixable!) thing.
We’re also coming to a race near you! Assuming, of course, that you’ll be near the Broken Arrow Skyrace, the Rut Mountain Runs, or the Mammoth Trail Festival this year. We’ll have a booth and games and prizes and lots of information about what climate action means and what it can look like for your community. Furthermore, our latest video will be shown in theaters around the country beginning this week, as it will travel the circuit of the Trail Running Film Festival. Check out the dates on their website and go enjoy this great night of running films to get excited for the year ahead!
Max Romey has created a true work of art for our new film, blending elements of live-action and watercolor formats to tell the story of Footprints
As we grow into a mature organization, we’re also reckoning with some of the realities of that growth, namely that we are essentially a volunteer organization led by two people (myself and Nate Bender.) We’ve had to come to terms with the huge amount of work we’ve set for ourselves and unfortunately that means we will be letting go of the Colorado camp for the time being. Instead, we’re focusing all our efforts on our new camps in Australia and Craftsbury, Vermont. The Australia camp is open to anyone living in Australia and will be held from April 20 - 25.
The Australia camp will focus on protecting the Great Forest in Victoria as a national park
Our camp in Craftsbury will be held from September 24 - October 1. Northern Vermont is famous for outdoor sports, local food systems, Revolutionary War battles, and for being really cute and quintessentially New England. The Craftsbury Outdoor Center is a sustainability-focused facility that hosts rowing, biking, skiing, and running events year-round. They source as much of their food as possible locally, are powered by renewable energy, and go to great lengths to prioritize people and community. They are a perfect fit for Footprints, so when their running programming director Susan Dunklee reached out last year about a possible partnership, I knew it was the right move.
The Craftsbury Outdoor Center is the ideal location for our running camp this September
The application period will last from March 13 until April 30, and you can find the application right here on our website. All we ask is that you demonstrate passion for your community and a desire to address climate problems within that community; beyond that, we will help you develop a meaningful and measurable project to make your home a little bit better. Stay tuned to our newsletter and Instagram for updates, news, and more, and please consider becoming a Footprints member to support our operations. Because if you think we have a lot going on this year, wait until you see what’s in store for next year.
It will be hard not to return to Colorado for camp this summer, but the lessons we learned there are making us a much stronger community of climate leaders already. In the end, where you do the work or even what you do are less important than how you do the work. We are helping people around the world understand that effective climate action is possible for them right now, and while our roots will always be in the San Juans, the branches will eventually grow around the world. We can’t wait to see you at one of our events this year.
Apply to join us at our Vermont camp this fall!