“Cody’s me Bro. Let me be me. When is that gonna start?”
- Surf’s Up
Amanda Lee
Hello!
My name is Amanda Lee. First and foremost, you must understand that I am now, and have always been, fascinated by water; Studying it. Playing in it. Sharing it. Protecting it. I was taught to swim when I was six months old and for some unexplainable reason, anything I have pursued, apart from embracing my love of water, has turned out to be too dry and mundane for me. This interesting fact about me is part of what lead me to university to study civil engineering with a concentration in water and environmental engineering. Optimistically, I set off to school hoping to turn my fascination for water into a practical skillset to participate in creating a solution for water pollution. During my University education, I elected to conduct two research projects focused on plastics and microplastics in our waterways. These research projects were the highlights of my studies and upon graduation, I entered the workforce excited to plug into my career and see how I could participate in making a difference. Unfortunately, I overestimated my ability to sit still and be productive in the office environment. This realization came as a disappointing slap in the face when my mental health plummeted during my first and only engineering desk job. While achieving my degree, I often joked with my professors that my summer job of guiding white water rivers was a good fallback in case the engineering path did not work out for me. Little did I know then what my life would look like now only a few years after graduation.
In order to understand a bit about the purpose of Littlefish Expeditions and why I am passionate about educating and guiding women adventurers, I must tell a bit about my personal story as a young female adventure guide. The first time I went white water rafting, I was eighteen years old. I was one week away from heading off to engineering school. Ten minutes into the river trip, after listening to the safety orientation and getting down the first two rapids, I was highly tuned in to how enthusiastic and intentional the river guide was in his work. The job required deliberate social skills to teach technical paddling and to instill confidence around the most intense water conditions all while inspiring guests to value the most beautiful, magical environment inside the river corridor. Immediately after the trip, I sought out that company’s River Boss, shook his hand with my small, weak arms and said, “I would like to be a river guide for you.” He was kind and may have thought I was not going to act on my words. I was bold and may have thought the journey to becoming a river guide was going to be easier than it was…
Nine months later, I spent what little money I had from my life savings on a helmet, a lifejacket, a swift water rescue course and a river guide training course. I grabbed an old rain jacket from my family’s coat closet and an old wetsuit from my friend’s attic and went on my way, optimistic that I would succeed in whatever I put my mind and energy towards.
… My optimism was incorrect.
After three months of seven days a week training and paddling on the river, the River Boss sat me down and explained that, despite my valiant effort, it was not safe to send paying clients down the river with me as their guide. I paddled with the guide crew everyday for two more weeks until the end of that summer season. I silently packed up my things and went back to University for a long winter of dealing with my failure and devising a new plan. All winter, I worked on engineering calculations by day and dreamt of swift water rescue scenarios and rafts going over waterfalls by night. I was determined to giving my dreams of being a river guide another shot. The next spring, I told the River Boss I was coming back and that by May 15th, if I was not ready to guide paying clients, I would get out of his hair for good. One week after being back on the river, my winter paddling meditations and my muscle memory worked in my favor and I was checked off to take my first guests down the White Salmon River.
That was just the origin story of my development as a river and ocean guide. It was by no means safe to go down the river with me for the rest of that summer or the next summer after that for that matter. I was a beloved guide by all my guests for my boldness, enthusiasm and positivity… but that was about the extent of excellence in my guiding skills.
On my fourth season of guiding on the White Salmon River, I met Sherpa. He recognized my passion and my “all in” attitude towards guiding others and offered to help bring my skills to the next level. I eagerly trained with him one-on-one until I was solo guiding my own small raft down class IV rapids and the class V waterfall, BZ falls, on the White Salmon River. It was then that I experienced the difference between “winging it” and “nailing it”. This change was transformative for me as a person and as a guide. It took the career that I already loved and made it ten thousand times more enjoyable. I finally felt like I could relax with my guests while relying on myself and my own tested skills rather than on my luck in the face of danger and difficult maneuvers.
If you have stuck around this long in reading my guide development story, you should know me well enough now to assume the next course of action for me…
I signed up for every adventure skills course that Sherpa could offer to teach me.
I am now four years into my education as an outdoor adventure guide with Sherpa as my mentor and guru. I enjoy white water kayaking, snow boarding, mountain biking, surfing, wing-foiling and small boat sailing. These activities along with sharing the love and joy of these experiences with others is my passion. Through guiding white water, I have found that the more I push myself to be the best paddler that I can be, the more I can connect with my guests and take them to the most beautiful and remote places in nature that remind us as humans why our planet is worth protecting. I have taken that mindset and mission into all of my guiding and truly believe that a solution to pollution starts with meaningful and memorable immersive outdoor experiences.
Littlefish Expeditions is intended to be a way for me to share the knowledge and skills that have transformed my life as an adventure seeker. My goal is to provide real life, hands-on, expedition experience to women who, like me, have the desire to push past their comfort zones in outdoor adventure but possibly do not know where or how to start. As media inspires more and more female adventurers that they can do anything they put their minds to, and as technology and outdoor gear allows for more people to approach traveling and exploring, I would like Littlefish Expeditions to stand for a movement that holds women to a high standard of skills and knowledge in the outdoors and on the waters. Littlefish Expeditions desires to create a network of confident, skilled, and bold women to influence and mentor others to push their boundaries in the spirit of adventure all while leaving a positive impact on the earth, cultures, and communities that are visited along the way.
My teaching style is to stay humble and encourage others to push their boundaries. Push yourself. Do not be held back by the fear of failure. The day you do something that you’ve never done before is the day you feel most alive. Let’s go have fun out there!
Sherpa
I believe a creative life is an amplified life. It's a happier life, an expanded life, a fulfilling life and a much more interesting life. I risk delight with a balance of seriousness and lightness. My lifestyle is about finding positives. I am adventurous, energetic, conscientious, kind, friendly, and have a deep appreciation for the natural world, ... especially the wild ocean. I try my best to be a responsible human with an open heart. I like to live simply and be by the sea.
I have worked around the world as an Adventure Guide since being a young man. My work has taken me to many wonderful places around this planet.
I have guided professionally in New Zealand, Bolivia, Mexico, Belize, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Australia, The Cook Islands of the South Pacific, Bonaire in the Southern Caribbean, Panama, The Western USA states of Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and New Mexico. I have put another twenty years in guiding in the Virgin Islands on St John and the British Virgin Islands.
I guide because I absolutely love it. The opportunity to teach and to share is a gift. To turn a gift into your work is a blessing. Besides free riding on boards and bikes, there is no better place for me than giving back positive energy through my guiding and teaching.
To get a small feel of my energy and teaching style, this is a video from when the boys from Rock the Park came to St John. Rock the park was an ABC television show which featured adventures in the U.S. National Parks. This video shows the two of them and me doing sailing instruction for the day. The video is not the adventure trip with Littlefish, however, it does give a small feel for who I am and how I teach. (Start at 11:00:00)
Artist
Craftsman
Adventure Guide
Master Chef of the Empty Cupboard
