Cathy Shill started The Hole Hiking Experience in 1989 after receiving a degree in biology from the University of Oregon. Her love of nature brought her to Jackson Hole and she started the business to share the natural wonders of Jackson and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The company focus of small groups and customized tours ensured her success. Now after almost twenty years, she has expanded the business to include spiritual workshops so she can further connect people to nature, themselves and universal energy. She has an innate connection to nature and people and has been studying yoga and meditation for many years. She lives in Teton Valley, Idaho with her husband and spends most of her time outdoors sharing her enthusiasm and passion for the earth. She is active in the Teton County Chapter of the Wyoming Native Plant Society, writes monthly for Mountain Culture, and her business' newsletter Nature News.
Jill LeBlanc spent her youth in Massachusetts with a life-long interest in Earth Science and Education. She received a science degree in 1996 from Fitchburg College which led her to Vermont to continue her studies with the natural world. With a degree in Earth Science, she followed her passions and started to guide hikes with the New Life Hiking Spa. During that time, she learned to snowboard and the big Jackson winters drew her to this area in 2001. Jill started working for The Hole Hiking Experience in 2003 so she could teach and share her passion for the environment with others. In her free time, she continues to snowboard, mountain climb, teach yoga, and spend as much time as possible with her two dogs.
Beverly Charette came to the region when she was 2 and has been deeply connected to this area ever since. Growing up in Wisconsin, she moved to the mountains of Colorado in the 1980's and then to northern New Mexico, finally returning with her family to Teton Valley, ID, in 1999. An undergraduate degree in English and history and graduate studies in social work along with an 8-year career in children's book publishing helped her to hone communication and leadership skills that serve her well as a guide. Her passion and avocation, however, has always been natural history and the environment. Years tending domestic plants in nurseries and landscaping led her to seek out their cousins in the wild, eventually leading hikes year round for Sierra Club and now for The Hole Hiking Experience. She calls herself a "Visitor Center junkie" and a perpetual student of nature, learning something new every day. "To get where I am today, I followed my heart to the mountains and then let my feet carry me the rest of the way." In addition to being a naturalist, Beverly is also a Reiki Master therapist, a professional singer, and co-owner of a video store with her husband in Driggs, ID.
Alan Hotle is making a serious attempt at spending an entire lifetime outdoors. At any given moment you will find him hiking, skiing, climbing, boating, or fly fishing. His extensive exploration of the wilderness had been valuable in his understanding of a wide variety of ecosystems and how to coexist with them. Some of his exploration includes Kodiak Island, the Olympic Peninsula, the Sierra Mountain Range, the Rocky Mountains, and 15 years abroad in the European Alps. His guiding career began as a rock climbing guide with Mountain Skills in Taos, New Mexico. He went on to work as a naturalist guide at the Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite where he helped organize the outdoor recreation program there in 2004. His connection to the plant world comes from natural healing techniques and field work studies with The New Mexico College of Natural Healing in Silver City, New Mexico. He is a nationally certified massage therapist and holds the rafting guides’ certificate for the Snake River. His enthusiasm for nature is contagious and shows in his informative but fun approach to guiding.
Daria was drawn initially to The Hole Hiking Experience due to her love for the mountains, combined with her desire and ability to help others. She has been with the company since 2003 and her study and practice of using plants and herbs as medicinal remedies has been fun to share with her clients. She has been a teacher of many different subjects which has been very useful in her work as a hiking guide. Such subjects include Reiki, crystal work, organic whole foods, dance and drumming instructor and ski instructor. She has lived in the area for over 20 years, most recently spending summers in Victor, ID and winters in Guinea, West Africa.