About Summits & Society

Your greatest chapters don't have to be behind you.

Summits & Society was created around a simple belief:

We should never stop becoming.

We can keep growing. Keep learning. Keep traveling. Keep doing things that scare us a little. Keep meeting new people. Keep changing our minds. Keep chasing big ideas and occasionally doing things we're absolutely terrible at.

Life doesn't have to get smaller as we get older.

I think it can get bigger.

I'm Misty, the founder of Summits & Society.

I'm a mom of three grown kids, a wife, a Realtor, a dog lover, a longtime snowboarder, rafter, traveler, and someone who has spent most of my life chasing experiences that make me feel incredibly alive.

I've climbed competitively. I've spent more than two decades snowboarding. I've traveled around the world looking for mountains, rivers, new places, and new perspectives. I've rowed hundreds of miles through remote river canyons and stood at the top of mountains wondering exactly what I'd gotten myself into.

Adventure has been a huge part of my life.

But somewhere along the way, I realized the adventure itself was only part of the story.

The more interesting part was who I was becoming because of it.

That's where Summits & Society begins.

Years ago, I created Snowbunny Magazine, an online publication centered around women in action sports. I traveled, interviewed athletes, told stories, and met incredible people.

Eventually life changed.

Careers grew. Kids grew up. Priorities shifted.

But I never stopped missing the storytelling, the interesting people, and especially the sense of community that came from bringing people together around things they loved.

Now, I'm interested in something even bigger.

Growth.

What happens when we reach a point in life where we've accomplished some of the things we once worked so hard for?

What happens when the kids grow up, careers evolve, relationships change, or we simply start wondering: What's next?

• How do we keep making new friends as adults?
• How do we stay curious?
• How do we challenge ourselves without constantly needing to prove something?
• How do we build meaningful lives outside of our jobs and responsibilities?
• And how do we make sure our world keeps expanding instead of slowly becoming smaller?

Those are the conversations I want to have here.

It's about more than summits.

Some adventures happen on mountains, rivers, trails, and in faraway places.

Others happen in careers, relationships, families, friendships, and the seasons of life when we realize we're becoming someone new.

Summits & Society is a place to explore all of it.

You'll find stories from adventures, lessons learned along the way, travel itineraries, gear I actually use, conversations about growth, and hopefully a little encouragement to go do whatever you've been thinking about doing.

Not because everyone needs to climb a mountain or run a rapid.

But because it's incredibly easy to stop trying new things without realizing we've stopped.

And then there's the Society part.

This might be the part that matters most.

I believe in independence. I love being capable and figuring things out for myself.

But some of the greatest experiences of my life have happened because of other people.

• Friends who invited me on trips.
• People who taught me something new.
• Crews who trusted one another when things got hard.
• People I've met halfway around the world.
• Conversations around campfires that stayed with me long after the fire went out.

We need people.

Not hundreds of them. Not followers or contacts or another giant network.

Real connection.

People who make us think differently. People who encourage us to try something new. People who challenge us. People who show up. People who make the experience better simply because they're part of it.

That's the Society I want to build.

You don't have to be an adventurer to belong here.

You don't need to snowboard. You don't need to raft. You definitely don't need to climb mountains.

Adventure might mean traveling somewhere you've always wanted to go. Learning something new at 48. Starting a business. Changing careers. Walking into a room where you don't know anyone. Taking your first solo trip. Signing up for something you're absolutely terrible at.

The point isn't how extreme the adventure is.

The point is refusing to stop growing.

I don't believe there is an age when we're supposed to become finished versions of ourselves.

There are more places to go.

More people to meet.

More things to learn.

More stories to tell.

And probably a few things we're going to completely suck at before we get good at them.

Good.

Let's go.