Lulu Avila

I think about my relationship with the Great Salt Lake and how much of my life is dependent on our water source and it being here, and if it wasn't here, I couldn't live here. And if snow wasn't here, I'm out of a job. I think that's a lot of my urgency. I mean it comes from self preservation in the sense that I want to live in the Great Salt Lake Basin. I want to live in Utah. I love where I live. I love the community. I love the outdoor recreation. I love the accessibility. I also love that there's a strong Hispanic community here, and that's a very special thing. You don't see that in Jackson. You don't see that in McCall. You don't see that in these resort towns. So to have such a special place and to feel that it's so fragile and no one has a sense of urgency is scary. I fear that I, one day, will call myself a climate refugee. 

Lulu Avila is a snowboarding instructor at Park City Mountain Resort, an ambassador for Solitude Mountain Resort and Coalition Snow, and founder of the Outdoor Inclusivity Project. Avila is passionate about diversity, inclusion, and equitable access in outdoor recreation.