How I Found River Running - Tess
It all started when I was 5 years old. The Howland family ventured from New Jersey to Idaho to go on a Middle Fork trip down the Salmon River. I was too young to know what a river trip was, but from what I remember, the trip was a dream. Our guides were the coolest people alive, and our family still talks about our trip leader, Bob, to this day.
Since then, I have always been super excited to do all things outdoors. I was never a fan of homework - too much sitting still. All I wanted to do was play outside. Ultimately I played hard and I worked hard to earn a spot on the Rutgers University Women’s Lacrosse Team in New Jersey. College athletics gave me a deeper understanding on what it meant to be part of a team, and accomplish physical feats. I graduated and knew there was nothing I wanted to do less in life than sit at a desk and stare at a computer screen in New York City, that just wasn’t it for me. I am fortunate enough to have a big sister that also has a love for playing outside, and she helped inspire my career path post-college.
Soon after college graduation, we chased one of my dad's dreams. My family and I embarked on a 13-day commercial trip down the Grand Canyon, and boy did I fall in love. Of course, I was the kid, well, I guess an adult, on the trip that was like, “I want this job, how do I do this job?!?” Our guides encouraged me to go get my Wilderness First Responder, so I did. I actually ended up getting my Wilderness EMT. My sister and I were in the phase where we wanted to travel as much as we could, and she came with me. She got a travel nursing job, and I decided to move to Aspen to pursue what I wanted: rubber boats, a river, and super cool people.
In the spring of 2021, I landed in an apartment in Aspen, sight unseen and with zero friends. Lucky me, on my first day of work at Blazing Adventures, I immediately found best friends. A month into rafting, Conrad Niven from the men’s race team asked if I wanted to race with him on the Arkansas River. Little did I know it was a river marathon. It hurt, it was hard, but I paddled my first-ever raft race with Conrad Niven, Tyler Aikens, and Trevor Fredrickson from the USA Men’s Open Team. From there, I became obsessed with all things rafting and all things racing.
Over the years, I’ve paddled as many rivers as I can, from our local Roaring Fork to the Zambezi River in Africa with teammates Bean and Addy. I can confidently say that moving to Aspen was one of the wildest but most fulfilling things I’ve ever done.
I’m addicted; it's been so unbelievably fun, and the fun has just begun. Cheers to the friends I’ve made that will last a lifetime, and here’s to all the women in boating. Y’all are badass, and I’m super stoked every time I see a gal on the water!