Melanee has been active with
the Los Alamos Mountaineers Board in various capacities since
2005. She is a native New Mexican who grew up in
Albuquerque, then moved to Los Alamos in 1984. Melanee has been
active in a variety of outdoor activities since her youth. She
was camping with her family as a child, learning outdoor basics
in Girl Scouts, riding her bike for transportation as a
pre-teen, running, swimming, riding horses on a regular basis
with her friends in the North Valley, and alpine skiing since
her teens. She moved to the Jemez Mountains for 10 years while
working in Los Alamos, where she used the practical aspects of
cross country skiing, hiking, and snow travel. Along the way,
she continues to formalize her experiences with additional
training on wilderness leadership, rescue and safety basics, and
avalanche training.
Melanee (top center) leading a
LAM trip up the La Luz Trail, September 2009
Melanee took the Technical
Climbing School in 2005 and performed a make-up session to
complete an ad-hoc graduation with recognized climbers and
instructors in the Club. Since that time, Melanee became more
involved with Los Alamos Mountaineer club members, participating
on advertised trips from the club, and private organized trips
for ice climbing, skiing, backpacking, and bike trekking.
Finishing a multi-pitch climb at
El Rito, 2005
LAM Backpack Trip to Serpent
Lake, Spring 2009
In her professional life,
Melanee has been a licensed Landscape Architect in the state of
New Mexico for 23 years. She performed design, and land and
facility planning as a subcontractor to the Los Alamos National
Laboratory and now works for Environmental Programs at Los
Alamos National Laboratory supporting the Clean Water Act.
