Melanee Hand

Major LAM Activities and Positions Held:

• Equipment Manager and Past President, 2013
• President, 2012
• Program Chair, 2010 & 2011 Boards
• Past President, 2008 Board
• President, 2007 Board
• Secretary, 2006 Board
• Membership Co-Chair, 2005 Board
• Participation with 2005 Climbing School

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.