Christina Lorete, executive director of the non-profit UpaDowna, acquired much of her experience as an athletic trainer helping clients find the balance between body and mind. This lines up with UpaDowna, whose mission is to provide access to outdoor adventures for all, through its events and programs providing focus and practical education. According to their mission statement, their goal is to “empower individuals, create healthier communities, and foster respect for the environment.”

Lorete says she had a non-traditional path as to how she got involved with UpaDowna. Her professional background is in sports medicine and athletic training. She previously worked in Washington State at Boeing as an on-staff physical trainer for their mechanics before her current full-time job at Colorado College as a campus recreation athletic trainer. In all, Lorete had a breadth of knowledge to understand the human condition at a fundamental level.

Getting Healthier with UpaDowna

She says healthcare and providing resources to people to make their activities healthy and to help them maintain healthy lifestyles, has always been part of her core background. “I moved here in 2018 and was just looking for ways to get involved with the community. My first UpaDowna event was actually when Red Leg Brewing used to be the small location off Garden of the Gods. It was their Adventure on Tap event. And they were talking about reintroducing wolves to Colorado.” She says looking back now, she is like “Wow, that was 5 years ago…and here I am.”

Lorete says the growth in the Springs has been crazy. “Just in the 5 years I’ve been here, it’s amazing to see how many new businesses have come in. Growth has its growing pains, but it’s really cool seeing what’s coming out of the city.” Her reason for coming to her first UpaDowna event back then was to try to engage in the community and meet new people. She enjoyed their outreach and in 2019, she became their community events manager, overseeing special events. Lorete adds that it was a part-time thing that she was doing on the side, along with her athletic training as her main gig. “And I told everyone, ‘It’s my fun girl job.’ It was kind of my space to get away from healthcare because that can also have its stresses and tolls at times.”

Engage People in the Great Outdoors

UpaDowna for Lorete was a way to engage with the community and get people outdoors at the same time. What resonated with her about the organization was that it was something she wished she had found when she was younger. “Growing up in Virginia on the east coast, it was a great community, we lived by the beach, but I really wasn’t exposed to hiking, biking, climbing, all of that. That really just started when I moved out west to Washington State and then here to Colorado. So that’s how it kind of connected.”

The mission of UpaDowna also definitely relates to Lorete. “You can definitely understand the impact that recreating in the outdoors can have on not only a person’s physical health but also their mental well-being and community engagement.” She admits her background is not in outdoor education. “I don’t have all the AMGA certifications. I’m not a professional in the outdoors, but I’m really good at planning, administering, and organizing. This organization is what I would have wanted growing up, and I love incorporating that now into the community that I live in.”

Steve and Randy Hitchcock were the original founders of UpaDowna in the early 2000s. During the pandemic, the couple pivoted, sold their house in the Springs, and moved to Florida to live on a catamaran with their teenage son. An interim director, Dee Auciello, came in in 2020 and brought the organization through the pandemic. In 2022, Auciello left to pursue a master’s degree in Denver. Lorete says she was next in line for the executive director’s job. “And right now, again, I still do healthcare. I still work at Colorado College full time on top of doing UpaDowna.”

Lorete does have two administrative individuals that help her with special events and fundraising along with her seasonal activity leaders. She says it is always pleasantly surprising meeting leaders from other non-profits because everyone seems so big with so many events. “But when you talk to them on the back end, you’re like, ‘Wow, your train is being operated by one to three people.’” Lorete says it is really great to see how much good could be done with a small staff…”  “The small but mighty team is what I always like to say!”

As she enters her second year in the role, Lorete says it all comes down to fulfilling the same core mission. “We’re trying to increase the accessibility to outdoor adventures for everybody. So regardless of what we do, even if we change a few different activities and programs, ultimately, we’re going to be trying to break down those common barriers, which is often quoted as the cost of the equipment, experience, and the financial means to recreate.”

Getting Outdoors to Dance?

Lorete says that taking away these barriers, regardless of what the activity is, has always been a goal for UpaDowna. Some of the activities have changed, and they have added different ones. “So, for example, one of our really popular ones that has really blossomed is our outdoor wellness series.”

When the pandemic was lessening, that would consist of yoga and Zumba in local parks. “We’ve had such a great turnout for things like that. And that’s not necessarily one of the activities that you would think of when you think of the great outdoors in Colorado, but it is still allowing folks to recreate outside in an outdoor setting.”

Climb An Mountain

One of Lorete’s favorite events is hosting an “Intro to Climbing Night” which they have done in partnership with City Rock. These climbing events go from September to May. The whole purpose of the class is to introduce people to climbing and set them up with the use of equipment from climbing shoes to harnesses. The activity leaders teach participants the basics of safety through on-the-wall movement. “It is one of my favorite events because you get such a diverse group of people who come to it. There are a lot of people who are first-timers who have never climbed before. And then you get folks who are like, ‘I did it like a year ago.’ And then, you get folks that are just like, ‘Oh, my friend dragged me along, but I’m deathly afraid of heights. And I guess I’m here to try it.’”

As staff and as volunteers at the event, UpaDowna’s team provides education and safety, but they are also there to belay the participants which involves keeping tension on the rope so their direct climber doesn’t fall. “My favorite part of this is seeing people from the beginning who can only go like a fourth of the way up. And they’re just shaking saying, ‘I want to come down. Can you put me down now?'” Lorete relates that at one of their most recent events in May, there was a girl who didn’t like heights and also didn’t really like being in big social groups. She was just there accompanying her partner. “You could tell when she was there that she stayed in the back of the room, didn’t really want to talk to anyone, and was a bit more shy, which is fine.”

Lorete says that is why they are there at this kind of UpaDowna event: to introduce new people to these sports, whether it be biking, hiking, or rock climbing, and make them comfortable. By the end of that event, the girl did five routes, which Lorete says is pretty impressive if you’ve never climbed before. “And by her second route, she went all the way up. And at the end of it, she made a bunch of friends. I saw her engaging with other people. She exchanged numbers with our staff as well as some of the members there. And that was really cool to see.” Lorete says that the girl has come to other events since then. “So, moments like that — seeing people progress then and there at that moment and knowing that you’re a part of that has been what fills my glass with UpaDowna.”

Lorete says she feels there is also an intimidation factor with certain sports like climbing, mountaineering, or any of these kinds of technical sports. “And just Colorado in general, I feel like we have this overall aura that everyone in Colorado gets out and does all these extremely crazy sports. But that’s not necessarily the case.”

She says what’s awesome about UpaDowna’s group of volunteers and staff is that many of them come from a background where they were once new to these sports as well. “So, it’s easy to relate to others who have never done it: ‘Hey, I was in your shoes just five years ago. I just started climbing here when I moved to Colorado. And this was my experience.’ And that really helps make them comfortable and provides a relatable person that they can form a connection with.”

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