Outdoor Central Oregon January/February 2020 | Page 10

10
GET2KNOW|
ANNIE FAST
BY NEIL KORN | PHOTOS BY RYAN TURNER
Where were you born and where did you grow up?
We were an Air Force family, so I grew up everywhere. My mom is from Montana and we’d
spend all of August at my grandparent’s cabin every summer, so Montana was the one
constant growing up, that’s my short answer when someone asks where I’m from. I went
to college at Montana State University in Bozeman and my parents are retired in Big Sky so
Montana still feels like our other home.
When and why did you move to Bend?
I first moved to Bend in 1995, I took a year off from college to snowboard and chose Mt.
Bachelor. I didn’t know anyone here, but ended up making plenty of friends. That was an
epic time to be a snowboarder here. I moved into a house with three snowboard girls on
Florida street. I ended up moving back to Montana to finish college, but came back every
summer for five years to work at High Cascade Snowboard Camp on Mt. Hood working as
a coach and a camp counselor, I’d always dip into Bend between sessions. I moved back to
Bend in 2012 from Encinitas, California. It feels great to be back living near the mountains.
It’s also great to see all the familiar faces still riding up at the mountain everyday.
Give us a quick rundown on your history in the outdoor sports industry? Any other
interesting jobs you took on before becoming a writer?
I worked my way up the masthead at Transworld Snowboarding Magazine after first coming
on board in 2002. It was a great time, it really was all about traveling the world with friends
and writing about it. Before that, I was freelance writing in Bozeman for the snowboard mags
and outdoor magazines. I was on the board of the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
and a founding board member of Big Sky Youth Empowerment (BYEP). I actually didn’t start
writing professionally until after college, and then learned the ins and outs of pitching and
writing from books at the library. The summers I worked at High Cascade Snowboard Camp
proved to be really important in writing about snowboarding. It was the epicenter of snow-
boarding back then and the connections I made with the pros and the industry were really
valuable.
The last job I had before joining Transworld full time was as a guide at the Yellowstone Club,
which is a private ski area in Big Sky. On the days when there were no guests to guide
(most days) my job was “terrain familiarization,” which involved going out and tracking out
the resort. Some mornings I’d load the lift with Warren Miller and then ride around with Greg
LeMond. Not sure why I ever quit that job...
Now that you have been a parent for a few years what has motherhood taught
you?
That’s a big question. We moved to Bend when I was five months pregnant in December of
2012, we had just bought our first house, I had just officially quit my full time job, so I was
freelance again. Lots of changes, it’s hard to separate them all out. But I think motherhood
has taught me to slow down, to multitask like hell, but also to try to be present. It has also
reminded me of how fun childhood is. Flint is three now and his whole life is playing all day
long with breaks to eat and sleep. It’s really fun to live in his little world.
How are you managing the balance of parenthood, career, wife, exercise, etc?
What have you learned from others taking the same path? What advice would you
give?
The struggle is real. Bend is addressing its childcare shortage issues, but we got hit pretty
hard not having reliable childcare the first couple years. My husband travels nonstop for
work as a cinematographer, so I juggled babysitters and we’d fly in my mom occasionally
so I could work, but it shouldn’t have been that hard. It was really important to me to keep
writing, but looking back, maybe I should have stepped back from it for a while … but I know
that’s not my style.
I now get why some of my peers have opted for full mom mode, and I respect their decisions
even more. I’m also in awe of some of the moms I worked with at TransWorld, like Courtney
Gresik, who’s now the GM of the Dew Tour. She came back to work from maternity leave
(twice!) and didn’t miss a beat. I didn’t get how hard that must have been then, but I get it
now. Also, pro snowboarder Kimmy Fasani is a good friend and she’s wowed me with her