Tommy Caldwell

North Carolina native Forrest Stavish is a National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) field instructor who also happens to be a lifelong hiker, backpacker and climbing enthusiast. He is a member of the American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA), where he received his single-pitch climbing instructor certification, and is a qualified Wilderness EMT. He holds a SARTECH II search and rescue certification and on top of all that, he is an Assistant Fire Chief.

As we do from time to time here on NCOAE Blog, we thought it would be appropriate to find out more about this ace climbing instructor, so we put him on the spot and posed some serious — and some fun — questions for him to answer:

NCOAE: Tell us about a time you realized you had the power to do something meaningful.

Forrest Stavish: After taking my Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training, I realized that I could use the skills I learned to help my local community. And I continue to do so as a volunteer EMT and Assistant Fire Chief.

NCOAE: Who is your role model, and why?

Forrest: I can narrow it down to two people — one being someone I know and the other I never met. (more…)