Advisory Committee

The Ritt Kellogg Memorial Fund Advisory Committee advises and supports Colorado College on program direction, development, and allocation of resources related to the Ritt Kellogg Memorial Fund.

Committee members include a collection of experienced mountaineers, boaters, outdoorspeople, academics, outdoor educators and accomplished managers from the private and non-profit sectors. The Advisory Committee includes Ritt's family members, friends of Ritt and past Ritt Fund grant recipients, including:

 

This table lists all Ritt Kellogg Advisory Committee members and includes a photo and short bio for each.

Kirk Kellogg

Kirk Kellogg is Ritt Kellogg's brother and a founder of the Ritt Kellogg Fund. He is the Senior Managing Partner of the Performance Group, a Wall Street specialist trading firm.

Lee Kellogg

Lee Kellogg is Ritt Kellogg's sister and a founder of the Ritt Kellogg Fund.

Colby Coombs '89

ColbyCoombs Colby and Ritt were roommates at CC and taught themselves how to rock climb at Garden of the Gods and Turkey Rocks. They went on climbing and ski trips together every chance they could, especially block breaks. Their pursuit of the outdoors led to jobs at Hurricane Island Outward Bound and NOLS. Soon they were guiding expeditions on Denali. It was during a pre-season personal climb that the accident happened that took Ritt's life. The Kellogg family established a fund in Ritt's memory and left it up to Ritt's friends to figure out what to do. Developing the Ritt Fund was soothing tonic on fresh wounds. None of us had ever lost a dear friend. Coming up with something that Ritt would have loved was our guiding light. Colby continues to pursue climbing professionally and for fun. He made is home in Talkeetna, AK, met his wife there and they have a daughter. Together they run Alaska Mountaineering School.

Mary-Laurence Bevington '90

Mary Bevington Photo Mary-Laurence Bevington, often called Mare of the Bear Persuasion, helped found the Ritt Kellogg Fund, and was Ritt's friend. While growing up in Atlanta, Mary played team sports and studied theatre arts. After attaining a BA in English, Creative Writing from Colorado College Mary became a yoga teacher and an outdoor educator, which she continues to do presently along with spiritual counseling and contemplative dance instruction. She has also taught in the outdoors for Wolfcreek Wilderness, First Ascent, Regis University, Naropa University, and several team building companies such as The Nature Place. Mary is an ordained Reverend, and a licensed minister. She has certified in a variety of arts: massage, pilates, animal communication, leadership mastery, relationship coaching, clairvoyance, and her WFR has been current since 1991. Additionally, she earned an MFA in Theatre in 2007. Mary loves outdoor activities and has fond memories of free and aid climbing on several extended road trips, mountaineering, canyoneering and boating. Mary assisted the Yosemite and Tuolumne search and rescue teams for two seasons, and had her best climbing day soloing Royal Arches and drinking straight from a ground spring on top. Her favorite mountain climb was Mt. Rainier and her sweetest river descent was the Grand Canyon. As a Ritt Fund committee member Mary co-created the Program Manager role with Colby, then Program Managed for five years. She has some stories about the early days and is open to consulting with Ritt Fund candidates regarding proposal composition. You can find her at marybevington@mac.com. At present Mary lives in Park County, Colorado with her red Siberian husky, Molly Brown and her barn cat Tigger Bevington.

Gordy Kito '92

Gordy Kito Headshot A close friend to Ritt Kellogg, Gordy Kito is a Colorado College graduate, founding member of the Ritt Kellogg Fund, and the former (2004-2005) Ritt Kellogg Fund Advisory Committee President. Gordy worked as a climbing guide for a number of years and guided for the Alaska Mountaineering School before becoming a climbing ranger in Denali National Park. Gordy was a National Park Service Bevinetto Fellow and as such Gordy worked for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the National Park Service's Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs, and as staff to the Director of the National Park Service. He served as a member of the Risk Management Advisory board for the University of Alaska Anchorage's outdoor education program and spent much of his youth adventuring around Alaska. Through these experiences, Gordy has become intimately familiar with the risks and rigors of high altitude, alpine expedition climbing, ice climbing, and backcountry skiing and snowboarding. Gordy brings to the Advisory Committee extensive knowledge of expedition safety protocols, and wilderness medical practices and leave no trace backcountry ethics. His experience in the National Park Service provides the Advisory Committee with a strong basis for non-profit management and governance as well as an understanding of how program policies, whether they be for a college grant program or a government agency, can impact field operations. Gordy currently manages the National Park Service's leasing program and lives in Washington D.C. with his two sons.

Jason Hall '98

Jason Hall Photo Jason Hall is a Ritt Kellogg Fund grant recipient, a 1998 Colorado College graduate, and a member of the Ritt Kellogg Fund Advisory Committee since 2002. Jason's passion for alpine mountaineering was born in the northern Cascades out of a love for skiing and climbing. This appreciation for time in the mountains has been shared with others through alpine, telemark, and adaptive ski instruction throughout the US. It has been the inspiration for adventures in the Alps and mountains of Alaska and the western US. Jason works as a hydrogeologist throughout the southwest. He lives with his wife, Sharada, and their two boys, Cobin and Haven, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Bo Parsons '95

Bosier Parsons Photo Bosier Parsons grew up in the Chicago area, attended The Lawrenceville School and graduated from CC in 1995. He embarked on one of the inaugural RKMF expeditions to the Devils Thumb in Southeast Alaska, and has been on the Advisory Committee since 2000. His main outdoor passions include climbing, skiing, backpacking, and fly-fishing, which he has done extensively in Colorado and the Western U.S. Locally he has made multiple ski descents of the steep and gnarly lines on Pikes Peak and has also climbed over 50 technical rock routes in its alpine cirques. Other notable climbing achievements include successful ascents of 20 routes in the Black canyon, 20 successful ascents of the Diamond on Longs Peak (via 8 different routes), five of the Incredible Hulk, Half Dome, and The Nose on El Cap. Bosier is a co-founder of the Pikes Peak Climbers Alliance, the local Access Fund affiliate, and lives in Colorado Springs. He is always psyched to meet and climb/ski with younger generation CC'ers and outdoor enthusiasts, so feel free to contact him.

John Thomson '07

Johnny Thompson Photo John has been a Ritt Kellogg Memorial Fund Advisory Committee member since 2010. While at CC he received two Ritt Kellogg Expedition Grants, the first for a ski mountaineering trip in California's Sierra Nevada (2005), and the second (2006) for an alpine climbing expedition in British Columbia's Waddington Range. John began climbing as a freshman at CC. Afternoons at Garden of the Gods turned into trips to the South Platte, then weekends in the Black Canyon, and time spent across the desert. After graduating in 2007 with a degree in environmental science, John guided mountaineering expeditions in the Cascades and Alaska. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University and now works as an investor. John lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife Elaine and daughter River.

Libby Bushell '07 

Libby Bushell Photo Libby graduated from Colorado College in 2007 and has been a Ritt Kellogg Fund Advisory Committee member since 2013. She is the founder of HoWL (Homer Wilderness Leaders), a wilderness adventure camp for youth in Alaska. She is a 2-time RKMF Expedition Grant recipient, having received grants to climb the West Buttress of Denali and to ski-mountaineer on Mount Iliamna, an active volcano on the Alaskan Peninsula. Libby currently lives in Wyoming.

Zivia Berkowitz '21

Zivia Berkowitz

Erik Rieger '12

erik rieger photo Erik Rieger graduated from Colorado College in 2012 and joined the Ritt Kellogg Advisory Committee in 2014. During college, he received two Ritt Kellogg expedition grants and was editor of the Colorado College Alpine Journal. His passion for climbing and exploration led to a longtime editorship with the American Alpine Journal and adventures throughout the West and abroad. Erik is currently pursuing a master's degree at Duke University in ecosystem science and conservation.

Dan Crossey

Dan-Crossey Dan started easy climbing and mountaineering with the family of a high school friend who took us up to the South Colony Lakes to camp in the rain and climb the fourteeners. He never quite recovered from that experience, he was hooked! Throughout high school we continued to return to the Sangres and did some easy cragging in the Tarryalls every possible weekend. At the end of his first semester at CC Dan went up for a winter ascent of the Crestone Needle, froze my feet and spent second semester in the hospital. He wound up losing some toes, damaging the rest and stopped climbing for about a decade. In the mid-eighties I got back into hiking, mountaineering and then rock and ice climbing in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Eventually my friends and I got really absorbed in telemarking and spent winter in the resorts and the backcountry, especially on Wolf Creek pass. After the resorts closed we would ski the high peaks until the snow melted and it was time to climb again. After getting caught in an avalanche on Pike's Peak in April of '95, Dan was offered a job in the carpentry shop at CC and has been here ever since. He has had to scale back his climbing and skiing considerably in the last decade but still like to get out as much as possible. In the last few years he has spent more time canyoneering and exploring desert environments.

Tim Barker '06 (Chair)

Tim_Barker_bio photo Tim has worked in the field of outdoor education since graduating from CC in 2006. This work has had a focus on expedition-based wilderness therapy, maritime education, outdoor program development, and after-school outdoor education programming. These experiences have shown him both the for-profit and non-profit sides of the industry. He is a Registered Maine Recreation & Sea Kayak Guide, Licensed Captain, and Wilderness First Responder. Tim is the co-founder of the Midcoast Outdoor Leadership Initiative and is currently serves as the Director of Operations for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School. He will be forever grateful for the transformative experiences he was provided by the Ritt Kellogg Memorial Fund and is honored to be able to give back to the RKMF, CC, and the current students on campus.

Grace Brofman '13

Grace Brofman Photo Grace joined the Advisory Committee in 2017 after two years as the RKMF Coordinator. She graduated from Colorado College in 2013, and was awarded an Expedition Grant her senior year to explore the Spatsizi Wilderness in British Columbia. Grace has worked all over the country in outdoor education, guiding, and the food industry, and is currently working toward a Master's in Environmental Science and Management at UCSB, where she misses skiing and is pretending to learn to surf. In the future, Grace hopes to work to protect rivers and native fish habitats in the West.

John Nestler '16

John Nestler Photo John discovered a passion for the backcountry while at CC and had the good fortune to go on a number of RKMF trips. These trips took him kayaking on the Tatshenshini/Alsek Rivers, sea kayaking and climbing in Newfoundland, and kayaking on the South Nahanni River. These trips were a formative part of John's college experience, and cemented an interest in pursuing remote expeditions. John's expertise lies primarily in whitewater, trail running, and mountain biking. Notable personal expeditions include a 27-day solo self-support trip through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and a solo bikepack of the Colorado Trail. Following graduation John split his seasons teaching adaptive skiing in Breckenridge and guiding multi-day raft trips in Oregon. Currently he is attending medical school on the East Coast, and hopes to incorporate expedition medicine into his career.

Mike Alkaitis

Mike-Alkaitis

Andrew Allison-Godfrey '17

Andrew Allison-Godfrey Photo Andrew graduated from CC in 2017 and worked as the RKMF Coordinator before joining the committee in 2019. He is an Education and Expedition Grant recipient. After his senior year he and one other student bikepacked in the Three Sisters. Andrew now lives in Jackson Wyoming and works in bakery making bread! he spends as much time skiing, bikepacking and being outdoors as possible. you can reach him at andrew.allisongodfrey@gmail.com for help any time.

Robby Rechord '96

Robby_rechord Robby Rechord grew up in Chicago and graduated from Colorado College in 1996.  While at CC Robby sampled rock climbing, ski touring, backpacking and canyoneering.  Upon realizing that there existed such a thing as a career in outdoor recreation, a goal was set that Robby pursues to this day.  Robby has been a professional guide and educator around the U.S., Canada and India Working for NOLS, Colgate University and numerous other organizations.  Robby and his wife Kate live in Flagstaff, AZ where he is a raft, kayak and dory guide in the Grand Canyon.  Winters find him returning to his old stomping grounds in Teton Valley Idaho working as an avalanche educator and ski guide.

Chris Barlow

Chris Barlow Photo While Chris often claims that he loves to play in the mountains, the truth is that he loves wild places for the profound experiences and opportunities for growth they can catalyze. His love for the mountains drew him from his roots in East Tennessee to Colorado College, where he pursued a Bachelor's degree in English and creative writing. He has worked as an educator in a wide variety of venues, teaching Spanish and English in both public and private schools around Colorado, instructing rock climbing programs, and leading wilderness trips across the American West. His winding path led him back to CC in 2009 to earn his Master of Arts in Teaching focusing on secondary language arts instruction and digital literacy. In 2014, he joined the High Mountain Institute to launch HMI Gap, a post-high school semester course focused on the intersection of adventure and conservation. Chris considers it a true privilege to be able to share his love for recreation - and serious learning - in the mountains with his students. He lives in Glenwood Springs, CO with his wife Becca ('05) and their daughter Aven

Emily Bowman '09

Emily-Bowman Emily Bowman is a 2009 graduate of Colorado College and joined the Ritt Kellogg Advisory Board in 2020. Emily's appreciation of exploring wild places began as a child growing up in Montana, but was most deeply influenced and enriched by the wealth of opportunities and the supportive community at CC. She was the recipient of two RKMF expedition grants and numerous education grants. Early in Emily's CC career, she was introduced to rock climbing, a passion which has since guided most of her life decisions, for better or worse. Emily enjoys most styles of climbing, but finds the most joy in climbing remote alpine rock and obscure sandstone towers. Her degree in geology from CC somehow led to a career as a pediatric intensive care nurse, where she finds great challenges and rewards in caring for the children of northern Arizona. Emily lives with her husband Trevor in Flagstaff, Arizona, where they strive to take full advantage of the endless opportunities for climbing and exploration throughout the Colorado Plateau.

 

Report an issue - Last updated: 01/15/2024