How The North Face — and 17 Awesome Athletes — Are Taking On Inequity in the Outdoors

The brand just announced the inaugural class of its Athlete Development Program, which seeks to accelerate diversity in outdoor recreational and career sports.

a group of people in a green grassy field

By Steve Mazzucchi

Published February 9, 2023

Climbing, trail running, mountain biking, skiing and other outdoor adventures can be life-changing — as long as you pack plenty of tasty snacks.

That’s one lesson I learned the other night from Grace Von Mettenheim, a former ski racer and backcountry/big mountain skier from Nederland, Colorado.

Unfortunately, such wonders aren’t as accessible for some as for others, and even when they are, they can still feel exclusive. As the only person of color, not to mention the only woman of color, on many of her pursuits, Von Mettenheim knows that feeling all too well.

The first class hails from all over the country — and from underrepresented communities that don’t always get the opportunity to excel due to systemic barriers.

But now, thanks to The North Face’s Athlete Development Program, there is hope for change. Von Mettenheim is one of 17 emerging athletes in the inaugural class of ADP, which aims to fight inequity in the outdoors by giving them the tools and financial support to achieve their athletic goals and inspire others within their communities.

This first class was teased at a dinner Tuesday night in New York — where I got to meet Von Mettenheim and a few other athletes — and officially announced today.

The 17 members of the first class hail from all over the country — and from underrepresented communities across race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and differently abled athletes that don’t always get the opportunity to excel due to systemic barriers. Each has signed two-year contracts that include payment, funding for expeditions and development, tailored training programs, gear and 1:1 mentorship from The North Face athletes — like the great Jimmy Chin, who was also in attendance and shared his own story.

The son of Chinese immigrants who settled in Mankato, Minnesota, Chin joked that when he was living out of his car and climbing all over the country, his horrified father would say the Chinese language was 5,000 years old … and there were no words for what he was doing. But thanks to the encouragement of legendary alpinist Conrad Anker, Chin stuck with it, learned how to film and can now count an Oscar (for co-directing Free Solo) among many accolades.

That’s the kind of transformative situation The North Face hopes ADP can nurture. Will it change everything? Not right away. But as Von Mettenheim noted in a brief speech at the dinner, even baby steps are positive steps. The other ADPers in attendance — climber Ady Wright, trail runner Laura Cortez and ski mountaineer Nafeesa Andrabi — echoed those sentiments.

Wright talked about Black women showing up to climbing gyms in New York simply to see her compete. Cortez talked about her parents giving her a bit of money to spend specifically on trail running, support they never had to pursue their dreams. And Andrabi talked about how she fell in love with ski mountaineering as the only Muslim Paskistani-American stepping into the bootpack.

All of them shared the struggles of feeling alone, excluded or otherwise othered in the sports they love, along with excitement about the program and the opportunity to further inspire their communities — and show people who look like them that there’s a place for them in these worlds, too.

Honestly, just meeting these rad humans at the dinner was cool AF and uplifting as hell. It will be thrilling to see just how far these baby steps can go — with tasty snacks of course.