Jeff and Kellie Rhoads

Former Outdoor Program Staff Members

Those were heady years at the Outdoor Program with lots of multi-day trips going out:  climbing in the Tetons, rafting on the Main and Middle Fork of Salmon Rivers, backpacking in the Sawtooths.  It was also a period in Outdoor Program history in which the practice of chewing tobacco had a flash of popularity.  The Director of the program, "H" Hilbert, Kellie and another woman on the staff, Rab, all chewed.  A sign of the period, which remained well after the end of that summer, was a wedge-shaped, brown stain which began on the driver's side of the Outdoor Program van and extended towards the rear of vehicle.  In those days, if you were ever driving your own vehicle on a trip, you either drove in front of the van or several cars back, but never right behind it. You also had to be careful around the office.  You never wanted to throw anything in the waste basket that you might later need to retrieve. Fortunately--and to the great relief of others working in the office--the chew period was short-lived.

Jeff, who had a weakness for independent, outdoor gals, started paying more notice to the energetic and optimistic young woman who wore a perpetual, elfish smile.  It wasn't long before the two were pretty good friends and going on lots of trips together. They were both recreation majors at Idaho State.  Jeff graduated in 1981 and Kellie in 1982.  Determined to stay in the field of outdoor education, they picked up jobs working for Colorado Outward Bound in the summers and for the local ski area, Pebble Creek, in the winters.  Jeff had cut his teeth skiing the steep slopes of Pebble Creek and in the backcountry surrounding the ski area and, along with his natural athleticism, he attempted, and successfully completed, a number of cutting edge ski descents in the 1980s.  Descents included routes off the peaks of the Teton Range including Mt. Owens, Mt. Moran, the Middle Teton, and the Grand Teton (twice!).  In the Spring of 1983, he skied off of Denali in the Alaska Range on Nordic skis.  The Denali ski descent occurred on a climb that he and Kellie did in which they traversed the mountain from the West Buttress to Muldrow Glacier.  Symbolic of their life together, they celebrated their wedding anniversary while on the three-and-a-half-week expedition.

They both continued climbing and leading guided trips throughout North America and other parts of the world.  Kellie's increasing stature in the mountaineering world was evident when she was invited on the Snowbird Expedition to Mt. Everest in 1987.  During the expedition, she reached 24,000 feet without oxygen.  In 1989, she was on the mountain again, but this time with Jeff and their good friend Tom Whittaker.  They had met the gregarious Welshman during their days with the Outdoor Program where he was a fellow staff member.  Tom was disabled and was attempting to make the first disabled ascent of the mountain.  Unfortunately, none of them made it to the summit. Jeff was on a subsequent Everest expedition, but once again, he was stopped short of his goal.

Another opportunity came along in 1998.  It was an expedition that Tom Whittaker had put together and he invited both of his old friends, Jeff and Kellie. Finally, on the 1998 expedition, Jeff reached the summit. Amazingly, after a brief rest, Jeff returned to Everest's summit a second time.  This time, Tom was with him and Whittaker was able to attain his long-held goal of being the first disabled individual to climb Everest. Kellie wasn't planning to make a summit bid, but nevertheless, provided invaluable support to the successful expedition, helping with logistics and ferrying loads on the mountain.

They are remarkable team.  The mountaineering world is dominated by men and women with egos as big as the peaks they climb, but Jeff and Kellie are a refreshing departure.  They quietly and humbly go about the business of climbing.  They are two people who truly enjoy climbing for the sake of climbing.  It takes a lot of prodding to get them to talk about their accomplishments--and when they do talk about them, it's about the fine day they had skiing in deep powder or the incredible view from a ridge.  But if you dig deeper, you learn that the fine day of skiing is on a steep, glaciated slope of Denali or the incredible view is from the shoulder of world's highest mountain.  They are, indeed, outstanding mountaineers, but perhaps, even more important, they are outstanding people.