EP 60 Theresa Silveyra
Color the Cascades

01:40:30

Theresa grew up in Southwest Washington with the Cascade volcanoes in her backyard, but it wasn’t until after grad school that she began recreating outdoors and eventually fell in love with climbing. She had the incredible privilege of starting her guiding career in 2021 with the non-profit organization Climbers of Color, co-leading mountain and alpine rock leadership courses for BIPOC participants. In 2022, she stepped into the role of Assistant Mountaineering Director, helping lead CoC’s program development through 2024.
 
For the first few years, Theresa balanced guiding with her career as a music teacher. In 2023, she transitioned away from the classroom to become a full-time guide and dedicate herself to pursuing AMGA certification; she is currently an AMGA Apprentice Alpine and Rock Guide. These days, she can be found guiding her favorite peak, Mount Hood, with Timberline Mountain Guides, or teaching ice climbing in Ouray with San Juan Mountain Guides during the winter. She also joined the Alpine Ascents team in summer 2025.
 
Outside of professional guiding, Theresa is a dedicated volunteer with Portland Mountain Rescue, serving as a Rescue Leader, Training Committee co-chair, and Board Member. Since 2020, she has also directed Color the Cascades, a scholarship program providing mountaineering gear to women and genderqueer people of color in the Pacific Northwest.

Show Notes:

Theresa’s Links:

Episode Intro:

Dear listeners of the Female Guides Requested podcast, welcome back, this is your host Ting Ting from Las Vegas. In today’s episode, we sit down with Theresa Silveyra, a Portland-based mountain guide whose journey into the outdoors is as disciplined as it is inspiring.

Originally a professional music teacher with a master’s degree in piano performance, Theresa transitioned into the world of guiding after seeking a fresh start away from the burnout of academia. Today, she is a trailblazer in the Pacific Northwest, serving as one of only two female rescue leaders with Portland Mountain Rescue and working with elite guide services like Alpine Ascents. Join us as we discuss her incredible feat of climbing Mount Hood over 100 times, her work in creating the ‘Color the Cascades’ gear scholarship, and her powerful perspective on why every climber—regardless of their background—already belongs in the mountains.

Quotes:

  • Enter the climbing and mountaineering space knowing that you already belong and just not questioning that.
  • I’ve always enjoyed just being invisible… but it’s really important to be able to be that person that maybe I needed when I was first getting started.
  • Everything’s developed over time and making sure that I’m practicing and playing consistently over a long period of time to really make sure that I know something.
  • The level of discipline required to sit down and get better at this craft… has really played out well for me in developing the technical skills I need in guiding.
  • I just like being able to share something that brings me a lot of enjoyment and happiness and hoping that it does the same for somebody else.
  • I decided that I needed to step into those traditional guiding spaces so that I could have a job… I was definitely nervous stepping into a space outside of my bubble.
  • It was the first time in my adult life where I had no idea what I was going to do for work… I finally threw away the crutch.
  • I feel like it’s really valuable to have people from underrepresented communities in those traditional guiding spaces.