Paula is not a professional skier, mountain biker, sommelier or chef, but spends her time pursuing these and whatever else pops up along the way with an inordinate amount of enthusiasm and humor. 

As a recovering attorney and practicing parent, who has lived in seven states across all four time zones, she landed in Utah over a decade ago and decided that she could study for the bar or learn to ski…hmmm. After several failed attempts to go ‘beyond pizza’ with her wonderful husband’s coaching, she enlisted the help of some girlfriends, who took her up the mountain each week and accepted forgiveness when, one day, she took them out like bowling pins down Catherine’s Chutes. 

When they stopped rolling and found their skis and almost all of their poles, something happened. They all laughed.

From there, Paula gained confidence, competence and, after more laughter, her composure, realizing something magical occured when women gathered outdoors: they didn’t have to be the best, but they all got a lot better and found camaraderie among their co-venturers regardless of their ages, abilities or backgrounds. She went on to found SkiMums, a network of over 100 intermediate-to-advanced women skiers and snowboarders at Snowbird, that hits the mountain weekly to ski soar. 

Paula continues to share the stoke with stories about skiing and other outdoor pursuits and entertainments (#apresskiutah), as well as Utah, generally, as a regular contributor for VisitUtah, the State’s tourism website, and on Instagram at @harpo_utah.