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Olivia Fehlberg
CASA President
Born and raised among the very climbable rocks of Colorado, Olivia moved to Tucson for school and fell in love with the mountains and the cacti and the climbing community. As a member of the CASA board she hopes to support and celebrate all facets of what makes Southern Arizona’s climbing community so special. Email Olivia |
Nicki Manzanares
CASA Vice President
& Webmaster Nicki hails from Colorado, a veritable outdoor playground, where she grew up downhill skiing, figure skating, backpacking, hiking, fishing. Nicki sport climbed and canyoneered for the first time in 2016, because of her two sons. After retiring in 2016 at the age of 56, Nicki and her husband moved to Tucson for the winter months. By 2018 she had caught the climbing bug and now calls that her primary sport. She joined CASA in 2017 as a member and volunteer. In 2019 she joined the leadership team as Webmaster, and became one of the Directors in Fall of 2021. In May 2022, she agreed to step into the Vice President role and looks forward to growing the presence of CASA and climbing in the Tucson community. Her favorite climbing areas include The Farmhouse, anywhere on Mt Lemmon, Queen Creek, Rifle, Shelf Road, Ten Sleep, The Red, The Flatirons. Email Nicki |
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Russell Fette
Director & promotions
Russ is originally from Texas, and first started climbing with his wife Carrie when they moved to Arizona in 2010. Russell and his family (4 children) especially love scenic hikes to quiet crags with moderate sport routes, but he has been lucky enough to experience some of Southern AZ’s more epic offerings like Baboquivari. After years of benefiting from the stewardship of other volunteers while they raised their kids on the trails and crags, Russ and his family are excited to give back to the land and community that has given them so much. Russ is on the Board of Directors for CASA and serves as the Promotions Coordinator – always on a mission to get out more sweet CASA swag. Email Russell |
Don Wilson
Director &
Social Media Don enjoys being a part of the local climbing community. That’s the best part of climbing. He partakes in any and all aspects of climbing - sport, trad, long routes, short routes, big walls, or new routes. It’s all good. Except ice climbing, that’s too cold. And bouldering, he’s too old for that. He and his wife Karen love to travel to climb, and still travel to different areas a few months every year. They have been fortunate to climb and meet new people at climbing areas all over the world and across the US. Don has been CASA’s Social Media Coordinator for several years, and is also part of the Anchor Replacement Team. If you see a tall guy out at the crags, it might be him. Come up and say hi. Email Don |
Paul Bowron
Director
Paul is originally from Casper, Wyoming. He learned to climb in Law School in Laramie, Wyoming/Vedauwoo. His favorite type of climbing is trad, as "trad is rad." Paul is on the CASA Board of Directors and volunteers at Adopt-a-Crag events, whenever possible. His goal is to promote safe use of climbing areas around southern Arizona. His favorite climbing location is Vedauwoo in Wyoming. Email Paul |
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Eric Ruljancich
Stewardship
Team Lead Eric is originally from British Columbia, Canada and has been climbing for an impressive 24 years. His first time climbing ever was City of Rocks, ID. Eric loves most types of climbing, but primarily focuses on hard sport these days. He was one of the original founders of CASA and has been the Stewardship Coordinator for 7 years. Eric wants CASA to be a place where climbers can give back to the places and community that makes this sport what it is. Favorite climbing areas locally: Prison Camp, Mt Lemmon. Favorite places in AZ: Lime Kiln Canyon, AZ Stip. Email Eric |
Luke Bertelsen
Anchor Team
Team Lead |
Robbie Mackley
Member Drive coordinator
Robbie is originally from Tucson, and has been climbing in and around Southern Arizona since early 2010. He has fun bouldering, sport and/or traditional climbing, but really enjoys long backcountry routes. Robbie's vision for CASA is to help build and maintain a safe and welcoming community, with an emphasis on stewardship, ethical standards, local history, safety and unity. Email Robbie |
Jill Andersen
Membership Coordinator
Jill has been an adventurer for as long as they can remember. Jill was hooked on sport climbing as a little gym rat, but fell in love with the discipline when their sister brought them to climb in the Colorado Rockies years ago. Jill made a career in entertainment managing stages, performers, and light before they arrived in this desert. Nowadays they take care of their cat, admire the cactus, and scramble about on rocks, trails, and trees whenever they get the chance. They are looking forward to giving back to CASA and the climbing community as they enjoy and protect our glorious natural environment! Email Jill |
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Brian Rasmussen
Graffiti Removal
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Toni Ward
Deputy Director
Toni started downhill skiing in her early 20s. Thirty years later, she still skied – and nothing else! In her early 50s someone talked me into taking some lessons at a climbing gym while Toni was on an extended project out of state. The gym experience led to an outdoor climbing outing. That event set the hook; Toni fell in love with climbing and rediscovered a love of being outdoors that she had neglected for far too long. Climbing got Toni started on an array of other outdoor pursuits – hiking, trail running, snowshoeing, etc. It just goes to show it’s never too late to start! Email Toni |
Nadia Moraglio
CASA Newsletter
Nadia is originally from Italy but has lived in Tucson since the mid ‘90s. She discovered her passion for climbing in 2001, on Mt. Lemmon, thanks to a good friend who thought she would enjoy climbing. He was right, and since then, Nadia has enjoyed climbing and being part of the climbing community. Despite her connection to climbing, Nadia has not worn her climbing shoes for a time due to injury. In the meantime, she is happy to be able to help CASA with their newsletter and other social media events. Email Nadia |
Andy Bennett
Deputy Director
Originally hailing from the pancake-flat Midwest, Andy cut his climbing teeth in the early 2000s on the wild granite cracks and slabs of Colorado's South Platte. Since then he's been lucky to visit a variety of climbing areas around the world, but his power spot will probably always remain in California's Eastern Sierra. He enjoys sailing off of bolts as much as fiddling around with traddy widgets, and loves traditional alpine granite over most things; he does love pebble wrestling, but hasn't found a good enough reason locally to invest in a mattress yet. He's been an active CASA member since the group's inception, replacing old bolts around the region and leading erosion control crews during Adopt-a-Crags on Mt. Lemmon. He envisions a future where CASA is a partner in building a connected, cooperative, and strongly inclusive outdoor community that can achieve positive on-the-ground impacts that equally benefit the climbing community and the native ecosystems where we're privileged to climb. Andy also spends his free time backpacking, botanizing, and banging away on the mandolin. Email Andy |
