Deanna Beals usually goes by the nickname River, or DJ (Thats right folks, two nicknames for the price of one!).

She is originally from Lake Tahoe, California

Now she lives in the Lex!

where she grew up backcountry telemark skiing,

hiking, fishing, and extreme rock crawling. She attended Lake Tahoe Community College, Sierra College, Mendocino College and Feather River College, graduating with an A.S. in Equine Studies with an emphasis in Horse Training, and an A.A. in Liberal Arts in 2008. She is currently attending UC Davis for a B.S. in Animal Science, and hopes to finish her schooling with a Doctorates in Veterinary Medicine, and become a Professor for Animal Behaviour.

Likes:
  working on her car
  snuggling in bed
  sunshine and plants
  spelling things british
  watching horses run

Dislikes:
  people who park across the white lines

Rivers biggest passion is horses. Even though she didnt come from a family that knew nor cared about the beasts, she somehow had it in her blood. She started her horse carreer by adopting a wild 3 year old mustang mare, which she named Namayuna: Its Native American Piaute for lost but found. She chose the name because normally horses are named after thier ancestors, but since this was a mustang, there was no way to know who the horses parents were. So she chose a Piaute name because the Native American ancestors that lived on the land she was captured from was the closest traceable relative she had. Plus they were horse people.

She continued her equine education at Feather River College, where she started and sold several quarter horses. Two colts she started there she competed with the Feather River College team against Cal Poly San Louis Obispo on international television. Her team won both years, and the second year she placed highest score.

The second colt she competed ended up sold for $15,000 at the Snaffle Bit Futurity Select Sale in Reno.

The last horse she sold went to a man who lived in Hawaii. For her first show (let alone in Hawaii!), they won first place in cutting.

Okay enough bragging.

River has one pet, a border collie male named Hoss. He is probably the coolest dog ever. He fishes,

drinks at the bar,

and goes hiking and skiing!

Okay, really now its enough bragging.



Another one of Rivers big passions is working on trucks.

Rock crawlers specifically, and sometimes her modest Honda CRV, otherwise known as Red Rocket.

Latest Riverfox Quote:
    Wow everyone on here is really creative... now I feel like a n00b...


20090728 00:36:08 nbsp Hey, Welcome to the Wiki. I really like skiing and hiking too, Ive just started learning to telemark. I tend to prefer cross country to downhill (more relaxing), but I need more telemark practice at the resorts. Have you been to the Bear Valley Telemark Festival? Is this a good way to learn? Do you ski with skins or waxless skis? Thanks for any tips. Users/NickSchmalenberger

20090728 00:45:54 nbsp Ive never been to the festival, but Ive had lots of friends who have gone. It sounds like fun, but Im not sure about instruction. There seem to be two types of tele skiing; old school and new school. I learned the new school because I trained for PSIA telemark certification. Not saying that the old school way is wrong, but I do believe its less effective with the gear we ski on today...

I ski regular downhill skis (i.e. those without fishscales or attatched skins), and ski them waxed just as any other downhill ski would be, and then use skins when I need to go up!

I might start a telemark skiing club, so keep your earballs peeled! Users/DeannaBeals

20090728 00:58:07 nbsp Cool, I have a pair of K2 Piste Stinx with Superloop bindings. I took them to Squaw once last winter and managed not to fall too much, but I didnt get to telemark very much either, since I had to try to keep up with my friends for most of the time. I did get to practice by myself for an hour or two though with the book __Freeheel Skiing: Telemark and Parallel Techniques__. You might want to join the Davis Back Country Skiers mailing list too. I went to one of their meetings, and a lot of them seemed to be AT skiers and maybe much more hardcore than me, but there was a great slideshow about skiing to the top of Mt. Logan by Peter Green I think.  Users/NickSchmalenberger

20090728 06:35:46 nbsp Cool... another great book (the one that I refer to the most when Im teaching) is Mike and Allens Really Cool Telemark Book. They also make an awesome general mountaineering book too. Users/DeannaBeals
