Sponsored skier and Colorado-based environmentalist Alison Gannett is no stranger to strenuous tasks in the name of climate awareness. In 2007, she climbed 20,000-foot peaks in Pakistan to record glacial recession. In 2009, she completed a self-supported bike ride from New York City to Washington D.C. as part of a group climate change ride. And in November, she embarked on yet another journey: a 225-mile walk from Brussels to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the United Nations Climate Conference all while carrying a pair of skis strapped to her backpack.
Why the skis? “I carried my skis as a symbolic gesture for saving our snow,” says Gannett, the founder of the Save Our Snow Foundation who’s also been working with Congress to create a solution framework for climate change issues. “I walked through all of these flat countries—and I figured carrying skis would help get the message out. My goal was to gather signatures on my skis for the UN Climate Petition.” alisongannett.com

Photo by J.C. Leacock, from Ski Magazine.