Heather Balogh Rochfort is a contributor to GearJunkie. Balogh Rochfort has been writing about hiking, camping, and skiing for 15 years. Prior to that, Balogh Rochfort was also a freelance writer with outdoor bylines in dozens of publications. Based in Colorado, Balogh Rochfort enjoys hiking, backpacking, camping, skiing, mountain biking, and bikepacking.
Title: Contributor
Email:heather.balogh@gmail.com
Location: Carbondale, CO
Social Media: www.HeatherBaloghRochfort.com, @heatherrochfort, https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-balogh-rochfort-145ab910/
Number Of Products & Number Of Hours Expert Has Tested: 2000+ products, 10,000+ hours
Education & Certifications
Education:B.S in News-Editorial Journalism, M.Ed in Special Education
Years of Writing: 15
Certifications: N/A
Previous Publications: The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, Men’s Journal, Outside, Red Bull, Afar, Backpacker, REI, Sierra, Trail Runner, 5280, The Denver Post, and more
Experience
Born and raised in Colorado, contributor Heather Balogh Rochfort spent her early years on trail or on piste with parents who frequently yanked her from school to enjoy a midweek powder day. While her teachers were less than enthused, it taught Balogh Rochfort that time outside will always jumpstart a good mood.
Years later, she attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where she earned a degree in News-Editorial Journalism and a minor in Spanish. She also went on to attend graduate school at Regis University where she received an M.Ed in Special Education with an emphasis on Outdoor Education for At-Risk Youth Populations. Throughout her studies, she taught both adaptive skiing through the National Sports Center for the Disabled and track for the Special Olympics.
After college, she spent six months bikepacking across the United States while living in a tent. Upon reaching Miami, she ditched her bike and nabbed a one-way ticket to South America where she hiked and camped throughout the continent for the next 18 months. After returning to the States, she immediately went into culture shock and moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where she became a youth ski instructor. It was then that she also began her career in the outdoor industry as a freelancer.
Today, she lives in the mountains of Colorado with her husband and daughter, who is quickly turning into a little ripper on her own. With trail access and ski slopes at her fingertips, Balogh Rochfort specializes in any land-based human-powered adventure, with a special focus on women and families.
Career Highlights
Bikepacked 3,893 miles across the United States, biking from Colorado to Pensacola, Florida, before zipping up to Kentucky, over to the East Coast, and ending in Miami
Spent three months traveling the American West while living in a tent with her husband and then-seven-month-old daughter
Is an on-air hiking expert for The Weather Channel
5-time author of various books including Backpacking 101, Women Who Hike, and Moms Who Hike
Once caught a bush plane into the wilds of Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic National Park where she and some friends packrafted 100 miles of the Alatna River (while dodging grizzlies on an hourly basis)
Requested for a special interview with Alex Honnold at his home in Las Vegas. This content turned into a global cover story and Balogh Rochfort can be seen interviewing Honnold in his VR film, The Soloist
A Word from Heather Balogh Rochfort
I knew I was a writer in the first grade when I continually gravitated toward the school’s self-publishing room beneath the stairs. There, I designed, wrote, and illustrated nearly 10 books before graduating to the second grade, where I also moved on to markers instead of crayons. My writing is longer now and more heavily researched, but I still think back to those early days spent feverishly coloring the cover of my next book.
Of course, it wasn’t a linear path. Unpaid internships used to be the norm for writers hoping to get on staff at publications, and I couldn’t manage that as a self-sufficient college graduate. And freelancing wasn’t yet a thing. So I started my own website where I could share woman-driven adventure stories from around Colorado. I never realized it would turn into one of the most well-read sites in the country, but it did—and it jump-started my writing career.
When I’m not banging at my keyboard tucked inside my office, you’ll find me outside with my family. We live outside Aspen so big mountains, alpine air, and steady climbs are all close to home. In the summer, you’re most likely to find us on bikes or sleeping in a tent, and in the winter we spend every free day skiing the slopes or uphilling in Aspen.
The Igloo Recool is a $10 biodegradable cooler made from molded pulp. It’s surprisingly tough, keeps drinks cold, and offers an eco-friendly alternative to styrofoam.
