Caroline Gleich is a professional ski mountaineer, endurance athlete, and advocate based in Park City, Utah, roughly 700 miles from the nearest surf break, which explains a lot about her surfing.

She was the first woman to climb and ski every line in The Chuting Gallery, Andrew McLean’s notorious guide to the steepest terrain in the Wasatch. She’s climbed Cho Oyu and Everest, run marathons and ultramarathons, and formerly competed in whitewater stand-up paddling. None of it has made her good at surfing. Her husband, an open water swimmer, Rob Lea, is no help. He’s mediocre at it too. That’s part of why she loves the ocean: it doesn’t care about anyone’s résumé.

What she lacks in wave count she makes up for in stubbornness about protecting the places she plays in. A Patagonia ambassador for over 15 years and a former U.S. Senate candidate in Utah, Gleich has testified before lawmakers and organized for public lands, climate action, voting rights and clean water. That work started with a snowpack she watched get thinner every season, but Utah’s snow becomes the Colorado River, and what’s left of the river reaches the sea. It’s one system, under pressure at every point.

She’s proud to join Surfrider in the fight for healthy oceans, waves, and beaches, and she promises to stay out of your way in the lineup.