Dawn Glanc, pronounced “glance,” is a full-time resident of Ouray, Colorado and is certified by the American Mountain Guides Association as a Rock Guide and Alpine Guide. Dawn enjoys rock climbing, but her specialty is ice and mixed climbing. She has competed in elite ice climbing competitions, including a 1st place finish at the Ouray Ice Festival in 2009 and 2011, and a first-place finish at the Teva Winter Games in 2012. With the help of BCI Media, Dawn produced the film “Mixtress”, a documentary style film about mixed climbing. Dawn is very active in her local community. She is a former member of the Ouray City Council, a former Chicks owner (and longtime Chicks guide), and an active member of the Ouray Climbers Alliance.

“Working with Chicks has shown me the importance of spending time together with women in the outdoors. When women adventure together, we are forced to take on different roles within the group. Someone has to step up to be the leader, to carry the heavy loads, to break trail, etc. Oftentimes, in a co-ed group we may defer a role because we are used to someone else taking the role on. But in an all female group, you can be empowered to step up and take on the task in a different way. The experience is liberating and powerful at the same time the experience is typically filled with fun and laughter.”

Dawn Glanc started working for Chicks in 2009. She began working for Chicks as an ice climbing guide. During this time period Chicks was looking to expand their programs beyond ice climbing. Dawn worked with Kim Reynolds to create rock climbing programs in Devil’s Lake, Indian Creek and Red Rocks. These additional programs created a year round opportunity for women to climb with Chicks. Dawn Also helped to create the Cody Wyoming Ice climbing and Ouray Mixed Climbing programs.

In May of 2015, five Chicks guides bought the business from Kim Reynolds and changed the name to Chicks Climbing and Skiing. Dawn Glanc, Angela Hawse, Elaina Arenz, Karen Bockel and Kitty Calhoun worked together to become the leading women’s only program in the United States. Program locations were added to places like Rifle, Joshua Tree, City of Rocks, New River Gorge, and the Red River Gorge. International programs were offered to places like Iceland and Japan. Avalanche education, alpine climbing and backcountry ski programs were also added.