Majka Burhardt
Exum Guide
Hometown: Boulder, CO
Guiding Since 1996
Majka began guiding in 1996, and today integrates guiding with writing to create a career of sharing and translating adventure. She started working for Voyageur Outward Bound when she was nineteen and went on to work for Pacific Crest Outward Bound before guiding for the American Alpine Institute in 1998. Majka spend a decade guiding for the Colorado Mountain School and in 2003 was the fourth woman to be certified in any discipline by the AMGA. She is currently and AMGA Certified Rock Guide. Majka’s guided rock, ice, and mountaineering throughout the US and has led expeditions in Nepal, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico and Alaska. Additionally she has climbed personally throughout Africa, South America, Canada, and Europe.
As a writer and storyteller, Majka’s most recent project resulted in the new documentary “Waypoint Namibia.” Her first book, Vertical Ethiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa, was published in February, 2008 (Shama), and was shortlisted for the Banff Book Award. Majka’s second book, Coffee: Authentic Ethiopia, is scheduled for publication in September, 2010. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers and received her BA in Anthropology from Princeton University.
Majka was a founding member of Climb Against the Odds, a Breast Cancer Awareness Expedition on Denali in 1998. She has worked and traveled throughout the world from the Arctic to South America, from The Horn of Africa to its Southern Cape, from the Himalaya to Corsica, and tales of her adventures (and misadventures) are frequent additions to magazines including Climbing, Alpinist, The Explorer’s Journal, and Men’s Journal. When opportunity permits, Majka also works as a speaker and shares stories of her quest to make adventure additive, when adventure goes beyond exploration and toward cultural and environmental connection.
Majka currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Mountain Guide Association and is a former Section Chair for the American Alpine Club. Majka splits her time between Boulder, Colorado, North Conway, New Hampshire, and Bozeman, Montana.
Sponsors:
Patagonia
Osprey
Petzl
Scarpa
Julbo
Outdoor Research
