Zach McCarthy

Born and raised in Saco, Maine, Zach is a dynamic individual on a mission to create more inclusive and accessible outdoor recreation opportunities. With a degree in Economics from the University of Southern Maine, Zach is the Founder and Executive Director of Inclusive Ski Touring and the former Marketing Director at Mt. Abram Family Resort. He is also one of the founding board members of the non-profit organization Uphill New England. His approach to partnership development and programming has made outdoor adventures more financially accessible, while boosting public relations and business revenues.

Outside of his professional endeavors, Zach embodies the spirit of adventure, finding fulfillment, inspiration, and drive through backcountry skiing, trail running, biking, and photography.

Zach's future aspirations include expanding Inclusive Ski Touring and developing alternative nationwide outdoor accessibility initiatives.

Bill Cobb

Bill is a marketing consultant focused on the non-profit and higher education sectors. He leads the Protect Our Winters (POW) New England Local Alliance, a group of volunteers across New England working to enact campaigns and events to support POW's mission to help passionate outdoor people protect the places and lifestyles they love from climate change. Bill has a background in adaptive sports, serving as a volunteer skiing and climbing instructor and a member of the Communications & Marketing Committee for Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country.

When it's not ski season, Bill can be found training for his next ultramarathon or spending time on the lake. He lives in New Hampshire with his partner Kelsey and their two dogs.

Sam Andrews

Sam has been passionate about skiing from a young age, thanks to her mom. Together, they made skiing accessible through unconventional means. Sam hauled old wooden skis to her 4th-grade class, using them to teach the history of skiing in exchange for a packet of ski tickets. Meanwhile, her mom volunteered her weekends at Maine Adaptive, earning Sam tickets to ski their favorite mountain.

Sam started alpine touring with old, clunky frame bindings at Mt. Abram in 2018. After her first tour, she was hooked. Driven by her love for skiing and the outdoors, Sam eagerly supports Inclusive Ski Touring (IST) to provide education and connection within the touring community. She firmly believes that time spent outdoors is essential to people’s mental and physical well-being.

Sam works for Teens to Trails, supporting Maine middle and high school teachers in connecting students to the outdoors. When she’s not on skis, she’s finding other ways to spend time in nature with the people she loves most!

Meg Pierce

Meg grew up casually alpine and nordic skiing with her family. She started touring on telemark skis in 2021, but decided to leave dropping knees to the resort setting and got her first alpine touring setup in 2022.

Her social, enthusiastic, and fun-loving nature has always led her to encourage others, especially female friends, to join her for outdoor adventures. After leading tours for Inclusive Ski Touring’s Women’s Program starting in January 2022, she realized how passionate she was about formalizing her efforts to help break down barriers for women in the outdoors. During the summer she continues her efforts by leading/sweeping women’s mountain bike group rides and helping with a girls mountain bike camp.

Meg lives in the Greater Boston area with her partner, daughter, and dog. She works as an Engineer and spends her free time passionately pursuing her endless outdoor hobbies.

Nick Giaquinto

When Nick started skiing, he never could have imagined how much the simple joy of making turns with friends could mean. Through skiing, a love of the outdoors was born. Working as a sea kayak guide and outdoor educator for the Portland-based non-profit Rippleffect, Nick had the opportunity to share his love of the outdoors and develop a passion for teaching. In 2017 Nick started ski touring and in 2021 joined the board of Inclusive Ski Touring with the goal of building an organization that can help everyone learn to ski tour.

Nick lives in Salt Lake City UT and works as an engineer. When not skiing Nick spends his time mountain biking and trail running.

Sam Trombley

Sam is a marketing and public relations professional focused on the outdoor recreation industry. She is the Marketing Manager for Backyard Concept, a management and consulting firm based in Conway, NH, and for the past two years has led marketing efforts for Granite Outdoor Alliance, Granite Backcountry Alliance, and the Mt. Washington Backcountry Ski Festival. Sam is passionate about finding innovative solutions to help make outdoor recreation more accessible while building healthy communities that sustainably leverage the outdoors for economic development.

Sam skied casually growing up (usually spending a week at Cranmore) but truly fell in love with uphill touring in 2020 when her best friend Kelsey introduced her to the backcountry life. After spending four years in Boston after college, Sam made the move to New Hampshire in 2022 to be where she always wanted to spend her free time - in the mountains. Her growing love for touring definitely played a role in her decision to relocate.

Now, Sam is a proud resident of Gorham, New Hampshire, with her partner Stu and their pup Scarlett. She started volunteering for IST during the 2022/2023 ski season and has found her days at Mt. Abram and Whaleback to be the most rewarding of the winter. In her free time, Sam hosts pub trivia across Mt. Washington Valley and Coös County under the moniker “SalmonStew Trivia.” She is a member of the Gorham Destination Management Committee and volunteers for Summits in Solidarity, which aims to foster racial justice and equity outdoors.

Abby Cough

Abby grew up in Portland, Maine and found a love of touring in 2019 - exploring the terrains of Carrabassett Valley and the White Mountains. Humbled by all the folks who helped to foster her backcountry skiing knowledge, she wanted to give back and found out about Inclusive Ski Touring in 2023. Abby volunteered that season - inspired by the mission and excited to drive inclusion and community in the Northeast.

After spending six years working in Boston, she is now pursuing her MBA at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. Despite the flat landscape of Illinois, Abby is excited to dive back into nordic skiing this season and looks forward to returning to the great Northeast.

Outside of skiing, Abby enjoys racing sailboats with her partner Patrick!