About
The Author:
Bryan Lee is a lifelong adventurer, guide, and wilderness mentor that has been involved with almost every outdoor activity that has ever caught his eye. Wakeboarding, backcountry snowboarding, multi-pitch trad climbing, whitewater kayaking, mountain biking, ultra-running, iron distance triathlons, and a touch of mountain climbing have all sucked him in over the years. Most recently, SUP surfing, kiteboarding, and quite obviously wingfoiling have taken over his recreational focus. When not in the water, Bryan is adventuring somewhere else with his wife and pup, possibly in the garden or across the country!
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Education:
M.S. in Experiential Education
B.S. in Parks and Recreation
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Training and certification:
At this point I've earned and lost more certifications than I can remember but here's a few that I could argue relate to fun times and comfort in the outdoors:
Wilderness First Responder
EMT-Basic
Swiftwater Rescue
AIARE Avalanche 1
AMGA Rock Instructor
ETCP Theatrical Rigger (flying things through the air for broadway)
Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians level 3 (climbing bridges, dams, towers, etc)
Basic Underwater Demolition School
Padi Open Water Diver
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Why are you running this website?
I'm wildly passionate about having fun outside and have always gotten a profound sense of joy from helping others do the same. So much so that it was my career and educational focus for over 10 years. I'm no longer in that industry as a paid professional but my eagerness to learn, mentor, and adventure hasn't changed. As such, this website, the writing it contains, and my interactions at the beach are a passion project that I've chosen to embark upon.
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What is a Wouzel?
Wouzel, is actually a name I coined that is short for Water Ouzel, North Americas only truly aquatic songbird. I grew up on lakes and rivers and have always preferred my time in wild places over crowded venues. I can't help but to appreciate a songbird that loves the water as much as I do. If you look them up you'll note that their dance is a short little pumping motion, just as we do on our foils when riding swell.
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"He is the mountain streams' own darling, the humming-bird of blooming waters, loving rocky ripple-slopes and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers, as a lark loves sunshine and meadows. Among all the mountain birds, none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings, - none so unfailingly. For both in winter and summer he sings, sweetly, cheerily, independent alike of sunshine and of love, requiring no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells. While water sings, so must he, in heat or cold, calm or storm, ever attuning his voice in sure accord; low in the drought of summer and the drought of winter, but never silent."
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- The Mountains of California, Chapter 13, by John Muir, 1894