Topics of Expertise: Rock Climbing, Trail & Ultra Running, Sports Psychology
Years in This Expertise: 8 years in Climbing, 5 years in Running, 2 years in Sports Psychology
Number Of Products & Number Of Hours Expert Has Tested: 50+ products, 500+ hours
Lucie Hanes is a freelance journalist, professional rock climber and ultrarunner, and mental performance consultant. She’s been climbing, running, and writing about the components of both, on and off, since her first internship at Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine while in college at the University of Virginia. Since then, her work has appeared in publications throughout the outdoor industry including Climbing Magazine, Trail Runner Magazine, Ultrarunning Magazine, ActionHub, Training for Climbing, Spoke & Blossom Magazine, Elevation Outdoors Magazine, among others.
Before taking her chances on a freelance career, Hanes headed up the youth climbing programs at several Colorado climbing gyms, organized Outdoor Media Summit, and earned her Master’s in Applied Sports Psychology from Adams State University. She now writes alongside running her sports psychology practice, Inside Out Athlete, in which she helps outdoor athletes manage their mental health and the psychological side of sport. Hanes lives in Grand Junction, Colorado with her partner, Ben, and their unusually large cat, Puck. She climbs and runs professionally for SCARPA.
A Word From Lucie
I don’t have the best social skills. Writing’s always come naturally, even when speaking and interacting on a face-to-face level faltered. It’s become my outlet for expressing pretty much everything—especially my love for time outside. I’m driven to share that out of desire to celebrate the simplicity of that time. In the age of newfangled everything, I want to prioritize the basics of outdoor adventure: fresh air, open space, single-minded focus.
In that sense, the gear that I choose to review has to add to that simplicity more than it takes away. If something makes it easier to focus on the experience, as if the thing itself didn’t even exist, then it gets my stamp of approval. We—and the landfills—all have enough “stuff” already. What we’re lacking in is time. Let’s narrow it down to just the “stuff” that maximizes time.
Besides writing and reviewing, my personal interests include climbing, trail running, occasionally skiing very poorly, pretending other people’s dogs are mine, reading, and eating copious amounts of peanut butter (which pairs well with all of the above).
The ultra-soft, ultra-stretchy Salomon Sense Pro 10 running vest expands to hold enough for ultra-distance events. But it packs down flat enough to be a…
