Episode Details

Who gets to belong in the outdoors?

For a long time, the answer was… not everyone.

Katherine Hayes Rodriguez has spent nearly 50 years changing that.

What started with a small group of Vietnam veterans in Lake Tahoe grew into something much bigger—helping shape adaptive sports programs that now exist all over the world.

But this isn’t just a story about programs or progress.

It’s about one person deciding that access shouldn’t be limited—and doing something about it.

We talk about:

•  What the outdoors looked like in the 1970s—and who was excluded 
•  The early days of adaptive skiing, and what it took to make it real 
•  Why access isn’t just physical—it’s cultural 
•  The role of community in helping people see what’s possible 
•  What decades of this work teaches you about persistence and purpose 

Katherine also shares stories from the early days—moments that were messy, uncertain, and far from guaranteed.

This one is about inclusion, but also about something deeper:

👉 What it takes to create change that lasts longer than you do

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Ageless Athlete is a podcast about healthy aging for people who want to stay strong, active and capable for life. Conversations explore strength, endurance, mobility, recovery, VO2 max, muscle and bone health, and what it takes to keep doing the things you love as you get older.

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