Josette Deschambeault is a professional outdoor guide, dog mom, and self-proclaimed water woman. She guides rivers, rock, and trails in Alaska, Colorado, Canada, Maine, and New Hampshire. When she's not on the water, she's road-tripping with the dog in her truck to camp in new places, taking up the rear on the skin track to find fresh snow in the backcountry, or brewing the perfect hot beverage on her tailgate.

Her gear expertise stems from 7 years of writing gear reviews on outdoor and adventure equipment. She managed BACKPACKER Magazine's Fall Gear Guide — Headwear section for five years. She has also written about paddling, backpacking, and hiking destinations and camping equipment, hiking equipment, alpine skiing, backcountry touring gear, dog gear, and paddling gear for publications like REI's Coop Journal/ Uncommon Path Magazine, Treeline Review, NRS' Duct Tape Diaries blog, and Powder 7's Lift Line Blog. She also manages Essential Alaska Travel, between training new guides, skiing in Japan, and multi-day rafting expeditions. She has spent nearly a decade guiding and consults with a plethora of gear-head friends and outdoor industry professionals on a near-daily basis.

Josette is an EMT, Wilderness First Responder, Search & Rescue tech, volunteer firefighter, Swiftwater Rescue Level IV technician. She has completed her AAIRE Avalanche Companion Rescue and AAIRE Avalanche Rescue Level I.

In her free time, she pursues home improvement projects, fishing, hunting, gardening, perfecting her coffee brewing techniques, baking, ATV-ing and snowmobiling, skiing, playing hockey, road-tripping across North America, and chasing the dog through the backcountry.

You can find out more about Josette at barelybadass.com