Ellen Miller – A Trail Breaker in the World of Mountaineering

Ellen Miller, one of the Vail Valley’s most accomplished mountaineers, keeps inspiring those around her to continue the climb after healing from injuries sustained during her lifetime of adventure and athleticism.

As Ellen Miller knows so well, climbing a mountain isn’t just about standing on the peak, but all the ascending and descending steps it takes to fulfill the journey.

As an incredibly accomplished mountaineer and coach, Miller says the past few years have been a time of intentional exploration of her physical, emotional and mental well-being. In the spring of 2017, Miller had a hip reconstruction on one of her two artificial hips. The metal in one hip was not interacting favorably with her bones. Along with a new artificial hip, her surgeon put in a metal plate and three screws, and Miller is the first to admit the recovery has been an uphill challenge.

“I’m a mountain climber, so I’ve been very fortunate that a lot of my rehab is to climb mountains,” Miller shared in early January 2018. “So I went up on Quandary last week, and I went up there again today. I’m just coming to terms, emotionally and mentally, with what it’s like to be in this body — it’s been through a lot in the last year; that I’m not the same anymore, and what will it take to get back to a place that I’m happy with?”

While Miller is incredibly humble about her achievements, she has accomplished so much in her 63 years of life. Miller is the only American woman to climb Mount Everest from both sides (one of five women in the world), among countless other mountaineering feats all over the world. In 2002, she was voted Colorado Sportswoman of the Year for longevity and achievement in athletics. She has worked as a certified endurance and athletic coach, as well as a coach and manager for the U.S. Women’s Mountain Running Team. Miller is currently a caregiver for an elderly person in the Vail Valley, along with spending time as a volunteer on behalf of trails and wilderness and an advocate for resort access for uphill skiing and hiking in the winter months.

Miller says that she believes mountaineering trained her for all of the intense hip surgeries and the recoveries.

“I’ve learned tenacity; I’ve learned about attitude; I’ve learned about patience,” she shares. “I’m so glad that I was an athlete in my younger years because so much of those natural lessons that we learn are really applicable when you’re trying to get through these things — whether it’s a surgery or an illness or general aging.”

Now five years out of her 2017 surgery, Miller has recovered in stride and has been thriving in the alpine.

“COVID gave me the opportunity to explore new wilderness and high peaks alone, which I hadn’t enjoyed in years,” she shares.

Coaching Balance

Miller’s focus hasn’t shifted away from climbing mountains and setting life goals, but she has certainly become more in tune with honoring the aging process, and also encouraging younger athletes to start caring for their bodies early.

“I think in the old days, we thought more was better and higher mileage was better, and just more more more,” she explains, “and now we have a lot more science available; a lot more scientific evidence about training, and different modalities to recovery.”

Miller encourages athletes of all ages to create balance in their training, which includes high-intensity work, as well as ample recovery.

“Whether someone is in their thirties or forties, we can be smarter about the way we age,” Miller explained. “To understand the importance of high-quality rest, and the importance of high-quality nutrition, because I do believe all that stuff adds up, and it tends to really show itself as you’re aging.”

Connie Mazza met Miller after living in Vail for five years. Mazza says that although she was having fun, she wasn’t pushing herself out of her comfort zones. It was Miller, shares Mazza, who pushed her toward a path of purpose and self-discovery.

“Ellen, always with the utmost respect and support, taught me how to live intentionally and with clear goals,” says Mazza. “She showed me how to build up my self-esteem, self-care and self-love. She taught me how to tune in to my needs, my surroundings, and my greatest aspirations by taking conscious steps to live each day with strength, courage and gratitude.”

Among the myriad of lessons Miller shares with her “tribe” on a daily basis, Mazza said perhaps the most paramount to her journey is the commitment to shaping one’s thought patterns, an exercise in neuroplasticity that happens in the prefrontal cortex of the human brain.

“Ultimately, success is achieved through mental toughness, a thing Ellen describes as grit,” shares Mazza. “And I take this lesson with me always.”

“Whether it’s strength training, or yoga, or meditation — there are so many great things that we can all tap into so that we can age a little more gracefully,” Miller says.

Every year, Miller adds, a couple of her friends drop out of sports or activities they once loved because of pains or injuries.

“And that’s very sad to me,” she shares. “They have aches and pains so they shy away from doing these activities that they once loved, and sometimes they are even simple activities like hiking. So my paramount message to young athletes is to take care of your body, so that when you’re my age, you can do whatever you want to do.”

By Kim Fuller, Kim Fuller Ink.

As Seen in Issue 6 of Mountain Women Magazine.

Mountain Women Magazine | A magazine for Women filled with a passion for living life in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and beyond. Keep reading here: www.mountainwomenmagazine.com

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