Monica Prelle is a journalist who writes about the outdoors, health, running, and travel. My work has appeared in Adventure Journal, Backpacker, Climbing, The Guardian, High Country News, Outside, Runner’s World, San Francisco Chronicle, Sierra, and others.

Most recently, I reported on COVID-19 in Mono County, California. This reporting was cited in The New Yorker and won Best Newsletter from the Outdoor Writers Association of California.

My writing has been supported by fellowships from the Economic Hardship Reporting Project to look at how the pandemic has impacted ski communities (2020), and the Banff Centre’s Mountain Wilderness Writing program to work on a memoir about running through grief (2017). In 2018 I was a visiting journalism professor at Northern Michigan University.

In addition to journalism, I am a copywriter for brands targeting an active outdoor audience. I have written travel guides, social media copy, advertorials, and brand journalism for clients including Destination Canada, Hipcamp, Mammoth Lakes Tourism, New Belgium Brewing Company, Patagonia, and REI.

I also have extensive experience in the restaurant business and have an advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET Level 3).

For more than 20 years, I have lived in California’s Eastern Sierra. When I am not writing or reading, I enjoy mountain running, fishing for golden trout, and backcountry snowboarding.