Dorchester area native Tara Nichols discovers passion for mountain climbing, ascends to a lifelong dream, and beyond


Dorchester area native Tara Nichols, now a middle school math teacher in Loveland, CO, shares her view from Capitol Peak of the Elk Mountains near Aspen, CO, described by some as the most dangerous mountain in Colorado. Nichols' move to Colorado three years ago has helped her live out a newly-discovered passion for mountain climbing, having climbed more than 20 mountains this year alone. Submitted photo.

Tara Nichols, a 2008 Waukon High School graduate and the daughter of Rod and Diane Nichols of Dorchester, lived out a dream come true this past summer when she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest point on the continent of Africa. Following graduation from high school, Nichols completed a teaching degree at Wartburg College in Waverly in early 2011 and two months later began her career as a middle school math teacher in Loveland, CO. " It was the best decision I’ve ever made for my life," Nichols said of her move to Colorado.
Nichols was no stranger to Colorado, as she had done her student teaching there prior to graduating from Wartburg. It was during that student teaching stint that she also took her first steps, literally, toward an ever-since developing passion for mountain climbing, summiting one of the highest mountains in the United States just two weeks after first arriving in Denver.

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