91探花

Mountain Legends is hosted by the Outdoor Recreation Management program at 91探花. The event is split into two portions. From 6–7 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to network with both current and past Mountain Legends. This networking portion will include dinner and drinks. From 7–9 p.m., a panel discussion with this year’s Mountain Legends will offer these industry leaders a platform to showcase their stories and experiences.

2025 Legends

Dr. Charlie Baker

• Physician and advisor for NC Outward Bound school, NCOBS board of directors, faculty MAHEC Family Medicine Residency in Boone, private medical practice in Crossnore for 20 years and Linville for 20 years
•  Although 2025 Mountain Legend Charlie Baker’s impressive career as a pediatric physician is not a traditional path toward the great outdoors, his passion for outdoor adventure brought him there anyway. Baker is a board-certified physician in family practice and pediatrics, and he completed his pediatric residency at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital, after which he moved to Crossnore, North Carolina. He continued to work as a pediatric physician in North Carolina for 40 years, earning himself the accolade of the only pediatrician in the state who delivered his own patients. Throughout his career, Baker delivered an estimated 2,000 patients.
  
  Throughout his career as a physician, Baker always had a personal interest in the outdoors, and loved running, biking, and hiking. He brought this passion into his practice where it translated into a passion for helping his patients remain healthy and active. The year after moving to North Carolina, that passion became manifest when he first got involved with North Carolina Outward Bound School (NCOBS), an organization that operates out of Buncombe County and delivers challenging outdoor adventure programming to people of all ages. With NCOBS, Baker volunteered his time to teach first-aid training to the school’s staff and remained on call as a 24/7 resource for field staff needing guidance about student health and injuries. Over the year, NCOBS students became long-term patients, and brought much joy and meaning to his life.

Gordon Grant 

• Mondamin Camp, Green Cove Camp, Nantahala Outdoor Center, North Carolina Outward Bound School, UNC Chapel Hill
• 2025 Mountain Legend Gordon Grant’s career as an outdoor educator began earlier than most. At 14 years old as a camper at Camp Mondamin, a summer camp for boys in Zirconia, North Carolina, Grant was set on the path of education that he has continued to follow ever since. He went on to become a counselor and staff trainer at camps Mondamin and Green Cove, head of instruction (among other roles) at Nantahala Outdoor Center, river instructor and education director at North Carolina Outward Bound School, teacher and principal in Asheville City Schools, adjunct professor of experiential education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and more. Throughout his career, Grant has taught for independent, charter, non-profit, and public education institutions, receiving such accolades as the Milken National Educator Award for his work on an integrated curriculum project for middle schoolers studying the French Broad River.
  
  Grant’s passion for education also applies to his personal studies. In 2010 he graduated with a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Grant retired from his long career as an educator in 2024, and is looking forward to spending more time learning, traveling, and growing with his wife Susan Grant, their daughters Rachel and Glenna, and their grandchildren. Grant sums up his life’s work in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer, “Glad would he learn, and gladly would he teach.”

Robbie Oats

• Phoenix Experiential Designs, Canopy Construction Associates, Alpine Towers, North Carolina Outward Bound School, Mountain Alliance
• Although he has a wide range of experience as an arborist, stonemason, landscaper, outdoor educator, and more, throughout the majority of his career, 2025 Mountain Legend Robbie Oates has been a challenge course designer, builder, and business owner. Oates has worked in all aspects of the challenge course industry, from building to training to inspecting, and his unique combination of skills has given him the skills and perspectives necessary to be successful in the challenge course industry.
  
  Oates has vast international experience in the industry, putting him at the forefront of the field which is growing around the world. Oates has worked on challenge courses in four of seven continents—Asia, Europe, South America, and North America—and on a number of popular televisions shows including MTV’s “Road Rules,” Animal Planet’s “King of the Jungle,” and NBC’s “Endurance.” Today Oates lives in an intentional community in Sugar Grove, North Carolina with his wife Laurie Percival-Oates where his experience working with teams toward a common goal has been instrumental to the success of the neighborhood. They have two children, Jesse and Austin.

 
Past Legends

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