She’ll Ski There Too

By Carol Corbin, Philanthropy and Communications Director

“When h*ll freezes over, I’ll ski there too.” The sticker on the back of the Subaru in the parking lot wasn’t surprising at all, now that I know just a bit about Sonja Aletter. An avid skier, passionate pet mom, and Chief Executive Officer of eTT Aviation based in Boise, Idaho, Sonja has also recently named Inland Northwest Land Conservancy in her estate plan. “It’s the trees; I just love the trees,” she told me over coffee on a dreary day in January. Most years, every Tuesday during the winter is ski day, but this year there have been slim pickings on the hill. Her last visit to 49 Degrees North resulted in long waits, over-skied runs, and slush. But her love of skiing still shines through.

Born and raised in Germany, she fell in love with nature in a small patch of woods on the outskirts of her hometown. Here she spent endless days playing and exploring with her cousins and neighborhood kids. When she moved to Texas at 18, the foreign feeling was less about people, culture, and language and more about the absence of trees. More than two decades later, after sleeping with the windows open in Santa Cruz, California, in July, she knew it was time to leave the mosquito-ridden, treeless oven of San Antonio for someplace green with four seasons and her beloved trees.

That was eight years ago, and even though her remote career would allow her to work from anywhere, Sonja confidently calls Spokane home. She and her dogs, Lily and Tavi (short for Octavius) walk nearly every day on the trails at Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve. When she moved to the Mead area almost two years ago, she was just desperate to find a home but was delighted to find a trail system less than a mile from her front door. Now, other early morning hikers and dog walkers at Waikiki Springs recognize Sonja and her “pack,” greeting her, chatting about life, and exchanging text messages and visits during off hiking hours. The sense of community, paired with the serenity of the Little Spokane River in the morning keeps her coming back.

And that’s how she found out about the Conservancy. One day on her hike, she noticed a booth with a Conservancy volunteer who shared information about who we are and what we do with local land conservation. For Sonja, the fit was clear.

Protecting wild, natural spaces in which people could connect with something bigger than themselves in perpetuity is at the core of who she is. In her estate plan, taking care of her pets who may outlast her is top priority, and making sure that this community has parks, trails, and wild places is a close second.

Sonja told me about a moment on the trail when she paused to absorb the blessing of nature and honor the animals of the four directions. As she closed her eyes, arms outstretched, and connected with the earth, she sensed the presence of the buffalo and the wolf. The spiritual power of being such a small part of something so much bigger, she says, is a critical piece of being human, of finding empathy and compassion, of being well and whole. Those are the experiences that she hopes her legacy gift will provide long into the future.

“If others can set aside any amount,” she said of estate planning, “in support of the Conservancy’s work, that can go a really long way to preserving what we are currently able to experience in nature.”

As Director of Philanthropy, but more importantly, as a lover of the natural world, I (Carol) am deeply grateful to everyone who decides to include the Conservancy in their estate plan. The trust you’ve placed in our collective vision for the future is humbling and inspiring.

Dozens of local people just like you have made a permanent commitment to the vision of conservation by including Inland Northwest Land Conservancy in their estate plans. If you would like to learn more about what an estate gift could mean for local conservation, call our office at (509) 328-2939 or email me at ccorbin@inlandnwland.org. I’d love to learn more about your story and how Inland Northwest Land Conservancy could help to realize your vision for the future of our community.