About | White Mtn Playscapes

Our Story

How it all started

For our son Otto’s 2nd birthday, we decided to reclaim our backyard and create an epic play area he could enjoy with his friends. Inspired by the growth and joy Otto was finding in the local TimberNook program, Emma found a used playset as a source of parts.

Jake had recently revived his dad's bulldozer and got to work clearing brush, leveling a space for a fire pit, burying an old canoe for a sand pit, and moving boulders and a log from a hemlock tree to create a giant balance beam. We hung the swings from a small log bolted between two trees, installed the slide over a ledge in the backyard, created a tunnel/fort from saplings, built climbing elements from reclaimed monkey bars and climbing walls, and installed a slackline creating a playscape that blends into the natural feel of our backyard.

The overwhelmingly positive feedback from Otto’s friends and their parents sparked the idea that became White Mountain Playscapes.

Meet the Team

Chief People Person

Emma

Emma is a career outdoor educator and native of Farmington, Maine. She spent time as the Director of Wilderness Trips at Chewonki, led St. Lawrence University's Adirondack semester program, and trained with the National Outdoor Leadership School. She's paddled her canoe across the Northeast and north to the Arctic Circle. She teaches part-time for Timbernook in North Conway, serves on the board of the Lilliputian School, and organizes the Madison ESSC ski program. Each of us has a superhero alter ego because of Emma. Emma believes one day Super Mabel will fly.

Chief Lifter of Heavy Things

Jake

Jake grew up adventuring in the Mount Washington Valley and learned to operate equipment in the family landscaping business. He has a civil engineering degree and experience as a US Army Officer, project manager, and business consultant. He’s traveled the world exploring rivers in his kayak. Jake serves on the boards of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center Foundation, Granite Backcountry Alliance, and the White Mountain Swiftwater Rescue Team. Eddie the Eagle once invited Jake to ski jump over a hovering helicopter in Las Vegas; he politely declined.

Chief Product Tester

Otto

Otto's sense of adventure, enthusiasm, and zest for life inspired the formation of White Mountain Playscapes. He’s up for any adventure, rafting and canoe camping in the North Maine Woods, skiing with his buddies, making taller and taller leaps into any body of water he can find, and shredding on his balance bike... and boy, does he have some sweet dance moves.