Luis Benitez near his home in Littleton, Colorado

LUIS BENITEZ  knows how hard it is to scale a mountain. The former Outward Bound instructor has made 32 successful attempts on the Seven Summits, six of those on Mount everest. In 2001, he guided blind climber Eric Weihenmayer to the top of the world. But his current task may be his toughest yet: Benitez, 42, is the first director of Colorado’s new Outdoor Recreation Indus try Office. he is tasked with making sure that stuff like hiking, paddling, fishing, and climbing are prioritized in planning for the state’s future.

Colorado governor John hickenlooper created the post in 2015 as part of the Office of economic Development and International Trade, later saying, “Outdoor activity deepens our respect for, and stewardship of, the beautiful natural spaces that set our state apart from any other.” Benitez was an obvious choice. Born to an American mother and an ecuadoran father, he spent his youth stocking shelves at his grand father’s outdoor shop in St. Louis and climbed 19,347-foot Cotopaxi at age 14. (Wanting to “throw up the whole way from altitude sickness,” he says.) he signed on with Outward Bound during college and became a mountain guide in 2000.

From 2013 to 2015, Benitez served on the town council in eagle, Colorado, and he teaches leadership seminars at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. But Jessica Wahl, a lobbyist for the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), in Boulder, says it’s his climbing résumé that opens doors when he visits representatives on Capitol hill. “Most times when you go to meet with members of Congress, you get their staff instead,” she says. “But he gets almost all member meetings.”