PORT ANGELES — The job description for a host of an outdoor adventure television show couldn’t have been written better for Ashley Hankins.
Hankins, 28, spent her high school senior year sailing around the world.
She’s hiked on Mount Everest and explored Chile, Argentina, Laos, Greece, Morocco, Tunisia and many more locations.
The Sequim native loves everything about the outdoors.
So when she saw that Comcast SportsNet Northwest was holding a reality show competition to find a host for a show featuring the most adventurous parts of the Pacific Northwest, she couldn’t resist trying out.
“There were about 600 of us that went down to Memorial Coliseum in Portland [Oregon] to try out,” Hankins said.
“They basically did outdoor knowledge tests and coordination testing and eliminated all but about 70 people.
“From there they told us that we had to go talk to the judges, and we had 35 seconds to sell ourselves.”
Now, Hankins is one of 12 finalists for the job.
Show’s airtime
The series about the search, which airs at 8 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Northwest (or Channel 314 on WaveBroadband), puts the contestants in a variety of situations in which they might encounter while hosting the show.
The show is not available on DirectTV.
Judges Kristy Lee Cook of “American Idol,” “Danger” Ehren of “Jackass” and Brian Wheeler of the Northwest School of Survival will pare down the contestants until the right host is found.
All of the episodes have already been filmed, so although Hankins knows who the winner is, her lips are sealed until the final show.
“This was one of the most extraordinary adventures I’ve ever been on,” she said.
“It is really everything that I love to do and with really incredible people who love doing the same things that I do.
“I’m positive this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Hankins now lives in Port Angeles and is also the general manager for her parents’ six Grease Monkey stores in the greater Seattle area.
Her parents, Shawn and Jeri Hankins of Sequim, have always been supportive, she said.
“They are behind me 100 percent,” she said.
“They know that I love the outdoors and traveling and are excited because they know it is something I love to do.
“They know that I’m a wild card.”
Until the show’s host is revealed, her fans can watch the show every Monday at 8 p.m. for the next six weeks and catch extra footage on the Web site http://www.csnnw.com/pages/wanted.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
