EDITORS' MESSAGE
Our Roots Are Showing At Mountain Life, we believe strong communities make a place extraordinary. We’re stoked to bring the Rocky Mountains into our award-winning regional magazine model and to share the stories of this spectacular part of the country. Our mission is to connect all people to the magic of the mountains. We couldn’t be happier to call the Rockies home. – Team Mountain Life Standing on a mountain top, contemplating the valley below, A walk in crisp, fall air to ponder this inaugural issue things look familiar: the unbelievably flat quilt of the prairie of Mountain Life Rocky Mountains magazine, The Roots Issue, led to the popular Fenland Trail in Banff. The woods bulges into golden foothills; navy blue rivers snake away from there are a mix of standing and downed trees, the bones of the continental divide, and uniform grey rock gives way to windstorms past. That marshy, fenland forest is a metaphor lush green forest. But, it’s not the same is it? What changed? for society’s pandemic experience: like trees blown down What remains? What happened to us these past 20 months? by the wind, our roots now lie exposed; our foundations For many, in the absence of a workplace to physically report revealed: family, community, love, compassion—and also to and the loss of schedules packed with extracurriculars— genocide, colonialism, racism, and lack of understanding. For time slowed almost to a standstill. We longed to see family, generations, we’ve been too distracted to consider where and we mourned the deaths of elderly loved ones, from a we’ve come from or our path forward, and the events of the distance. During the endless, slow-motion blur of lockdowns pandemic laid this truth bare. and virtual meetings, our social interactions were reduced to Transformation is not only possible; it’s necessary. The “bubbles” and TikTok trends. Whether we’d opt for revolution process of building this magazine, something meaningful or de-evolution was a matter of a like or a thumbs down. Yet, amid the unrelenting wash of digital noise, we managed to where those roots have been exposed, where the richest dirt in surface long enough that… somehow, we found ourselves. the forest can be found, is changing us, and we hope you’ll find People flocked in unprecedented numbers to mountain the stories we’ve chosen to tell will inspire you to grow too. playgrounds, rediscovering the simple joy of wandering among We’ll aim to be a breath of fresh mountain air in a digital wild things, pushing pedals on a bicycle and fishing for dinner. world; an opportunity to learn and reflect on the best things in Through this challenge, we rediscovered our people, our souls— life, while deepening our sense of belonging and care for this our roots. And when we did, we found some of our roots had special place: the Rockies. The Stoney say: wazin îeichninabi— we are all one, interconnected like the roots below. Thank you flourished, reaching deep to our foundations and holding firm. for joining us. –Kristy Davison & Erin Moroz But, we also discovered some of our roots had rotted and collapsed under the weight of centuries of ease and neglect. 15
