Adventure Pro Winter 2019

R E D M O U N TA I N

ALPINE LODGE P O W D E R

THE

H I G H WAY CAPTIVATING

WOR L D OF

ICE

PAGOSA SPRINGS

FLAGSTAFF A D V E N T U R E P R O . U S

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CONTENTS

Nola Svoboda of San Juan SUP Company blends two of her favorite things together on Colorado’s Red Mountain Pass. photo by Kattie Neesham

OPENING SHOT FIRST LIGHT CONTRIBUTORS MOUNTAIN VITALS GEAR BIN SAD DESERT SOLITAIRE THE POWDER HIGHWAY ALPINE START RIDING IN CIRCLES TOGTHER FROZEN MOMENTS HITLIST FLAGSTAFF PAGOSA SPRINGS WARMING UP TO WINTER LIFE OF AN AVALANCHE FORECASTER AVALANCHE TERRAIN WILD VOICES VISTAS

28 THE RE D M O U N TA I N ALPINE LOD G E

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Is this the next best thing to a ski lodge in the Alps? No, it’s better. It’s in Southwest Colorado.

40 FL AG STA F F

With hundreds of miles of trails, alpine access, culture and the rest of Arizona within reach, Flagstaff is at the top of our list as one of the coolest mountain towns in the west.

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

FROZ EN MO M ENTS

Xander Bianchi takes us into his cool, blue world for an exquisite look at ice and why some are called to it.

ON THE COVER Sven Brunso setting sail near Coal Bank Pass in Colorado's San Juan Mountains. photo by Grady James

photos by Kattie Neesham

4 6 9 10 15 20 22 24 28 32 34 38 40 44 46 50 52 54 56

FOR

TH E

ADVEN TURER

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A L L

OF

US

E D I TORI AL Brandon Mathis

editor

D E S IG N Tad Smith

manager of creative services

Amy Maestas

executive editor

Christian Ridings

designer

Terrance Siemon

photographer & videographer

Renee Bruch

designer

Laurie Kain

photographer & videographer

Gary Markstein

designer

Hunter Harrell

copy editor

A DVE RT IS ING David Habrat

vice president of advertising

CO N TR I BU TORS Xander Bianchi

Colleen Donley

advertising director

Margaret Hedderman

Morgan Sjogren Morgan Tilton Sarah Sturm CO N TR I BU T I N G P H OTO GRA PH ERS

Grady James Xander Bianchi Bee Alain Mathis Laurie Kain Terrance Siemon Brandon Mathis Morgan Tilton Nate Disser Oliver Sutro Sarah Strum Dylan Stucki Luke Batten Scott DW Smith Liam Doran Ari Novak Andrew Burr Scott Adamson Hammish Frost John Burcham

Teressa Nelson Shawna Long Kelly Bulkley Liz Demko

Amy Baird Emily Campana Tana Bowen Abby Feldman Heather Mobley P ROD U C T ION Ryan Brown

production manager

MA RKE T ING Jamie Opalenik

marketing director Tiona Eversole

digital marketing INT E RAC T IVE Jace Reynolds

web designer Skylar Bolton

web development manager U T IVE C HIE F E XEC OFFIC E R Douglas Bennett

D IREC TOR OF FINA NC E

Carrie Cass

S U B S C R I B E Adventure Pro is now available wherever you roam.

ADVE N T UREPRO.

u s

/ADVENTUREPROMAG

@ADVENTUREPROMAG

@ADVENTUREPROMAGAZINE

ADVENTURE PRO MAGAZINE

© 2018 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Communications, Inc. – 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301.

Ballantine Communications uses reasonable effort to include accurate and up-to-date information for its special publications. Details are subject to change, so please check ahead. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this guide.

We welcome suggestions from readers. Please write to the editor at the address above.

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OPENING SHOT Why do we climb ice? The answer varies for many practitioners, but a common theme always seems to emerge: Because it’s beautiful. As the temperature plummets, the liquid we depend on for life suddenly becomes a physical pathway to another world.

In this photo, Karsten Delap navigates through a delicate curtain – striking a graceful balance between frozen water, gravity and deep infatuation.

Eureka, Colorado. photo by

Xander Bianchi.

For more on water in its frozen state, see Bianchi’s story on page 34.

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

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FIRST LIGHT

photos by Bee Alaine Mathis

ADVENTURE PRO. G O A H E A D , TA K E A S L I C E .

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e’re not pros. Fanatical enthusiasts certainly, and some weekend warriors for sure. What we are, are writers and photographers, designers and filmmakers.

We’re also members of a community. One that loves to travel, eat out, challenge themselves and learn new things. And some of those things we’ve learned the hard way. Like that time we triggered an avalanche that ran 2,000 feet, snapping full grown trees like twigs. Or that time we got lost in the desert, freezing with a fading headlamp and not enough food. Experience really is the best teacher.

We have a lot to learn, and we’re learning it from you.

You’re the ones who make these mountains and desert communities what they are – microcosms of an outdoor world and culture all about the love of being outside.

We’re not telling you to be like us, in fact, we’re saying we want to be like you.

We love putting this magazine together. It’s work, it’s hard, and sometimes it’s overwhelming, but in the end it’s a collection of people and stories that bring us together for an adventure all its own.

A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

This winter, you might notice a new look for us. You also might notice we’re beefing things up. We meet an avalanche forecaster, a professional cyclocross racer and a vagabond for adventure. We visit Flagstaff, Arizona, go skiing in Canada, we find empty spaces in the desert and we get deep in Pagosa Springs. We learn how to trail run in the winter, and we take a look at ice like we’ve never seen before.

More than anything, we learn we’re all in this together. End up on a ski trip or running miles with someone you’ve never met before and that’s a bond that will last forever.

Adventure isn’t just for the model who gets paychecks for jumping higher and going faster; it’s for those of us who are planning our bucket lists on our lunch breaks, drying our climbing ropes on the kitchen table, washing our ski socks in the shower and building hang boards in the garage.

Adventure isn’t just for elite pros. We love it too. It’s for all of us.

We hope you like Adventure Pro. For the adventurer in all of us.

See you on the trails,

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

CONTRIBUTORS MORGAN (“MO”) SJOGREN runs wild with

SARAH STURM is a professional

cyclist, writer and designer. She has been a lifelong resident of the Southwest, and her love for the desert and mountains has kept her in Durango, Colorado for the last decade.

You'll probably catch her and her dog, Norman, riding around town. He'll bark, but he is friendly … so is she.

words anywhere she can get to with two feet and a pen.

After spending the fall writing her second and third books, “The Best Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument Hikes” and “Outlandish: Fuel Your Epic,” she’s in need a of a winter vacation. She’ll be flying south and then back roaming the Southwest in search of ice, snow, sunshine and shenanigans.

MARGARET HEDDERMAN likes playing outside and is rarely home in time for dinner unless, of course, dinner is rehydrated in an insulated bag. She also enjoys writing about the outdoors, as well as history, science and travel. A Durangutan since 2011, she also works in the outdoor industry, managing marketing and events at Backcountry Experience in Durango, Colorado. When she isn’t writing or working, Hedderman is in the mountains running, climbing or splitboarding.

Adventure journalist MORGAN TILTON writes about the outdoors with a focus in travel, industry news and human endurance.

She is a recipient of multiple North American Travel Journalists Association awards, including two double-award articles – “Wild & Broken: A First SUP Descent of Utah’s Escalante River” and “A Wild Space” – that share her first descent on a stand-up paddleboard on Utah’s wild Escalante River.

Her trip was a self-supported, 100-mile exploration of one of the most remote regions in the lower 48, with four friends. She works with close to 50 publications.

XANDER BIANCHI

After ditching a life in Colorado’s Front Range as an engineer, Xander Bianchi spent a summer living out of his truck and climbing in the Sierras before landing on the state’s Western Slope. Since becoming an ice farmer at the Ouray Ice Park in 2015, he’s returned every season to irrigate the Uncompahgre Gorge and harvest the fruits of winter. He now calls the San Juan Mountains home year-round. Photography has emerged as a creative side effect of climbing, deepening his passion for life in the vertical.

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M O U N TA I N V I TA L S

COLORADO

Ever hear of a flat top mountain?

Well, Colorado’s Grand Mesa, just east of Grand Junction, is the tallest one in the United States.

And as you may have noticed, Colorado is high. In fact, 75 percent of all of the land in the United States over 10,000 feet is in Colorado.

Speaking of high, the Royal Gorge Suspension Bridge is 1,053 feet high over the Royal Gorge outside Canon City.

And while it may seem like it’s been a while, Colorado has racked up some seriously high snow accumulations.

THE GOOD OL’ DAYS The Silver Lake storm of 1921 was not only the most snowfall in a single 24hour period in Colorado but is a record in the United States with 76 inches. It didn’t stop there. Within 27.5 hours came 87 inches. Five hours later, storm totals reached 95 inches.

THE CHRISTMAS EVE BLIZZARD OF 1982 It is remembered as a storm that debilitated Denver. The Christmas Eve blizzard of 1982 brought 2 to 4 feet of snow in some areas of the city. Any form of travel was halted, thousands across the city were stranded, there were countless civilian rescue efforts and good Samaritans housed complete strangers.

Meanwhile, 45 miles north in Greeley, 1 inch of snow fell.

Of course, there was that time in Thompson, Alaska, in 1955, when over a two-day period it dumped 120 inches.

That’s 10 feet.

Or January 1911 in Tamarack, California, when it snowed 32 feet. Tamarack also gets the gold for the greatest U.S. snow depth ever measured at 451 inches – or 37 feet.

JAPOW But it’s Mt. Ibuki on the island of Honshu in Japan that takes the cake.

Valentine’s Day 1927 measured 465 inches of snow. That’s nearly 39 feet.

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

ARIZONA

Dec. 13, 1967, was the year Flagstaff got nailed with 84 inches in eight days.

That’s 7 feet of snow. The vast and rural Navajo Nation, more than 27,000 square miles, had great difficulty with the more than 3 feet of snow in places.

Authorities instructed residents to use ashes from their stoves and fireplaces to write messages in the snow that could be read from passing aircraft in the event of emergency.

FALLING DOWN? It’s true; the London Bridge was disassembled, and then transported to America to be completely reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

There are three national parks in Arizona: Petrified Forest, Saguaro and Grand Canyon.

Supai Village, population 208, is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Part of the Havasupai Indian Reservation, it is the most remote occupied residential area in the lower 48 United States.

The Fountain in Fountain Hills, Arizona, north of Scottsdale, is considered the tallest water fountain in the world, hitting 500 feet for special occasions.

UTAH

NEW MEXICO

New Mexico, especially around Taos, has a high concentration of Earthships: partially underground domiciles made from natural and recycled material that use solar power, rainfall and radiant light and heat to function as self sustaining residences. ¿La verdad? And while New Mexicans love a good fiesta, just know this: It’s illegal to dance with a sombrero in New Mexico.

Sombrero or not, people have been enjoying themselves in the Land of Enchantment for quite some time. In fact, the state’s capital, Santa Fe, was founded in 1610. That’s 10 years before pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.

And then came the wine.

Franciscan monks were growing grapes along the Rio Grande centuries ago, and by the late 1800s more than a million gallons of wine were coming out of the region. Today there are 50 wineries in New Mexico.

Then came the burritos – for breakfast. The ever-coveted breakfast burrito is said to have been invented in Albuquerque. Muy sabroso.

Utah really is great, and so is the Great Salt Lake. At 1,700 square miles – about 1 million acres – the lake has an average depth of only 14 feet.

Utah has the Big 5: Arches, Bryce, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion national parks.

The establishment of the Glen Canyon Dam and the creation of Lake Powell is largely considered the birth of the environmental movement in America.

Kanab, Utah, is known as little Hollywood because so many feature films have been shot on location there.

In fact, Utah has had more than 55 major motion pictures and countless TV shows shot around the state. Recent productions include “The Lone Ranger” and “Westworld.” illustrations by Gary Markstein

When an early winter snowstorm sweeps across Telluride, Colorado, locals react accordingly. photo courtesy of Telluride Ski and Golf W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

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WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT

GEAR BIN

OSPREY M U TA N T 2 2

photo courtesy of Marcus Garcia

FOR MORE GEAR VISIT

A DV ENTUR EP R O. u s

The Mutant series is Osprey’s climber’s climbing pack. Revamped and in an all new color, the brand set out to create an adaptable pack that fits a variety of needs and conditions. Part haul bag, rope bag, ice climbing pack, and with some clever rope management chops for multi-pitch routes, it’s rugged, weather-proof and perfect for the well-rounded climber. With DNA from Osprey’s Variant pack, the Mutant is, well, a mutant.

The 22-liter version, the smallest of the series (38 and 52 liter are also available) is more than just a summit daypack for fast and light missions. It’s every bit as burly as its larger relatives, just streamlined down to keep its 1.3 pound weight and less-is-more attitude. It may be small but it is fierce.

“I can get a 7O-meter rope, 15 quickdraws and a water bottle in there no problem,” says guide Marcus Garcia, who helped Osprey designers zero in on essential features for the series.

The Mutant 22 is well thought-out. Right off the bat, the pack is designed to never interfere with the one way climbers are always looking: up.

A three-point haul loop system isn’t just stitched in; the pack is actually built around it. The super wide-mouth zipper opening is angled down, so it’s perfect for multipitch belays where you can leave it open and feed rope in, feed it out, or just use it as a catch-all for anything you need to stay put. A quick lid stash mesh zippered pocket is also wisely accessible.

Glove-friendly oversized buckles and zipper pulls make using this a joy, and the tool locks are made for today’s modern ice tools. Something really awesome is the Snowshed Fabric back panel; snow won’t stick to it.

A front panel daisy chain is key for clipping extras on in a jiffy. There’s a removable frame sheet foam pad that doubles as a seat, a hydration bladder pocket and another terrific feature: a rope carrier strap on top to cinch things down for efficient travel.

“I’ve used this on big ice routes in Valdez, Alaska, multi-pitch routes in Yosemite and Red Rocks, Nevada, and just fun climbing in Mexico and the Black Canyon,” says Garcia. “It’s streamlined down to only what you need.

You can do a lot with this pack. It’s a mutant.”

WWW.OSPREY.COM

100

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WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT PETZL BINDI HEADLAMP

photos by Laurie Kain

O L LY D O G O L LY B O T T L E Our pets get just as thirsty as we do, and while we try to remember to stuff the water bowl in our packs, we often forget. Then, no matter how proud we are of sharing water from our hydration packs, sometimes, well, things can get a little gross.

That’s where the OllyBottle comes in.

This two-in-one design is perfect for our adventure buddies. From now on they get their own bottle and bowl. BPA-free and easy to keep clean, your best friend will love you for it. ollydog.com

The Bindi is a Petzl’s new ultra-light USB rechargeable minimalist headlamp with a maximum 200 lumen burn time of two hours. At 35 grams, the Bindi is a sure favorite of ultrarunners, fastpackers, climbers and anyone else looking to shed weight but not sacrifice performance.

It’s also an all-around terrific option for urban runners, dog walkers and commuters who do their rounds after the sun goes down. Light enough to disappear and wait for emergencies, the Bindi has three lighting modes, two lock settings to avoid accidental power loss, five power settings, red-lighting for sensitive night vision and a strobe that can run for 33 hours. petzl.com

60

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VOORMI DUAL S U R FAC E U L TECH TEE

13

$

FOR 600 ML

T I G E R TA I L R O L L E R

Pagosa Springs, Colorado-based Voormi has taken merino wool textiles to the next level by introducing performance synthetic fibers into them – in just the right places. The result is a boost to the already superior properties of merino: low stink, anti-microbial features, natural UV protection, thermal insulation and wicking ability. They call the merger precision blending, and we say it works. In the Dual Surface UL Tech Tee (Ul means ultra light), Voormi uses an ultra-fine micron wool-synthetic blend on the inside that’s meant to be next to the skin. Summers casting flies on the river or winter tours on the mountain. Hot trail runs or as a baselayer under more, the Tech Tee has become a go-to for casual weekenders to guides around the world. voormi.com

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

If you’re like us, the household’s rolling pin lives in a bedside table drawer, where it’s not making cookies. That’s right, it’s the go-to sadomasochistic massage tool. You pull it out reluctantly knowing it’s not going to be fun, but you don’t know what else to do and your partner got tired of your complaining months ago. Roll out the bad pain with the good pain – at least, that’s the idea.

Enter the Tiger Tail Roller. This is what that wooden monster will never be: a professionally designed, ergonomic massage tool that’s meant for the human body.

Designer and lifelong soccer player/athlete Spring Faussett developed her first roller after an ACL surgery kept her from getting on the ground to use a traditional foam roller. If only the foam roller could be smaller, she thought. Her idea was simple: blend a kitchen rolling pin with a traditional foam roller. A few trips to the hardware store and many prototypes later, Tiger Tail was born. tigertailusa.com

40

$

FOR 22”

35

$

FOR 18”

27

$

FOR 11”

FORJ THERMOPLASTIC TA P E - R I B B O N Imagine a thin ribbon material that when you heat it up softens to a moldable substance to be shaped, bent, contoured and formed into anything you need, and when it cools it’s strong as steel. That’s Forj Thermoplastic Tape-Ribbon. One inch of it has a tensile strength of over 1,000 pounds, according to makers ResinFiber LLC. And at less than 8 ounces for 100 feet, it’s lighter than you would ever guess.

In technical terms, Forj is a high-strength thermoplastic fiber polyethylene fiber impregnated with a low temperature thermoplastic polymer matrix. In English, it’s a plastic that is soft when hot and hard when cooled. It’s handy for golf club and fishing rod handles and hammer and tool grips, but how about replacing links in broken chains? Forj has been used to create cords strong enough to haul dead trees, to make eating utensils, rope and string, to repair fences, to fashion splints and casts for emergency first-aid, and for household uses too many to be named. Paintable, malleable, reshapable and moisture- and weather-resistant, makers of Forj call it the strongest, most adaptable material on Earth. forj.com

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GEAR BIN LY N Q This is so cool it’s amazing that no one came up with this until now. Lynq is a long-distance real-time digital compass and location tracker. It’s simple: Sync your Lynqs, go your separate ways and follow the bearing to find each other. No phone apps, maps, monthly service fees or internet connections, just simple devices that actively track and connect with each other within their own infrastructure.

Completely weatherproof and waterproof, Lynq is good for three days on a single charge, and one Lynq can track up to 12 people. The future is now. lynqme.com TWIN PACK

298

$

VENTURE EUPHORIA Photo courtesy of Venture Snowboards

An epic board from the company way up in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, the Euphoria is legendary for its ride, and the brand is acclaimed year after year for the boards it makes.

Venture Snowboards owners Klem and Lisa Branner chose Silverton, Colorado – elevation 9,318 feet – because it was crowned by 13,000-foot summits everywhere and is the perfect place for product testing. And it’s where the Euphoria was born.

They call it a “powder-hungry shape for the deepest days.”

With a collection of powder-specific features, the board

excels in deep snow and slashes on a dime. The Branners say it’s their use of quadratic sidecuts (four different formulas go into shaping the side cut of the board, resulting in a board that can turn in a variety of conditions) that allows it to still rail turns on hardpack, making that lower mountain chunder and choppy snow almost as fun as the fluffy turns up high.

Thanks to Straight-Line Rocker camber, a never-sink, stayafloat nose, aggressive taper, a 27-centimeter waist and a fishtail, this barge of a board floats like a dream. Snorkel not included. venturesnowboards.com

639

$ ALSO AVAILABLE AS A SPLITBOARD

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WHAT YOU NEED TO GET OUT

GEAR BIN

photos by Laurie Kain

BISON G R AT E F U L DEAD GEAR HAVE A FRIEND OF THE DEVIL? THEY’LL LOVE THIS.

GOGGLE SOCS So, we have to admit, we love Gogglesoc. It’s a not only a sheer thin replacement of your goggle bag that you’re going to lose anyway, it’s an improvement. Gogglesoc is made from 88 percent rPet, a product produced from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. The company also supports numerous nonprofits and adaptive ski associations.

Last year it donated $10,000 to Protect Our Winters. The kicker is that unlike your goggle bag, Gogglesoc can be worn over your lenses pretty much whenever you’re not wearing them to see. It acts as a stretchy microfiber lens cleaner as well, and comes in about every kind of print theme imaginable – from your favorite ski resorts to solid colors to state and flags to über rad prints like this Panda. gogglesoc.com

They’re back. Bison is the Longmont, Colorado, company that is single-handedly responsible for the webbing belt in 1987. Today, the brand is synonymous with everything from keychain bottle openers, clever multitools, paracord, carabiners for daily life, dog bowls and leashes. What a long, strange trips it’s been. That’s right, their line of cult classic Dancing Bears and Steal Your Face Dead insignia are here. The perfect Dead Head stocking stuffer for friends and family, fourlegged or two. bisondesigns.com

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LEMS BOULDER BOOT There really is something to this whole minimalist thing. We’re not going out and running a marathon on a few millimeters of cushion (and some of us do run quite a few marathons), but some people do. What we’re thinking is, it’s a good idea to take a minimalist approach to daily footwear.

The Boulder Boot, named for its place of origin in Boulder, Colorado, is an ultra-light, highly packable, old school lace up. It’s sort of a preppy-meetscountry feel, but what we really love is the comfort and fit. Built on a design inspired by founder Andrew Rademacher, a former decathlete with a history of relentless foot strains, he traced his woes to the 10 kinds of shoes he was wearing for each of his events. What he found was foot pain went away with a minimalist shoe that allowed his feet to act naturally. Step into a pair of Lems and spread out those toes. With its heal-to-toe zero drop and wide-rounded toe box, your feet and gait return to their natural form. lemsshoes.com LEATHER

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

150

$

DENIER NYLON

125

$

E O LUS 1 /2

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SAD FEELING

Getting bummed when the seasons change is real. Here’s how to deal with it.

STORY

BY

B RAN D O N

M AT H I S

Time change. Short days. Foul weather and gray skies. It’s not exactly the kind of day to get outside, but it is the one day you should.

Seasonal affective disorder – commonly known as SAD – is a clinically recognized mental health condition that affects some 16 million Americans every year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Symptoms can include depression, loss of interest, low energy, trouble sleeping and weight gain or loss, to name a few. When days get shorter, plenty of go- get-’em outdoor types feel blue.

Let the sun shine in.

Sometimes it’s as simple as that. According to the National Institutes of Health, studies indicate that sunlight improves mood. photo by

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Terrance Siemon

A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

’TIS THE SEASON

For some it really is seasonal.

“The official DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) seasonal affective disorder is major depressive disorder with seasonal pattern,” says Brian Burke, psychology professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. “Some individuals experience depressive episodes only during the winter months, and then spontaneously recover in the spring.”

Sound familiar? Maybe you should be reading this on the patio.

Researchers have also discovered links to deficiencies of Vitamin D, of which the sun is an ultimate source. Lack of it adds to feeling down or a diagnosis of SAD. Whatever the case may be, there are ways to avoid it.

Here’s how:

PENCIL IT IN? HOW ABOUT CARVE IT IN STONE

Jolie Ensign, wellness coordinator for Mercy Regional Medical Center in Southwest Colorado, says it’s important to make a plan for activities and exercise, and stick to it. She says we can set ourselves up for success.

BY DESIGN “I think a lot of us think we can do it through willpower or We’re not supposed to live like this. motivation, but it’s truly coming up with a strategy,” Ensign “We were never designed for the sedentary, indoor, sleepsays. “Willpower most often deprived, socially isolated, backfires on all of us. I found the best fast-food-laden, frenetic pace TIPS TO OUTSMART SAD: way to plan is to get a journal, and of modern life,” says to Dr. take it a week at a time.”

Stephen Ilardi, a psychologist 01 Get in regular exercise. Join a class, make a commitment with a friend or Ensign also says good habits who studies depression and set goals and keep a journal about it. form when we feel good about what has designed lifestyle-based we’re doing. treatments that include more 02 Walk and talk. If you have to make or “We fill our schedule up, and a activity, exercise and yoga. “We take a phone call, take it on the move. lot of times we think we’re going evolved to live a very different imit screen time on your smart to get in those four or five good life than the one that most of us 03 Ldevices.

Smart devices often have hard workouts during the week, attempt to live.” settings that allow you to set a timer but if we can at least get two put in Ilardi said our growing to a time limit. There are apps that place, then people are more apt to obsession with social media do the same. be successful,” Ensign says. “And isn’t helping. when they’re feeling successful, “We're not supposed to be 04 Have plans to prepare for and look forward to. then consistency happens and on our devices all the time,” he habits start forming versus if we try said. “There is research showing 05 Get outside where you belong. to go big and then we have failure a correlation between social and totally derail.” media use and depression.”

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D E S E R T

SOLITAIRE S T O R Y A N D P H O T O S B Y B R A N D O N M AT H I S

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DESERT PLACES Y O U C A N H AV E A L L TO YO U R OW N Winter rocks, but sometimes a little desert solitaire is good for the soul. These days, it’s getting harder to find some rejuvenating peace and quiet, but if you head in the direction of one of these locations, plan things right, get up early, maybe stay up late, we think you’ll find what you’re looking for.

Monument Valley Muley Point

MULEY POINT MEXICAN HAT, UTAH Many are surprised to learn this roost is indeed part of the 1.25 million acre Glen Canyon National Recreation Area that spans endless miles of desert from Utah into Arizona. From this vista are striking bird’s eye views of the San Juan River as it winds through Goosenecks State Park, plus Navajo Mountain and Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in the distance.

DON’T MISS Moki Dugway

dugway: a road constructed along a hillside by using material excavated immediately above it for the downside fill.

This section of Utah Route 261 is every bit mountain pass – in the desert. Twisting 1,200 feet up from the edge of the Valley of the Gods at an 11 percent grade with dizzying views and spinning switchback turns for 3 miles, the Moki Dugway was originally constructed in 1957 to haul ore from a mine on Cedar Mesa to be processed in Mexican Hat. Today it’s a great shortcut from Mexican Hat to Natural Bridges National Monument across Cedar Mesa.

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Moki Dugway A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

M C INNIS CANYON NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO Just outside Grand Junction, the largest city on Colorado’s Western Slope, is more than 123,000 acres of desert wilderness called McInnis Canyon. Spilling into Utah, McInnis Canyon is home to bighorn sheep, rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and eagles, plus the second largest collection of natural arches in North America. Twenty-five miles of the Colorado River also flows through it. The Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness sits within McInnis Canyon: Seventy-five thousand acres of remote and rugged untamed landscape.

DON’T MISS

Colorado National Monument

The park’s Rim Rock Drive is considered one of America’s most picturesque and impressive roads. You can use the route as a scenic alternate between Grand Junction and Fruita.

McInnis Canyon - Adobe Stock

MONITOR AND MERRIMAC MOAB, UTAH Named for an undeniable likeness of two civil war ironclad warships that clashed in Virginia waters in perhaps the most significant naval battle of the war: the battle of Hampton Roads, aka The Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack, these two sandstone buttes dominate the skyline for miles of Utah Highway 313. While the nearby Navajo Rocks Trail system sees endless traffic, Monitor and Merrimac can be biked, hiked and roamed around via gentle sand and dirt roads where keen visitors can spot petrified wood – and even dinosaur fossils.

DON’T MISS Hidden Valley Trail

This trail has a nice way of keeping down the crowds by climbing 600 feet in just over half a mile. Once you’re through the ascent, you enter a scenic and wide grassy valley floor with sandstone walls towering around it.

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Colorado’s British Columbia’s Powder Highway

S I S T E R

S T O R Y A N D P H O T O S B Y M O R G A N T I LT O N

provides a haven

My boots crunch against the sand and crushed seashells as I walk across the of deep snow in parking lot, toward the hurrahs of a tailgate party at Revelstoke Mountain Resort, and the Rockies away from the sleeping ski lifts. The humid air is salt-bitten and crisp. Thick fog rolls off the Columbia River’s banks, at 1,450 feet, below me. Across the basin’s water, which stretches 1.5 miles wide, the rounded crowns of the Monashee Mountains light up.

I set down a six-pack of chilled Kokanee – a gift of greeting for these rowdy Revelstokians. Behind us, the Selkirk Mountains tower 7,300 feet high. A girl shakes my hand, introduces herself, and we immediately hash out the ski day. Despite this being

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

my first time in Canada, the vibe is friendly, laid back, and comfortably reminiscent of my home in Southwest Colorado.

It’s mid-April and the tail-end of the worst-recorded snow season in Colorado’s history. Inspired by the ski film “Valhalla,” my deep craving for a powder fix led me here: 1,230 miles north of the Four Corners to British Columbia’s southeastern corner, an area with the highest concentration of backcountry, slackcountry, cat, heli, cross-country and downhill ski options in the world. The region, dubbed the

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A DV E N T U R E P RO . u s

Kootenay Rockies, is a characteristic cousin of Colorado’s peaks, though grander in vertical relief and pounded by more snow. Snow-hounds can efficiently road trip a 642-mile cirque of highways and mountain passes that links eight ski resorts: Fernie, Kimberley, Fairmont Hot Springs, Panorama, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, RED Mountain, and Whitewater. I decide to hit Fernie, Kicking Horse, and end with Revy.

Given the surrounding marine climate, it’s hard to believe that one of my memory’s best-ever powder runs is tucked in the clouds, above me, on a steep face of the Selkirks.

But the slopes erupt 5,620 feet from where I stand, making Revelstoke home to the longest, quad-burning descent of any ski resort in North America. “My legs are spent,” I tell my new friend, “but I’m eager for tomorrow’s snow storm.”

Anticipation is met: We wake up to more than a foot of deep powder and a new annual snowfall record for the resort’s 10th year anniversary, set on closing day. This season, it’s safe to say, I’ll be heading back for more. >>

Taking a breather before dropping into Greeley Bowl with Brown Shorts couloir in view at Revelstoke Mountain Resort in British Columbia.

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Colorado’s S I S T E R

Local Revelstokian Chris Pawlitsky drops into a powder run off of The Stoke Chair with Revelstoke, the town and the Columbia River below on the valley floor.

C I R Q U E

R EV E L STOKE

KICKIN G H OR SE

STAY: Sleep gondola-side at the Sutton Place Hotel, where you can cook and hot tub. For walkability in town, stay at the Regent Hotel, which boasts one of the best breakfast buffets in town, live jazz performances and an on-site pub.

STAY: Kicking Horse is a 17-minute drive from Golden.

Devout powder-hounds should ski-in, ski-out from Glacier Mountaineer Lodge, where they can also toss rank laundry into the condo’s washer/dryer, stash equipment in the ski lockers, and toast glove and boot liners with the robust on-site dryer.

EAT: Sip gourmet kombucha and get warmed up with inventive macaroni dishes at Bierhaus. For fast lunch, grab a turkey yam wrap at La Baguette, and order the Peruvian chicken for dinner at Quartermaster Eatery. Head chef and restaurateur Olivier Dutil leads both, and his Frenchinspired culinary creations do not disappoint.

TIP: On a powder day, rise extra early to beat the lift line of 2,700 hungry shredders who typically take queue at the base.

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EAT: Don’t miss the jackfruit pulled pork slider at Double Black, the Alberta Beef Burger at Eagle’s Eye or the bizarre burgers at the Wolf’s Den. For après, order a flight at Whitetooth Brewing Co. TIP: Don’t leave Kicking Horse without meeting Boo the Grizzly Bear. The resident bear was adopted by the resort after his mom was killed by a poacher. Also, if you happen to need DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) for your eco-rig, Golden’s NAPA Auto Parts Store sells jugs. They saved me from being stranded in my Chevy Equinox!

FERNIE STAY: Ski-in, ski-out of the Fernie SlopeSide Lodge, which is simple, old-school and conveniently located.

EAT: Fuel up with avocado toast at Slopeside Coffee; wind down with après on the Kokanee Deck at the Griz Bar. TIP: Confirm with your hotel where to check in. Afterhours check-in for Fernie SlopeSide Lodge is at another nearby lodge.

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ALPINE

START B Y

B R A N D O N

M A T H I S

Backcountry and uphill ski sports have had explosive growth in the last few years. With health benefits and mountain solitude, plus conditions like these off Red Mountain Pass, it’s easy to see why. photo by

Nate Disser

Is the Red Mountain Alpine Lodge the next best thing to a mountain chalet in Europe? No, it’s better. It’s in Southwest Colorado.

The timber style A-frame was built in Mancos, Colorado. photo by Xander Bianchi

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Earn your turns in epic powder, then eat a chef-prepared dinner and take a hot shower at Red Mountain Alpine Lodge. The bar is open too. photo by

W

hen mountain guide business partners Nate Disser and Mark Iuppenlatz got the idea to build a full-service, solar-powered, off-the-grid A-frame lodge loaded with modern amenities at 11,000 feet on Colorado’s Red Mountain Pass, more than a few people thought they were crazy. Maybe they were. But they did it anyway.

Both of them knew a modern lodge could serve the growing demand for such a concept. While there are several options for mountain huts and getaways, there’s not much in the way of a decked-out cabin in the woods.

“We wanted to showcase this terrain, and have a place where everything was taken care of,” Disser says.

Co-owner of San Juan Mountain Guides in Ouray, Colorado, an internationally renowned guiding service specializing in climbing and skiing, Disser’s résumé is built on guiding in Alaska, South America, the North Cascades and beyond. But seven years ago, he began to toy with the idea of building an upscale ski lodge in the San Juan Mountains. It just so happened that longtime clientturned-partner Iuppenlatz was thinking the same thing.

Iuppenlatz spent 30 years working in corporate America, but he is a lifelong skier and backcountry

Oliver Sutro

enthusiast who has has skied around the world. Like Disser, he had a different perspective when it came to what ski huts could be like.

“If you go to CMH (heli-ski mega-giant Canadian Mountain Holidays), the kind of lodges you stay in are just a little nicer,” he says.

Iuppenlatz said that while people are fanatic over epic powder, they also like a nice meal, nice accommodations and some of the comforts of home.

We wanted to Disser, a guide of 17 years, said he showcase this believed a new kind lodge in the terrain, and have region would elevate the already a place where stellar profile of San Juans skiing. One everything was they got their heads together, they taken care of didn't look back. They broke ground on the lodge in spring 2018.

Though the lodge is upscale, you don’t need a Gold Card and a passport to stay there. It’s posh enough for a honeymoon yet positioned for some of the most incredible backcountry alpine adventure in America. >>

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ALPINE

START

The Red Mountain Alpine Lodge is a full service, 20-person capacity lodge at 11,018 feet in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. photo by Xander Bianchi THE CABIN

MARK IUPPENLATZ

NATE DISSER

Artisan style timber frame A-frames are built with a centuries old practice. There are no big metal nuts and bolts. Other local skit huts are charismatic: cobblestone, refurbished mining cabins or minimalist chalets, but they lack some comforts. Red Mountain Alpine Lodge takes another approach.

The lower level is 2,500 square feet, with an additional 500 feet in a loft. The lodge can sleep 20 guests comfortably. Upstairs are five clever two-bed roomettes. Private rooms are downstairs. In total, there are three showers with on-demand hot water, four toilets and four sinks. Resident inn-keepers take care of things, and a chef in Ouray handles the menu. Breakfast and dinner are included with every night’s stay.

A giant solar system has 5,000 pounds of batteries to power dual-zone radiant-heated floors, electricity, wi-fi and a commercial-style kitchen with a coffee bar, a twokeg cooler and wet bar (yeah, they got a liquor license).

Propane generators act as backups.

A wood stove and several cozy living areas are perfect for après naps. There is also talk of a shuffle board in the loft.

Groups can hire their own guides at no extra cost for their accommodations. In fact, guides get their own bunk rooms plus a situation room with wi-fi flat-screen feeds for video chats, avalanche bulletins, weather observations and crucial safety information.

THE CLIENTELE

Backcountry powder-hounds have been booking the Red Mountain Alpine Lodge for months, in great anticipation of the mid-December opening. Disser says the growth of backcountry skiing and the number of people who are taking avalanche courses so that they have skills to go farther off the beaten path is part of why the lodge For a lot of people, this is has demand before it is even open. the ultimate way to go skiing.

In the last few years, backcountryrelated gear sales have quadrupled, according to Snowsports Industries America.

Many major winter resorts are scrambling to

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adopt policies to allow users to ski uphill and to develop access beyond the typical ski run. “... If they don’t have some sort of good side-country and a good hike-to terrain plan, they’re sort of behind the curve,” Disser says. “There’s a demand for that kind of experience.”

The mountains surrounding the lodge are the reason people will come to stay at the lodge, which is essentially the front and back doors to the wilderness.

Iconic ski tours up Red Mountain 1, 2 and 3 leave from the front deck of Red Mountain Alpine Lodge, and the mellow slopes of U.S. Basin are a short skinned-ski away. People can hike up and drop in Prospect Gulch.

Commodore is across the way. Trico and Telluride peaks are close. Low-angle trees, powder heavy glades, ridge line traverses, alpine bowls and open faces create a diverse playground. With 300 inches of snow a year, Red Mountain Pass is an epicenter of Colorado backcountry skiing. And this new lodge adds to it.

“For a lot of people, this is the ultimate way to go skiing,” Disser says. He sees everything from ambitious diehards, to avalanche education courses and adventurous families there.

GETTING THERE

Access is a major attraction of the lodge. Although it sits at 11,000 feet, it is only 300 yards away from U.S. Highway 550. That means it’s more accessible than many backcountry ski huts that require you to slog for hours.

Guests can hike in in 10 minutes, stash their stuff and go.

“Drop your gear on that porch, go out and ski all day, then check in that night. It’s a lot easier,” Iuppenlatz says.

In other seasons, he says the lodge will be usable for all kinds of events, from family reunions to corporate retreats and workshops.

“We hope people get an appreciation for the San Juans and a less-traveled experienced,” Iuppenlatz says.

“It’s the Alpino Vino of huts. We just want to share our love of the backcountry.”

For more information, visit redmountainalpinelodge.com

The Hollywood Bowl on Red Mountain 3.

On the right day with the right conditions, lines like these are well within reach for quests at the Red Mountain Alpine Lodge. photo by

Xander Bianchi

photo by Xander Bianchi

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CIRCLES

RIDING IN

IN CYCLOCROSS, THE RIDER HAS AS MUCH GRIT AS THE TERRAIN. SARAH STURM TAKES US INTO THE PITS WHERE WE SEE THE MUD, SWEAT AND GEARS OF THE SPORT.

As

you grip a cold beer in one hand, your other holds a cowbell with your winter gloves, your puffy jacket pressed against the fencing between you and muddy ruts in frozen slop. A clump of bicycle racers line up in spandex, stand in 20-degree weather trying to calm their nerves and keep their toes warm, ready to start their race.

This is cyclocross.

It started in Europe when road racers wanted to stay fit and skilled through the cold winter months.

Groups of riders would organize and pedal from town to town, hopping over garden boxes, fences and running up stairs, all in the most brutal of weather.

THE BIKES

Traditionally, it’s a hybrid bicycle that looks more like a road bike than mountain bike, but there are key features: Tire clearance makes way for knobby tires and

Racers, including Durango, Colorado’s Dylan Stucki, race bar to bar in the single speed category. The day before this race it was 65 degrees and dusty.

This is a true cyclocross weekend. photo by Sarah Sturm

TOGETHER BY

SARAH STURM

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Who says there's no money in cycling?

The dollar bill hand-ups at Single Speed Worlds were a crucial part of the race and also a quick way to make some extra cash. photo by Dylan Stucki extra traction in the mud and cantilever or disc brakes allow for extra mud buildup so the wheels can still move. And the gear ratios are different: Lower (easier) gears give a racer every chance at riding those steep climbs. But really, if you have a bike, you can participate in cyclocross.

It has participation from across the board, from the weekend race enthusiasts to professionals traveling around the world competing at the highest level. The crowds are just as much a part of the sport as the sport itself. In European races, fans will line every inch of a course, drinking beer, eating Frites (pronounced freets: basically a Belgian version of a French fry with mayo), ringing cowbells to cheer on their favorite racers.

“

It’s a familyoriented sport,” says Miller, who is retired but still competes. “You’ll have an entire family of racers: Mom races, dad watches the kids, dad races and mom watches the kids, then the kids race.”

THE COURSE

”

Races consist of laps, about 2.5 -3.5 km each, over a short course, ending with a time limit of about an hour. The course will always have one section that is impossible to ride, forcing racers to dismount, shoulder their bikes and run. Off-camber sections, tight turns, deep sand, steep run-ups, stair sets and barriers are all typical. Nothing is ever sustained, climbs are short and punchy, straight sections won’t last for more than a few moments, and obstacles are limited to individual features. Then there is the pit. Similar to NASCAR with a crew of mechanics, professional racers keep spare bikes in the pits with their team mechanic in case something goes wrong.

photo by Sarah Sturm

The head-to-head battles on a cyclocross course are what make the finish line that much sweeter. photo by Luke Batten THE PAIN

Imagine the pain of sprinting up stairs. Just when you catch your breath, you’re in another sprint on your bike, through sand. Then again up the steepest hill completely slick with mud and when you run it, your bike slung over your shoulder, you feel your feet squish 5 inches into the earth before you have to use more leg strength to pull them out for the next step. And you’re only a third of the way done with one lap.

This is cyclocross.

It is pain. It is frustrating. It is nonsensical. It is insanely fun, sometimes in a type II way, where you don’t realize it’s fun until it’s over. In cross, “it ain’t over ’til it’s over.”

The intensity is what makes it so interesting, and the diversity is what draws the different types of cyclists. It’s a fascinating mix of road racers and mountain bikers, each one with different advantages and disadvantages. Former National Road Race Champion and professional cyclocross racer Meredith Miller was one of the first to make the jump from road to cross. For her it was about the scene, the support and the family she found.

“It was so entirely different from showing up to a road race where no one was out there (cheering). At a cross race you have people lining the course. The energy is amazing,” she says.

From serious professional bike racers or aspiring pros, to those looking to wear a costume and take a whiskey shot in the middle of a lap, cyclocross has a place.

“It’s a family-oriented sport,” says Miller, who is retired but still competes. “You’ll have an entire family of racers: mom races, dad watches the kids, dad races and mom watches the kids, then the kids race.”

THE FUTURE

At the top level, racers compete for a go at the World Championships to earn the prestigious “rainbow stripes.” It’ no different from mountain biking or road racing, but there is one big race missing: the Olympics.

“It’s really a timing issue,” Miller says. “Cyclocross is obviously a winter sport, but in order to be in the Winter Olympics, that sport has to be held on ice or snow, and no one wants to just race on ice or snow.

But it’s hard to move it to the Summer Olympics because you’re overlapping with mountain biking and road, and you wouldn’t have the participation. So cyclocross is kind of stuck.”

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A DV E N T U R E P RO . u s

Not having the Olympics as a goal will always shape cyclocross, and with a big national series dissolved because of lack of funding, there isn’t really a clear path for a cross racer right now.

“I feel like (cyclocross) is in a decline,” Miller says. “We need an injection of funding to keep the scene going.

Without a series, there isn’t media following these stores, and without media, sponsors don’t see return.”

For now the sport is kept alive by the passionate souls who put on the races they don’t want to see disappear, and the racers who show up.

THIS IS CYCLOCROSS

Cyclocross isn’t defined by the bike or the course. It’s the men and women who decide that riding and racing a bike through rain, snow and mud during the coldest months of the year in Spandex is a good idea, and a great time. Across the world they’re racing through parks and fields, gunning for the glory of the finish line, the top step of a podium or maybe that beer hand-up from the crowd.

It’s a sport that brings people together, from the fans to those crazy enough to participate.

It’s more than just riding in circles, it’s riding in circles together.

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The lure of climbing ice often begins as a visual obsession with the wild beauty of frozen waterfalls. Eventually, to look is just not enough. Steven Van Sickle indulges in a closer examination of Horsetail Falls, just outside his hometown of Ouray, Colorado.

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FROZEN M O M E N T S

W

ater and ice are unlike any other compound on Earth. So why do we love to climb it? Photographer and ice farmer Xander Bianchi takes us into the brittle and beautiful world below freezing.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY XANDER BIANCHI WHERE TO BEGIN? AT 32°F, TO BE EXACT. That’s where the magic happens. A puddle of molecular tetrahedrals built from oxygen, hydrogen and a couple of spirited electrons suddenly converges to form psychedelic patterns, blooming like hexagonal flowers from a crystal seed. Each crystal becomes a launching pad for the next, as the whole cluster fervently explodes into a geometric circus of lines and form.

Water is one of the most important molecules on the planet and, by no coincidence, also one of the strangest. No other compound exists naturally in all three phases – solid, liquid and gas – and no other compound, arguably, is as essential to life itself.

THE MAGIC

Water exhibits a handful of peculiar properties that make it a fortuitous oddball, and most of them are because of something called hydrogen bonding. Essentially, this translates to water being a polar molecule, having a positive and a negative side.

Beyond producing the phenomenon of floating ice (water is the only non-metallic compound to feature a lower density solid phase), this hydrogen bonding is also responsible for something called adhesion.

The polar nature of water means it generally likes to stick to things, such as rock. So, if you're one of those rare birds who calls yourself an ice climber, be sure to pause the next time you're cursing those screaming barfies (a nauseating pain that frequently occurs in an ice climber’s arm and hands) and thank hydrogen bonding for allowing you to explore the vertical realm of ice. >>

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FROZEN MOMENTS

A climber ventures into a labyrinth of ice and rock in the Uncompahgre Gorge of Ouray, Colorado. photo by Xander Bianchi Climbing ice is an all-encompassing endeavor, demanding awareness of mind, body and the entire environment as a whole. Lindsey Hamm enjoys blissful focus during an ascent of Whorehouse Hoses near Silverton, Colorado. photo by Xander Bianchi THE WHY

Why do we climb frozen waterfalls? What is it that compels us to trudge into the arctic cold and don medieval battle equipment in order to stand on top of some arbitrary chunk of freezing earth?

“Ice climbing makes you sensitive to everything,” says Bill MacTiernan, a longtime resident of Ouray, Colorado, and a pioneer of climbing in the area. “The wildness of the ice; it triggers something.”

BIZARRE TERMS

Some of us are compelled to engage further, to get closer, until the absurd idea of climbing these crystals becomes unassailable. How else could we render an experience any closer to life than by hanging life itself on the edges of it?

In the words of writer Jon Krakauer, describing his situation while in the midst of exploring such an idea, “My attachment to the world (had) been reduced to a few thin points of steel sunk ICE IS BEAUTIFUL half an inch into a giant popsicle.”

Water is essential to human life for Indeed, the experience of climbing a obvious reasons. However, beyond frozen waterfall is something often hydrating every cell in our body, some described in rather bizarre terms.

Ice is beautiful. of us might argue that our need for One of the most defining Mesmerizing. water strums a much deeper chord. differences between rock and ice A “suspended My personal fascination with ice climbing is the ephemeral element. animation,” as began as long ago as I can remember. “(Ice climbing) demands awareness.

MacTiernan calls it.

When icicles formed on the gutters I think that’s what’s fascinating Yet, sometimes, to around my house growing up, I would about it,” MacTiernan says as he stare at it is simply routinely search for the longest and recounts stories of ice adventures in not enough. sharpest stalactite to amputate from the San Juans. “It’s so much more the roof and wield around like a sword encompassing than just climbing plucked from one of Jupiter’s moons. I the pitch. You’ve had to pick the used to watch the progress of a small weather, the day, and be aware of pond as it silently made the transition the whole environment (in order to) understand the from summer to winter – slowly suspending leaves and ice itself. There’s a good day to be here, and there’s a bubbles in layer after layer of crystal blackness. bad day to be here.”

These days, my captivation with ice expands every season within the walls of a beautiful chasm we call FLEETING MOMENTS the Uncompahgre Gorge, itself carved by the will of The rock will always be there, inviting you through water. As winter drapes the San Juan Mountains in the same basic choreography (elegant though it may Southwest Colorado in their white winter robes, the be), whereas the passage allowed by an ice climb is an cliffs of the gorge begin to seep with moisture, the ever-changing solution – a momentary interpretation of seed of a crystal crop soon to be harvested. The frosted geology, weather and gravity calculated in real-time. air breathes softly, transforming drops of liquid into Water is an inextricable part of life as a climber. swirling sculptures of visceral elegance.

It transports the glucose in your blood from that Ice is beautiful. Mesmerizing. A “suspended last Clif Bar you reluctantly forced down. It cools our animation,” as MacTiernan calls it. Yet, sometimes, to bodies as sweat evaporating from our skin when stare at it is simply not enough. we’re run out on the sharp end. It shapes the very walls and canyons we are drawn to explore, and frozen ribbons of water become a medium through FOR MORE ON ICE CLIMBING VISIT which we challenge the physical and mental limits of ADVE NTUR EP R O. u s ourselves as humans.

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GROWTH In addition to specific temperature and pressure, liquid water also needs a seed to start the crystal growing process. It could be a speck of dust, another shard of ice, or the surface of tree bark.

FROZEN WAVES Ice absorbs light at the red end of the spectrum around six times more than on the blue end, creating the deep azure color you see with the human eye.

BLISTERS Ice crystals will grow on just about anything.

Water is a polar molecule – it has a positive side and a negative side. This means that it tends to stick to other things that have a charge, allowing for some wild shapes when it freezes to its surroundings.

STALACTITES2 The art of growing ice crystals for both onlookers and climbers alike on display in the Uncompahgre Gorge of Ouray, Colorado.

Ouray resident Andrés Marin swings into excellent quality blue ice on the San Juan classic “Stairway to Heaven” near Silverton, Colorado. The sapphire color is a sign that the ice is consolidated, meaning there is very little air trapped beneath the surface. photo by Xander Bianchi W I N T E R 2 0 1 9

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HIT LIST

A R I Z O N A JANUARY 19-20 Phoenix Rock and Roll Marathon PHOENIX, SCOTTSDALE, TEMPE www.runrocknroll.com JANUARY 19 Coldwater Rumble Trail Run ESTRELLA MOUNTAIN REGIONAL PARK GOODYEAR www.aravaiparunning.com FEBRUARY 2 Sedona Marathon SEDONA www.sedonamarathon.com FEBRUARY 16 Black Canyon Ultra BLACK CANYON NATIONAL TRAIL MAYER www.aravaiparunning.com FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 4 HITS Arizona Winter Festival TUSCON www.hitsshows.com

C O L O R A D O JANUARY 20 Lone Cone Fat bike Challenge NORWOOD www.poisonspiderbicycles.com JANUARY 24-27 The Ouray Ice Fest OURAY www.ourayicepark.com/ouray-ice-festival JANUARY 25-27 Rio Frio Ice Fest ALAMOSA www.alamosarec.org JANUARY 24-27 The X-Games ASPEN www.xgames.com JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 3 Snowdown DURANGO https://www.snowdown.org/ FEBRUARY 8-10 Big Mountain Betty SILVERTON MOUNTAIN SILVERTON www.silvertonmountain.com FEBRUARY 9 The Silverton Whiteout SILVERTON www.silvertonwhiteout.com

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U T A H JANUARY 17-19 WINter 4X4 Jamboree ST. GEORGE www.winter4x4jamboree.com JANUARY 26 Arches Ultra and Trail Run MOAB www.madmooseevents.com FEBRUARY 16 Moab Red Hot Trail Run MOAB www.grassrootsevents.net FEBRUARY 16-17 Balloons and Tunes Round Up KANAB www.visitsouthernutah.com MARCH 8-10 Poison Spider Spring Thaw MOAB www.moabthaw.com

N E W M E X I C O JANUARY 19 Kicker ArenaCross FARMINGTON www.kickerarenacross.com JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 3 Taos Winter Wine Festival TAOS www.taoswinterwinefest.com FEBRUARY 8-9 40th Annual World Championship Angel Fire Shovel Races ANGEL FIRE www.angelfireresort.com FEBRUARY 13-17 Santa Fe Film Festival SANTA FE www.santafefilmfestival.com FEBRUARY 16 Mt. Taylor Quadrathon MT. TAYLOR http://www.mttaylorquad.org/

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KILLER WEEKEND

FLAGSTAFF A

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T his t o w n ro c k s

Arizona powder day. The Arizona Snowbowl receives about 260 inches of snow annually over a 2,800-foot vertical drop. photo courtesy of

Arizona Snowbowl

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A

Outdoor towns. They’re dotted around the West. Crested Butte, Moab, Taos …

Flagstaff? Yep. Flagstaff. This town rocks. And we are here to tell you why.

R E A S O N

01

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

At 7,000 feet in elevation with the 12,600-plusfoot San Francisco Peaks breathing down its neck, this mountainous ponderosa playground of 70,000 people was founded based on strong lumber and railroad economies.

Today, it’s laced with singletrack trails – they are everywhere – and its proximity to more magical Arizona landscapes sets the stage for anything-goes adventures.

“Everyone here does something,” says Nick Hilton of Run Flagstaff, a running specialty store on the edge of a historic downtown district. “They bike, they hike they ski, they run. You drive around anywhere and you’re going to see mountain bikes all over the place, or people getting their ski gear ready.”

Not all of those are done in the mountains. It’s true that Flagstaff is in one giant forest (see Flag Stats), but there is plenty of desert nearby.

“You can be at the Grand Canyon in 90 minutes,” Hilton says. “There’s nothing else like it in the world.”

Go 30 miles south and you’re in Sedona’s stunning red rock country. Another 60 and you drop into the Sonoran desert. But the alpine is what throws people off.

“You can get up to almost 13,000 feet on the peaks,” Hilton said. “It’s an old stratovolcano with a hollowed out basin, some really gnarly stuff.

Definitely a hidden gem.”

The San Francisco Peaks – noticeable from just about anywhere in town – are also sacred to 13 different Native American tribal nations in the Southwest, including the nearby Navajo, Apache, Hualapai, Yavapai and Hopi.

R E A S O N SKI CHOPS

02

Don’t discount this place as a ski town just because it’s in a state mostly known for its vast desert landscape.

“Flagstaff has always been a ski town,” says Arizona Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray.

“From the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s, that’s part of the heritage of the community.”

Snowbowl, seven miles north of Flagstaff, began operation in 1938 and is among the 10 oldest ski areas in the U.S. This mountain drops more than 2,300 feet, among the top 10 percentile in the country.

It also offers a view like no other ski mountain.

Sitting at 9,300 feet in the Coconino National Forest, you can hike higher for a big mountain vibe. When’s the last time you saw the Grand Canyon from the top of a chairlift?

With a recent steady stream of multimillion dollar improvements at Snowbowl, winters in Flagstaff are picking up. Three new lifts in three years and more improvements on the way, plus state of the art snowmaking, have all made a difference. Winter 201718 – Snowbowl’s fourth driest on record – was also in its Top 5 for skier visits.

“It really has been a renaissance since 2012,” Murray says. “Our customers now have confidence that we’ll have snow and great skiing conditions. It’s a completely different ski area.”

R E A S O N

03

CAN YOUR MOUNTAIN TOWN DO THIS?

At Absolute Bikes Flagstaff, shop manager Anthony Quintile says the diverse outdoor opportunities, especially biking, is what makes the town suitable for those who thrive on recreation.

“Northern A. Z. is, I think, a little underrecognized,” he says. “If you hit the right season here you could ride four or five weeks and not run out of places to ride. I lived in Moab for six years, and I bought a house here.”

BY

B R A N D O N M AT H I S

One of his employees skis in the morning and then mountain bikes home. We’d take that.

But it’s not just bike shop employees or some of the 23,000 students at Northern Arizona University who get outside. It’s everyone.

“We have several substantial companies here,” Quintile says. “NAU, W.L. Gore and Associates, Flagstaff Medical, fed government, the United States Geological Survey, the Forest Service. We have a lot of professionals. There’s an attraction.”

There’s an attraction alright. Good skiing, alpine mountains, killer trails and year-round access. It might be love at first sight. >>

With twice the national average of bikes per household and 117 miles of bike lanes on city streets combined with 50 miles of trail in the urban trail system, Flagstaff residents are bike commuters. More than 5 percent of the population does, compared to .6 percent nationwide. photo by Brandon Mathis

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FLAGSTAFF A

R

I

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N

B RE A K FAST THE TOASTED OWL With two locations in Flagstaff, we rolled up to The Toasted Owl’s southside location. It’s the kind of breakfast place that reminds you of home. You might have grown up with some of the dishware, and most of it doesn’t seem to match from one table to the next.

Everything on the shelves is for sale, and everything is pretty much some sort of owl. The traditional breakfast selections are perfect.

A

LUN C H DIABLO BURGER We dove into the shadows of this small burger restaurant with its big reputation and ordered the Traveling Wilburys: sauteed cremini mushrooms, a sinfully delicious curry mayo, Swiss cheese and chili flakes. Diablo Burger works with local Arizona food growers and use only organic beef and produce from a 250-mile radius of where we were sitting.

THE

411 DI N N E R

F L A G S TA F F B R E W I N G C O .

We settled right up to the bar that has the look and feel of an old town brewery where stories of old are worn well into the woodwork. We weren’t planning to eat a burger, but when we saw the Grilled Pear Burger on the menu, that was it. One-hundred percent angus beef, sweet grilled pear slices, blue cheese crumbles and a tasty balsamic glaze. We highly recommend washing it down with the 7 percent Bubbaganouj IPA.

D RI N KS COFFEE AND SPIRITS There’s no shortage of nightlife in Flag, but for various pick-me-ups, we ended up at the Rendezvous in the Monte Vista Hotel more than a few times. The White Lavender Latte is downright heavenly (lavender garnish included), and the ambiance in the 1927 hotel is charming, with a long historic bar, terrific people-watching, window seating and intimate dens for good conversation. Part coffee house, part cocktail lounge – it’s a centerpiece of downtown.

F L A G S TAT S

photo courtesy of Arizona Snowbowl

The town is located on the west side of the largest contiguous ponderosa pine forests in the country.

The Lowell Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical observatories in the U.S. and was used in the discovery of Pluto.

Lunar astronauts trained around Flagstaff, and the mapping for the lunar expedition was done at the Lowell.

The San Francisco Peaks are made of a stratovolcano, with Humphreys Peak reaching 12,633 feet.

Winslow, Arizona, 37 miles east of Flagstaff, is the site of the Barringer Crater, where a giant meteorite crashed into Earth some 50,000 years ago. The crater is 4,000 feet in diameter and 560 feet deep. photo courtesy of Arizona Snowbowl

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KILLER WEEKEND The Springs Resort and Spa in Pagosa Springs is hard to pass up after a day in the winter mountains. They are the deepest hot springs in the world. photo courtesy of

Visit Pagosa Springs

GET FED, GO SHRED, ENOUGH SAID BREAKFAST: The Peaks Deli. The Killer Burrito is indeed a hunger killer. Your choice of meat, add green chile or salsa for $8 and you’re good to slay the mountain.

Scott DW Smith courtesy of Wolf Creek Ski Area

LUNCH: The Ono Burger at Wolf Creek Lodge and Pathfinder Bar. Trust us on this one. We now associate grilled pineapple cheeseburgers with bottomless powder face shots.

DINNER: Kip’s Grill has the best street tacos this side of the Continental Divide. Need a warm up? Go for the Dos Dynamite Diablos: Hatch green chiles stuffed with mozzarella and top sirloin. You’re welcome.

LIBATIONS: Riff Raff Brewing. Conveniently located right in downtown Pagosa Springs, so you’re good to wander back to the lodge after a few 6.5 percent Hopgoblin IPAs. 44 |

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THE

MOU N TA IN TOWN WITH A

POWDER

CLAUSE WHY YOU SHOULD MOVE TO PAGOSA SPRINGS AND SKI WOLF CREEK ALL THE TIME

It’s time to tell your boss you need a powder clause. That’s right. One that says if it’s dumping, you’re going skiing. When it stops, you’ll come back to work.

THE TOWN

Pagosa Springs, population 2,000, is a quaint community at the western foothill of Wolf Creek Pass. Known for the inviting Pagosa Hot Springs (at more than 1,000 feet deep, they are the deepest hot springs in the world) with 19 different pools of various temperatures cascading down to the banks of the San Juan River. In fact, the town itself uses the geothermalheated water in a closed system to save energy for many city buildings.

But Pagosa is also close to Wolf Creek Ski Area, a down-to-Earth, family-owned and -operated mountain that has no lodging, few restaurants, little shopping and less glam. What it does have though, is snow. And lots of it. Every year, Wolf Creek gets the most snow in Colorado: nearly 500 inches. And skiers love it.

THE POWDER CLAUSE

“The local ski culture pretty much revolves round powder,” said Jeff Greer, owner of Summit Ski and Sport in Pagosa. “When there’s a storm cycle, people have the powder clause and they just quit working

and then ski powder, and when it’s done they go back to doing whatever they do.”

Greer, who has been serving Pagosa skiers for 40 years, said the “low key vibe and affordability” keeps locals happy and visitors coming back. He also said the southwestern flow of stormy weather helps, bringing cycle after cycle to the Southern San Juan Mountains.

Check the reports: The place gets hammered. Even in low snow years, the “Creek” breaks records. In February 2018, when other resorts were struggling to make snow, 160 inches fell at Wolf Creek.

THE ‘CREEK’

Rosanne Pitcher, co-owner of Wolf Creek Ski Area, said the resort benefits from its location. Perched as an arcing knife-edged ridgeline reaching 12,000 feet, storms swoop in, hover and dump.

“The formation is that it’s along the ridge, so we actually have 1,600 acres spread out across going east to west with some great northern exposures that always keeps our snow really good,” Pitcher said.

While the small operation lacks the glam of bigger resorts, for Pagosa, that’s just fine. Even when it does get crowded on holiday weekends, locals know where to go.

“It is a skiers mountain,” Pitcher said. “We don’t have the 4,000 feet of vertical where you have these super long runs, but we do have it where every time

you go out you get a different line down. And you get into areas that people haven’t been into yet and have some great turns.”

The Pitchers recently added a new lift on the mountain – The Charity Jane – that will serve as a connector for advanced skiers coming off the Horseshoe Bowl by avoiding the slog back to the bottom of the popular expert terrain serving Alberta chair, and it will open up some 55 acres of giggly, fun, low-angle terrain for everyone.

OFF SLOPE

But it’s not just skiing. With a growing popularity of fat biking, Pagosa has found a niche in winter cycling.

With good snow the U.S. Forest Service grooms trails to create a system specifically for fat biking.

“They have more groomed trails than any other county in Colorado,” said Jim Hayes, owner of The Hub, BY

B R A N D O N M AT H I S

a cycling and stand up paddleboard shop. He said more groups of fat bikers from around the region are coming for winter mountain biking.

While America’s favorite vacation is wrapped up in shopping and multiresort punch card passes, things in Pagosa are a little different. Greer said it’s the hot springs.

“Lots of towns have hiking, biking and skiing, but when you add the “-ing” in springs on it, it makes it a nice, relaxed complement to the outdoors for sure.”

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FOR MORE HOW TO VISIT

A DVE NTUR EP R O. u s

Don’t overdo it. A light jacket will keep in warmth your body generates, plus it will break the wind. photos by

Brandon Mathis

WA R M I N G

U P

T O

WINTER HOW TO RUN IN THE COLD D O N ’ T B E S I L LY, R U N C H I L LY, A N D O T H E R W I N T E R R U N N I N G T I P S BY

B R A N D O N M AT H I S “There’s something really amazing about running through an aspen grove or down these trails where it’s just totally silent because of the snow. It’s a pretty special experience for any runner.” ~ liz blair, winter trail runner

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Don’t let the cold ruin your running regimen. With a few smart choices for winter running wear, you can warm up in no time and stay out on the trails while everyone else is getting a good case of cabin fever.

Ultrarunner, data and ecommerce specialist Liz Blair of Backcountry Experience in Durango, Colorado, says it’s all about starting out cold.

“As they say, ‘don’t be silly, run chilly,’” Blair says.

What she means is, if you overdress you will sweat too fast, and that will create moisture in your clothing system and make you even colder.

The trick is to dress for how warm you’re going to be after you start running.

“At the end of the day, if you have the right clothing, it can be a really enjoyable experience,” Blair says.

“

WHY LIZ RUNS: Health and happiness are really a nice aspect of it.

The mental health piece is amazing.

It sets me on the right path each day.

I can get a great opportunity to think through problems and just set the mind right. We all have a lot on our plates these days, and I think running is a nice way to temper that.

”

LET’S GET TO THE BASICS: THE BASE LAYER

“I recommend to start with a nice base layer that can go under a jacket,” she says.

Many runners choose functional synthetic nylon fabrics designed to wick moisture from the skin. Others might choose merino wool, which has natural thermal and wicking properties, and it doesn’t stink.

INSULATION

This is “the fleece layer,” Blair says. “Something that wicks away (moisture) so if you do start sweating, it’s not going to blow and create a chill for your body.”

Fleece and other lofty lightweight insulators create a thermal barricade between the environment and the base layer. In today’s market, many fleece garments have added barriers that cut wind and allow runners to leave an outer shell stashed away.

TIGHTS

Tights might seem funky at first but when the temperature drops, you’ll be glad you have them. They come in various weights. Look for some with a few pockets for keys, chapstick and loose items.

GLOVES

“As soon as it gets a little chilly, I wear gloves,” says trail runner Heath C .Scott. “I seem to lose a lot of my heat from my hands, plus they’re good for wiping … your nose on cold runs.”

While it’s your core body temperature that keeps you warm, in the cold our fingers and toes are the first to have the blood sucked out of them as we thermal regulate. A simple pair of gloves can slow that process.

Most active outerwear brands market a light to mid-weight glove. Look for wind-stopping properties in colder climates, but you’ll be surprised how efficient a pair of light duty synthetic or merino gloves are. Many runners ditch other layers before the gloves come off.

FOOTWEAR

“For shoes, I typically have a shoe that has a little more traction,” Blair says. “Or micro-spikes are really good.”

Plenty of shoemakers make snow-specific running shoes, but often that’s all they’re good for. On anything other than a fresh powder day, you may be able to get away with your daily runners, although a little extra grip might not hurt.

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A

DAY

IN

THE

LIFE

OF

AN

AVALANCHE Winter has a story, each storm like a chapter in a book. We spend a day with avalanche forecaster Jeff Davis, one of the world’s best, to see how forecasters read the snow.

STORY BY MARGARET HEDDERMAN PHOTOS BY LIAM DORAN

D

avis is a forecaster with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) and for the last three winters, he has worked in the San Juan Mountains evaluating avalanche danger and providing daily forecasts. Backcountry users should be as familiar with the CAIC as surfers are the tide report. The state government agency produces backcountry avalanche forecasts for 10 zones throughout Colorado, as well as separate reports for highway maintenance.

Before landing in the San Juan Mountains, Davis spent four endless winters working in snow safety and terrain management, alternating seasons between the Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand and the United States. He’s managed weather stations, launched explosives at mountainsides and “Not everything is face shots spent hours digging snow pits in pounding snowstorms. The and high fives,” says Jeff challenge of keeping pace with Davis, though something in the dynamic, changing nature of snow offers an eternal learning his voice tells me there have curve. It’s no surprise, then, that many avalanche forecasters been plenty of both. “It’s also hold advanced degrees and lots of endless hours, looking are continually pursuing more education. It’s the kind of job you at weather models, early never stop thinking about.

Forecasters like Davis put the mornings, and late nights.” rest of us proud dawn patrollers to shame. Arriving at work between 3 and 5:30 a.m., CAIC staff around Colorado hold a daily Skype conference.

“We discuss what we think the day’s hazards are going to be,” Davis says.

“We search as much data as possible, so we can produce the best forecast.”

By data, Davis means an assemblage of weather reports, recent avalanche activity and field observations. Forecasters look at snow accumulation, wind speed and direction, and temperature to predict how the weather will affect avalanche danger. This daily meeting helps them produce 10 unique zone summaries and forecast discussions, three radio recordings, 11 tweets and a social campaign by 8 a.m.

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

After posting the daily forecast and discussion, avalanche forecasters like Jeff Davis will often ski into the backcountry to collect field observations.

FOR MORE ON AVALANCHES VISIT

A DV E N T U R E P RO . u s

FORECASTER Davis enjoys the perks of working as a backcountry avalanche forecaster in Colorado.

Davis leading a “Know Before You Go” avalanche awareness clinic.

Davis will often dig snow pits to view strong and weak layers within the snowpack.

“After the morning hustle, we head into the field to gather more info for the next day’s forecast,” Davis says.

This must be where the face shots and high fives come in: Avalanche forecasters ski or snowmobile into popular backcountry recreation areas to collect first-hand observations. Mostly, that means digging a vertical pit in the snow to analyze the effect of different storm systems and to see how old layers of snow are changing over time.

“We’re looking at signs of natural activity to see how the snow has been transported by the wind, listening for cracks or audible collapsing,” Davis says.

“We use all our five senses when we’re in the field to get a sense of what’s going on in the snowpack.”

Then it’s back to the office to write field reports, make videos and start on tomorrow’s report. Forecasters like Davis strive to We work as a big be as objective and consistent as possible when determining team,” he says. avalanche danger. Using the North American Public Danger “We’re really lucky Scale, avalanche danger is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 – low to to have such a extreme – and offers advice on backcountry travel and safety. knowledgeable staff “We are all responsible for controlling our risks and choosing here in Colorado. how, when and where we travel in avalanche terrain,” Davis says.

He emphasizes the importance of always carrying the correct safety equipment, taking avalanche education courses and using that knowledge every time you go into the field. Create a hypothesis about what you think you’ll find: Wind loading? Persistent slab?

Facet/crust layers? After your tour, it’s equally important to debrief with your group and discuss what you found. Was your hypothesis correct? Davis also recommends reading you local avalanche report from Day 1.

“I like to consider the snowpack to be a book,” he says. “If you just flip to the middle of the book, it’s hard to know what’s going on. But if you start now and read through April, you’ll have a better image of the snowpack.”

Forecasting for the 2018-19 season began Nov. 15. This year, the San Juan Mountains will receive two new backcountry forecasters – one for the North and South regions. After three years in the backcountry, Davis has moved into a highway forecasting position based in Silverton. He will primarily be responsible for Red Mountain, Molas and Coal Bank passes – some of the Colorado’s most avalanche-prone travel corridors.

“

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TERRAIN

MANAGEMENT: How to read the signs in avalanche country BY

B R A N D O N M AT H I S

have to be huckin’ fatties and droppin’ into Gnarville to find YOU don’t yourself in avalanche terrain. In the western U.S., and anywhere

where mountains are steep and get enough snow, there are avalanches. Avalanches have hit cross country skiers, snowshoers, and once in North Dakota one killed a man who was shoveling off a roof.

Even without being reckless, you just have to be in the right place at the right time – or the wrong one. Nature has a way of telling you you’re in avalanche terrain. Here is how to read the signs:

01

GET AN ANGLE

Avalanches happen on slopes between about 30 and 45 degrees, so not only do you want to stay off steep terrain, you want to stay out from under it.

THE PATH 02 FIND Avalanches have been running a lot longer than we have. Notice those giant swaths of clear-cut on mountainsides? Those are avalanche chutes.

Look above them and you’ll find massive combinations of basins, bowls or cornices of unimaginable amounts of snow. When they go, they go big. It’s that force and power over millennia that create the avalanche chute.

FLAGS 03 RED Think you may have

wandered into avalanche terrain? Scan for evidence of previous avalanches. Take a look at the trees.

Trees that see a lot of action will have branches broken off in the uphill facing direction. This is known as flagging.

04 SAPLINGS If you suddenly notice you’re on a sloping area of young

trees and new growth, that’s often a sign of avalanche activity. They keep running over the course of time and those young trees never get to grow up. Get back into the woods and to lower-angled terrain.

illustrations by

Gary Markstein

AND FUZZY 05 WARM When the sun is out, our mood is lifted (See page 20) and we might feel like

everything is OK. But in winter’s chilly mountains, sunny days and rapid warming can create instability in the snowpack or the layers of snow that stack up over the season.

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

Blocks of snow and broken trees remain in the slide path of a skiertriggered avalanche north of Silverton, Colorado. The point of its origin can be seen near the top of the slope. photo by

Brandon Mathis

FUN AND PETRIFYING FACTS Scared yet? Good. You should be. Every year there are avalanche deaths that could have been avoided. In most cases, it was a human error in judgment. avalanches are 01 Thecalledmostslabdangerous avalanches, where cohesive

layers of snow form massive sheets, or slabs, that can break free from less-cohesive snow underneath. This interface is known as the weak layer.

The slab can then travel as one giant formation of snow until it shatters like a glass plate on its way down the slope.

Avalanches can propagate from remote 02 distances, meaning they can be triggered from below, or even off-slope.

After the slab settles, it sets up like a fresh batch 03 of concrete and melts back into place. This is part of what makes avalanches so dangerous.

With safety in mind, it’s easy to enjoy a winter’s day all you want.

Your best defense is knowledge.

REMEMBER, AVALANCHES NEED A FEW KEY COMPONENTS: Steep terrain Weather l A weak snowpack or problem within the snowpack l A trigger. Most of the time that trigger is us.

l

l

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THESE EDUCATIONAL SITES: l

Avalanche.org

l

American Avalanche Association: www.americanavalancheassociation.org

l

U.S. Forest Service National Avalanche Center: www.avalanche.org/national-avalanche-center

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WILD VOICES

ANGELA CAN

photo by Ari Novak

VANWIEMEERSCH How does she tackle some of the world’s toughest mountains, climb ice in the desert and get first ascents all around the world? One step at a time.

FOR MORE FROM MORGAN SJOGREN VISIT

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

DO ANYTHING

After learning about ice climbing during a random ride in California, VanWiemeersch moved to Ouray, Colorado, to pursue frozen dreams. photo by Hamish Frost “I struggle with that concept in rock climbing,” VanWiemeersch says. “When I can’t climb as hard as I can on ice, sometimes I let it get to me. Sasha let that go from the beginning. She was just climbing to climb, no other reason.”

DESERT ICE

Southern Utah has some of the coolest ice no one has ever heard of. photo by Andrew Burr A former competitive ice skater with a background in fashion, Angela VanWiemeersch was 22 years old when she learned about ice climbing.

“I was hitchhiking through Truckee, California, when a rad guy name Courtney picked me up and told me about Ouray, Colorado, where everybody was supposedly an ice climber,” VanWiemeersch says. “I decided I had to go give it a try. I moved to Ouray with a bag of used ice climbing gear and started loitering around trying to find climbing partners.”

Not only did the sport of ice climbing find VanWiemeersch, it literally picked her up and took her straight to the epicenter of it: Ouray.

Her career trajectory in a sport she picked up six years ago affirms her dharma, from her discovery of ice to first ascents everywhere to traveling the world to challenge unclimbed peaks.

A TEACHER AND A STUDENT

A new challenge for VanWiemeersch is mentoring a rock climbing prodigy, Sasha DiGiulian. One of the most accomplished rock climbers in the world, DiGiulian was getting into ice, and VanWiemeersch was going to lead the way.

“I learned humility from Sasha,” VanWiemeersch says. “She had no hang-ups about what she could or could not do. She removed herself from any expectations and just focused at the task at hand and gave it her all.”

The partnership nurtured a mutual respect, inspiration and willingness to learn that also revealed her personal growth and progression within all genres of the sport.

While VanWiemeersch’s life is always on the go, her adventure itinerary usually sends her back to the Southwest where she is loosely based somewhere between Colorado’s Western Slope, Provo, Utah, and Zion National Park in Southern Utah.

And while Zion is on all climber’s tick list, they’re all gone when she shows up.

Ice routes in southern Utah’s Zion National Park were the subject of myth until 2013 when VanWiemeersch and the late Scott Adamson stomped around the desert looking for frozen water.

“We put in such long days, waking up at 4 a.m. over and over, skiing and hiking – sometimes 16 miles for a single climb. But the hard work paid off,” she says.

The trailblazing mission is archived in the short video “Desert Ice,” a 3 Strings/ARC'Teryx Production you can watch on YouTube.

“I think that first season we found something like 14 new and giant ice flows, ranging all the way to 600 feet.”

Over the next two years, the two returned with more climbers, establishing more desert ice routes.

“It was the most memorable, beautiful and special climbing experience of my life,” she says.

Angela VanWiemeersch’s adventures have taken her from ice skating in Michigan to studying fashion design in college, to cycling across the country to mountaineering around the world. photo by Scott Adamson

HER SECRET

Winter 2018 and 2019 brings plans to chase new challenges from New England to Central Alaska, plus plans she’ll keep under wraps for now.

“

S O , H O W D O E S S H E D O I T A L L?

Just one foot in front of the other. Big goals are hard to envision sometimes, because the ambition of them is very daunting. But when you break it down into days, hours or even footsteps, you realize you can do anything, just a little at a time.

Perspective is everything.

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V I S TA S

photo by John Burcham

CLIMBING

EXTENDED “You can climb outside all year thanks to the varied terrain and climate.”

– flagstaff climber matt gentile of babbitt’s backcountry outfitters

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A D V E N T U R E P R O . u s

Known as the “Roof Magician” because of his visionary boulder problems – unlikely horizontal ceilings he negotiates with inconceivable strength – Gentile says Flagstaff is the perfect climbing zone because of access.

“In summer, we have high elevation to escape the heat, and when winter comes and places get snowed in, you can drop elevation and drive an hour to find dry boulders in the desert.”

And while Gentile does travel to climb, for him there’s no place like home.

“What makes bouldering here unique compared to other places is the interesting Kaibab limestone formations – crash-landed flying saucers jutting out from hillsides and canyon riverbeds,” Gentile said.

Of course, you have to know where they are.

“These formations lie hidden all over Northern Arizona, but the lack of a guidebook has kept many hidden or undiscovered. Nevertheless, world class bouldering can be found here within an hour’s drive of town for those willing to get out of their comfort zone and explore lesser-known places.”