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E L E V AT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
UP YOUR
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HOW A COLORADO GIRL FELL IN LOVE WITH SCUBA
Best Holiday Beers COZY GIFTS FOR OUTDOOR LOVERS
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[ Gift Guide fresh finds]
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BINOCULARS
High-performance binoculars from Nikon and Promaster employing advanced optical technology. Starting at $24.99
PROMASTER PHOTO GLOVES
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LOMOGRAPHY FILM
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TRIPODS
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NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES
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The Smooth Smartphone Stabilizer has been designed to provide cine-style functions to content creators using their mobile phones for video capture. Starting at $99.99
Maximize your carrying options without becoming overburdened with gear, and save space. Starting at $9.99
These award winning versatile camera bags will hold all your gear safely and in style. Starting at $99.99
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G I B GOEIR GIFT FROM BENTGATE. GE T T H
OUTFITTING YOUR
TRY BACKCOUN RES U ADVENET‘9 4
MINE ALL MINE
Jon Jay breathes in the joys of Canadian heli skiing.
SINC
SEE PAGE 23
photo by CRYSTAL SAGAN
CONTENTS
’S O D A R O L CO Y R T N U O C BACK ST I L A I C E P S
DEPARTMENTS 7 EDITOR’S LETTER
What our dogs teach us about what we should save.
9 QUICK HITS
New mixed routes on Longs Peak, the winter triathlon, ski wax that's easy on the planet, Lululemon for men, rhino love and much more...
OARD B T I L P S / I SK TALS N E R Y V A &
14 FLASHPOINT KULUSUK, GREENLAND ALEX HENES KRISTI HENES
Winter keeps warming and coming earlier. What are the real effects of climate change on the planet?
17 HOT SPOT
START YOUR NEXT E AT ADVENTURE AT BENTG
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Breckenridge is an everpopular winter destination. Here are eight new, smart and different ways to take on one of Colorado’s best mountain towns.
19 NUMEROLOGY
The high peaks hold many hazards. Mountain guide Rob Coppolillo runs through the numbers on mountain safety.
DECEMBER 2018 21 STRAIGHT TALK
Three road warriors tell us what their dogs want most for the holidays.
27 SMART HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Take heed of our tips for sustainable, do-good gifts.
43 HEAR THIS
28 DEEP DIVE
44 THE ROAD
37 WINTER PEAK GEAR AWARDS
Take a listen to our top albums of 2018.
As a budding splitboarder and mountaineer Scott Yorko learned a lot from a younger mentor—but what happened when that relationship wore thin?
46 ELWAYVILLE
Peter Kray rhapsodizes on ski days that last forever.
FEATURES 23 CANADIAN MOUNTAIN HOLIDAYS
A Colorado girl falls in love with Florida SCUBA.
And the winners are...
40 THE GIFT GUIDE
Cozy ideas for the outdoor lovers in your life.
ON THE COVER Thule’s Upslope 35L, Romp’s Pintail, and Dynafit’s HOJI Pro Tour took center stage in our winter Peak Gear Awards. by Liam Doran / liamdoranphotography.com
Crystal Sagan headed out to find adventure with Canada’s famed heliski operation all by her lonesome—and that choice made all the difference.
WANT MORE? CATCH UP ON PAST ISSUES, YOUR FAVORITE BLOGGERS AND DAILY ONLINE CONTENT AT ELEVATIONOUTDOORS.COM
if you know, you know
Photo: Greg Balkin
“the peak of weight savings and livability” Backpacker Magazine, September 2018
Copper Spur HV UL3: 3.5lbs • 41 sq. ft. • 90” long The Mother of Comfort • bigagnes.com
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CO N T R I B U TO R S
E DI TOR-I N -CHI E F
12.1 8
WHAT'S THE GREATEST GIFT THE OUTDOORS HAS GIVEN YOU?
DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
doug@elevationoutdoors.com PRE SI DE N T
BLAKE DEMASO
blake@elevationoutdoors.com PUBLI SHE R
CASEY VANDENOEVER
casey@elevationoutdoors.com CRE AT I VE DI RE CTOR
POWDER!
Looking for the perfect spot to get outdoors this winter? Rio Grande County in Southwestern Colorado will have you covered in POWDER and fun! Wolf Creek Ski Area averages over 460 inches of snow a year, more than any other ski area in Colorado. South Fork: closest town to the ski area and your basecamp to adventure. Del Norte: gateway to the San Juan’s with brew pubs and places to stay. Monte Vista: centrally-located in the heart of the San Luis Valley. Visit www.riograndecounty. com to learn about all the great festivals and events this winter. Book your next great adventure today!
LAUREN WORTH
lauren@elevationoutdoors.com EDITORIAL + PRODUCTION M AN AG I N G E DI TOR
CAMERON MARTINDELL
cameron@elevationoutdoors.com SE N I OR E DI TOR
CHRIS KASSAR
chris@elevationoutdoors.com G RAPHI C DE SI G N E R
AMELIA MCCONNELL
amelia@elevationoutdoors.com COPY ASSASSI N
TRACY ROSS
CASEY VANDENOEVER
Presence: a knowledge that I am alive and can live my dreams!
CONOR SEDMAK
The endorphin cocktail of freedom, release and the unlimited ability to prove what a Jerry I am.
TRACY ROSS
A sense of fierceness, peace and belonging.
PETER KRAY
CON T RI BUT I N G E DI TORS
AARON BIBLE, ADAM CHASE, ROB COPPOLILLO, LIAM DORAN, JAMES DZIEZYNSKI, HUDSON LINDENBERGER, SONYA LOONEY, CHRIS VAN LEUVEN
CAMERON MARTINDELL
The understanding of unlimited possibility.
CON T RI BUT I N G WRI T E RS
JEFF BLUMENFELD, JEDD FERRIS, ROXY HARBITTER, KATIE HEARSUM, LIZ HENDERSON, RADHA MARCUM, EMMA MURRAY, SONYA PEVZNER, HEATHER RIDGE, CRYSTAL SAGAN, TOM WINTER, MELANIE WONG, SCOTT YORKO ADVERTISING + BUSINESS SE N I OR ACCOUN T E XE CUT I VE
MARTHA EVANS
martha@elevationoutdoors.com ACCOUN T E XE CUT I VE
CONOR SEDMAK
conor@elevationoutdoors.com BUSI N E SS M AN AG E R
MELISSA GESSLER
melissa@elevationoutdoors.com CI RCULAT I ON M AN AG E R
KAITY VANCE DIGITAL MEDIA
ON LI N E DI RE CTOR
CRAIG SNODGRASS
craig@elevationoutdoors.com DI G I TAL M AN AG E R
TYRA SUTAK
tyra@elevationoutdoors.com
ELEVATIONOUTDOORS.COM 2510 47th Street Unit 209 Boulder, Colorado 80301 (303) 449-1560 P U B L I S H E D BY
©2018 Summit Publishing, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
SUMMIT
E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S / D E C E M B E R 2 01 8
The beautiful, comforting realization that I am both uniquely alive and part of a much larger whole.
E DI TOR-AT-LARG E
kvance@elevationoutdoors.com
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DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
PUBLISHING
CHRIS KASSAR
Connection. I’ve found the most supportive, understanding, fun community around.
TYRA SUTAK
Spending time outdoors and seeing how beautiful nature can be inspires a strong desire to protect it all.
SCOTT YORKO
My good friend and mountain mentor, Ryan Irvin, whom I write about on page 44.
CRYSTAL SAGAN
There might be 200 emails waiting in my inbox, but when I’m on top of a mountain things become simplified quickly.
EMMA MURRAY
Confidence. Faith in my capabilities. And a deep understanding of my potential.
PETER KRAY
Everything! Career, favorite sports and everlasting gratitude for this amazing life.
E D I TO R ' S L E T T E R
12.1 8
OPEN GROUND by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
l
t’s always bittersweet to fall in love with a place that you know will be gone. It’s a feeling I have wrestled with many times in my life, beginning where in grew up in suburban New Jersey. There was a woods, full of sapling maples, poison ivy, honeysuckles and secrets just a few blocks away from the house where I grew up. There was even a high, grassy meadow in the middle of the woods—a magical clearing for kids off exploring and seeking something outside the safety of playing whiffle ball and Frisbee on the street. I took friends to it: It felt like a true adventure for kids hooked on 1970s fantasy novels and sci-fi flicks. You had to work your way through thickets and sneak through manicured yards guarded by drooling German Shepherds to get there. So it was a shock when the bulldozers were parked there. And I confess a few well aimed rocks might have found their windshields—a Jersey kid channelling the pointed outrage of Hayduke long before he
ever heard of Ed Abbey. And while I may have stayed my hand from future acts of such active resistance—minus a few days getting hit with pepper spray standing in a human chain in Seattle’s WTO protests—the sinking sadness of that moment has always stayed with me, and I hope fueled a career not of violence but steadfast advocacy for untamed places. That experience of seeing a secret, lonely, spot disappear has just continued. In Seattle, we found escape from the city and rigors of grad school up the Interstate mountain biking fun singletrack at a place called Grand Ridge, but the signs of its imminent demise were already there: Wooden stakes with flags marking new homes. We were riding on memories about to be erased. I did not grudge the hard-working people who would soon have homes and families and memories there, I simply heard what Wordsworth calls “the still, sad music of humanity.” I hear it almost every day now when I take my dog out for quiet walks on the University of Colorado’s South Campus near my house in Boulder. The place is a no man’s land in a way, tucked back between the constant hum of traffic racing to Denver on Route 6 and housing developments. It’s a spot a bit off the map for everyone but locals who come here to walk dogs, run, cross-country ski when there’s snow or have long conversations away
from screens. High school teams run cross country here and CU has a tennis facility in the grassy wetland. Here, you get big panoramas of Boulder’s Flatirons rising above town and a sense for some of the lost prairie that once covered our continent. You see hawks, geese, sunsets. It also won’t last. It’s slated for development. Here’s the rub. I get it. I know the place needs to be built on and managed. Boulder is growing and as it grows it’s pricing young families and regular working people out. Creating affordable housing is something we need to do to keep our society viable. And the place could easily be trashed without the type of management that ensures that wild spots like Boulder Mountain Parks stay healthy. And this land does not legally
BACKYARD SOLAC E THE UNIV ERSITY OF COLOADO'S SOUTH CAMPUS IN BOULDER IS TH E KIND OF PLACE WHERE YOU CAN BOND WITH YOUR DOG. photo by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN
belong to those of us who come here. Yet I’m sad for all this land we lose each day as we take over every space on this planet that we share with a multitude of living creatures. We are always losing, especially these small, unheralded, unbuilt spots. I think of friends fighting in another part of town for an area called Twin Lakes. These are tough fights, the little ones. But what will happen to us when all these mundane wild spots are gone?
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TOTAL GRIP
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QUICK HITS
12.1 8
COLD SNAP ON POINT KEVIN COOPER ASCENDS THE ROWDY SECOND PITCH OF CANNONBALL ON LONGS PEAK. photo by KELLY CORDES
ON OCTOBER 13, WITH CONDITIONS CLEAR AND COLD RIGHT AFTER A STORM, BOULDER CLIMBERS TYLER KEMPNEY AND WESLEY Fowler slogged to the Crazy Train Smears area at the base of Longs Peak, and established a new two-pitch route they called Conditional Love, rating their 300-foot line M5 WI5+/6X. That night, after hearing that the line he’d eyed for years got scooped, Kevin Cooper, from Allenspark, set his eyes on the next line over and reached out to old friend Kelly Cordes from Estes Park. On October 18, the duo, who have a long history on Longs, ticked off the first ascent of the 350-foot Cannonball. “It was by far the most difficult, delicate climbing I’ve done at that length,” Cooper says. “One section was one- to two-inch ice barely bonded to an 80-degree face for 60 feet with no protection. It felt good to be up there with someone who was solid in the game.” —Chris Van Leuven
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QUICK HITS
12.1 8
TRIPLE YOUR WINTER
Snowshoe, fat bike and skate ski when you enter Colorado’s winter triathlon series.
IT’S A BRIGHT JANUARY DAY WITH
temps hovering around 15 degrees, and there’s six inches of fresh powder blanketing the landscape. Most people have already headed for the slopes, but in Leadville, a few dozen snowshoe-clad competitors are excitedly shivering at the start line of the Pedal Power Winter Triathlon. This annual snowshoe, fat bike and skate ski race takes competitors through the hilly, wooded Colorado Mountain College Timberline campus, offering the adventurous athlete a unique winter experience. The 5K snowshoe sends racers tromping through the powder among the pine trees, while the 10K fat bike segment gives riders a treat on the campus’ custom-groomed winter singletrack. Finally, the punchy 8K skate ski through meadows and up steep hills often decides the race. At the finish line, it’s all red cheeks and grins as everyone swaps battle stories and guzzles down coffee and hot cocoa. These races have become a rite of winter for many mountain endurance athletes, demanding a whole new set of skills, grit and fitness. Race founder Bruce Kelly, an endurance race enthusiast himself, launched the triathlon as a way to showcase some of his shop’s winter gear and expand his longstanding grassroots Pedal Power snowshoe race series. While the Pedal Power races weren't the first winter triathlons in Colorado, they comprise the longest running series and one of the few left. The Durango Nordic Center also has a nighttime Snowdown Triathlon, planned for Jan. 30. Nearly 10 years later, a small, but dedicated group of competitors gather at the start line year after
EMBRACING WINTER COMPETITORS SET OUT FROM THE TRANSITION AREA AT THE 2018 PEDAL POWER WINTER TRIATHLON. photos courtesy PEDAL POWER
year. People love it so much that series organizers introduced a second triathlon in 2018 at the Vail Nordic Center. “It’s just fun, and the Leadville course truly has a backcountry feel,” said Kelly. “You get to ride miles of pure singletrack on snowbikes, and the snowshoe is an adventurous course through the woods. Then you’ve got the skate skiing, which is some of the best Nordic skiing in the area. It’s just a great atmosphere.” Ready to try out your first winter triathlon? These tips will help you finish strong. 1. Do all three disciplines before race day. This may seem like a given, but running in snowshoes or snow biking can feel incredibly different (and much harder) than running or mountain biking. Skate skiing is all about technique, so if you’re a novice, practice before race day. 2. Prepare for transitions. You can lose a lot of time at the transition area, so plan ahead. Prep as much gear as possible before the start. Also, a chair, jacket, snacks and water are indispensable during transitions.
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3. Choose your race outfit carefully. Depending on race-day conditions, one outfit can do it all. Lobster gloves, Nordic ski pants, a cycling jersey and ski socks, plus a hat and light jacket at the transition station typically cover your ass. This season, the Colorado Mountain College Triathlon in Leadville is slated for Saturday, Jan. 19. The Vail Nordic Center triathlon in Vail is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 23. Find out more at pedalpowerbike.com. —Melanie Wong
OPEN SEASON
OpenSnow founder Joel Gratz clearly remembers his first powder day, and has spent the past decade making sure you get plenty of your own.
AFTER GROWING UP SLIDING ACROSS
ice in Pennsylvania, Joel Gratz discovered powder when he moved to Colorado for graduate school. He’d majored in meteorology and wanted to create a business that combined this background with his obsession for skiing. His website,
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OPENSNOW FOUNDER JOEL GRATZ REAPS THE DEEP BENEFITS OF HIS WORK AT UTAH'S POWDER MOUNTAIN. photo by LAUREN ALWEIS
OpenSnow, now reaches over two million powderhounds looking for the turns of their lives. Along with a team of local forecasters (who also happen to be lifelong skiers/riders), Gratz uses a complex ensemble of weather models, webcams, snow reports and intuitive analytics to pull together forecasts that are accurate, educational and entertaining. “It’s one thing to miss a temperature forecast by five degrees, but if they forecast a foot of snow and you get five inches, that’s something you notice,” he says. While weather apps can give you some idea of conditions, the need for inch-by-inch forecasts and powder alerts inspired Gratz to first start a small blog and email list called Colorado Powder Forecast. Sometimes making his reports from the utility closet of a friend’s house at 4am before hitting the slopes himself, Gratz accesses multiple weather models and making
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IN HIS ELEMENT
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tweaks to observe a wider range of outcomes before posting his report. Over a decade of experience with computerized weather models and hunting for powder allows him and his staff to make more accurate, more human predictions. Launched officially in 2011 by Gratz and Andrew Murray, a meteorologist and computer programmer, OpenSnow has now grown to five employees and seven contract forecasters around the country who are able to provide accurate, onthe-ground forecasts in Colorado, Utah, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California and parts of the Northeast. According to Gratz, the key to good forecasting and good powder is consistency. “Everyone wants that massive 16-inch dump, but some of the best days are when there are multiple days of snow where it snows a little bit and stays cold.” An ideal season for Gratz has early cold and snow that gets the mountains open mid-November and then lays down several weeks of continual snowfall. He watches different models daily to keep his head in the game and eye on potential patterns. While long-range forecasting is tricky more than a few months out, he analyzes past winters that had similar factors and is suspecting a variable start to this season with a stronger middle to end. Gratz credits the site with getting more people on the slopes, which is both good and bad. He stresses that there are still plenty of places to find solitude and fresh tracks here in Colorado and loves his role in helping people find them. “Days when you’re just cruising with friends are great, but it’s those ready deep powder days that you remember.” —Heather Ridge
EAT, SLEEP, PLAY: SNOWMASS, CO Tucked up in the Roaring Fork valley, Snowmass is both family friendly and boasts enough terrain to sneak off for some serious grownup time. EAT
There’s no shortage of good food no matter where you end up in Snowmass. On the mountain, you can’t do much better than Elk Camp (aspesnowmass.com) at the top of the Gondola. With huge windows reaching all the way up to the high ceiling, every seat in this marketstyle eatery provides a great view by which to enjoy the high-quality food served there, including a Kids Combo menu to encourage healthy eating. At the base of the mountain, the Base Camp Bar & Grill (basecampsnowmass.com) offers friendly and fast slopeside
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food service to get you fed and back on the hill, but beware of the over 30 hand-crafted Colorado beers on tap or in a bottle or lunch may turn into après. For a delicious finedining experience while still keeping a casual vibe, make reservations at The Artisan Restaurant at the Stonebridge Inn (destinationhotels. com/stonebridge-inn). Located between the Base Village and the Village Mall, its Executive Chef, Greg McDaniel, brings a delicious twist to familiar American dishes.
cruisy glades and the beautiful Cirque. Lessons for kids are based at The Treehouse right in the base village, making dropping-off and pickingup convenient. And if that wasn’t enough there’s snow biking, tubing, snowshoeing and a host of free kids’ activities. aspensnowmass.com —Cameron Martindell
SLEEP
While there are lots of great lodging options right on the mountain, why not explore other nearby towns like Carbondale just 30 miles down the valley. The new Distillery Inn is located above the Marble Distillery (marbledistilling.com) and with only five rooms, it offers an intimate, quiet and luxuriously modern place to call home while exploring the Roaring Fork Valley. Each spacious room has a mood-setting gas fireplace, offers a balcony or patio and is built with and decorated using sustainable materials and hosts a King Size bed. On the mountain check out the new Limelight Hotel (limelighthotels. com) which just opened this season. PLAY
To state the obvious, Snowmass is known for its great skiing and snowboarding. For those of you keeping track, it offers 3,339 acres of skiable terrain and claims most guests won’t be able to ski it all in one visit. Its 4,406-vertical-foot rise is perfect for downhill shredding, and all of that blends to offer 150 miles of trails to explore from the high alpine,
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LOCAL HERO: DAVE JOHNSON The rhino-loving zookeeper shares the big-horned love. SELF-PROFESSED “ANIMAL NERD”
Dave Johnson, 50, says elephants are his passion but he considers rhinos his family. In fact, Johnson makes a living as a Denver zookeeper and guardian of a 25-year-old endangered black rhinoceros named Rudy. Five times a month he travels into the community to teach Front Range youngsters about the natural world. The Littleton resident is author of three conservation books for children
GIANT AMBITIONS THE BUSTLE AT THE BOTTOM OF SNOWMASS (LEFT), MELTING ECO WAX (RIGHT), DAVE JOHNSON (BOTTOM LEFT) photos by JEREMY SWANSON (LEFT), courtesy PURL (RIGHT), by KATIEADAMSONCONSERVATIONFUND. ORG (BOTTOM LEFT)
featuring Sissy Sally Sassafras, a Colorado girl determined to enlighten people about the plight of rhinos, elephants and other wildlife. Raised in Hot Springs, North Carolina, along the Appalachian Trail where he was a whitewater guide, Johnson leads conservation-minded adventurers on treks to Nepal, climbs mountains for rhinos, runs marathons for elephants and spreads his love for animals to support the Katie Adamson Conservation Fund (KatieAdamsonConservationFund. org) which he founded in 2014 to help promote endangered animal conservation initiatives. KACF is named for a Denver Zoo intern who passed away from cancer that year. His Zoodiac Kids program focuses on 12 major species, one for each month, including big cats, elephants, primates, frogs and sea turtles. Recipient of a conservation award in 2013 from the American Association of Zookeepers, he is involved in using beehives as a natural form of elephant fencing. “Kids look up to zookeepers. The job has changed dramatically. It’s not just picking up poop. You’re engaged with the audience. You’re planning conservation trips, letting people know how they can be involved, and not just as a passive participant on this planet. You can do things to make a difference,” he says. —Jeff Blumenfeld
THE SNOW IS FALLING. THE MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING!
ECO WAX FOR ALL Purl's ski and snowboard waxes forgo harmful PFCs, keeping humans and wildlife safe. JILL VAN SLYKE BELIEVES IN THE
power of collective intentionality— that is, if everyone does a little bit of work, she thinks a lot can be achieved as a whole unit. And for Van Slyke, owner of the Vail Valley-based ski/snowboard wax company Purl, this philosophy rings particularly true in the case of environmentally friendly ski and snowboard wax. Unfortunately, she explains, most waxes contain perfluorochemicals (PFCs)—toxin-filled chemicals that, over time, rub off skis and snowboards and accumulate in snowmelt, eventually building up in our bloodstreams through our groundwater supply—increasing risks of cancer and cardiovascular disease. It’s a serious threat, as PFCs never biodegrade. “Ultimately its the watershed in our mind,” Van Slyke says. “Anything that can come off our skis onto the snow and run off into our waters isn’t worth it to us.” So, Purl and other environmentally minded companies like Beaver Wax, Green Ice Wax, and DPS, have developed alternative wax lines. Some feature all-natural, biodegradable, non-fluorinated, microcrystalline wax using additives like naturally occurring silicon in lieu of PFCs. Others, like DPS’s innovative Phantom gliding product that’s UV-activated and lasts the lifetime of the ski/snowboard base (see page 37), are wax alternatives
altogether. Now, the task is to get skiers and snowboarders on board with such alternatives, Van Slyke says. “We truly believe that every little thing that everyone can do, all added together, creates a larger outcome.” —Emma Murray
NEW MEXICO BEER: CHRISTMAS IS YEAR ROUND THEY SAY CHRISTMAS
comes but once a year, but in New Mexico you can order Christmas-style chile year round. This southwestern tradition of smothering everything from burritos to burgers in a combo of green and red chile sauce has even infiltrated the beer industry. Chiles have become a popular enough brew infusion to earn their own category at the Great American Beer Festival in 2015. So fire up your taste buds with these spicy New Mexico suds: Pancho Verde Chile Cerveza Sierra Blanca Brewing’s lager is steeped with whole-roasted chiles, resulting in a mellow heat. Adobe Igloo A winter warmer by Santa Fe Brewing comes infused with red chile flakes and cacao for a balance of heat and sweet (and the can’s seasonal bold pattern doesn’t even require gift wrap). Brew Ha Ristra This jammy stout with cayenne pepper from recently opened Cantero Brewing is perfect for thawing out after a day of skiing or snowshoeing in the Sandia Mountains. —Katie Hearsum
Demo our full line-up of touring and backcountry skis! APPLY UP TO $160 OF YOUR DEMO TO THE PURCHASE OF A NEW SKI OR SKI PACKAGE.
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FLASHPOINT
12.1 8
WINTER'S NEW NORMAL
Global warming’s influence on weather is creating new challenges in winter mountain safety. How can we adapt? by EMMA MURRAY
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rom the French resort town of Chamonix, Mont Blanc dominates the horizon like a billion-dollar cruise ship dominates the dock to which its tethered. Two hundred and thirty-some years ago, when the first pair of mountaineers kicked their boots atop the peak’s snow-packed summit in 1786, no one was sure exactly how tall it was—only that it was the highest point in the Alps’ 750-mile-long range. A century later, a Swiss surveyor picked his way up the summit and dug into the icy crust at least 39 feet, noting in 1891 he hadn’t reached any solid rock. It would be another 100 years until the French Institut Géographique, with the help of GPS technology in 2002, declared the ice-capped summit officially 15,772 feet and 4 inches above sea level. But in the years that followed, it became clear the thickness of Mont Blanc’s ice cap varied—some years thicker, some years thinner— depending on the accumulation of snow, which is tightly linked to precipitation and wind. For a few years in the late 2000s, Mont Blanc actually grew, and then would shrink, and then grow again. Now, surveyors measure Mont Blanc every two years, much like a mom might notch lines on a doorway for a growing kid, only in the past few years, trends show this mountain is in fact shrinking. In September 2018, skimountaineer Brody Leven stood on the street between Chamonix’s woodframed 18th-century buildings and stared up at Mont Blanc—at the exact
GOING FAST THERE'S NO DEBATE: THE ALPS’ ALLIMPORTANT GLACIERS ARE DISAPPEARING. photo by BRODY LEVEN
14
ridge the Salt Lake City, Utah, athlete would not (contrary to his plans) be running up or down during this trip. “Local guide friends told me, ‘You don’t want to go up that right now.’ They said the route is... closed,” Leven remembers. “And I was like, ‘How do you close a mountain?’” The year had been a record-setting hot one in Chamonix, and in the week prior to Leven’s arrival, a giant bout of rockfall on Mont Blanc had killed a 69-year-old hiker. It was only the latest fatality on the mountain that summer. (In August alone, a group of three climbers were killed when their bolts came loose, four people were killed in three separate accidents, and three other mountaineers were injured on the mountain due to rockfall. (Earlier this spring...) the Alps saw its deadliest day in decades when a storm swept through, killing 14 people.) Local guides began advising against visiting certain sections of Mont Blanc, as warm weather causes permafrost—which holds alpine rock, soil and ice together like a glue—to thaw and release trickles of water down the mountain’s face, slowly increasing pressure on alreadyfractured rock down below, causing slabs and pillars to break off as they succumb to gravity’s pull. In this lifetime, Mont Blanc isn’t the only mountain that’s changing. As winters continue to defy historic patterns—with more rain, less snow, volatile weather, briefer freezes and longer shoulder seasons—snow and ice conditions around the
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globe are changing, too, creating new safety challenges in the winter mountaineering world. The prevalence of extreme rockfall, the intensity and frequency of avalanches, and the rapid development of new crevasses are all increasing. Winter recreation will have to adapt—how, is the question.
UNDERSTANDING WEATHER In eastern Utah, a short drive from Leven’s home, the Wasatch Mountain Range arcs like a waxing crescent moon around Salt Lake City. Every late-fall to early-spring morning, Mark Staples, the director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center (UAC), checks to make sure a UAC forecaster has recorded the center’s first phone message by 5 a.m., summarizing Wasatch snow and avalanche conditions for public ears. Then radio PSAs, emails and website updates are sent out by 7:30 a.m. If conditions change throughout the day, more information is relayed. “What we’re concerned with is how, when, where is the snowfall,” Staples explains. These aspects of snow conditions play large roles in how UAC determines risk levels for people traveling in the backcountry— be it skiers, snowmobilers, or hikers. “A key component of understanding avalanches is understanding weather,” he says. As we know them today, avalanche risk assessments are built upon an accumulation of observations both in the field and via weather technology
that is many decades deep. Because avalanches are dependent on a series of weather conditions, the way forecasters determine potential risks is informed largely by historic weather patterns. If weather patterns change, avalanches change—bad news for a system that relies on history to inform the probability of danger. After the 2016-2017 snow season, Tyler Falk, one of UAC’s professional observers, culled eight seasons of the Salt Lake region’s snow data and noted, comparatively, much of that year’s snowpack presented traits similar to those of a Coastal region— similar to, say, Oregon—with warmer and wetter conditions than what a lifelong Salt Lake City skier might judge normal. Falk found the average temperature between December 2016 and March 2017 was 1.2 degrees warmer than normal. He published his findings in an article titled “Adjusting to Different Snowpack,” which illustrates UAC’s major concern: Snowscape visitors must continue to pay close attention to conditions presented at hand and not rely on habit or precedence. “Different avalanche climates in northern Utah mean different types of avalanches and in places we might not normally see instabilities or red flags,” he writes. The snow season that followed was Leven’s 12th winter in Salt Lake City. It also happened to be one of the region’s worst snowpacks on record. “Yeah, this winter sucked,” Leven says. In the spring of 2018, the Deseret
News reported data from the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Utah Snow Survey showing most of the state’s ski basins never surpassed 60 percent of what a “normal” snowpack would be. “It’s fair to say we’re seeing weather conditions that aren’t what you would’ve expected 30 years ago,” Staples says. “Anecdotally, it seems we’re seeing rain more frequently, at least in the Rockies. In the past, this was almost exclusively on the coast.” When asked if climate change might be a direct contributor to reported increases in avalanche frequency around the globe, Staples laughs, saying, “The shorter answer is you’ll have to call me back in 20 years. … In a changing climate, patterns might change. But the take-home point is that when we talk about avalanches, we talk about weather, not climate. I’ll leave it to the scientists to help me understand how weather is being affected by the complexities of climate change “Keep in mind,” he continues, “when you think of the number of variables in weather and snowpack and avalanches, the human elements blow it all away, and that’s the key thing. Humans are what keep it interesting and challenging.”
BIG CHANGES
Of course year-to-year weather variations are nothing new to avalanche forecasters, but the truth is weather is changing on a larger scale. Tad Pfeffer, a fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, says, “I can tell you, in general, climate change can influence avalanche conditions through weather changes.” Around the world winter is changing, and many of those changes continue to increase danger for mountaineers. As Science Daily reported in March 2018, Swiss-based scientists found that “Avalanches are bigger, travel greater distances and are triggered earlier in the year. These changes can be attributed clearly to rising temperatures, which have reached 0.2 to 0.4 degrees annually in some parts of the Himalayas.” Snowpack structures are changing, the report further details, “being transformed by increasingly warmer air temperatures and/or altered by
rain-on-snow events. Snow is now also falling earlier in the season, and is being destabilised before spring, at a time when it is thicker, leading to an increase in the number and intensity of avalanches. Since the snow is wet, avalanches are descending at a slow pace but over a greater distances than in the past.” Take Alaska for example, says Pfeffer: “I’ve seen some major changes in avalanche hazards up there over the course of [the last] 30 years. The climbing season is changing, moving earlier in the year.” And on Denali, Pfeffer notes increased rockfall, particularly “along routes that have never had that happen before.” But it’s the Alps, Pfeffer says, that might be changing fastest. “They’re losing glaciers, and seasonal snowpack is much thinner than ... it’s ever been. Access to base of routes is changing. In many cases, you [used to be able to] walk up a glacier to the rock face…. Now there’s a moat there or a crevasse or fresh rock that’s exposed and unstable. Lots of people are getting hurt, especially on mountains with high traffic.”
THE BIG PICTURE
With the change in winter conditions around the world, “I wouldn’t tell my grandkids to consider a career as a professional skier, that’s for sure,” Leven says. “But, I don’t see skiing as an activity that’s ending in our lifetime.” And, all things considered, Leven says shorter winters and changing snowpacks have larger implications for society, considering water shortages and air pollution. “There are bigger issues than not having any more powder days,” he says. Not much has changed for him in the last 12 years, save the worsening air pollution in Salt Lake City’s valley, which is assuaged less and less as winter doesn’t provide as many cold days as it used to. What he has had to change, he says, is trip planning. Connecting with landscapes in person is one of Leven’s favorite conservation tools, but it’s hard to know where conditions will be safe at any given time. “The problems are becoming more real,” he says. At mention of mer de glace—Mont Blanc’s world-famous glacier, which is reportedly receding more than three feet each year—he replies, “Ugh. So depressing.”
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H OT S P OT
12.1 8
THE BEST OF BRECK
Take advantage of these eight ways to make the most of Colorado’s favorite resort this winter. by CHRIS KASSAR
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ive huge peaks. 2,908 skiable acres. Four terrain parks. Eleven bowls. Fifty miles of town-owned trails ready for snowshoeing, fat biking and cross-country skiing. An impressive culinary scene, an awardwinning arts district, and a vibrant mountain community. Breckenridge packs a lot of fun into winter, but if that’s not enough of a draw for you, here are our top eight reasons to get your butt up here this winter.
NEW NIGHTLY NORDIC SNOWCAT ADVENTURES
PEAK PERFORMANCE BRECKENRIDGE’S HIGH, SUNNY SUMMITS AND WIDE-OPEN ALPINE BOWLS DISH OUT SOME FUN THRILLS AND SERIOUS EGO SNOW THAT WILL PLEASE SHREDDERS OF ALL ABILITY LEVELS.
Sip champagne and enjoy historic tales in the lap of luxury: This new, heated, all-glass snowcat makes a s’mores-and-hot-chocolate pitstop at a nearby cabin. breckenridgenordic. com/nordic-snowcat-adventures/
photo courtesy MAGUIRE GUIDES
THE NEW BACKCOUNTRY HUT
Unplug and explore at the Sisters Cabin, a 2,090-square-foot retreat perched at 11,445 feet in Weber Gulch on the northern flank of Bald Mountain not too far from town. This hut, the first new structure built on Summit County public lands in two decades, comes with a wood-fired stove and sauna, and offers the ideal basecamp for up to 14 guests. summithuts.org.
SLOPES FOR ALL
Breck’s five peaks, each with its own vibe and varied terrain, will entertain and challenge skiers of all levels. Intermediates will dig the blissful, high-alpine bowl skiing of Peak 6 and the rolling, groomed terrain of Peak 7. Peak 8, the heart of the resort, deals out a wide range of terrain via the Imperial Express, North America’s highest chairlift, which ferries riders up to pow stashes and hike-to treats. Family-friendly Peak 9 is where nubes and kids head to learn. Full of groomed steeps, well-sculpted moguls and technical tree chutes, Peak 10 keeps experts on their game. Plus, an abundance of slopeside lodging, skito-town trails, and the BreckConnect Gondola all make it feel as if the whole town is ski-in, ski-out.
HIGH ALPINE THRILLS
Breck’s not in the conversation often enough when it comes to bigmountain kicks; the mountain’s steep, adrenaline-inducing in-bound pitches (and stunning views) keep core rippers
happy. You can find powder stashes for days after it snows on Whale's Tail off Imperial Express, or hike to almost 13,000 feet to drop Peak 8’s renowned Lake Chutes. Peak 7’s Ore Bucket delivers incredible gladed terrain and classic, vertiginous runs like Y Chutes, CJ’s and Magic Carpet. Or hike out to Peak 6’s Beyond Bowl, Serenity Bowl and The Six Senses, where wide-open expanses, cliffs and technical chutes await.
which one you choose, this unique take on ski school, which is broken down into three different programs (Elevate, Explore, and Go Beyond) offers special access to ski patrol’s morning meetings and a behind-the scenes look at how patrollers work with Breck’s unique weather patterns to manage terrain: breckenridge.com/ plan-your-trip/ski-and-ride-lessons/ category/guides.aspx
COME EARLY, STAY LATE
If you spend all day working up an appetite on the slopes and trails, you deserve to indulge in satisfying food and drink that fuels you up for another round the next day. Breck’s ever-expanding culinary scene doesn’t disappoint. With more than two dozen new restaurants opened on Main Street in recent years, there are plenty of choices. Hotspots celebrating their first winter in Breck include The Waffle Shop in The Maggie at the base of Peak 9; Sancho Tacos and Tequilas, serving up street tacos and craft tequila; Aurum Food and Wine, a modern yet laid-back bistro serving an array of creative cocktails and dishes that run the gamut from kale salad to Colorado lamb ribs; and Carboy Winery, a unique Colorado spot offering bottled and on-tap selections and sharing a historic building with The Gold Pan Saloon.
At a base level of 9,600 feet above sea level, temperatures and altitude conspire to create ideal conditions for early season snowmaking, to deliver abundant snowfall throughout the year, and to help slopes hold onto snow late into spring. Plus, this year Breck fired up 50 new, high-efficiency snow guns to make more white stuff faster, using less energy. All this means that Breck has one of the longest ski seasons in the country.
ELEVATED GUIDED EXPERIENCES Get the inside scoop on where to find the best snow based on current weather and conditions, and discover areas you’d likely never find on your own with an experienced guide who will not only hone your skills, but will also help you ski like a local and push your limits. Depending on
NEW FOOD FOR THE SOUL
Can’t Miss Events LIGHTING OF BRECKENRIDGE DECEMBER 8, 2018 Watch Breck transform into a winter wonderland when Kris Kringle arrives to light the town tree. Stay for the Race of the Santas, a six-block dash in which runners and walkers don Santa suits and run to benefit a local non-profit. BRECK DEW TOUR DECEMBER 13-16, 2018 This four-day mega event includes the world’s best skiers and snowboarders facing off for bragging rights in individual halfpipe and slopestyle competitions, Dew Tour’s signature team challenge and streetstyle competitions. ULLR FEST ROCKS BRECKENRIDGE JANUARY 9-12, 2019 Grab that Viking helmet and join the town-wide tribute to Ullr, the Norse god of snow. Enjoy an iconic Main Street parade, take the Ullr Ice Plunge, (unofficial), witness the world’s longest shot ski attempt and find more wacky celebrations throughout town. 29TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL SNOW SCULPTURE CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGINNING JANUARY 21, 2019 Watch artists from around the globe transform 25-ton blocks of snow into an experiential outdoor gallery.
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Available at these authorized retailers: Mountain Khakis Flagship Store 1412 Larimer Square Denver, CO (303) 505-1566 Neptune Mountaineering Boulder, CO
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N U M E R O LO GY
12.1 8
SLIDING SCALE It’s time to get objective about the dangers in the wild. We enlisted our AMGA/IFMGA certified guide to give you the straight facts on what you need to worry about—and what you can do about it in the mountains. by ROB COPPOLILLO
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ocusts, rockfall, the abominable snowman, migrant caravans of crusty trad climbers, socialist hordes of sport climbers, and gymclimber banjo boys—the threats in the mountains are many and if you’re not careful you could end up a statistic in the annual body count. Fortunately for you and me, it’s always the other person who’s most at risk: the new-to-town gumby, that dude wearing gaiters, that skinny showoff with shiny new cams. They’re the ones on the chopping block, not me and you. We’re immune, right? Of course, that hurbis is mistake number one. Read on.
6 percent
That’s the death rate from falls of hikers on “pathless terrain,” according to a nine-year retrospective study conducted by Austrian academics (“Fall-Related Accidents among Hikers in The Austrian Alps: A 9-Year Retrospective Study” by Faulhaber, Pocecco, Niedermeier, Ruedl, Walter, Sterr, Ebner, Schobersbeger, Burtscher). The majority of these unfortunate souls, taken by the grim reaper of gravity, are men and descent is “the most risky part” during mountain hiking. Our recommendation? Never hike with men. Never descend and never go “pathless.”
2.5%
Number of climbing accidents resulting from anchor failure, according to an RMR study on mountainproject.com.
14 & 3
The number of serious injuries and fatalities reported weekly by the National Park Service, according to “Accidents and Accountability: Perceptions of Unintentional Injury in Three National Parks” (Rickard and Newman, 2014). Don’t think it’s all grizzly maulings and crevasse falls, however. Although bison have injured more visitors than any other animal in the park, by far the most common cause of injury and death in Yellowstone National Park is traffic accidents (and more people die due to burns from the park's thermal features than from bear attacks). And don't let any of the fatality numbers scare you too much, over 331 million people visited national parks in 2017.
4.5
Out of 100 of those national park accidents, the number of which that can be attributed to rockfall.
25 and 13
Avalanche fatalities in the U.S. and Canada respectively during the 2017-18 avy season.
8
Percentage of American fatalities that were “roof avalanches” during that season. Every few seasons someone gets surprised by this (thankfully) rare type of avalanche, including two unlucky victims near Creede, Colorado, in 2010.
27
Average U.S. fatalities per year for the last decade. Despite enormous growth in backcountry skiing and riding, as well as snowmobiling, fatalities have not kept pace upwards. Avalanche educators hope their courses are working, while some speculate that the best gauge of growth in the backcountry—gear sales—doesn’t correspond directly to user days.
6, 5, 3
Avalanche fatalities, respectively, since 1951 of mechanized (heli and cat) ski guides, guided mechanized clients and guided human-powered clients. There has been endless debate regarding the risks of going guided versus non-guided and the argument is far from settled. Comprehensive, robust statistics are lacking, but guided clients tend to tackle more ambitious, dangerous objectives, which skews the data.
44
The number of in-bounds skiers and riders killed due to avalanche since 1951. Skiers and riders are increasingly taking a beacon, shovel and probe onto the ski hill on deep days, though accurate statistics are lacking. Tree well deaths account for five percent of all ski-area fatalities.
0.01
Incident rate per million of avalanche fatality in bounds, from 2010-2017, according to the National Ski Areas Association.
SAFE AND SOUND THE AUTHOR PRACTICING WHAT HE PREACHES. photo courtesy ROB COPPOLILLO
January, February, March Deadliest avalanche months in the U.S. (with 238, 226 and 182 recorded fatalities). Despite mid-winter avalanches being the greatest threat in Colorado, there have been avy fatalities in every month of the year. Read up, take an AIARE 1 course through the American Institute for Avalanche Rescue and Education (avtraining.org), and remember—enough snow to ride, enough snow to slide!
50, 60, 80
Percentage of fatal avalanche victims in France who carried a beacon,shovel and probe in 2000, 2005, and 2010 respectively according to the National Association for the Study of Snow and Avalanches, France. Safety equipment improves one’s chances of surviving an avalanche, but only with the knowledge of how to use it. Avoidance is the first line of defense. Did we suggest taking an avalanche course? Do it!
45
Estimated maximum percentage of rescues avoided if climbers studied the rappel route and/or walk-off, and carried headlamps, according to a Rocky Mountain Rescue article in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, in 2012.
40
Percentage of fatally injured climbers who were climbing unroped, according to the same article. Elevation Outdoors contributing editor, Rob Coppolillo included these final stats as a scare tactic to get you to hire him. He’s an internationally licensed mountain guide and owns Vetta Mountain Guides (vettamountainguides.com). D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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High
4.8oz. Low
φ 3.9 x 5.5 in
S T R A I G H T TA L K
12.1 8
DOG DAYS
Three road warriors dish out their secrets for traveling with their best friends. by SONYA PEVZNER
H
oliday season equals lots of travel and if you’ve hit the road with a dog before, you know it takes a mix of planning, ingenuity and ability to keep your best friend happy and healthy. To help you plan that type of travel with your pet, we sat down with three adventurers who always bring their dogs with them: writer, photographer and mom Heather Balogh Rochfort (@Moxie82) and her 12-year-old mutt, Tally; climber and podcaster Kathy Karlo (@ inheadlights) and her dog, Shooter; and community organizer Noël Russell (@noel_russ) and her rescue pups, Fin and Lhotse. Read on for the best gift ideas for your road and dog-loving friends, the best parts about traveling with pets, and inside tips for keeping the car clean and the dogs happy after driving all day. What’s the best thing about having a dog on the road? HBR: Pure joy. Tally joined my husband and me on our two-week campervan honeymoon road trip on Canada's Icefields Parkway. We like to say that *our* honeymoon was the best experience of *her* life. Waking up and seeing her smiling doggy face every morning brought all three of us joy, and it was an honor and privilege as her dog mama to bring that type of happiness to her life. KK: Constant companionship. She might not be a good conversationalist, but I know she's got my back. NR: Everything is better with a dog. Waking up in the morning could be the most mundane moment ever, but when you have two furry beasts snuggled in bed with you—every morning is simply magic. Dogs make the littlest things in life that much better, I can’t think of one part of my day that isn’t enhanced tenfold by their simple existence in my life. What’s the hardest thing about having a dog on the road? HBR: Dogs can't go everywhere, even if you want them to join you. I live less than an hour from Rocky Mountain National Park but have never spent much time on the backcountry trails since Tals can't join! KK: When I take a work day, that typically means leaving the doggo in the car. If the weather is nice, I can set her up outside with a blanket and a water bowl nearby. In colder weather or
rainy temps, it's simply not an option. NR: One, imagining how life would be without having a dog while we travel and, two, wishing we had a bigger van so we could travel with more dogs! But in all seriousness, dogs are such a blessing to have around. We consider it an honor to be concerned about the wellbeing of another family member, and consider ourselves lucky to be able to learn how to put their health and safety before ours. We can’t hike in national parks—that’s not a serious struggle, but we miss it. We would miss our dogs more, though, so we focus on recreating in places like BLM land and national forests where dogs are always permitted. Best tips for road trips with dogs? HBR: If you are traveling in a van, use the Kurgo Loft Wander Dog Bed as a rug, too. It's water-repellant and sheds fur easily, so it’s a great way to keep the inside of your vehicle clean: Pick it up, shake it outside, and put it back inside. Voila! No dog fur, clean-ish floors, and a comfy pup. KK: Store stinky treats in a drysack are best road-trip hack I’ve learned about in a while. Also, sometimes restaurants
will let you bring plates of food out to your van and eat inside it if you explain that your dogs are in there (and they trust that you'll return your plate to the restaurant after you eat). Sometimes if you’re really lucky, they'll let you bring a pitcher of margaritas out, too! Do you have any good gift ideas for adventurous dog-lovers? HBR: The Kurgo Loft Wander Dog Bed I mentioned is certainly one of my favorites. It’s certainly not for backpacking, but if you’re car camping or simply traveling, it's big and fluffy enough to keep a large dog happy. Back when Tally hit the trail more frequently, we really loved the Ruffwear Palisades Pack, too. The saddlebags are removable, which is awesome, and the handle on the top meant we could yank her out of the water....or away from skunks. NR: Our favorite items are the Ruffwear Bivy Bowl and Trail Runner Bowl as well as Hurrta’s Outback Dreamer sleeping bag (which works well on cold nights inside the van or when camping in the backcountry) as well as Wilderdog’s Doggie Bag, which works well when you want to keep food
CANINE COMPANIONSHIP FIN AND LHOTSE GET IN SOME LICKS, SHOOTER FEELS THE LOVE AND TALLY BRINGS A SMILE. (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT). photos by MIKE BATEY, CHRIS SPRATTA,MOXIE82
stored without making the whole van smell like a fish house. What are your holiday plans together? HBR: I recently had knee surgery so I promised my PT and surgeon that our adventures would be minimal until I was fully healed. But, we do have a few jaunts to Utah on the tentative schedule, so fingers crossed. KK: Towersgiving! Unfortunately, that means leaving the doggo at home for this one—Shooter doesn't do multipitch climbing. NR: Desert trip! We plan to head south and ditch the rain and fog for a bit. We’l be hitting Joshua Tree and Borrego Springs as well as the Superstition Wilderness, where we'll thaw out in the shade of saguaros and fall asleep to the sound of screech owls. As much as l love the mountains, my heart finds its home in the desert.
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JOYS
DEEP THOUGHTS
12.1 8
OF THE LONE WOLF How one woman discovered that powder skiing at a remote lodge is an experience that’s enjoyable all by yourself—or shared. by CRYSTAL SAGAN
I
’m riding on a pre-dawn bus, remembering my first solo ski trip to Canada. The first night I sat down to dinner with a group of strangers and they asked, “You’re here by yourself?” over and over as I met each of them. It wasn’t hard to tell the question was laced with skepticism. It seemed as though the general consensus was doubt that I’d be able to keep up and a shared interest in resuming conversation with any other human at the table that wasn’t, well, me—an unaccompanied female. Talk about third wheel, I felt unworthy and we hadn’t even donned skis yet. It’s the kind of vibe you pick up from someone who makes you want immediately prove them wrong and I left dinner feeling a need to justify my existence. It wasn’t exactly how I’d pictured the start of my dream heliskiing. That all changed in a hurry: The snow that week was so deep we were rendered blind save for the apex of our turns, when heads would peek just above for a hot second. Somewhere between getting out of the heli and making my second turn of the trip, I had completely forgotten about the lukewarm welcome and just stated doing what you do when your day-to-day consists of being flown to the best skiing of your life. I lived in the moment, and had an absurd amount of fun. The chest-deep snow buried me in every turn. I had no time for anyone else’s boorish perceptions of me, just for powder. By the end of that trip something unexpected happened, however—I made seven new friends. It hadn’t seemed possible the first night but sharing the best turns of your life with other skiers
BIRD OF PARADISE THE HELI DROPS IN JUST OUTSIDE THE MAIN LODGE. photo by CRYSTAL SAGAN
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bonds you quickly and we opened up to each other from there. As a lifelong introvert, walking away having made actual meaningful connections was incredibly empowering. The reward of winning them over when they so clearly doubted me from the start left me feeling confident for a long time to follow.
F
ast forward a handful of years and I find myself once again on a bus, and wondering if I’ve made a mistake. Almost everyone else is asleep, awkwardly splayed over semireclining seats. We’re headed to a heli pad where we’ll take a quick flight up to the CMH Cariboos Lodge, home base for a week of what we hope to be superb skiing. I can’t sleep, so I lay half curled on top of my pack, uncomfortable and pondering. My partner of three years—a diehard skier—sits a few rows back, snoring, unphased by the seats. What I realize, albeit too late, is that I might have made a mistake in making this trip a joint venture. Don’t get me wrong, I know we’ll have a blast. But as I reflect on my first solo ski trip and the many others that I made a constant in my winters to follow that followed, I realize these adventures have become an indispensable tool for self-discovery and for building confidence. I wonder if the combination of relationship and ski trip will stymie my growth, and, before we’ve even made one turn, vow to make my next trip a lone-wolfer no matter what. Halfway through this trip though, most of the lodge’s guests have already accumulated the vert they’d anticipated for the entire week, thanks to the all-time conditions that have graced us. We continue through a predictable cycle of ski pow, eat, sleep, repeat as we continue to rack up vert day after day. I also spend some time getting to know the other guests—a Swiss doctor, a hedge fund manager from Australia, a retired Intel executive, all of whom might
otherwise be totally unrelatable. I have mediocre success. They don’t view me with skepticism of skiers on my first trip, but instead as simply a skier, like them, here not for what we are back in the world, but what we are after the heli drops us off out in the wild. They seem like nice, good people. But I find myself less interested in pushing to know them than spending time with the one person who already knows me and wants to spend time with me regardless of how I’m feeling.
W
e head back out into the Cariboos on the following day. Thoughts of altogether abandoning my original plight for winning over would-be strangers make their way through my headspace as we scrape ice off our skis and click in. What difference does it make, I wonder, if I connect with them or not? The fact is I’ll probably never see them again. Still, I can’t totally let it go. It’s cold, but painfully beautiful as we ski through the trees. After the first pitch, my partner stops, so I stop, too. The sun peeksthrough the trees and snow crystals afloat in the air catch the light. The rest of the group has left.. It’s a moment I’m sure I’ll remember later, just the two of us surrounded by a quiet collection of trees in the middle-of-
nowhere Canada. He looks at me and smiles, clearly appreciating what I am. And suddenly,rrrriiiiiipppppp pppppppppppp! And his smile turns sly. For a half a second I freeze, totally caught off guard. “Ahhh!! Did you really just do that?!” I yell, laughing at the ridiculousness of him breaking the moment with a fart. So much for romanticism. He starts to ski away and looks over his shoulder, “I faaaarted!” he sings, and disappears through the trees. I can’t help but laugh out loud as I follow him and we shares the beauty of skiing deep snow together. In the end, I try to find a balance between spending time with my partner and attending to my own personal agenda. It worked, to an extent. I let go of expectations of how the experience would go and opened to the idea of a new kind of experience. The conditions were once-in-a-lifetime according to our 25-year-veteran guides, there was literally nothing left to do but get enough rest each night to fuel the tanks for another bell-to-bell day of skiing followed by après margs and small talk with the crew. Who was I kidding, anyway? It was always about the skiing.
this holiday season
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THE MEANING OF LIFE THIS SNAPSHOT OF PERFECTION CAME ON DAY ONE OF THE TRIP, SECOND RUN, AFTER GETTING OF THE BUS AND TAKING THE INITIAL HELI BUMP TO THE LODGE. photo by CRYSTAL SAGAN
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TRANSPORTER WHEELED DUFFEL
Days like this should never be far and few bet ween. Af ter all this is your life, meant to be lived without regret on the other end of impulsive plane ticket purchases born from bold-hear ted late night c o n v e r s a t i o n s . Yo u ’ d b e s t m a k e sure your duf fel can hang. Built for lo ads t oo he a v y t o c ar r y, or t o function as a temporar y umbrella, t h e Tr a n s p o r t e r ’s e x c e p t i o n a l dur abili t y, c ap able HighR o ad c ha s s is and weatherproof fabrics mean the only thing it can’t handle is staying at home.
S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
12.1 8
SMART SHOPPING A guide to making your dollars make sense this holiday season. by TYRA SUTAK
T
he holiday season is synonymous with indulgence. And over-spending. And abandoning all those healthy, conscious practices you strive to live every day. Change it up this season, by shopping for your loved ones and at the same time supporting your community and a healthy planet. We’ve collected ideas to to help you assure the money you spend on holiday gifts reinforces your ethos and makes positive social sense. Buy from Brands with Sustainablyminded Business Practices So many of today’s outdoor manufacturers are bucking the traditional “take, make, use and waste” approach to goods by substituting a circular model that emphasizes longevity instead. When shopping, choose companies that offer lifetime warranties and free returns and repairs in commitments like Patagonia’s Ironclad Guarantee. The company accepts returns or repairs free of charge on all of its products—earning it a lifelong customer base and minimizing the amount of Patagonia goods in the landfill. Meanwhile, Colorado-based Osprey advertises a free “All Mighty (Lifetime) Guarantee” repair program and will replace any packs it can’t repair. Burton’s Pass Along program works to keep its gear out of landfills—and in rotation. Burton customers can bring their new or used products to a flagship or outlet store and exchange them for credit towards a new Burton product. You can opt to donate the value of that credit to The Chill Foundation—an
organization helping underserved youth overcome challenges through boardsports. Bottom line with these companies: They make it easy (though not inexpensive) to find desirable gifts that go easy on the planet. Think Outside of the Material Box Skip buying things and gift a membership or subscription. The recently-launched My Planet Pass designs to increase individual engagement with environmental causes. Pass holders instantly become members of, and receive membership benefits of, organizations like 1% for the Planet, Protect Our Winters (POW), Save the Waves Coalition, Slow Food, The National Forest Foundation and more. It’s an easy, neatly packaged way to support multiple environmentallyconscious nonprofits at one time. My Planet Passes range from $200 to $400 (pass.onepercentfortheplanet. org). Other great non-material gift ideas include subscriptions to services that make playing outside a little bit easier. For example the onX app service helps outdoorsy folks responsibly explore off the beaten path on public lands, even without cell service. Rates run $30 per year, per state (onxmaps.com). Resist Amazon Hitting Amazon.com as a one-stop shop for your holiday needs is the easiest way to maximize your time and knock out all of your shopping. But put yourself in a brand’s shoes; Selling goods through the leviathan online store is a nothing short of a nightmare. Amazon’s lax enforcement of sellers who undercut a company’s minimum advertised price (MAP) forced Colorado-based pack brand Mountainsmith to pull its products from the site altogether. Mountainsmith president Jason Getzel noted the constant resources he must devote to policing pricing and fighting competitive paid advertising and
DO-GOOD, DO-RIGHT BRAND SUSTAINABILITY-MINDED MERIDIAN LINE SHOWS ITS TEES AT OUTDOOR RETAILER. photo by TIM MCMANUS
falsified paid reviews as reasons for forgoing selling on Amazon and focusing on supplying and supporting retail shops instead. Although the price may be higher than what you can find on Amazon, buying products directly from a brick-and-mortar shop is an excellent way to truly support your favorite brands big and small, as well as those independently-owned retail shops. Look for Products Made with Responsibly-Sourced Materials Seek out goods made with sustainably and responsibly-sourced materials. According to a recent study conducted by the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), the past decade has seen a big increase in outdoor brands incorporating sustainable manufacturing practices. Companies like Columbia, Marmot and Buff are using recycled plastic to create environmentally-friendly apparel. Sunglass manufacturer Costa del Mar offers its Untangled Collection, a series of protective eyewear made out of recycled fishing nets pulled from the ocean. Cotopaxi, whose motto is “gear for good,” designs its “Repurposed Collection” to use every scrap of fabric, buckles, thread and zippers that normally end up on the production floor. Combine Your Mountain Town Adventures with Holiday Shopping Colorado boasts 23 designated creative districts that help support artists. Most are conveniently located in prime winter adventure destinations. Next time you hit the slopes and trails in towns like Crested Butte, Manitou Springs and Breckenridge, be sure to stroll the town streets, where many locally-owned artist and artisan shops brim with original, handcrafted gift ideas. D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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SKIPPING WINTER
12.1 8
DIVING DEEP WHEN A NATIVE COLORADOAN ENDS UP SHIPWRECKED FAR FROM THE MOUNTAINS IN THE FLATS OF FLORIDA, SHE DISCOVERS A NEW PASSION IN THE BLUE RELIEF OF DIVING.
by LIZ HENDERSON
“T
he part of diving you may not have been prepared for,” my instructor yelled to me across the slapping of waves, “is what it teaches you about yourself.” We’d departed an hour ago from the Hillsboro Inlet via a small boat, skimming through the waters off Pompano Beach. After two months of training in the pool, I was finally en route to my first Open Water dive. I was familiar with personal growth through interaction with the outdoors. I grew up in Colorado, and like most mountain-born kids, I am proud of an upbringing where I spent more time in the outdoors than the indoors. In fact, I remembered my mom preaching the exact same adage when I was eight and sizing up my first fourteener. This time, instead of standing at the base of a mountain wearing hand-medown hiking boots, I was strapped to a large steel tank with the salt water high-fiving my fins in rhythmic surges. The nausea of being a mile off coast quickly squelched my pride, and while in tandem with focusing on keeping my breakfast down, I became determined to know myself better through diving. A simple question became the focus of my ocean training: What can the water teach me? That first morning of being at sea, I sat on the edge of my seat, nestled among a handful of other divers gearing up. I kept my vision fixed on the coastline. No one else seemed to be bothered by the gentle rocking of the boat, but I could already feel my stomach beginning to betray me. “First thing I’ve learned about myself” I remember thinking, getting up to clutch side rails of the boat. “Being seasick isn’t going to stop me from diving.”
I
moved to Florida when I was 18 for a college volleyball scholarship. Nothing could have prepared me for how different the buzz of South Florida was from my quiet hometown. It took me five years of living in Florida to realize that I wanted to dive. Once I had committed to it, I quickly realized that it was going to be the most intimidating thing I had gotten myself into, mainly due to the technical aspects. I spent several months training in a pool because I struggled with ear equalization. The tubes in my ears CANNONBALL! FOR COLORADAN LIZ HENDERSON, SCUBA HAS BECOMV AS MUCH ABOUT COMMUNITY, IMMERSION IN NATURE, PUSHING PERSONAL BOUNDARIES AND HAVING FUN AS ANY MOUNTAIN SPORT. photo by STARFISH SCUBA
FLORIDA DEEP DIVE
Want to find yourself in Florida’s warm waters? Follow this all-levels guide on where to go and who will take you there. FIND YOUR DIVE...................................... DRIFT DIVING: THE NURSERY A fantastic spot for beginners, The Nursery hosts a multitude of sea life from green sea turtles to lobster. Open water certified divers and snorkelers are bound to be greeted by the resident nurse sharks that frequent the area, many reaching 10 feet long.
would sting with pressure every time I tried to submerge lower than six feet, and the frustration with them would only make it worse. I diligently studied the thick beginners manual, practiced ear clearing techniques, even took a yoga class. While my physical inhibitors were only a matter of time and practice, the dive planning itself was especially tricky at first. Every little part of the dive was crucial to understand and plan, and although it was a simple calculation, to a rookie it felt like rocket science. By some miracle, I managed to snag the world’s most patient instructor. It was a chance meeting at the biker bar I tended on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray. John‘s tattooladen arms and calm demeanor camouflaged him in with the rest of my customers that day, but one conversation about my recent interest to take up diving forever set him apart from other patrons. He sipped on his glass of water as I told him about how I had recently visited some friends in Central Florida and swam in natural freshwater springs. The underwater environment had inspired me, I told him. When John affirmed my dream that there was even more to see out in the ocean, I agreed to take his open-water class. “I don't know how to explain it,” I said when we parted ways in the parking lot. “I just feel like I'm meant to be out there.” “We're 60 percent water,” John said and waved goodbye. “You're just feeling the call to come back home.” What instinctual drive leads us to seek out uncomfortable experiences? I believe mine came from growing up cradled by the mountains. All I ever dreamed about from the time I was eight and getting my first taste of fourteeners was to explore their inverse depths, but diving is an expensive and time-consuming sport. Living in Florida provided a different
chance to do what I had done in the mountains. I started diving a year after I graduated school but always regretted I hadn’t started even sooner. Maybe it was the athlete in me, but with every outing I found myself longing to dive deeper, further into the blue. Perhaps in a subconscious effort to never become numb to the beauty, I often found myself daydreaming about recent dives.
D
iving is a dance. As my body drops below the surface, I am romanced into the allure of the sea. As my stomach settles and ears equalize, I look around me as the curtains rise for players suspended in a nautical ballet. They descend through the water, anonymous dancers donned in black suits and silver tanks, who fall from a mirrored ceiling as if strung by invisible puppet strings. There is nothing but bright, dazzling blue behind the starkness of their silhouettes. Weightless, they strike poses: one hand on their lowpressure inflator hose adjacent to their heads, the other on their diaphragm, as if inviting the water to a tango. My co-divers are no longer themselves, they are performers in what looks to be the most God-given, natural movements in the world. Once having reached the ocean floor, I am welcomed by the sea life. Martian-like coral fixtures create a forest viable enough for creatures of all sizes, from small puffer fish with neon-green-and-black speckled eyes, to 10-foot nurse sharks gliding elegantly between the coral. A green sea turtle grazes past me and I am in awe of how graceful this animal flies underwater. It feels like she is watching me. We are nodding to each other in a mutual greeting. I glance at my dive computer to check my gas and no-decompression time, each divers personal countdown to ascension. Fourty-five minutes later, John and I are on our way back up, completing our safety stop and once again sitting on the edge of the boat. As I watch the streamline left behind by our boat on the surface of the ocean, I am already planning my next trip.
WRECK DIVING: LADY LUCK Wreck diving is a rush and the Lady Luck offers all the adrenaline rush you could want. Built in 1967, the 324-footlong and 50-foot-wide tanker was recently sunk in 2016 as part of the Shipwreck Park Foundation’s effort to create more artificial reef spots outside of Pompano Beach. As part of the initiative, painter Dennis McDonald re-vamped the ship as an “underwater casino,” equipped with statues of blackjack-playing sharks, octopus card dealers, mermaid patrons and more. Advanced Open Water divers will see plenty of fish between 60 to 130 feet of depth and have a chance to swim through rooms, up ladders and (my favorite) through the windows. SHORE DIVING: BLUE HERON BRIDGE AT PHIL FOSTER PARK This a great spot for both divers and snorkelers looking for a depth range of five to 20 feet in the inlet rather than the ocean. A popular freediving area, Blue Heron Bridge is a quiet local spot to see some incredible sea life up close. There are several artificial reef structures where divers can find huge starfish, stingrays, jellyfish, angelfish and much more. Be sure to hit the park at least an hour before high tide for the best visibility. FIND YOUR BOAT ..................................... STARFISH SCUBA, BOYNTON BEACH Adam, Maggie and their dog Kai, are amongst the friendliest boat captains in South Florida. With years of experience behind them, they provide a safe dive and an incredibly fun. You may see them coasting through the Boynton Inlet with Bob Marley playing, smiling divers, and Kai keeping a lookout on the captain’s deck. SOUTH FLORIDA DIVING, POMPANO BEACH South Florida Diving has a huge array of available dive locations, so this is a great boat to check out if you’re only in town for a short time and want to be sure you’re getting a great dive in. With an incredibly friendly staff, large dive boats and an easy-toaccess location, South Florida Diving Headquarters is definitely a go-to for anyone coming from out of town.
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FACES OF COLORADO NON-PROFITS YOU DON’T NEED A REASON TO HELP OTHERS
During this giving season, we wanted to call out the organizations and people in our state who truly do give back to the community and the planet. To that end, we give you a chance to meet the hard-working, motivated and inspirational individuals behind these Colorado nonprofits. We let them explain their mission, their motivation to keep fighting the good fight and the opportunities they see for hope.
ways to give visit elevationoutdoors.com/faces-of-colorado
attentionhomes.org
unself.com
wishforwheels.org
rfmba.org
therewithcare.org
conservationco.org
consciousalliance.org
nature.org
missionwolf.org
Special Advertising Section co-sponsored by UNSELF
Unself Rob Hudson, Chief Executive Officer Mission: Unself is a technology platform that measures and amplifies social impact. We are a community of volunteers, nonprofits, and for-profit businesses for good. We believe that everyone deserves access to meaningful life experiences. Motivation: Our local nonprofits are the backbone of our community and we want to take a moment to celebrate their hard work and the volunteers who keep them going. By promoting the organizations close to our heart we’re able to spread the word and get more people involved in their missions! Opportunity: We’d love for you to join our platform of volunteers. Visit unself.com to find out more and create an account.
Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association Mike Pritchard, Executive Director Mission: The Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association, a Chapter of IMBA, works to create and sustain the best possible mountain bike trails and experience in the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond. Motivation: Our members and supporters are excited about the prospect for evolving our local riding opportunities. Trails benefit the health and wellness of locals, while providing an economic boost to the communities we serve. Opportunity: While new trails are always worth celebrating, we’re focused on growing our capacity to maintain local trails in top condition by raising funds for our Seasonal Trail Crew and Trail Agent (independent volunteer) programs.
Conscious Alliance Justin Levy, Executive Director Mission: Conscious Alliance is a national nonprofit committed to supporting communities in crisis through hunger relief and youth empowerment. Motivation: There is no excuse for children to go hungry in this country— we have enough food for everyone, but not everyone has access to it. Conscious Alliance is on the road, engaging young people in hunger relief at concerts and festivals and moving food from where it is to where it is needed. Opportunity: You can support Conscious Alliance by volunteering at an Art That Feeds Food Drive at a concert or festival, becoming a Conscious Alliance member or by donating. For more information visit consciousalliance.org.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Wish For Wheels Brad Appel, Founder Mission: Our mission is to transform the lives of kids from low-income families through the gift of a new bicycle, broadening their scope for personal growth and a healthy lifestyle. Motivation: According to Brad, Wish for Wheels is special because it allows kids to experience the freedom, independence and success of riding a bike. Opportunity: Wish for Wheels is a Denverbased nonprofit. We partner with donor companies who fund, build, and go with us to donate the bikes to selected students. Donor companies have the opportunity to compete in customized team building activities and make a difference at the same time. Our unique corporate philanthropy model allows donors to immediately see the impact they are making in their community. A bike not only allows children to get outside and exercise, but it also allows a sense of independence, freedom and pride over an item that is all their own! To see how you can get involved, visit wishforwheels.org.
Attention Homes Chris Nelson, CEO Mission: The mission of Attention Homes is to providing lifechanging resources to youth in crisis by creating a safe and supportive environment, building behavioral and emotional pathways for success, reuniting youth with their families and helping clients move toward self-sufficiency. Motivation: Attention Homes CEO Chris Nelson’s motivation comes from his belief in the potential of youth. “The work we are doing at Attention Homes is deeply aligned with my passion for creating opportunities for young people to thrive,” says Nelson. Opportunity: Our volunteers make the work we do possible. We have all kinds of volunteer opportunities available if you’d like to donate your time, knowledge and energy to helping at-risk youth. Our dedicated volunteers help with events, meal prep, street outreach, youth activities and much more.
There With Care Paula DuPre’ Pesmen, Founder & Executive Director Mission: There With Care provides a wide range of thoughtful and fundamental services to children and families during the critical phase of a medical crisis. Motivation: There With Care was founded in Colorado in 2005 by Executive Director Paula DuPre’ Pesmen. During her time as Associate Producer on the first three Harry Potter films, Paula and director Chris Columbus welcomed 65 families with critically ill children to the film sets. These experiences enlightened Paula to the overwhelming daily needs that families face in a medical crisis. There With Care now provides support to more than 3,100 families with the help of more than 800 volunteers and hundreds of local business partnerships. Each day There With Care serves 150 families. Opportunity: When families are in a medical crisis, they are isolated. By building a community around each family, we can ensure they are never alone during a fragile time. Find out more at therewithcare.org.
The Nature Conservacy, CO Chapter Carlos Fernandez, State Director Mission: The mission of The Nature Conservancy is to protect the lands and waters on which all life depends. Motivation: “The next generation motivates me, especially my daughter,” says The Nature Conservancy’s state director Carlos Fernandez. “We need to protect the places we love to live, work and play so future generations can enjoy all the benefits of Colorado. I am also an avid angler and skier, so I know how important it is to connect with nature through recreation.” Opportunity: “Colorado has so much to offer, but we do face many challenges with our rapidly growing population and increased needs for energy, food and water,” says Fernandez. “That is why we need to act now to take on these challenges with new, innovative strategies to conserve our most important lands, restore our forests, protect our rivers and make our cities more sustainable.”
Mission: Wolf Mike Gaarde, Refuge Director Mission: Mission: Wolf is a Coloradobased educational, solar-powered wildlife sanctuary for wolves, wolf-dog crosses and horses. Motivation: Mike Gaarde has spent over four years working with wild canines at Mission: Wolf, and he is looking forward to a long, bright future at the sanctuary. He originally came to Mission: Wolf as a short-term volunteer, but he instantly fell in love with the place. He has since trained to become the Animal Caretaker, and now oversees the care of 30-40 captive-born wolves and wolf-dogs. Opportunity: As a child, Mike’s passion was wolves. He always dreamed of eventually opening or running a wolf sanctuary to help animals in need. Mike plans to spend his life at Mission: Wolf and eventually wants to step into a directorial role. Through his passion and dedication to the wolves, he has been able to live his dream every day.
Conservation Colorado Kelly Nordini, Executive Director Mission: At Conservation Colorado, we protect Colorado’s environment and quality of life by advocating bold policies, educating and mobilizing Coloradans and electing conservation-minded leaders. Motivation: To protect our Colorado way of life for future generations we stand up to the powerful interests that prioritize pollution and profit over public health and safety. Opportunity: As we face unprecedented attacks on our environment from the national level, it’s up to Coloradans to keep our state leading and moving forward. Join the movement: become a member, volunteer or donate today. Leaders: We were formed in 1965 and throughout our history, we’ve partnered with governors, legislators, local leaders, businesses, nonprofits—and thousands of Coloradans who want to protect our state. Community: Our 40,000 members count on us to represent their priorities and values at the Capitol and throughout the state.
GEAR UP SPE CI AL ADVE RT I SI N G SE CT I ON
THIS SEASON’S HOTTEST PRODUCTS ARE HERE —JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. GET IN GEAR!
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BIG AGNES TIGER WALL UL2
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Two-person • Two-door • 2 pounds, 3 ounces The Tiger Wall UL tent is our lightest two door/ two vestibule, technical backcountry shelter. The two doors make tent life a little easier, and the weight savings is especially nice when out for multi-day trips and gram counting.
Packed full of Sea to Summit’s trademark innovation—clever ideas, robust materials and quality construction— this duffel is made from a super-burly waterproof tarpaulin laminate, with a base made of 1000D Nylon. The functional threeway carry mode–backpack, classic duffle, shoulder sling–benefits from magnetized handles. It’s available in four sizes and three colors.
Be the coolest, eco-friendly dude on the block. Ditch the car and turn heads while turning the pedals. Powered by a 500w, 36v 13ah motor and battery to get you going and powerful hydraulic brakes to slow you down, the Wildsyde Beast is the perfect commuting and bar bike. Take a Ride on the Wildsyde!
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SEA TO SUMMIT Ultra-Sil Daypack
GROWLER WERKS uKeg 128 Stainless
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Say goodbye to cold toes and stiff boots. Sportube heated boot bags take the chill off your boots and gear before you leave in the morning and a 12v adapter lets you keep them warm on the drive to the mountain. Warm boots are easy to put on and will keep you toasty throughout for a few runs longer!
A unique backcountry ski guidebook and app that works as a decision making tool. Featuring aerial photographs, an avalanche terrain scale, slope angle, elevation statistics, and route information, the OffPiste Ski Atlas series features books for Berthoud Pass, Silverton, Crested Butte, Colorado “light tours,” Snoqualmie Pass, Baker and Crystal.
Hala Nass...Say it fast and you’ll get the picture! If speed is what you are looking for, then the Rival Nass is the board for you. The Rival Nass offers the touring shape of the Carbon Nass in an affordable, lightweight, straight-to-water package.
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UKEG PRESSURIZED GROWLER
PUFFPACK
Cold, fresh and carbonated cocktails or draft beer under the tree this year? Yes, please! The uKeg is the gift that keeps on giving, in two sizes and four color finishes including the sexy Black Chrome. It goes with you anywhere, anytime.
Puffpack is an inflatable sofa that does not require any tools to assemble and can be set up within seconds! Puffpack is portable and weighs only 2.5 pounds. It fits into a backpack of its own, and supports up to 400 pounds! Puff Pack is perfect for any outdoor or indoor activity, Puff Pack allows you to RELAX ANYWHERE.
DIAMOND BRAND GEAR The Double Take Bag is designed with the mountain lifestyle in mind. This durable carryall comes with an interchangeable chilly bag with an ice pack to keep drinks and food cool and easily accessible. Molle loops offer ease of attachment and adjustability, and the closure latch doubles as a bottle opener!
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SUPERSUB LIGHTWEIGHT HAMMOCK
MOUNTAIN HOUSE
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Weighing a mere 9.8 ounces, the ENO SuperSub™ Lightweight Hammock shaves weight without sacrificing comfort. The SuperSub™ has the same spacious dimensions as the top-selling DoubleNest™ Hammock and an impressive 300-pound weight rating. Combine it with the Helios Suspension System to give you all the ENO creature comforts in a trail-ready package.
Finally a turkey dinner casserole you can enjoy without the daylong prep! It’s made with real turkey, combined with whole wheat stuffing, green beans, celery, carrots, broth and familiar Thanksgiving spices. Make any day Turkey Day.
SCOUTbox is the only subscription box created by scouts, for scouts. Started by two Eagle Scouts from Colorado, SCOUTbox subscriptions start at $35/month and each monthly shipment of gear, snacks, accessories, and educational items is based on a different theme. Perfect for adventurers of all ages and backgrounds!
ENONATION.COM
MOUNTAINHOUSE.COM
SCOUTBOX.US
S P E C IA L A DV E RT IS ING S E C T IO N
GOFORTH DRYBAG
SALEWA WILDFIRE
BODY GLOVE PERFORMER 11
Watershed took its most popular Ocoee Duffel and added low-profile lash points along with a 2" nylon removable waist belt to make the Goforth drybag, a drybag with mobility and versatility in mind. It’s perfect for the on-the-go water enthusiasts. It’s military inspired and features our ZipDry® closure that keeps your gear dry always.
Designed for scrambling in the front range or going deep on the Western slope, the Wildfire is the shoe that can do it all. SALEWA’s innovative3D shell, breathable mesh upper, and a new POMOCA sticky outsole will keep every girl and boy happy during the holidays. The 400-gram Wildfire provides grip, support and traction. Available across Colorado.
Hop aboard the best-selling Body Glove Performer 11 inflatable standup paddleboard, a complete paddling package for the whole family. Lightweight, convenient and ultra-durable, the Performer 11 features the world’s first patented multi-purpose handle, permanent, indestructible fins,and more. It fits in a backpack!
DRYBAGS.COM
SALEWA.COM
BODYGLOVE.COM
BIG AGNES DOWN SWEATERS MEN’S CHILTON & WOMEN’S TIAGO Meet the Big Agnes version of an ultralight and highlypackable down sweater. By combining 700-fill-power DownTek™ and a whisper-light rip-stop shell fabric, we offer a super packable, compressible and ultra-warm insulating layer. Throw in the pack for summits or layer underneath a shell for added warmth. It’s soon to be your most valuable layering piece.
BIGAGNES.COM
PHOOZY Don’t let your phone freeze on the mountain this winter. PHOOZY protects your phone from the cold and extends your battery life up to three times. Ditch the single-use hand warmers and get a PHOOZY Thermal Capsule. ColdProof, SnowProof, DropProof. Use code BRO at checkout for 15 percent off !
PHOOZY.COM
WANT MORE GEAR? Visit our website for all of the latest trends in outdoor gear and adventures!
ELEVATIONOUTDOORS.COM
THE THRILL OF EXPLORATION
NOW HAS LESS TO DO
WITH THE LIKELIHOOD OF SURVIVAL.
INREACH SERIES
©2018 Garmin Ltd. or its subsidiaries.
®
Explore with confidence. Two-way texting through the 100% global Iridium® satellite network¹. A dedicated SOS button makes it easy to call for help. Go beyond the trail, chase horizons and reach further than ever before. inReach Explorer®+ and Mini.
Satellite subscription required • NOTICE: Some jurisdictions regulate or prohibit the use of satellite communications devices. It is the responsibility of the user to know and follow all applicable laws in the jurisdictions where the device is intended to be used.
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Twice each year we ask our stable of core contributors to nominate the gear that they actually go out and use most. We ask them: “What was the best gear you used over the past year? What gear can’t you live without? What gear changed your life?” Meet the gear we loved, beat up and relied on out in the wild. These are the winners of Elevation Outdoors’ Winter 2018-2019 Peak Gear Awards.
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CONTRIBUTORS: AARON BIBLE, ROB COPPOLILLO, LIAM DORAN, ROXY HARBITTER, CHRIS KASSAR, PETER KRAY, CAMERON MARTINDELL, DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN, TYRA SUTAK, TOM WINTER, SCOTT YORKO DYNAFIT
DY N A F I T H OJ I PRO TO U R
WHY IT WON: This backcountry touring boot
represents years of collaboration and design testing and tinkering between freeskiing beast Eric Hjorleifson and Low-Tech binding inventor Fritz Barthel—and it has been heavily promoted as a gamechanger due to a lock system that pulls together the easy-touring shell and upper to deliver all the performance of a full-on alpine boot. Out in the wild that claim proved true. The light boot shimmies up the skin track and then battens down—via a user friendly back-of-the-boot flip lock that tightens the entire boot—to provide a confident and comfortable 120-flex ride that will break through the worst crud. WHERE WE TOOK IT: The Indian Peaks backcountry, uphill and downhill at Eldora Mountain Resort, Copper Mountain, Hidden Valley
HOJI PRO TOUR
the outside of the pack or underneath. The lightweight board/ski carry system proved highly effective, and the top fleece-lined pocket keeps goggles and sunnies close for easy access. Best of all, it also accommodates the Mammut Removable Airbag System 3.0 ($400). WHERE WE TOOK IT: A month-long ski touring trip in the Alps; Chamonix, France; Morocco; the fjords of Norway and all across the Rocky Mountains
$280; thule.com
S A LO M O N S/ L A B S H I F T M N C
DPS PHANTOM 2.0
THULE UPSLOPE 35L
WHY IT WON: No matter the manufacturer’s claims, a touring
binding cannot provide the confidence and safety of an actual alpine binding. With a DIN certification of 6-13, the Shift truly does—transforming a pin binding into a locked-down winner. WHERE WE TOOK IT: A-Basin and the Indian Peaks backcountry
$800; dynafit.com
$550; shift-bindings.salomon.com
D P S PH A NTO M 2 .0
V E N T U R E C A R B O N PA R AG O N S P LITB OA R D
godsend to those of us who… um, never bother to get our skis waxed. The one-time treatment bonds to the bottom of your base and keeps things sliding underneath for the lifetime of the ski (or snowboard). That’s good news for your glide as well as the environment since it keeps wax out of the snow. Don’t want to do it yourself? Retailers like Boulder’s Neptune Mountaineering have a Phantom cure station and can apply it professionally in 15 minutes. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Everywhere from Austria to Eldora to spring ski mountaineering on fourteeners— on the bottom of our skis
stiff and supple, a key superpower for the demands of a split. It simply doesn’t sacrifice performance because it breaks in half, instead retaining a flex as smooth as any board. And the light weight of that carbon (6 pounds, 11 ounces) makes for skis that motor right up the skin track. WHERE WE TOOK IT: San Juan backcountry, Crested Butte backcountry
WHY IT WON: DPS’s new permanent wax system is a
$100; dpsskis.com
R O M P P I N TA I L
WHY IT WON: Colorado brand Romp offers custom
performance. At 146/110/124 in 184 cm, the stock version of this ski excels in backcountry pow and day-after stash-seeking at the resort—but it can hold a stable, fun edge when banging groomers, too. Of course, the beauty of the thing is that you can also work with Romp’s designers to craft a custom ski in the Pin Tail shape that works best where you plan to be skiing most—for us that's far off in the wild. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Crested Butte, Indian Peaks, Rocky Mountain National Park, Eldora, Breckenridge
$750 (stock), $1,050-$1,450 (custom); rompskis.com
WHY IT WON: Built entirely of carbon fiber, the board is both
$1,189; venturesnowboards.com
B L IZ Z A R D F I R E B I R D W RC
WHY IT WON: It has no speed limit. Measuring in at 115.5/68/97.5 and sporting
a snappy 16.5-meter turn radius, Blizzard’s top-of-line, race-inspired frontside carver offers up pinpoint accuracy and confidence-inspiring stability no matter how fast you rail it. Truth be told, it’s the ski you will want on most days at the resort, as it will get you to the bottom in a hurry. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Copper Mountain, Colorado; Snowbird, Utah; Big Sky Resort, Montana
$1,320; blizzardsports.com
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SALOMON S/L AB SHIF T MNC
WHY IT WON: A powder ski that we will ride often and all year long has to perform on the way to powder. It has to rail on groomers, handle some bumps and make it easy to get through tight trees and crud. These European skis do it all: They are quick and agile, yet can hit speed with ease. In short, they are the perfect ride for advanced skiers who like the whole mountain but love powder. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Off piste in the Alps, on piste in Colorado
$750; whitedotskis.com
VENTURE CARBON PA R A G O N S P L I T B O A R D
ROMP P I N TA I L
T H U L E U P S LO P E 3 5 L
WHY IT WON: This backcountry pack impressed with
smart design and features including huge hip belt pockets (big enough for a water bottle or skins), back-panel entry for easy packing and side-zip access—and a helmet carry system that goes on D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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22 D E S I G N S O UTL AW X A N D LY N X B I N D I N G
WHY IT WON: This 130-flex, OU
Telemark Norm) came around a half-dozen years ago, knee-droppers found all the confidence, command and performance of their quick-to-scoff AT brethren. Tele pioneers 22 Designs dialed it to 11 with the innovative Outlaw X binding two seasons ago—and this game-changer is still hard to find on shelves. The next generation, the Lynx Telemark Binding, goes one step further by giving dedicated (dare we say renegade) tele skiers a tech-pin toe—for silent, effortless touring— alongside powerful, step-in freedom in the heel for confidence on the downhill. Both the Outlaw and the Lynx provide plenty of flex, rapid springback and all the lateral control of an alpine binding. That performance can help regrow the sport. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Eldora, Caribou, Vail, A-Basin, Breckenridge, Telluride, Steamboat, Crested Butte, Monarch Pass, Solitude, France, Italy, Japan
$399 Outlaw, $499 Lynx; twentytwodesigns.com
OUTDOOR RESEARCH HEMISPHERES JAC K E T WHY IT WON: It wraps you in comfy, athletic stretch,
so that you never feel as if you are sealed up in a waterproof/breathable shell. The Gore protection infused with stretch technology fabric, releases sweat before shucking off precip and moving with you as you schuss down (or up) the hill. Yeah, yeah, we are always saying that about the latest, greatest shell—but the proof is in the fact that this is the one we keep grabbing out of our gear closet. WHERE WE TOOK IT: A-Basin, Keystone, Vail, Eldora, Copper Mountain, Taos
$599; outdoorresearch.com
four-buckle overlap ski boot has the beef to rip in-bounds at Breck but it’s also light enough (3 pounds, 6 ounces) for easy touring, and features a tour/ski switch that never accidentally flips between the two. A luscious progressive flex performs in real time more like an alpine boot and doesn't fold in half when really pushed. It’s ideal for resort chargers who also spend a good amount of time earning turns. WHERE WE TOOK IT: In-bounds and out of bounds all over Colorado, Utah and Canada
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FISCHER RANGER FREE 130
$800; fischersports.com
H E L LY H A N S E N LI FA LO F T H O O D E D I N S U L ATO R JAC K E T
BLIZZ ARD FIREBIRD WRC
WHITEDOT A LT U M 11 4
FISCHER RANGER F REE 13 0
H E L LY H A N S E N LIFALOF T HOODED I N S U L AT O R JACKET
WHY IT WON: Lightweight
performance: Helly's cozy PFCfree lifaloft insulation is packed with a ton of warmth for such a lightweight jacket (11 ounces). It repelled snow and light rain and never left us shivering, whether snowshoeing with the pup or skinning into the backwoods. All that comes with as small of a carbon footprint and the least water-use possible. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Across the mountains of Colorado from Boulder to Telluride and Helly’s own
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DESIGNED IN COLORADO FOR CITIZENS OF EVERYWHERE
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turf—sailing and skiing the Arctic fjords of Norway
everywhere we traveled across the country
$230; hellyhansen.com
$30 (16 ounce); stanley-pmi.com/ ceramivac
GARMIN FENIX 5
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WHY IT WON: Lightweight and cozy on the wrist bone,
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this wrist-mounted computer is easy to use right out of the box, but it also sports robust customization options to satisfy a broad range of tech geeks. The accompanying software, Garmin Express for desktop updating and Garmin Connect for web and smartphone use, also provides stat-happy power users with plenty of deep data sets. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Cycling around town delivering kids to activities, hiking the national parks of the Western U.S., Arizona canyon backpacking, skiing in Colorado and Norway
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WHY IT WON: Crazy light at just 10 ounces,
plus durable, functional and featuring adjustable release value, these bindings endured steeps, deep snow and even a bit of corduroy with aplomb. We ran them at RV 9 without any problems and felt confident no matter what we asked of them. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Italy, Switzerland, France, Colorado, Utah
$450; dynafit.com
$550; garmin.com DYNAFIT T LT S P E E D BINDING
DJ I M AV I C PRO 2
WHY IT WON: The best part of this drone is the small
size. It's built to stash in a backpack, and still give you plenty of room for your avy gear. Since it has a long fly time, you don't need multiple batteries to get that perfect shot. The 4K Ultra HD video at 30 frames per second isn't too terrible, either. WHERE WE TOOK IT: Hikes around Silverthorne, and from the Rockies to the East Coast and back
$1,499; dji.com
S TA N L E Y G O TU M B LE R W ITH C E R A M I VAC
WHY IT WON: Rarely do we reach for a stainless steel
GARMIN FENIX 5
D J I M AV I C PRO 2
mug while pouring a cup of hot morning goodness when at home. Instead we opt for the luxurious feel of a ceramic mug. Stanley jumped the queue by making ceramic available (and durable) for that cup of joe on the go. A new love for your lips. WHERE WE TOOK IT: On the trail, to the rec center and
S TA N L E Y G O TUMBLER WITH C E R A M I VA C
FUEL FOR EVERY DAY
BEFORE. DURING. AFTER.
© NOAH WETZEL
D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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COZY COMFORTS The giving season is here so it’s time to ponder what your outdoor loving loved ones need to make the winter warmer. We picked this comfy and useful selection of gifts based on what we coveted most when we perused our local retailers. We picked them for hims and hers but there’s no reason to be binary—everyone could use a good Swedish splitting axe after all.
WACACO Nanopresso
Need that jolt even when you are far, far from your favorite hipster haunt? This effective little portable espresso maker hand pumps out a maximum of 18 bars (261 PSI) of stable pressure during extraction to help you create some serious backcountry crema. $65; wacaco.com/pages/ nanopresso
HULTS BRUK The Bjork Splitting Axe
Who doesn't love swinging a beautiful axe? Splitting wood is a fine way to relieve stress, and prepare for cold nights, and you won't find a better tool for the job than the Bjork. This fine piece of Swedish craftsman ship features a head shaped specifcaly for turning those raw rounds into perfect firewood. $119; hultsbruk1697.se
JBL Everest 710GA
Don’t want to be pestered while you are deep into your tunes? Just press the earcup sensor on these plush Bluetooth headphones and you can tap into your Google assistant. Not to mention they deliver crisp sound and recharge 25 hours of battery life in about two hours. $250; jbl.com
by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN AND RADHA MARCUM
His GROWLERWERX uKeg 128
OUTDOOR RESEARCH Kalaloch Reversible Shirt Jacket
This winter warmer can pull double duty: Wear the patterned option when you want to look the outdoor bro part (don't worry there's a woman's version, too, and both look good on any gender)—and turn it inside out for a no-nonsense insulating layer when you forgot to do the wash. $169; outdoorresearch.com
SPIRIT HOUND Straight Malt Whiskey
What to get for the dude who has it all? Whiskey, of course, because once he drinks it he needs more (and it’s a gift to be shared with you). Lyons, Colorado-based Spirit Hound has concocted a smoothdrinking malt that’s up to the occasion. $44; spirthounds.com
This double-wall, vacuuminsulated, stainless-steel growler brings a touch of craft-brew class to the keg party. The 128-ounce beauty keeps your favorite brewery’s best stuff fresh for up to two weeks and we think it’s the ideal addition to any office or off-the-grid shindig. $229; growlerwerks.com
SAGE Dart Rod and Click Reel
No matter how many rods and reels the serious angler has in the quiver one more never hurts. With short-range fast action the spry Dart rod is the perfect stick for anglers who like to fish small, adventurous spots high up in the hills—and it’s a blast to cast. Pair it with the smooth Click reel with a large palming rim that's a godsend for fighting big fish on small tackle. $700 rod, $300 reel; sageflyfish.com
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MOUNTAIN KHAKIS Camber 106
Made from comfy stretch canvas these do-it-all pants will make any mountain denizen happy. Versatility is key: They work just as well for a hike with the mutt as they do for a long plane ride. $75; mountainkhakis.com
SALOMON RS Skate Skis
URSA MAJOR Skin Care
Tap into your inner Olympian (or Nordic ski deity) with Salomon's carbon-core RS SKATE skis. Made for agility, these lightweight skis have versatile camber for speed and stability. They make the perfect gift for women looking for a new winter sport or wanting to up their skate game this season. $350; salomon.com
ONE ELEVEN SWI Women's Solar Watch
Your phone can do a lot of things, but it can't make time look this sleek. One Eleven solar watches sport bold, durable cases and hardened mineral crystal lenses, are water resistant, and yet are beautifully designed and comfortable on the wrist. $125; 111watches.com
TOAD & CO Allie Fleece Jacket
Fleece is big this season. This sweet little jacket pairs style with warmth and versatility. Perfect for winter road trips or for simply cozying up with a book. $139; toadandco.com
This travel-ready personal care line made in Vermont was pure luxury when we tested it in the desert backcountry. Made with essential oils and nonirritating, natural ingredients, Ursa Major offers instant refresh—anywhere, anytime. We especially love the face-care towelettes and skin balm. $6.50-$14; ursamajorvt.com
SUNSKI Madronas Sunglasses
West-coast newbie brand Sunski makes an array of casual frames for everyday sun protection and style. The Madronas are available with classic brown or blue lenses, both polarized. Up next: recycled plastic frames. $55; sunski.com
SHERPANI Faith Bag
Canvas bags can be so... utilitarian. Not this beauty. The 11-liter Faith carries just enough (laptop, check!) without getting bulky. Made from sustainable canvas, the fabric is handpainted and hand-glazed, a centuries-old technique. Convertible from tote to crossbody. $120; sherpani.com
Hers
STIO Azura Insulated Vest
Layer this vest for core warmth and eyecatching color. Weatherproof and filled with compressible synthetic insulation, the vest sports ample pockets and adjustable hem, particularly nice features when it serves as the outermost layer. $165; stio.com
ARC’TERYX Sigma FL Womens Pants
Stay cozy in the alpine with these soft-shell pants. Lightweight and breathable, with adjustable cuffs and waistline, they’re an easy fit for backcountry adventures. $189; arcteryx.com D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2018
We drove thousands of miles to these tunes. There’s a reason. by JEDD FERRIS
LUCY DACUS “HISTORIAN” Following her raw, promising 2016 debut “No Burden,” Lucy Dacus comes back even stronger on the sophomore follow-up, “Historian.” Throughout the latest effort her scrappy rock arrangements are more developed with the subtle use of strings and horns, but the real pull is Dacus’s delicately intimate voice that delivers poetic, confessional lyrics about the head-spinning, universally felt emotions of love and death. A toxic relationship that’s tough to leave fuels the distortion-led “Addiction,” but the real heart-wrencher is “Pillar of Truth,” in which Dacus sings about her grandmother’s final days: “I am weak, looking at you/A pillar of truth, turning to dust.” In late October, Dacus also released a stellar, six-song collaborative EP with Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers under the name boygenius. AMANDA SHIRES “TO THE SUNSET” With “To the Sunset,” Shires—a deft fiddler, introspective singer-songwriter, and member of her husband Jason Isbell’s band the 400 Unit—shakes off predictable Americana revivalism by placing her personal lyrics and powerful country-warble vocals among a variety of compellingly diverse sonic soundscapes. In-demand Nashville producer Dave Cobb helped Shires fulfill her vision, as she waxes poetic about motherhood and relationship dynamics in the wild, synth-laced folk romp “Mirror Mirror” and the fuzzy garage rocker “Eve’s Daughter. In “Parking Lot Pirouette,” she drifts through the psychedelic space of late Sixties-era David Bowie, making a unique pivot to carve out her own artistic voice. KURT VILE “BOTTLE IT IN” After a brief collaborative detour to make last year’s excellent “Lotta Sea Lice” with fellow laidback tunesmith Courtney Barnett, Kurt Vile gets back to his own cosmic pondering throughout the engagingly experimental folk-rock effort “Bottle It In.” While maintaining a busy touring schedule, Vile popped into different studios to piecemeal his seventh solo album with different producers, including Peter Katis (Interpol, the National), Shawn Everett (Alabama Shakes, The War on Drugs) and Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith), and the result is, somewhat surprisingly, his most cohesive and satisfying start-to-finish set of songs to date. With his languid drawl and oddball, humorous wordplay, Vile laments smart-phone dependency in the dreamy “Mutinies” and calls for inclusivity in the country-flavored ramble “One Trick Ponies.” Best track: the 10-minute trance-inducing odyssey “Bassackwards,” which features gentle finger-picking on top of a loping groove. Here, Vile exorcises existential anxieties with lines like, “I was on the ground circa Planet Earth, but out of sorts.”
JOHN PRINE “TREE OF FORGIVENESS” In an age of fast-paced, digitally-induced chaos, the resurgence of easy-going legend John Prine has been refreshing to witness. Collaboration with younger artists like Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, and Nathaniel Rateliff has helped push the bluecollar folk bard back into the spotlight and revived reverence for many of his classic tunes like “Sam Stone” and “Angel from Montgomery.” In addition to a year of heavy touring, back in the spring Prine, 72, released his first album of new material in 13 years. With a weathered voice, the new set proves he’s still a master of delivering wry, frontporch wisdom, whether he’s getting wistful about the passing of time in “Summer’s End,” which features a heartfelt vocal assist from Brandi Carlile, or joking about the possibility of partying in the afterlife in “When I Get to Heaven.” LOW “DOUBLE NEGATIVE” If it feels like the world is on fire, Low decided to make a soundtrack for wandering through the embers after the blaze. To craft “Double Negative” the longstanding Minnesota indie trio went into a deep
state of studio experimentation and emerged with the most far-flung piece of work in their extensive discography. The group’s usual mellow, moody rock, typically featuring the gentle harmonies of married couple Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, sounds lost in an electronic fever dream. Help getting there came from producer B.J. Burton, who also worked with Bon Iver on “22, A Million,” and there are similarities between the two records, mainly the way dissonant journeys lead to gorgeous sonic payoffs. The record starts with two atmospheric compositions, “Quorum” and “Dancing in Blood,” that in combination set a post-apocalyptic scene with static-laced electronics and vocals that seem to float in from another dimension. Within the dark cinematic weirdness, though, come moments of shimmering light, particularly the melodic yet warped “Always Trying to Work It Out.” In the pulsing closer “Disarray,” Sparhawk and Parker evoke our current state of disruption with the line: “The truth is not something that you have not heard.” This is a layered, thought-provoking album, best absorbed through headphones, that offers continued revelations with repeated listens. D E C E M B E R 2 01 8 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M
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MY YOUNGER MENTOR
Most of the time, we look to our elders for guidance. But what do younger mentors have to teach us—especially ones who gets us out ripping (and staying safe) in deep snow everywhere from Portland to Chamonix? by SCOTT YORKO
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hen I first met Ryan in 2012, I was looking for an ice axe. I was not stranded on a crevasse-riddled glacier or bootpacking up a refrozen couloir, but I was lost—in the used gear section of Next Adventure, a gear shop in Portland, Oregon. I’d just moved there from across the country with a splitboard, a wetsuit and a dog, looking to fuse my lust for outdoor adventure with a budding and barely stable writing career. Ryan was manning the climbing gear section and ready to help me find the right axe for my new foray into splitboard mountaineering on the Pacific Northwest’s glaciated volcanoes. He ran through my options, in a soft, easy-listeningtoned voice, running a hand through the brown mop of hair on his extra-large head. “This one has a nice curve on it for more technical climbing,” he said as he swung the sharp tool through the air with his brawny forearms. “And this one is straighter and longer—good for plunging as you walk.” Once we got to talking price, I realized I was not prepared to spend the money on this newfangled implement, unsure of when I’d use it. I told him so. “Oh,” he said. “Then I’ll just demo you one for free.” The next time I came back to get my board waxed, he swept it into the back of the shop and told me to hold my money. “No charge for a fellow splitboarder,” he said.
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ver the next few months, I quickly infiltrated Portland’s small splitboard community. On volcano missions, I watched Ryan and other Next Adventure employees ride spicy lines on the north side of Mount Hood, moving fast with their lightweight alpine setups. Our clan revered them for sending the biggest lines in the area and I wanted nothing more than to push my own boundaries in the same direction. One morning on a backcountry hut trip, I was up early when Ryan and some guys invited me to go climb an alpine icefall. I jumped at their invitation, despite the soft Nike snowboard boots on my feet and never having ice climbed. Somehow, I was put in charge of cleaning the route. I soon found myself tethered to an unfamiliar ice screw anchor as a whiteout storm rolled in, blasting me with wind and filling the v-thread holes with snow as I scrambled to push the rope through before rappelling down. It was exhilarating: My whole body tensed as I tried not to mess up, but Ryan remained calm, patiently coaching me through each step until I was safely down. The screaming barfies rushed into my virgin forearms, but group high fives and invitations to join them again soon were all I needed to forget the pain. I was surprised to learn that Ryan was only 22 years old. “I don’t really care about age,” he once told me, referring to his choice of companions. At 27, I was still used to being the younger guy in the crowd, but I had
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a lot to learn from Ryan. I later took a job in California at a snowboarding magazine and Ryan and I began traveling around the country together, hitting snowboard gear tests and splitboard festivals and shredding whatever mountains called us. His photography skills were also budding, so we began to collaborate on magazine stories. Ryan taught me more and more about reading the snowpack and making terrain choices, occasionally adding a rappel into hard-to-reach powder stashes. He later taught me to lead sport climbs and place trad gear, and introduced me to the ways of the Alaska Range in an alpine basecamp perched in the foreground of Denali, where he’s made an annual pilgrimage for five years. I even had my first acid trip experience with Ryan, camped out in a teepee on Colorado’s Red Mountain Pass, splitboarding beneath a full moon in a snowstorm and blasting David Bowie’s album “Honky Dory.” Ryan’s patience was enviable and he shared his knowledge without hesitation. He’s the closest thing I’ve had to a mentor in the mountains and I’ve always been happy to learn from him.
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lthough Ryan and I share the same passions, we arrived at them on very different trajectories. I spent my late teens and early adulthood following a somewhat typical path: attending a four-year college and committing myself to a Division 1 wrestling program while filling kegs with jungle juice for frat
IN THE SAME CLASS EXPERIENCE AND ABILITY MATTER MORE THAN AGE DIFFERENCES UP IN THE PEAKS AND THE AUTHOR (RIGHT) FORGED A FAST FRIENDSHIP WITH RYAN (LEFT) THANKS TO A SHARED LOVE OF MOUNTAINEERING—BUT DANGER TESTED THE LIMITS OF THAT BOND. photo by ZACH DOLEAC
parties. I pounced into the workforce by way of unpaid internships that led to desk jobs. It took me a few years of editing other people’s adventure stories before I realized I needed to be out there writing my own. Ryan was a smart nerd who went to space camp, had the highest eighth grade math score in the state of Oregon, and graduated high school a year early before doing a few years of outdoor leadership school at community college and studying film. He worked retail, did some guiding in the Northwest, and eventually got into a seasonal job hanging Christmas lights around Salt Lake City for two fervent months, which sustained his mountain adventures the rest of the year. Despite the disparity of our backgrounds and never living in the same place after Oregon, we still find ourselves together frequently, driving across some snowy expanse, chasing powder and even spicier thrills. Our differences in age and places in life have never been obstacles, but they have created a space for me to lend Ryan some of my own accumulated wisdom, almost like an older brother. I sometimes give him advice on women, taxes, health insurance and how to
expedite a replacement passport after misplacing it again days before a Canadian road trip. I continually tee him up to shoot photos for some of my magazine stories and connect him with resources in the snowboard and outdoor industries in addition to the ones he’s cultivated himself. Although Ryan’s passive Northwest demeanor conveniently yields to my aggressive East Coast zeal in a way that’s often complimentary for plan-making, any kind of little brother role gets old quickly for an independent adult.
T
his past spring, we sent it overseas and took our mountain riding ambitions to the next level in Chamonix, France, the birthplace of mountaineering and an extreme skiing proving ground. It was my fifth trip there and Ryan’s first time outside of North America. We scored. In one of the best snow seasons in twenty years, we easily fell in with a network of local and transplant shredders who showed us some of the best runs of our lives. Rappelling into 50-degree couloirs and pinning it onto vast, open glaciers had us just as enamored as the steep, 3,000-foot sustained runs with powder so deep that we had to take deep breaths between each turn. But Ryan soon tired of me constantly leading the way and calling so many shots on where we’d stay, what we’d eat and whom we’d meet for après. Our dynamic stopped
working and the communication broke down. He’d had enough of my domineering presence and de facto tour guiding while I became frustrated with his subdued energy levels off the mountain as he stared at Instagram for hours every night, uninterested in twoway conversation. One sunny morning, as we raced the rest of the skiers in the valley to the top of La Flégère resort and dropped off the backside into the Aiguilles Rouges, we eyed up an approach couloir that would take us up and over to the Glacier Mort. Ryan set the skin track up to a convex rib that woomfed under his kick turn. We briefly yelled back and forth about it but decided to hug a rock band and go around the unstable section. There was no check-in about how everyone was feeling. Ryan kept ascending a slope on the same aspect and we were spread out as another group guided by an American approached below. I followed, thinking more about the slope we’d already skirted while rehearsing a conversation
in my head that I wanted to have with Ryan to clear the air. Further up, on his farthest left kick turn, Ryan felt another little woomf and didn’t say anything. As soon as I stepped on the same spot, the skin track collapsed beneath my feet and remote-triggered an avalanche on the steep, windloaded slope above me as the whole thing ripped. The avalanche took out my legs and swept me along for an 800-foot ride in a tumbling cloud of white, muffled darkness. I was not buried, just shaken, and I’d lost one of my splitboard skis in the debris. The American guide, who’d also been hit, suffered a hamstring injury but was still able to ski out. Ryan and everyone else present were fine. Everything could have been catastrophically worse. This was nothing if not a soft warning shot. Looking back, the terrain choice we made given that day’s forecasted avalanche stability was not a reckless one, just unlucky. But I was angry. I was angry that
it’d happened and angry that Ryan and I had let our communication fall to the wayside, despite that being the most crucial element of a backcountry partner relationship. Talking it out may not have prevented the slide, but the feeling of being caught with our pants down while not in the right frame of mind was embarrassing and infuriating because so many people don’t get a second chance to learn that. It was neither Ryan’s nor my direct fault, but in our debrief after the episode, we both poured out the frustrations we were having with each other and acknowledged how they had trickled into our backcountry dynamic in a dangerous way. We continued to talk and felt tremendous relief at being heard and understood and having a better sense of where we both stood. In a dicey way, the dangerous experience served as the very opportunity we needed to open up and say what needed to be said, which made the rest of our time together a lot more enjoyable. Since then, our relationship has outgrown itself a bit. I’ll still call Ryan for advice on climbing gear and nag him to rehab his injuries. But I don’t look to him to teach me everything, just as he doesn’t look to me for advice so much as genuine support and someone to talk to as an equal peer. We’ve become regular old best buddies—and I still have that first ice axe.
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Illustration by Kevin Howdeshell / THEBRAVEUNION.COM
E LWAY V I L L E
12.1 8
FOREVER
An ode to the timelessness of winter. by PETER KRAY
F
orever in Vail’s Back Bowls is one of my favorite ski runs in the world. I love the way the open slope falls down into the valley like a tilted meadow, and, yes, I love the hubris of making long, floating arcs right under the chairlift. One powder day, I watched a snowboarder straightline the middle of the run—all 1,850 vertical feet of it without a single turn—his hair flowing behind him like the Silver Surfer as all of us riding the old three-seater began to cheer, yodel and squawk. I have milked the openings between the aspens at the bottom of the run for every last bit of fresh snow, then raced to the lift line over the troughs and berms forming on the catwalk. When I was young, I twisted my knee there in the spring slop, and I rode the chair in a toboggan, staring into the depths of blue sky above me like an endless ocean above the earth. At the end of the day, as my father and his volunteer ski patrol friends descended on last sweep, I began to feel better, and started playing tag with a red-haired girl on the Golden Peak deck. In the mountains, you never fall in love just once.
ASPEN AND INTERSKI
My first trip to Aspen was proof of that. The simple logic of turning an old mining town into such a straightforward ski town, at the base of such an elegant, mysterious mountain, cast a spell over me—
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as did the undulating ridges and endless options of the Face of Bell, and the rollercoaster feel of running on shaking legs down the banking steeps of Gentlemen’s Ridge. I felt that immediate nostalgia I would come to feel in every ski town I have ever visited, the feeling that I want to live there for the rest of my life, and the realization that I may never come back. Luckily, Aspen is a place I continue to revisit. Last April, I returned to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1968 Interski, the only time the international ski instructor’s congress has ever been held in the U.S. Several members of the PSIA National Alpine Team who represented America at the event were there, sharing stories about the deep spring snow, weeks of training for only a couple of days of demonstration runs and the different skiing techniques of the Austrians, Japanese and French. One of those members, George Ingham, was a 70-something high mountain elf who had decided to stay in Aspen after Interski was done. As soon as he asked me to take a run with him, he started sandbagging about how old he was before dropping down the first pitch in a tuck. I followed his skis like the swishing tail of a salmon straight to the bottom of the mountain, nonstop. After panting over our poles and laughing for a minute, we grabbed another gondola back up.
A SHORT LIST
There were some Saturdays when, in a mass of kids, we popped like jackrabbits through the bumps of Trestle, Derailer and Drunken Frenchman at Mary Jane, after navigating the space-capsule-sized moguls of Outback on the way over from Winter Park. Late in the afternoon, we rode the Ski Train home in the dark. Each car was filled with Denver kids in big parkas
and turtlenecks. All of us falling in love with a sport and each other, riding the rails down the Front Range to the Plains, first-crushed up on Mountain Dew and Kit Kats. At class on Monday, skiing was the only thing kids could talk about. When my wife’s parents moved to a little ranch in Salida, her mother bought us passes at Monarch. My brother-in-law Scot lived in the barn. Together, we tried to figure the place out. I’m not sure how much you ever learn about riding a mountain as much as you do about how you like to ride it, and who you like riding it with. Scot and I seemed to like the same stuff: beer and steep runs, and when we could ride all day and watch The Broncos game at night. Off the Panorama Chair we would soak in the views heading north toward the Collegiate Peaks, then drop rider’s right into J.R.’s or Dire Straits. Off the Breezeway Chair we would traverse over to Shagnasty and Outback. When they opened the Mirkwood gate access, I hiked the short ridge 12 times in one day to drop the cornice down the beautiful, windswept snow of Orcs.
TURNING LIFTS
When my friend Greg Ralph was the marketing manager at Monarch, he gave me the gift of a lifetime when he invited me to spend a day cat skiing with my all-time ski idol, Scot Schmidt. At Beaver Creek during the Birds of Prey races, Head Skis let me hit the slopes with Franz Klammer of 1976 Winter Olympic fame, who also won Austria’s Hahnenkamm, the world’s most storied, and dangerous, ski race, four times. And on one bluebird May day at A-Basin, after my father had died the previous September, I felt like a dark veil had been lifted from my eyes. I knew that as long as I had the sport he gave me, there would be joy in my life. But those are all old stories. Right now, there’s a season to start. —ELEVATION OUTDOORS EDITOR-AT-LARGE PETER KRAY IS THE AUTHOR OF THE GOD OF SKIING. THE BOOK HAS BEEN CALLED “THE GREATEST SKI NOVEL OF ALL TIME.” DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE? BUY IT HERE AND READ IT NOW: AMZN.TO/2LMZPVN
#CANCOUNTRY
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