Dodging roots and rocks is par for the course, but I don’t expect to contend with flying limbs and uncontrolled metal to boot. I grew up in Montana, where there’s only seven people per square mile. Learning to ski in big sky country meant lots of open space to slide...
After skiing every month for 96 months in a row, I never imagined that I might miss month 97 because of a clerical oversight. Once described as a “magnificent planner”, as I get older I seem to be less and less capable of keeping track of the little things. For...
For the December 1, 2019 edition of Mountaineer magazine, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Luis Campos to share his story. I don’t do much writing for the magazine these days, and I felt extremely lucky to draw this story. Luis has an ease about...
The coin-colored Subaru Impreza sits low with the weight of metal and plastic and human flesh. We drive purposefully south, into the good weather window we hope will carry us all the way to the summit of Tahoma (Mount Rainier). Going into the weekend, so full of...
It takes a special breed of human to want to hike and climb to ski every month of the year. They possess a passion for unpredictable adventures and a love of manky snow, and mostly they are owners of many layers of Gore-Tex. These weirdos are my people: we are Turns...
At some point in my Turns All Year journey, I figured out the secret of the Aug-Sept twofer. You go to Wy’east (Mt. Hood) over Labor Day weekend to ski chair lifts for the last “free” skiing of the year. If you’re lucky, Labor Day falls over...
I have never skied alone – that is, until Turns All Year Month 93! With limited availability and a lack of desire to coordinate with anyone, I scooted up to Mt. Rainier solo. The skiing was a far cry from the best July turns ever last year, but hey, it was...
Skiing in June can be a crap shoot, but for Month 92 of Turns All Year I rolled hard eights. Anticipating a light summer in terms of skiing, I got out on the first day of the month, only to ski two more days in June’s first week! Saturday, June 1, 2019 –...
I love birthdays. Costumes. Cake. Creative surprises. What’s not to love? I do what I can to encourage everyone to have a kickass birthday and create memorable birthdays, and of course I plan stupid and ridiculous mountain twofers for my own birthday. Normally...
In an era when we’re always comparing ourselves to others through our addiction to social media, losing sight of your own accomplishments is a natural casualty of scrolling. Take running a marathon for example. Many years ago when I was training for my first...
