Your Packing Persona

As I write this, I’m in the car about to begin a 10-day ski trip into the Canadian backcountry. It’ll be my first time in a helicopter, my first time backcountry skiing in Canada, and the first time without cell phone coverage for more than a day in...

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again

PorterPants as I call him. Lovingly captured hiking by Lisa Bowers.You wouldn’t know it from looking at this photo of my favorite little buddy, but a few years ago I didn’t like dogs. Or red wine. Or riding a bicycle, carrying things up hills, or sleeping...
How To Layer in the Backcountry

How To Layer in the Backcountry

Mastering your personal layering comfort is one of the most difficult aspects of backcountry travel. Too many clothes and you’re soaking yourself from the inside out. Too few and you’re freezing your little tootsie off. No bueno either way. Half of...

Set Up Your Emergency Contact Information

Two years ago my friend Loren died in a skiing accident. A huge February storm had rolled through the Pacific Northwest, and a bunch of us took extra days off to go skiing. He and a friend were skiing Crystal in-bounds on a Wednesday when Loren fell into a tree-well....