Mountain Culture

Protecting the Humans – A Jacket’s Rant

Note: This piece originally appeared in The Bird at www.blog.arcteyrx.com The humans get all the attention and glory. Anytime we survive some bad weather, ski a new line, fly a new canyon or send a new route, it is the humans, not the gear, that earn the accolades. The humans get the cover photos and …

A Letter to Warren Miller

Dear Mr Miller, I could never address you as Warren because I still see you with my adolescent eyes. With the eyes of a budding dirtbag who never thought making a life as a skier was possible. You were a titan in the ski world, and while I never had the priviledge of meeting you, …

Skiing and Social Media – The End of Adventure?

Note: this piece originally appeared on the Last Frontier Heliskiing Blog, December 3rd, 2014. It’s the norm these days, and not just with skiing; people can’t seem to participate in any activity without documenting it visually. Everything they do is catalogued, filmed and photographed so it can be posted to some form of social media. Instagram, Tumblr, …

Why We Ride

George Orwell once wrote an essay entitled “Why I Write”. And while it’s maybe a little obscure to discuss on a mountain bike website, after reading it the other day, I was struck by some similarities between riding my bike and writing. For those of us that write, it’s always a struggle. Finding your voice …

Ski Patrol – A Real Job

It happens to ski patrollers at every resort. A guest gets on the chairlift, sees the crosses on the jacket and asks: ‘So…do you guys just ski around all day? Do they pay you for that?’ I usually don’t dissuade them. On most days, I do just ski around, and yes, they pay me for it. …

Pow Day Decisions: Ski Solo or With a Group?

Skiers are creatures of habit. We all have our rituals. When I was sixteen years old, my ritual on any ski day, whether there was a foot of fresh or not, was to watch one of Greg Stump’s films and get my stoke on before going out and ripping all that epic eastern fluff. As …