HAPPY DIRTY THIRTY TO US 🎉
Three decades is a long time. In 1994, two of our three edit staff were yet to be born; three-pin telemark bindings were all the rage among the still small backcountry skiing community; and classic films like Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption and Schindler’s List were airing in theaters.
It’s also when the first issue of Backcountry Magazine went to print. The internet was a nascent entity that year as well. While our competitors have changed direction to focus on clickbait and sponsored content on the World Wide Web, Backcountry has stayed the independent print path. Since the mid ’90s we have strived to maintain the highest standard of quality both in design and the written word. And while our annual Gear Guide now focuses on algal cores and eensy weensy AT bindings, we still celebrate the tele crew that’s been with us since the beginning.
But three decades of Backcountry goes way beyond gear and great stories. It’s about community. Our readers and subscribers, editors, interns and gear testers. All the folks passionate about twisting skinners, avalanche safety and all manner of ski epics united by a shared love of the untracked experience.
It’s been a great first 30, and with a little luck and continued support from you all, we’ll happily keep doing what we love: digging up inspiring stories, putting gear through the ringer (and writing about it), giving the greatest ski photos a home and printing a great friggin’ magazine.
See you on the skintrack,
The Backcountry Team
The 2025 Gear Guide is here…
Subscribe now to get the 2025 Gear Guide!
On my Coffee Table
No. 149 | The Evolution Issue
As winter fades into a memory, I like to try to take some time to reflect. Issue 149, the Evolution Issue, is just about that process. It’s a thought provoking read featuring stories of people pushing boundaries, asking questions, reflecting on history and pondering the way forward. Regardless of when I flip through these pages, I find the stories ask me to slow down, move with intention and reframe my standards. —Liam
What’s on Your Coffee Table?
Are you a collector? Do you have a favorite issue? Snap a photo with it and tell us why in a few words—send it to greta@backcountrymagazine.com—and we’ll share it in our newsletter and on social media!
Get The 2025 Gear Guide
When the time came to tally the number of skis, boots, boards, bindings and apparel reviews in this year’s Gear Guide, you can bet we reached for the calculator. It’s best not to leave even simple addition to chance after weeks of proofing 140 pages. It’s also fair to say that as writers and designers, math isn’t exactly our strong suit.
The official calculator-assisted sum is 197. And that’s the distillation of 1,445 forms from 60 experienced testers; interviews with multiple brand experts; hours sifting through workbooks; and a summer’s worth of writing, editing and rewriting. The product is the 2025 Gear Guide.
Subscribe now to make sure a copy is coming your way 📬.
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Stories |Camaraderie and Couloirs: Chris Kussmaul’s Passion Project
Chris Kussmaul began exploring the Montana backcountry as a student at Montana State University. He found plentiful skiing, but very little information. With his guidebook, Peaks and Couloirs of Southwest Montana, Kussmaul set out to change that.
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Setting the Bar: Anna DeMonte Records the Fastest Known Women’s Ski Time on Mont Blanc
When Anna DeMonte arrived in Paris, France for a work trip in February, she intended to use the opportunity to ski classic steeps in Chamonix before returning to her home in Utah. Four months and one Fastest Known Time later, she now hopes to inspire others.
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Mountain Skills: Professional vs. Recreational Avalanche Training…what’s in it for me?
This winter, avalanche education in the U.S. will be evolving. The old system of Level 1, 2, 3 will be replaced with two options: a recreational track and one geared toward professionals. The goal of the split is to deliver better, more focused courses to each user group. So how do you know which one’s…
Gear
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Summer Gear Roundup: Trail Running
When the warm weather takes over, trail running is a great way to spend summer days and train for the first flakes of snow. Check out our favorite trail running gear below.
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Après Shoes
While ski and snowboard boots are our bread and butter, we all have to get to the trailhead, ski hill or bar somehow. So this winter, our editors put non-buckled nor Boa-sporting boots and shoes to the test.
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Kuat Grip 6 Reviewed
Transporting skis and boards to the trailhead or resort and home again is a necessary, but not always straightforward part of the sport. Not every car comes with the space for skis, so the roof is a great sot to store them. After a full winter with Kuat’s Grip 6 on the roof of her…
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Gearbox: 2024 Electronics
When you’re logging long days, overnights or epic descents in the backcountry, these are the electronic gadgets worth adding to your pack.
MORE GEAR
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Gearbox: The Cozy Collection
Whether you’re preparing for a trip to Antarctica or just run cold, this collection of extra-insulated apparel is guaranteed to keep you warm.
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Gearbox: Litric Packs
Though less-expensive canister models still exist in airbag packs, lithium-ion rechargeable versions set the standard these days.
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Gearbox: 2024 Sunglasses
Keep your eyes protected and on the prize. From photochromic lenses to stylish frames, these are our favorite sunglasses for the job.
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Gearbox: 2024 Communication Devices
Good communication is core to safe backcountry travel. These radios and satellite communication devices the lines stay open no matter where you’re adventuring.
The Backcountry Podcast
From legendary athletes to iconic product designers, activists to guides, our world is filled with new views, wisdom, determination and crustiness.
Latest Podcast Episodes
From playing NCAA soccer to a successful modeling and acting career to being the top polar explorer of his time, Doug Stoup is an enigma. Host Adam Howard recently journeyed to Antarctica with Stoup and their conversation ranges from Doug’s personal training of A-list Hollywood actors to near death experiences; adventures with Doug Coombs; and taking novice skiers to the South Pole.
Tele Mike Russell: Turns for All
Tele Mike Russell grew up as a sharecropper’s son in Delaware before attending college and becoming an executive in the pharmaceutical industry. Then he watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center and decided he’d better follow another path, this one to skiing in Colorado, where he’d go on to find a family in the National Brotherhood of Skiers and help found its backcountry program.
Eric Blehm’s roots in snowboarding run deep. He started riding during the sport’s infancy, and after college became an editor at Transworld SNOWboarding Magazine. Years later, he was in a lift line when a fellow rider saw the “Craig Kelly is my Co-Pilot” sticker on his board, and asked Blehm: “Who is Craig Kelly?” He was floored by the notion that there were snowboarders out there who didn’t know who Craig was. And this inspired him to write The Darkest White.
Mountain Skills
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Mountain Skills: Professional vs. Recreational Avalanche Training…what’s in it for me?
This winter, avalanche education in the U.S. will be evolving. The old system of Level 1, 2, 3 will be replaced with two options: a recreational track and one geared toward professionals. The goal of the split is to deliver better, more focused courses to each user group. So how do you know which one’s…
Resort Skinning Policies
We’ve compiled a database of U.S. resorts with a little about each individual policy—where and when skinning is allowed, whether or not it’s free during operating hours and the link directly to the resort’s guidelines.
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Mountain Skills: Hydrate or Die
We lose fluids through perspiration (sweating) and respiration (breathing). While ski touring, high elevation and drier air make this even more dramatic. And during the spring, warm weather further exaggerates the amount of fluid lost. Dehydration leads to a drop of performance—in stages from slowing down to bonking to needing medical attention.
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Mountain Skills: Anticipating Point Release Avalanches
As the spring approaches, many of us turn our attention to steeper, more technical lines higher in the mountains. The layers of snow that formed throughout the winter begin to gain strength and the avalanche problem is less complicated—it’s ski mountaineering season! But as the temperatures climb, wet avalanches become a more regular, primary concern.
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Mountain Skills: Take the time to be prepared for early season turns
It’s late fall and many mountains throughout the U.S. have seen some decent early season snow. As a result, stoke is high and people are itching to ski. Guide Steve Banks shares his thoughts on how to capitalize on the early bounty.
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Mountain Skills: How to Prepare for Your Level 1 Avalanche Course
Beacon. Shovel. Probe. For years, these have been the standard required tools for heading into the backcountry. But what good are they without the proper training in how to recognize hazards and use them effectively? That’s where a 24-hour Level 1 avalanche certificate course comes into play.
