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Doug Chabot teaches an Avalanche Level 1 course to snowmobilers in Island Park, Idaho. Brittany Riner

The Master Forecaster

As told by Doug Chabot

For 29 years, Doug Chabot worked as a forecaster for Montana’s Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. In this Wisdom piece from The Outliers Issue, available now, he shares a few nuggets of wisdom.

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There’s a reason we keep coming back to the skintrack. Why we eagerly load skis into the car before the sun rises; why we diligently study avalanche danger and snow conditions; why we walk uphill for hours or fly across the world. It turns out there’s a lot we’re willing to do for a few (hopefully) good turns. Some are willing to do far more.

Meet The Outliers, the folks Issue 162 is dedicated to. Christina Lustenberger, Jim Morrison and Chantel Astorga: The athletes putting a first descent on one of the world’s most famous climbing walls. There’s Seth Beck, a splitboarder traversing the remnants of an ancient continent’s mountain range. And don’t forget Stratton Matteson: The man who spent five years forsaking gas-guzzling vehicles to make a statement about fighting climate change and kept logging epic lines in the Cascades anyways.

Of course, we’re still suckers for good ‘ole fresh pow and a touch of history. Editor in Chief Betsy Manero dives into the origins of skiing, snow science and mountaineering in Japan’s northernmost prefecture and global powder capital, Hokkaido, and investigates the ramen and onsen-nurtured backcountry ski scene.

The rest? Well, you’ll just have to grab a copy to find out. And take your time, this issue will last through the corn, the mud and the sun.

The Backcountry Team

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    Addictive Personality

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From legendary athletes to iconic product designers, activists to guides, our world is filled with new views, wisdom, determination and crustiness.

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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: Meet Your Heroes

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.

The Outliers Issue

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Mountain Skills

Uphill Travel Guide

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.

View our resort skinning policies guide »

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