Trick or Treat! š
Happy Halloween!
According to a quick Google search and some help from AI, Iāve confirmed that Halloween originated from the Celtic or Gaelic festival of Samhain, which marked the transition from summer and fall into the depths of winter. Since that explanation matches what I believe I learned in 5th grade, Iām choosing to believe AI on this one.
According to pagan beliefs, Halloween is the day when the veil to the spirit world is thinnest. I canāt say Iām able to confirm or deny that, but I can confidently say the veil to winter feels like itās thinningāin some places, winter may have crept in already.
Originally, believers celebrating Samhain donned costumes to ward off spirits, a tradition thatās carried on ever since. Iām not sure what my Halloween costume will be yet (I know, itās late), but I have been starting to break out my winter costume. Iām ready to start pretending to be a skier again.
āLiam
š„ The Perseverance Issue HERE: Subscribe today Ā»
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Stories |Backcountry Skiing Basics: Trip Planning
In his sixth column, Brett St. Clair covers the basics of trip planning and staying safe for a day of backcountry skiing.
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Forever Chemicals? Never Chemicals
For decades, hardshells relied on ultra-durable chemicals to keep you dry in all conditions. Now, with new regulations phasing out these compounds, gear is entering a new era in which durability and maintenance might look a little different.
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Winter Wildlands Alliance 21st Annual Backcountry Film Festival
The November 6 premier of the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival in Boise, Idaho, features the best stories of backcountry adventure.
Gear
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Summer Gear Roundup: Backpacking
Dialing in your setup is essential to any backcountry mission. While most of this gear tested by our staff is designed for warmer seasons, plenty of it can, and will, double as essentials on winter hut trips, spring traverses and other cold-weather adventures.
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Gearbox: 2025 Packs
The best ski touring packs of 2025, reviewed.
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Gearbox: 2025 Ultralight Packs
In a year where ultralight packs exploded in popularity, weāve reviewed some of the best option for your long distance, lightweight tours.
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Gearbox: 2025 Sunglasses
Whether summer or winter, sunglasses are essential for backcountry sports. Hereās a few of the best shades from this year, reviewed.
MORE GEAR
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Gearbox: 2025 Camera Gear
With these packs, storage options and drones, capturing your adventures in the mountains has never been easier.
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The Scarpa TX Pro: Reviewed
The debut of the new Scarpa TX Pro, our 2025 Editorsā Choice telemark boot, marks an exciting, and long awaited, development in telemark gear.
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2025 Editorsā Choice Ski Reviews
From powder skis to quiver-killers to skimo options, check out this yearās Editorsā Choice backcountry skis reviews.
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2025 Editorsā Choice Apparel Reviews
Our 2025 Editorsā Choice apparel includes an assortment of layers, from hard- and soft-shells to puffies to baselayers.
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 Dougās 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 sharecropperās 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 heād better follow another path, this one to skiing in Colorado, where heād go on to find a family in the National Brotherhood of Skiers and help found its backcountry program.
Eric Blehmās roots in snowboarding run deep. He started riding during the sportās 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 āCraig Kelly is my Co-Pilotā sticker on his board, and asked Blehm: āWho is Craig Kelly?ā He was floored by the notion that there were snowboarders out there who didnāt know who Craig was. And this inspired him to write The Darkest White.
The Perseverance Issue
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Mountain Skills
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Mountain Skills: Planning a trip to an offbeat location requires more than Google
Chamonix. Hokkaido. Portillo. Certain locations are synonymous with international ski travel, meaning resources for trip planning are as plentiful as some places can be crowded. But what about planning a trip to Kosciusko, Aoraki, Vielha or some other little-spoken-of locale with limited beta, few available maps or no guidebooks? Where do you start?
Resort Skinning Policies
Weāve compiled a database of U.S. resorts with a little about each individual policyāwhere and when skinning is allowed, whether or not itās free during operating hours and the link directly to the resortās guidelines.
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Mountain Skills: Set a Plan and Stick to It
Sticking to your plan is easier said than done. But, itās one of the best ways to stay safe in the backcountry.
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Mountain Skills: Professional vs. Recreational Avalanche Trainingā¦whatās 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 oneāsā¦
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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 performanceāin 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 complicatedāitās ski mountaineering season! But as the temperatures climb, wet avalanches become a more regular, primary concern.
