Wisdom: David Owen

According to PowderQuest owner David Owen, skiing isn’t the only reason to take an international ski trip.

​​Update: Public Land Sell-Offs Removed from House Bill, But Major Environmental Threats Remain

Thanks to community pressure lawmakers removed an amendment to sell off more than 500,000 acres of public land in Utah and Nevada. However, the final bill still poses serious threats.

Statement from Height of Land Publications Opposing the Sale of Public Lands in Utah and Nevada

As the publisher of Alpinist, Backcountry, Cross Country Skier and Mountain Flyer, Height of Land Publications represents a broad and passionate community of climbers, skiers, mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts whose lives, livelihoods, and identities are deeply rooted in public lands. We stand in firm opposition to the provisions in the House Natural Resources committee bill that proposes the sale of over 500,000 acres of federal public lands in Utah and Nevada.

The dangerous precedent this sale would set is well outside any existing statutory construct for the sale of public lands. In short, what goes next?

Roosevelt said it best: “The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased, and not impaired, in value.”

That ethic of stewardship is as relevant today as it was more than a century ago. Public lands are not disposable assets.

Ukichiro Nakaya: Letters From Heaven

Japanese scientist Ukichiro Nakaya may be the godfather of snow science. Almost a century later, his classification of snow has stood the test of time.

Yūichirō Miura: First, Fastest, Highest

In 1970, Yūichirō Miura became the first man to descend Everest on skis. His achievement still impresses today.

Mountain Skills: Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best

Internationally certified mountain guide and board-certified physician Alan Oram shares how to be prepared for medical emergencies in the backcountry.

Home Sweet Home: Out and About with Max Hitzig

After winning the 2024 Freeride World Tour, Max Hitzig took a year off from competition. But he still trains in his home region, the Montafon in western Austria, and is pushing into the backcountry more and more.

The Master Forecaster

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.

Addictive Personality

“Betsy, did you pack the coffee?” Katie asks me as she digs through the yurt’s food bin. A rainbow of Gore-Tex, PrimaLoft and Intuition liners hangs above a pellet stove. Nick, Katie’s boyfriend, flips through an old issue of Backcountry Magazine at the table while my boyfriend, Mike, and I are lounging on the bottom […]

Retirement Goals

As we celebrate 30 years of magazines with Issue 161, editors, both past and present, offer personal reflections on their time at Backcountry Magazine. In this note, former Editorial Director Tyler Cohen contemplates some chairlift wisdom he recieved as an intern from tele icon Dickie Hall.

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