After two years of remote or limited hybrid screenings due to Covid, the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival returns this year in full force.

Connor Ryan isn’t a typical pro skier, nor does he make typical ski films. Instead he uses his movies to share messages from his Lakota heritage that could transform the ski industry.

In fall 2009, Art Burrows, Penn Newhard and Chris Davenport began compiling lines for their new book, Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America. Now, over a decade later, the book has inspired another wave of ski mountaineers, namely Noah Howell, Cody Townsend and (most recently) Michael Wirth, who have each embarked on a quest to ski the 50 lines—including some so daunting that, Burrows says, “skiing just one during a lifetime would be enough for most people.”

Backcountry Magazine is excited to welcome Greta Close to its production team as associate editor. An intern this summer, she returns—following a month lobstering in Maine—in a new role, joining Editor-in-Chief Betsy Manero and Managing Editor Tom Hallberg.

Rescuers have recovered the body of renowned ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson, 49, two days after she fell while skiing below the summit of Manaslu in the Nepalese Himalaya. Nelson is being remembered as a super hero of the sport by many on social media.

Renowned ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson is missing on Manaslu in Nepal. Eyewitnesses reported that Nelson, 45, fell more than 80 feet into a crevasse while descending on skis from the 26,781-foot peak with her partner, Jim Morrison.

It’s snow and avalanche workshop season, when avalanche centers and educational organizations around the country bring in snow-science experts to share the latest insights. To help you find one in your region, we’ve compiled a list of the workshops we know about.

From dropping Rogers Pass pillows to ticking off some of Revelstoke, B.C.’s biggest lines, Tim van der Krogt brings freestyle flair to the backcountry