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.
Remembering Sylvain Saudan, “Le skieur de l’impossible”
Steep skiing pioneer Sylvain Saudan, 87, died of a heart attack on July 14, 2024. Saudan is remembered for his 23 first descents, including Mount Hood’s Newton-Clark headwall, which Tom Hallberg wrote about in our Feburary 2023 issue.
Mountain Skills: Taming Your Dragons
Ken Wylie’s newest course teaches the skills to manage the most dangerous hazard—human factors.
Sweet Summer Turns
Splitboarder Claire Hewitt-Demeyer dreams of snow year-round. As sweltering summer temperatures swept into her home Sierra Nevada Range, she set off to escape the heat and celebrate the last vestiges of winter.
Remembering William Altenburg: The Backcountry Pioneer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
In 2003, Brian Irwin wrote an article for Couloir about Phillips Brook Backcountry Recreation Area. This spring, the founder of the New Hampshire backcountry yurt system passed away. Twenty-one years since writing the initial article, Irwin reflects on Altenburg’s impact on backcountry skiing on the East Coast.
Next Steps: Why Everyone Needs to Take a Wilderness Medicine Course
I’ve spent enough time in the backcountry to start becoming complacent. This isn’t a badge of honor; it’s more of a humble learning process. Every so often, I start cutting corners, seeing how many steps I can skip before I find the limit, and I’ve found that limit a handful of times. Rock fall, knee-twisting […]
Once in a Lifetime: A Skier’s Twist on Capturing Vermont’s Solar Eclipse
Adam Kruszyna fell in love with adventure and developed his ski, mountaineering and photography skills in Vermont’s Green Mountains. Experiencing a solar eclipse there, with a skier in front of his lens was a dream come true. While brief, capturing that moment required extensive preparation. Kruszyna walks us through what it took to pull it off.
Black Joy
“Tele Mike” Russell has helped Black skiers climb mountains all over the world. Through storytelling, advocacy and a yearly party at the National Brotherhood of Skiers’ annual Summit, he’s showing his community that skiing isn’t just a white sport.
(Not So) Hard Travelin’
The perfect skintrack may not exist, but by lowering travel angles and not overtaxing ourselves, we can learn to move efficiently through the mountains.
Pilot of the Impossible
In 2024, the Antarctic Peninsula looks much the same as it did 100 years ago: There’s no permanent population, and pack ice still forms in the freezing waters. But there are cruise ships, and one of them, the Ocean Albatross, carries 100 skiers and 40 guides, all of whom are following Doug Stoup, the owner of Ice Axe Expeditions and possibly the greatest Antarctic explorer of our time.
