Early Season Scrounging
What a hiatus it has been for the Mountain Lessons blog. There have been a lot of changes in the last 6 months… new house, new state, new job, new stressors and responsibilities. While I’ve not been out and about…
Category Skiing
The Ortler Circuit
After a great experience on the classic Haute Route last year, Taylor and I were eager to return to the incredible access, amenities, and settings of the European hut system. While on the Haute Route, we chatted with Nortwest Mountain…
Joseph, Oregon
It has not been a good year to be a skier in the Pacific Northwest, but it has been a fine one to be a fisherman. Keeping with this theme, and in celebration of our first anniversary together, Taylor had…
Grand Traverse for the Winter Wildlands Alliance
In just under one month, my wife Taylor Fink and her friend Hallie Holland will be traveling to Crested Butte, Colorado to race in the classic backcountry contest, the Grand Traverse. This 40-mile ski through the dark from Crested Butte…
Wasatch Powderkeg 2018 US National Skimo Championships
This year was my third trip to the Powderkeg. In 2012, I raced the Heavy Metal division as my first ever skimo race. In 2014, I returned with Ethan Linck thinking that I knew something about something, and raced the…
Skimo Helmet Hacks
Man has it been a long time for this blog. My apologies. It’s ben a ho-hum Winter in a lot of ways. But never mind that, Winter is returning, racing has been in full swing, and it’s time to get…
Newton Clark Headwall Ski Descent
The Spring corn cycle is in full swing now. After a warmup weekend with Tom last week, it was time to take full advantage of prolonged high pressure. To start out the weekend, Taylor and I went back down to…
Skiing the Wyeast, Fast
After a few months of playing phone tag, Tom Nelson and I finally managed to get out for some skiing this past weekend. Tom is a financial planner by day, ex-nordic skier, and strong skimo racer by night. For a…
Haute Route Part 2: Verbier to Arolla
Miss Part 1? Go back and check out Haute Route: Chamonix to Verbier. Our fourth day in the Swiss Alps began with an early start from the Prafleuri hut to ski the length of the Lac des Dix before the…
Breaking the Curse: Mt Mcloughlin Ski Descent
Mt McLoughlin is an often forgotten volcano of the Cascades chain. Hidden in southern Oregon along the highway between the modest towns of Medford and Klamath Falls, it was a feature of Taylor’s childhood. Legend has it that her mother,…