Backcountry Magazine

News broke yesterday of 10 skiers missing in an avalanche near Lake Tahoe. Today, that number was updated to nine. After an extensive operation, six of 15 skiers have been rescued, eight have been located while one remains missing. Recovery efforts are planned to resume when conditions allow.

Ski mountaineering, or skimo for short, made its long-awaited Olympic debut on Thursday, February 19th. In the individual sprints, Switzerland’s Marianne Fatton earned the first-ever Olympic skimo gold medal, while Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll won the men’s sprint. Both Americans made it to the semi-finals. Anna Gibson from Jackson, Wyoming, finished 9th in the women’s race, while Crested Butte local Cameron Smith placed 10th for the men’s individual sprint.

After making its Olympic debut with the sprint race on Thursday, Feb. 19, skimo was back with its second and final event: the mixed relay. Both the sprint and the relay share some elements—three distinct uphill sections and a skier-cross style downhill—but while the sprint lasts three minutes per race, the relay lasts almost half an hour.

For 15 years, Adam Ü and Grant Gunderson have explored different regions of Japan. While some things have stayed the same, other have evolved.

Spring gear care is the least glamorous part of backcountry skiing. Here are our best tips and tricks for getting the most out of your gear.

ZipFit’s new Espresso liner is a worthy upgrade for almost all touring boots.

Height of Land Publications Remote or Jeffersonville, VT Full-time or part-time considered.

If you’re investing your savings in a ski vacation on the other side of the world, you’ll also want to invest your time in the research to make it the trip of a lifetime.

Backcountry skiing Patagonia's Cerro Castillo introduces a gnawing question: Can we protect wild places by actually skiing them?

Professional rescuers share when and how to call search and rescue.