Down in the Hole

by Doug January 7, 2011

Of all the backcountry I have skied on the planet, the place I keep wanting to go back to more than anywhere else is Jackson Hole. That’s mostly because the “backcountry” you can access from the resort isn’t really backcountry at all. It’s one mega-resort-sized sliced of easy to access sidecountry–and I’m not afraid to [...]

In the Ashes

by Doug November 8, 2010

Working on this gear guide, I could not help but think of all the people who lost everything they owned this past fall in Boulder’s Fourmile Fire. I felt guilty. Here I was with a garage full of new gear to write about and test while slurry bombers flew over head trying to stop the [...]

First Tracks

by Doug September 8, 2010

I feel reborn this time of year in Colorado. It’s not the rains and flowers of April that make me think reincarnation. I prefer the hush, the slowdown and the gusty chills of winter approaching; the long billowing clouds that hide the peaks; the early nightfall. This is a season when I can think, rediscover, [...]

The Slow Way Up

by Doug July 7, 2010

I was excited when I first heard I was going to have a chance to climb Hvannadalshnúkur, the highest mountain in Iceland. I have been fascinated with the country ever since I first visited and hiked the Fimmvorduhals pass—now buried under lava from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. It’s a visceral place and the island’s landscape is [...]

King of Rocker

by Doug January 19, 2010

I will miss talking to Shane McConkey. Not just because he was funny and full of life. But because he was for real. Despite all the Saucer Boy antics, he was always willing to sit down and talk about the sport, always engaged and interested in conveying his passion for skiing. He fulfilled the stereotype [...]

This Dog's Life

by Doug December 7, 2009

[Ed’s Note: For five years from 2001–2006, I was lucky enough to work at now-departed Hooked on the Outdoors magazine here in Boulder. I learned what goes into an outdoor sports magazine from editor-in-chief Nancy Coulter-Parker and editor-at-large John Byroth. So I thought I’d give John a chance to say goodbye to the most important [...]