Western colorado’s Grand Mesa is the highest flat-topped mountain in the world. Rising to 11,000 feet where the Colorado Plateau—Edward Abbey’s country—meets the Rockies, the Mesa receives the first cut of snow from storms off… Read More »Powder Day on Colorado’s Grand Mesa
When I was a kid, my brother and I spent most winters disappearing into the woods behind our house to stomp the ice in the brook, create tree-dodging ski trails or sled at The Avalanches,… Read More »Skiing The Home Range: Adventure on Vermont’s Catamount Trail
Traveling west on New York’s Route 73, a few minutes past the height of land outside of Lake Placid, a gentle right-hand bend in the road reveals a dramatic scene that surprises me every time,… Read More »Lake Placid’s Winter Immersion
In the spring of 2012, I happened to spot a post on a carpooling forum offering a ride to Chapelle des Bois, in the Jura Mountains of France. Living in Paris at the time, I… Read More »Pure Nordic Territory: Cross country is king in France’s Chapelle des Bois
Route 108—The Mountain Road—winds its way out of Stowe Village passing ski-inspired (or dependent) business after ski-inspired business. Between Stowe Mountain Resort’s alpine hill and exceptional cross country terrain, skiing drives this Vermont town’s economy. It’s… Read More »Stowe, Vermont: An Eastern states Nordic Mecca
A plane touching down at the Jackson Hole Airport is crowded with skiers, riders, and other visitors waiting to catch their first glimpse of Wyoming’s toothy Teton Range, which stands seemingly a stone’s throw away… Read More »Cowboy Cross Country: Jackson Hole’s Lesser-Known Kind of Skiing