We're dropping this episode a bit before March—a dreamtime month for many THR readers and podcast listeners. March is on the cusp here in the Northern Hemisphere of longer days. All that translates into more time to move through the mountains—often with warmer temps and more stable avalanche conditions.

This episode is handy if you need a little push to get the wheels turning, dream, be inspired, or push yourself out of your comfort zone.

Let's get to it.

On the Emergence Episode, we chat with Sam Hennessey, Michael Gardner, and Adam Fabrikant. We'll provide links below if you are unfamiliar with any of these three folks. If you follow the podcast, Adam has been on before. And yes, he still shines. For Sam and Mike, this is a first.

Emergence. The podcast's title, which we vacillated on, is spot on. According to the Wiki, "emergence occurs when a complex entity has properties or behaviors that its parts do not have on their own, and emerge only when they interact in a wider whole."

In this instance, the wider whole can be the group construct: three experienced individuals bringing their strengths and weaknesses to an endeavor and exceeding, in a unique way, the attributes of any individual. The wider whole also includes a vast physical landscape full of possibilities, including technical and endurance challenges, pitfalls that include high-gravity situations, and the potential for interpersonal conflict.

We mostly focus on an excellent 2021 adventure by Hennessey, Gardner, and Fabrikant. Here are the basics of their mega-push: a climb of Denali's Cassin Ridge, a first ski descent of the mountain's Northwest Buttress, and an exit on foot across the tundra to Wonder Lake. Beyond the slog across Denali National Park's lowlands, this episode also features some fine ski alpinism done in good style.

​​The good style we speak of also translates to the group at large. What makes these three individuals compelling is not simply their questing in the mountains but the real sense that Hennessey, Gardner, and Fabrikant care deeply about one another. That, folks, is a huge ingredient for any successful endeavor, which also gifts smiles and laughter.

Let's set the ski alpinism scene.

In 2019, Hennessey and Gardner climbed the Infinite Spur on Sultana (Mount Foraker) in ski boots with skis secured to their packs on a 48-hour trip. Yes, they descended on skis. The first ascent, a storied one at that, was completed by Michael Kennedy and George Lowe back in 1977 over 11 days.

Then, in 2021, Hennessey and Gardner climbed a new route on the Isis Face of Denali's South Buttress in their impeccable ski alpinism style. Climb in ski boots with skis along for the ride and ski as much of the descent as possible, ultimately bringing them to the Kahiltna Glacier, the main jumping-off point for the main Denali ascent route. The two took a few rest days, then climbed a highly technical route on the North Buttress of Begguya (Mount Hunter) to the summit—this time sans skis and ski boots.

As rest and recovery, Hennessey and Gardner guided the West Buttress route on Denali, as did Fabrikant. From there, the plan to climb the Cassin as a trio and make a first ski descent down the mountain's Northwest Buttress was hatched.

After their respective guiding obligations, Hennessey, Gardner, and Fabrikant climbed the Cassin, skied the Northwest Buttress down to tundra, and walked out to Wonder Lake, where they snagged a bus ride back to Talkeetna.

Resources

—Mike Gardner wrote an excellent summary of their season, which listeners/readers can find here.

—Hennesey's piece in the American Alpine Journal titled "Ski Seasons: Modern Ski Alpinism in the Alaska Range" is here.

—To learn more about Hennessey and Gardner's fast and light ethos in technical ground, here is a collection of stories/podcasts on their speedy ascent, along with Rob Smith, up Denali's Slovak Direct.

• Slovak Direct Podcast
• Fast times on Slovak Direct
• Single Push on Denali's Slovak Direct—this podcast features Matt Cornell, Steve House, and Rob Smith (not Hennessey or Gardner). It is an excellent discussion of the history of the route and the evolving strategies used to ascend the line.

Thanks for listening.   

Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

This past Fall, Blizzard-Tecnica released a ski and a book to raise money to support the Hilaree Nelson Fund. The fund promotes women-specific scholarships to support women in pursuing professional development relating to mountain pursuits. Formally, the scholarship is called the W2W Hilaree Nelson Education Scholarship. 

W2W (Women2Women) is the nomenclature for Blizzard-Tecnica’s program to support initiatives and product development for women. Leslie Baker-Brown, our guest on the podcast, leads the program at Blizzard-Technica that pushed for the ski and book honoring Nelson and furthering her legacy of female empowerment in the ski industry and adventure world. 

As most readers and listeners know, Nelson was a force of nature. She pushed boundaries in the ski mountaineering world by forging new technical standards and showing other women what was possible. These personal attributes are also embodied in the illustrated storybook Leader of the Pack: The Hilaree Nelson Story. 

The book is an artful and mindful collaboration between writer Kimberly Beekman and artists Malia Reeves and Soleil Patterson—both of whom are Blizzard-Tecnica athletes.

Baker-Brown provides insight into the book’s development process and the W2W program. Further, Baker-Brown has been a part of the brand for over three decades. We are afforded a long-term perspective from inside the ski industry that we don’t hear from often—a working mom who got into the hard goods side of the business a generation ago.

You can also learn more about Baker-Brown here.

Thanks for listening.   

Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

We’re titling this the "Seeking Impeccability" epsiode for a few sound reasons. Lynne Wolfe, the guest on our first 2024 episode of The High Route Podcast, is aspirationally impeccable. She has decades of experience as an avalanche educator and a former guide for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and Exum. Such a pedigree includes both mastery and a willingness to learn and improve. By all accounts, Lynne has these attributes. Over the years, she has aspired to be impeccable. Yet, she recognizes life is an arc where we illustrate moments of mastery on an endless continuum towards perfection—which we might as well call impeccability. (Listen to the podcast; this trait comes up eventually.)

My lack of mastery was on full display during my initial communication with Lynne. I spaced the “e” and addressed Lynne as Lynn. Recently, I again fell short of impeccability, and the “Wolfe” was absent the “e” on a Google Doc I prepared with some questions for our interview. I’m blaming Google Docs’ autocorrect. The point is this: don’t forget the “e” and be on your game.

In this episode, we run through most of it: how Wolfe left Tennessee for Wyoming, forged her path, and became a leader and a sought-after mentor for countless backcountry aspirants. In the realm of avalanche education, Wolfe is revered. Her bio on the A3 site (American Avalanche Association) states she began working at The Avalanche Review in 2002, becoming the chief editor in 2006. The Avalanche Review is a quarterly focusing on snow safety—and for any winter backcountry user, it remains a solid resource under Lynne’s guidance.

On The High Route you can find Lynne's republished piece called "Taylor Musings" in which she explores a 2012 avalanche incident on Taylor Mountain just off of Teton Pass. She discusses the incident on the podcast.

Thanks for listening.   

Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

Many folks make up the backcountry community. Sliding skis or a splitboard uphill takes some discomfort tolerance (until you feel sufficiently fit) and a commitment to the unknown, even in small doses. Throw other people into the mix, and the recipe for joy, disaster, and all the combos in between are possibilities. When we came across Sophia Schwartz's talk at this year's Wyoming Snow and Avalanche Workshop (WYSAW) and gave it a view, things resonated. The title of her talk, Meaning in the Mountains: Using Purpose to Guide Risk and Decision Making in the Backcountry, is spot on considering what you'll hear about.

Coming into all things with an open mind is a solid tenant. While listening to Schwartz and her take on backcountry skiing, partnership, hardship, transitioning from a mogul/freestyle career into remote mountain questing, and her affinity for finding joy, we knew we wanted to connect with her on The High Route Podcast. In our estimation, Schwartz seems to be someone who cuts to the chase and is direct in a way that sidesteps the BS. I can recall several moments during her talk when I could reflect on my practices in the backcountry and how I could be a better partner. Was I the person who hammered up the skintrack on their own, although I was in a group, or did I take the time to connect with others in the group, to be and feel more present? For me, it's something to think about. 

Anyhow, I hope you have a moment like that during the podcast or while watching Schwartz's talk. Embrace the growth mindset.

I didn't know a thing about Schwartz before watching her WYSAW talk. Which, I suppose, isn't a bad thing—I'm coming in eyes wide open. She was a member of the U.S. Ski Team as a freestyle skier, where she excelled as a mogul skier. In 2017, she concluded her career as a freestyle competitor, moved to the Tetons, and began finding her groove in the backcountry. We're glad she did and glad to have made the connection with her on the podcast.  

Thanks for listening.   

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

There are some foundational values here at The High Route. Right at the top of the list is inspiring backcountry travelers to dream big adventures, and when the time is right, go out and have that adventure. Adventure has gradients, and this might seem like a tangent, but it's worthwhile—there was a 94-year-old at the climbing gym this afternoon. He's a regular. And it certainly looked like he was owning his adventure pulling plastic.

So, there is time to learn, get fit, and push the comfort zone just enough to make something happen. This is all in the spirit of today's podcast, where we speak with some fine folks about their experiences on the Redline Traverse in California's Sierras. IFMGA guide Jed Porter completed the Redline in 2017, primarily solo. Spencer Dillon, a law student at the University of Utah, and his partner Matt Skorina maximized the gift of a deep Sierra snowpack to complete their iteration of the Redline in the spring of 2023. 

As far as high Sierra ski traverses go, the Redline is mythical. The route was first completed in the early 80s by Allan Bard, Tom Carter, and Chris Cox. Several others assisted the endeavor along the way, but Bard, Carter, and Cox had the vision and the moxy to see it through. Traversing south to north, the Redline begins near Whitney Portal outside Lone Pine, California, and terminates at Mammoth. The intent was to stay as high as possible and ski excellent lines. But all this was in the 80s—a time when even military use of GPS was a decade off. 

In a trip report on his Redline experience, Porter wrote, "Carter and Bard, in the November 1983 issue of Powder magazine, map out the line with the poetry of vision rather than the prose of prescription." That is to say, a point by point, pass to pass, couloir to couloir rendering of the original route isn't, as far as we can tell, publically available. And we're sticking with an originalist interpretation, following Bard's and Carter's and Cox's lead; the route description in this podcast will remain vague.

As noted, the intent is to inspire others to go have an adventure. The high Sierra is a vast expanse—the perfect place, when the snow conditions, the fitness, the gear, and a partnership align, to make a go of it. 

We chat all things Redline with Porter and Dillon from snow to gear to visioning and style. 

You can learn more about Jed Porter here, and find his Redline Traverse gear list here. You can read Spencer Dillon's story about his trip here, on the Skimo Co blog. 

Thanks for listening.   

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

I think we all can recall our first time. You're scrambling around a digital facsimile of a library on the early Internet, and wham, you stumbled onto WildSnow. Lou Dawson, author of Wild Snow: 54 Classic Ski and Snowboard Descents of North America and curator of the website by the same name, is an integral part of the ski community's fabric. He's the first to ski all of Colorado's 14ers. And he's one of a few individuals to fastidiously research and document the ongoings of the backcountry touring scene. In particular, Lou allowed many of us to seek adventure deep in the mountains long before ubiquitous GPX tracks and the globe's backcountry were digitized and accessible with a finger swipe. 

Let's be direct: when it comes to the things we care about, it's often said that "it's hard to put into words" how we feel. But it's not tough regarding Lou's contribution to backcountry skiers, ski mountaineers, or (here's a nod to Gavin) the ski tourists out there. We are grateful for Lou's decades-long good work.

In this episode of The High Route podcast, what goes down is part back-of-the-bar conversation and part scholarly. (But really, they are not mutually exclusive.) Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas, in their behind-the-scenes way, are keen on documenting local, regional, and global skiing from the perspective of going to the edge of where the dragons are, and descending remote lines in a particular style. Lou, throughout his career, has done the same, particularly as it relates to North America. So yes, they deep dive into the why and how of documenting the past and current status of making turns (usually in steep terrain) in the non-industrialized mountains.

Since it's Lou, and we couldn't help ourselves, we also talked about gear and technology and their place in driving deep adventure. 

You can find Lou's most recent work on his website. As many of you know, keep an eye out for his memoir Avalanche Dreams, which, fingers crossed, will be available sometime this winter. Again, thanks to Lou and his family for being part of the backcountry touring community and sharing their lives with the rest of us.   

Ok, so how did this all come to be? In episode 1 of The High Route Gear Shed Podcast (yes, we have a gear-specific podcast, and episode 1 focused on ski mountaineering ropes) Adam said this about the golden age of ski mountaineering.

Adam: "So I mean, today, ladies and gentlemen, this afternoon, we delve deep into the different options for ski ropes, some of the pros and cons, some of the nuances and a lot of our subjective personal preferences. But we've formed these opinions over, you know, hours, days and years in the mountains. And I encourage everyone to test this gear thoroughly before bringing it out into the big hills. But it's pretty cool. We live in the golden age of ski mountaineering, lot of options for ropes and belay devices to get us up and down the hills."

Here's Billy's response: "How lucky are we to be living in the golden age of ski mountaineering? That's, that's special ha. I don't know, maybe we could get Lou on the line and see if he agrees with that or something."

Fast forward a month or two, and we get Lou's response on the podcast.

Deep thanks to Adam, Billy, and Lou for the conversation.

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here. 

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

About 50 years past the start of the Anthropocene (~1950), mountain towns were abuzz with people running on trails, rock climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountain biking. Rumor has it that even back then, there were complaints of crowded trailheads and spraying. And the athletes huffing and puffing up and down and across those hills likely hadn't conjured where they landed in the multi-faceted definition of the mountain athlete. Was the term "mountain athlete" even a thing? 

Nowadays, post publication of "Training for the New Alpinism," (2014) and "Training for the Uphill Athlete," (2019), we often find either ourselves or folks we know accessing professional coaching or simply reading up on how to become stronger, faster, and tougher in our mountain pursuits. 

Sam Naney and his wife Alison began Methow Valley based Cascade Endurance several years ago. Their business caters to mountain athletes seeking training plans, wellness tips, and general methods to keep the body and mind primed for a 12-month-long cycle of up and down and up again. 

The two were part of the first iteration of the mountain athlete coaching enterprise Uphill Athlete, and were offered a front-row seat to how mountain sport training culture has evolved. 

From weekend warriors to elite level mountain climbers, it's now possible to find myriad personalized plans. Hard to believe, a bit more than a decade ago, mountain athletes had to pilfer from well-founded running and cycling training principles. Terms like fast-twitch, slow-twitch, AeT and LT, and taper are part of the mountain craft vernacular.  

With the proliferation of plans and videos, and yes, podcasts, we jump into the fray to offer a few things in this episode. We learn more about Sam's backstory. And we take a 10,000-foot view with him to discern some basics regarding training best practices as we approach the touring season. Think of it as a toe-dip rather than full-body cold water immersion. And we'll learn how he once was a lab rat of sorts experimenting with roller skiing and hyperoxic training...something not to try at home.

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

In episode 3 of The High Route Podcast, we bring together two high level practitioners of their respective crafts. Kelly Cordes and Adam Fabrikant.

If you are unfamiliar with Cordes and his work, you are about to familiarize yourself with a gem. He's a notable alpinist, mixologist, and even a better writer—which is saying something. If you haven't read his classic book The Tower, please do. It's such a good and in-depth read. Although a fine, very competent skier, Cordes comes to mountain travel as an alpinist first and skier second. 

Fabrikant is the opposite—he comes to the conversation more as a sharp end ski mountaineer seeking first descents than an alpinist.

For this reason, we wanted to bring the two together and learn about their similarities and differences when approaching more cutting objectives in the mountains. Although separated by roughly twenty years, Cordes and Fabrikant share similarities in how they have prioritized their lives around their mountain pursuits and made a go of it. 

The original intent of the conversation was to explore the idea of risk and risk management in the mountains and how that may evolve. Part of our prompt for the risk side of the discussion was a Will Gadd social media post where he writes about the classic equation Hazard X Probability = Risk. 

Gadd notes, "Hazard X Probability = Risk is a simple baseline tool for risk management. But get the probability or hazard level wrong and the equation is worse than meaningless because it leads to bad decision making and statements like, 'Driving to the mountains is more dangerous than climbing them.' Bullshit. Climbing the Grand Teton is about 250 times more dangerous per hour of activity than driving to the Grand Teton." There's more in Gadd's post; we encourage you to read and posit it. 

In the discussion, Cordes and Fabrikant eventually land on risk. But before we get there, we clarify the differences between "sketchy" and "spicy" and the quest and practice of becoming comfortable in high consequence terrain as an alpinist or ski mountaineer. 

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

After a weekend day in the high alpine, where puffies, a biting wind, and turning leaves teased of winter, we're more in tune with the season—which is ski film season. The socials are beginning to buzz with the sending as production houses ramp up the visual and auditory volume. Now. Is. The. Time. To. Get. Stoked.

With that in mind, we took a small detour to visit one of the best in the climbing/adventure film business, Nick Rosen of the Reel Rock Tour and Sender Films. Rosen and his colleagues reliably shoot, edit, and produce often tense, funny, and heavy films with crisp storytelling and vertigo-inducing visuals. If you are intrigued and new to the Sender Films' catalog, "The Alpinist," an Emmy Award winning film, is a beautiful place to begin your journey. 

On this podcast, you'll find a few F-bombs and such. Really, there are far fewer F-bombs than on our skintrack banter sessions, where we discussed the spectrum of adventure films and why this podcast host should not be such a crank regarding modern stoke-focused ski films. Point taken.

Rosen knows his craft and practices it like a master. The end product of Reel Rock's and Sender's efforts—their fine human-centered films—are gifts to the rest of us. 

This is to say that Rosen and the host discuss ski films in the context of the broader adventure film realm. 

Learn more about Nick and Sender Films here, and find the catalog of Reel Rock films here. 

You can find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

Small tremors and more rattling seismic activity have tossed and turned the outdoor media landscape for several years at this point. For example, if you are a core surfer, cyclist, and skier, you know the drill—legacy titles, both in print and web-based, have morphed and may not resemble what you recall. 

There are many examples of niche and aspiring for just-beyond-niche publications that meet the needs of more core audiences while being reader-supported. Adventure Journal is one example of high-quality print. Escape Collective, which went live on March 1, is a site focused, for now, on the world of road cycling, with a minor footing in the gravel scene- they, too, are setting a high bar with a reader-supported model.  

The High Route Podcast focuses on making turns on snow: the human powdered kind involving skinning and descending on skis or a splitboard. The High Route’s website focuses on the same. And we aspire to be a reader-supported entity.

To the point here, Caley and a few others gathered steam after the Outside Media Group pivoted in a new direction with their cycling publications last fall. By March, Escape Collective dove into the media scene headfirst. By the end of July, they had covered the Tour de France from France and were on their way to viability. 

As backcountry skiers—and for what it is worth—you need to do something in the summer, and trail runners, climbers, bikers, whatever, you’ve got to take some calculated risks in your adventures. So you know what we mean when we say Caley and the Escape Collective staff took a chance. And so far, they have nailed the landing as a reader-supported website with moxy.

Are we nervous about starting The High Route? We are. But in a good way. And it’s good to know that Caley and his staff have forged a path. 

In this episode, the first of The High Route Podcast, we converse with Caley to get his perspective on the world of outdoor media and how Escape Collective navigates the stormy media-space seas and has made a go of it. 

The bottom line is that they and their earnest efforts have inspired us. By learning about Caley and his experience, you learn more about why and how we’re trying to make a go of it ourselves with The High Route. 

Thanks for listening. 

You can find the Escape Collective @escapecollective.com

You can find us at the-high-route.com: yeah, two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to begin with.