“The Vermont Backcountry Experiment”
Mountain Magazine | Deep Winter 2020
“A new film documents the creation of backcountry skiing zones on public land.”
"A Trivial Outing"
Mountain Magazine | Deep Winter 2020
“Want to pretend to be a ski-traversing badass? Vermont’s Trivial Traverse is for you.”
"The Stupid Question"
Mountain Magazine | Deep Winter 2019
“Did I, as a parent of three kids between the ages of ten and
one, have any business going away for ten days to pursue my dreams of big mountains and deep powder?”
"To Build a Ski"
Mountain Magazine | Deep Winter 2018
“During my half-week stint as a ski builder, I developed an appreciation for how many steps are involved, from cutting the wood core to shaping the base material, gluing the edges, laying it all up with epoxy and fiberglass, and then filing down the edges so the bases are flat. ”
"Backcountry Powder Touring and Skinny Ski Lung Busting in the Green Mountain State"
Mountain Magazine | Deep Winter 2018
“When the snow is piling up, I head for the backcountry skiing zones in Brandon and Braintree created and managed by RASTA, the Rochester/Randolph Area Sports Trails Alliance. For a few years now, RASTA and its many volunteers have worked with the Green Mountain National Forest (in Brandon) and private landowners (in Braintree) to carve fall-line runs out of the woods on high-elevation, north-facing mountains. Each RASTA zone has ample public parking, a kiosk with a map, and clearly marked skin tracks and runs—a notable departure from Vermont’s secret glades and bushwhacking epics.”
"Are Fat Bikes Killing Old Man Winter"
Mountain Magazine | November 2016
“The winter of 2013 was pretty dismal in New England. The January thaw was warmer than usual. February brought rain. The snows of March never really came. All winter, I pined for nor’easters and sub-zero temperatures, for powder days and four-hour skate ski benders. But mostly I rode my bike in my living room, watching Deadwood.
I also watched something else: people in my region of Vermont and New Hampshire thronging to buy fat bikes. They rode them on snowmobile trails, covered in a veneer of crusty snow. They rode them on dirt roads that turned spongy in the afternoon sun. They even rediscovered some singletrack trails and packed them into rock-studded ribbons of ice. My friends, in other words, were moving on from winter.”
"Rasputitsa Season in the Northeast Kingdom"
Mountain Magazine
April 25, 2016
“After about 40 minutes, the climb pushed me back in the pack and I found myself in a group of six riders 30 seconds behind the lead group of four. We climbed through a notch on the northern shoulder of Burke Mountain, and descended into the remote town of Gallup Mills. Out there, the terrain changed from wooded hills and farms to a lone dirt road through a massive bog. My group traded pulls in a quick pace line and nearly caught the leaders at Victory Road, but then the road tilted up again and it was every man for himself. Soon after, I hit the most famous section of the course, Cyberia, a two-mile Jeep road that’s usually impassable during mud season. This time it was rideable all the way through, albeit with menacing, partially frozen 12-inch-deep ruts on the descent.”
"Pub Crawl Meets Pub Cruise"
Mountain Magazine
December 2015
“Jackson is the rare town where you can ski from bar to bar, with just a bit of walking to connect a trail or two. It’s been that way since the early 1970s, when local business owners hatched a plan to boost winter tourism. Urbanites had traveled to Jackson in the summers since the mid-1800s to take in the clean mountain air, hike, and splash in the rivers. The Jackson Ski Touring Foundation formed in 1972 to grow the cross-country and backcountry (more like bushwhacking) offerings. Now the JSTF maintains 154 kilometers of trails. Many are meticulously groomed for skate and classic skiing, while others are left in their natural state. The network crisscrosses the village, with its covered bridge and town green, but also extends to the wilder highlands north of town and the expansive White Mountain National Forest around Pinkham Notch and the eastern side of Mount Washington. ”
