The High Route Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Moving Through Mountains and Life with Mali Noyes Oct 30, 2024

The first snows have fallen. And if the local webcams have anything to say about it, it might as well be winter. Snow sliding and keeping bases intact—that's another story.

The story today, on The High Route podcast comes from Salt Lake based Mali Noyes. Let's see where to begin.

Catching up with Noyes is, and was, part of the problem. Not unlike many of us, she is busy. She is also on the move. Energy. Motion. Mountains. Running. Skinning. Skiing. Nursing.

She grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho, and became part of a speedy crew of nordic racers at the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. Kilometer after kilometer, season after season, year after year, you can imagine the incredible base fitness. She went on to ski at the University of Utah and, once free from the constraints of school, took that drive and fitness into the backcountry.

Noyes is an accomplished mountain runner, earned a spot on the Freeride World Tour in 2016, and is a Salomon athlete. After years in the mountains gaining experience, she has ventured into the Alaska Range and beyond. All the while, she took the time to attend nursing school. When she is not in the hills, she works as an oncology nurse.

There's also something else to know—we don't really explore how she skied this or that line. Which, we think, is OK. We take the time on the podcast to get a little deeper and discuss things like how annoying it might be to answer questions like "What's it like to be the only girl on an expedition?" We also explore how Noyes expanded her avalanche education and now takes more ownership over assessing where and when she skis.

All this is to say that we had an excellent time during the interview—we learned a ton.

If you are new to The High Route, we are a reader and listener-supported enterprise focusing on human-powered turn making. Our mission is simple, but it takes real deal calorie burning to piece it all together.

We are also excited to announce Issue 1.0 of The High Route magazine is in the works. Fancy paper. Good reads. High-octane photos. And some fine mountain ranges. And turns. You can learn more about our subscription options 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.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

The Steeps and Slogs Episode with Aurel Lardy Oct 14, 2024

Bonjour listeners of The High Route Podcast. On this steeps and slogs episode, we feature Aurélien Lardy.

Good energy and ceaseless energy are two key qualities for those making a life for themselves in the hills. Aurélien Lardy, a prolific ski mountaineer based out of Chamonix, has been on a tear for the past few years. If first descents or rare repeats are a benchmark, Lardy, who goes by "Aurel" for short, has notched plenty of them. For example, he and Gaspard Ravanel repeated a sought-after ski/snowboard descent of the L’éperon des Jumeaux on the north side of the Aiguille du Midi this past May.

Did we bury the lead here? In this episode of The High Route Podcast, Lardy takes a breather from the alpine as we catch him in Chamonix. (We recorded the interview this summer.) A former ski racer, and lover of both front flips and easy-access Cham-steeps, the San Antonio Spurs, and slow churn expeditions, we are psyched to have Lardy as our guest.

There is something about Lardy's style that belies the very exposed positions he finds himself in. If you are a visual learner keen on mastering steep turns, Lardy's utterly smooth technique is the opposite of what we may conceive of as a jump turn. It is a high-alpine meditative practice: ski tips remain in contact with the snow, knees remain slightly bent, releasing just the right amount of kinetic energy, ski tails swing around, completing the turn. Mathematicians, surely, could derive an elegant equation to explain what we see. Then again, it could be pure art—steep-turning ballet.

Lardy and his steep skiing and ski traversing clan will also surely make an appearance at an adventure film fest touring near you. He's featured in films about skiing in Argentine Patagonia (Painting the Mountains) and a mega-traverse in the Alaska Range (Les Jours Sauvages). If you still need to get your fill, the film Chronoception chronicles his adventures in Kyrgyzstan—it should be available online soon.

No doubt, Lardy and his people are prolific. Let's focus on the Alaska Range ski traverse for a moment. 50+ days. And as noted in Les Jours Sauvages, the style is heavy and slow. The ski party enters the range in the low-lying bush, weighed down by sleds and a fair share of cigarettes; they slog into the heart of the Central Alaska Range via the Peters Glacier. They ski Denali and Sultana (Foraker), ski traverse and muddle out the range, and eventually pack raft back to Anchorage. Mon Dieu!

Conversely, Painting the Mountains is a film about expressing the extrême. Photographer/filmmaker Matthew Tufts helps frame the narrative as Lardy, Vivian Bruchez, and Jules Socié repeat the Whillans-Cochrane on Aguja Poincenot—a line first skied by Andreas Fransson.

You can follow his high-octane adventures on the socials.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

Avalanche Dreams with Lou Dawson Sep 30, 2024

In this episode of The High Route Podcast, we speak with Lou Dawson. As much as anyone in North American ski mountaineering, Dawson has been a cornerstone of the sport and the broader culture.

Last spring, he released his memoir, Avalanche Dreams. Already reviewed on the site, here's what our writer Alex Lee had to say:

Lou Dawson, pioneering American ski mountaineer, climber, and writer, dissects hard-earned wisdom of the mountain in Avalanche Dreams: A Memoir of Skiing Climbing and Life. Avalanches are, as Lou puts it, the "sword of Damocles," whispering "rocks, snow, people—all fall." Lou's story of his "unrecoverable addiction" to the mountains is a hero's journey of facing dragons and overcoming Herculean trials to find comfort beneath that sword through partnership and family. He also catches literal rattlesnakes, managing to get his elementary school evacuated when the sheriff comes to kill them.

If you know who Lou is, or if you don't, his story is a gripping wallop of adventures, family, and gravity.

Alex joins the podcast as we discuss the writing process with Lou and converse about his decades-long life and continuing adventures in the hills.

You can find more information about Lou here, where you can also learn how to purchase the book.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

Riding a Rising Tide with Nick Russell Sep 18, 2024

Some things should be laid to rest, like the idea that splitboarders are universally slow on the ups and slow to transition. Sure, the gear might be, generally, heavier, but the athletes, in our experience, are fit, fast, and able to ride terrain in eye-opening ways.

Nick Russell fits this mold. A snowboarder living in California's Sierras, Russell and his easy-going vibe balance his moxy in big-mountain terrain. In this episode of The High Route Podcast, Russell provides some basics for non-snowboarders, such as the merits of soft boots over hard boots. He also details his immersive snowboard-alpinism (shralpinism??) experiences this season on India's Papsura and Mount St. Elias.

Along with Jerry Mark, Blake Gordon, and Russell, this was the second group (first snowboarders) to ride/ski Papsura. The 6,461m mountain was first skied in 2017 by Hilaree Nelson, Jim Morrison, and Chris Figenshau.

After listening to Russell, we are not afraid to make this claim: Maybe it's time to learn snowboarding. It's just another way to find happiness in the backcountry.

We're psyched to have Russell as our guest.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

Dropping in with Cody Townsend Sep 10, 2024

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 2 of The High Route Podcast.

There's a video clip on YouTube, back from 2014, cataloged by RedBull. You've likely seen it. Cody Townsend shimmies on his skis, perched above The Crack, which would become the best ski line of the year. A decade might as well be a lifetime ago.

Since then, Townsend transitioned from ski movie staple to something more arduous and certainly less glamorous (we're biased), but maybe more fun—ski mountaineer.

For those not tapped into the freeride or ski movie culture, Townsend came into our lives with his Fifty Project just at the right moment. Townsend and videographer (and badass skier) Bjarne Salen began The Fifty quest in 2019. For now, after three attempts at Mount St. Elias and 46 completed descents, the duo may call it good.

That is neither news to many nor the point of the story. 2019 became 2020, which brought us into Covid lockdown. The Fifty became a needed spiritual go-to as social isolation became the norm. It is fair to say The Fifty became a part of the community's social fabric over the past five years. The project became the topic of many skin-track discussions and post-tour banter sessions. Although we're pretty certain his legal birth certificate has Cody Townsend emblazoned on it, he's one of those mononymous folks now, as if we've known him for years: "Cody."

In this episode of The High Route Podcast, we chat up Cody and get a brief intro to his ski career, but then swim into the deep end of ski mountaineering. We discuss style, the art of the jump turn, and mountain athlete inspiration.

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.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

Embracing Unknown Outcomes Sep 02, 2024

As we open up year two at The High Route, emerging from our late summer slumber, it's time to cue up the podcast. Episode 14 is all about reflecting on year one and diving into the print scene.

We open the second year of The High Route with a freshly recorded podcast episode. Episode 1 of Season 2 of The High Route podcast is primarily a State of the Union-type episode.

Pete Vordenberg, Salt Lake denizen, and road-kill burrito gourmand facilitates a discussion with Jason Albert where they unpack the year that was at The High Route and the group's new print initiative.

A few themes are unearthed as the discourse evolves. First, it's a fine time to celebrate successes and be open about perceived challenges. Second, like with any proper adventure, where vulnerabilities are exposed, and there's an unknown outcome, it makes sense to embrace a sense of fearlessness and be open about outcomes that aren't the ones you have been visualizing or expecting.

You'll have to listen to the episode to learn more about those successes, failures, and attempts at fearlessness.

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.

Thanks for listening,

The High Route Team

The Cat in the Bag Episode with Fabrikant and Haas Jun 14, 2024

The show must go on. It will go on when we bust into September. But it's a wrap for season one of The High Route Podcast. Lucky number episode 13, we'll call it good right there.

In this episode, Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas bring some closure to their fall trip to the Chilean Andes. Just before Fabrikant's and Haas' departure in October, we ran The "No Excess" Ski Expedition Packing Mantra episode, which mainly focused on their gear choices. If you haven't had a chance, now might be a good time to take that episode in.

Consider this 13th episode their Chile debrief. We learn how a seasoned team pivots objectives and envisions what Fabrikant calls the 5x5: ascents and ski descents of five different 5,000m peaks. As South America builds into what we hope is a robust winter, let Fabrikant and Haas plant an adventure seed.

In the meantime, we also will assert that Fabrikant claiming the "cat is in the bag" during this episode is an appropriate twist on the colloquialism "the cat is out of the bag." We are not going full-blown quantum physics and Schrödinger's cat, but it remains true: a cat must have once been in the bag to be out of a bag.

And thanks for listening to our first season of The High Route Podcast—we appreciate the support.

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.

Roadkill Burritos and some Wasatch Skiing with Pete Vordenberg May 01, 2024

Here are a few notes to get this podcast rolling. We hope you are reading this.

1) There is some foul language in this podcast. F-bombs abound, in particular, after ~the 45:00 minute mark.

2) The episode is broken into two parts: set 1 and set 2. The first "set" was recorded in late March after a fine day of Sunday skiing in the Wasatch. We recorded the second "set" roughly a month later. The main reason for "set" 2 is to discuss our interaction with another group the following Monday. We set the scene in the pod, but here is the gist: a low-traffic day in a zone with plenty of fresh snow and low-hazard terrain. The one party we encountered up high was less than excited to see us. Pete Vordenberg and I break down the brief interaction.

3) Trigger warning: We discuss the merits of some roadkill burritos.

4) Pete Vordenberg is the guest. Pete, or Peter, is a frequent contributor to The High Route. We love having him on board. Our most widely read piece on the site is a story he penned titled "Skiing: A Review." If you haven't read it, please read it. It's a highlight.

Vordenberg has a unique perspective on the backcountry scene. For years, he chased the Olympic dream with what we consider success. He made the Olympics as a cross-country skier. He became the head coach of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. Yet, for those who know him, Vordenberg seems most at home and peace, far away from the Lycra, deep in the Wasatch, seeking fine turns—which he has been doing for many decades.

Thanks for reading and listening. And again, the F-bombs spill forth in the later part of the episode. We'll work on cleaning up the potty language next season.

***

Avalanche Airbags and Wilderness Medicine with Dr. Patrick Fink Mar 11, 2024

Dr. Patrick Fink joins us on Episode 11 of The High Route Podcast. Fink is an ER physician in Bend, Oregon, involved with the local and broader Wilderness Medicine community. He hosts Wilderness Medicine Updates—"a podcast for those interested in wilderness medicine, search and rescue, disaster and austere medicine, and ski patrol medicine." Fink also has a site titled Mountain Lessons, where he shares valuable information about his travels and best practices.

All this is to say that Fink comes to the podcasts with some expertise. One aspect of backcountry travel he has thought a lot about is avalanche airbags. Fink presented some research at the 2023 ISSW, which got us talking about airbags, airbag adoption, and efficacy.

A solid podcast on Avalanche Airbags comes from the Utah Avalanche Center. You can find the podcast here.

As noted in the podcast intro, I first engaged with Fink when I moderated a comment at my last place of employment. Cutting to the chase, Fink and I spoke on the phone (it's always better to have a conversation to get the complete picture), and now we are friends. BTW—his moderated comment had nothing to do with airbags.

On to the show.

Thanks for listening.

The Emergence Episode with Hennessey, Gardner, and Fabrikant Feb 23, 2024

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.

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.

Empowerment with Blizzard Tecnica's Leslie Baker-Brown Jan 16, 2024

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.

Seeking Impeccability with Lynne Wolfe Jan 05, 2024

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.

Moving Through the Mountains with Sophia Schwartz Dec 13, 2023

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.

Traversing the Redline Dec 01, 2023

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.

Golden Ages Collide: Fabrikant, Haas, and Lou Dawson Nov 16, 2023

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.

Lou's Timeline of North American Skiing

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.

Training and Resting and the Mountain Athlete Scene: Sam Naney of Cascade Endurance Oct 24, 2023

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.

Alpinism and Ski Mountaineering with Cordes and Fabrikant Oct 10, 2023

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.

Seeing Adventure Films with Nick Rosen Sep 13, 2023

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.

Breathing Room with Caley Fretz of Escape Collective Aug 28, 2023

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.

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