It’s no secret that we love a good skiing or riding story. But sometimes, words just aren’t enough, and you just need to see it. To that end, we present the 2020 Photo Annual. Beyond the 20-page gallery that captures the essence of mountains, touring, skiing and riding, the Photo Annual goes deep into 150 years of grit and lawlessness in Wyoming’s Teton Range, with the complete story of these mountains, their boldest descents and their most compelling luminaries. Also inside, photographer Ming Poon talks mentorship and learning from mistakes on the road to artistic success; guide David Lottman reveals how a spring day on New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington proves that avalanche danger can come from unexpected places; and photographer Mason Mashon and skier Rory Bushfield recall adventures and misadventure while accessing lines via Bushfield’s 1953 Cessna 180.

THE 2020 PHOTO ANNUAL | #130

A THOUSAND WORDS
It's no secret that we love a good skiing or riding story—it's kind of our thing. We devour yarns about how much it really snowed that day, recap epics through whiteouts and detail accounts about newly explored ranges and traverses. But sometimes, words just aren't enough. After all, can you really convey in words everything about a perfect powder turn or just how blue the sky is while carving spring corn? Sometimes, you just need to see it. To that end, we present the 2020 Photo Annual—a few-thousand-words worth of tall tales, beta sharing and the love of the sport.

THE GRANDEST RANGE
For more than a century, the Teton Range has stood as one of the preeminent cradles of American ski mountaineering, long known for a vibrant culture within its rugged yet accessible peaks. Over the decades, the town of Jackson, Wyo. has remained a magnet for pioneers, attracting some of the sport's biggest boundary pushers like Bill Briggs, Doug Coombs and Betty Woolsey. Now this magnet has turned into a magnifying glass, as Jackson and its storied mountains become an example of one town's battle with the pressures of expanding human recreation and the conflicts, policies and opportunities that have developed in its wake.

DEPOSITION

CONTRIBUTORS

BACKTRACK: FIRST EVER, FROZEN IN TIME

PERSPECTIVE: CATCH THE BREAK

EDITOR'S NOTE: TIMELESS, NOT REAL TIME

STRAIGHT LINES
A close call on Wyoming's Teton Pass, why old is new again and Type-II fun in New Hampshire's White Mountains.

SPECTACLE

STRAIGHT LINES
Crowded parking lots, bumper-to-bumper skintracks and poor touring etiquette have one contributor asking: Is the backcountry overcrowded? Plus: A serendipitous return to Japan and revisiting the Adirondacks.

BLOWN IN

MOUNTAIN ACCOUNT: MANAGING OVERHEAD

WISDOM: PERSPECTIVE SHIFT
Photographer Ming Poon talks mentorship and learning from mistakes on the road to artistic success.

GEARBOX
Nutrition selections to up your energy and recovery game and the story behind Black Diamond Equipment's Helio and Helio Recon ski lines.

THE SEAGULL FEATHER
In British Columbia's expansive ranges, two friends recall airborne misadventures and encounters with luck in their attempts to fly a ski plane to the Pemberton Icecap.

POINTS OF CONTRAST
Editorial director Tyler Cohen muses on divergent landscapes, contrasting hues and opposing angles within winter's ever-changing environments.

BLOWN OUT

HEARTH: 5040 PEAK HUT, VANCOUVER ISLAND, BRITISH COLUMBIA

LETTERS
Old is the new cool, rejiggering the mag and remembering Woody.

DEPTH: AT NIGHT

LOCAL LEGEND: JIM HARRIS

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS: 1999-2004

BIFF AMERICA: MANKY SNOW, ANGRY FIANCÉ

For two and a half decades, Backcountry's kept a close pulse on skis, boots, bindings, splitboards and more.