FEATURES

BEACONS
Without beacons, we wouldn't get very far—on the mountain or off. They're a signal of safety and celebration, extending outward to bring us together a little more closely. To recognize that connection, we're showcasing five beacons across the bc community, including a researcher, a politician and a surgeon, whose work extends beyond the slopes to make each of their homes a little more vibrant.

FROM GRANITE TO GRIZZLIES
Last March, six military veterans headed into Yellowstone National Park as part
of the Sierra Club's Military Outdoors program. The trip was the first of its kind, with a goal of learning about grizzly- bear habitat and the surrounding environment, all wrapped into an opportunity to ski in a place that these men had served to protect. But in the end, the group left with a little more than a lesson in ecology.

DEPOSITION

CONTRIBUTORS
Wintertime wordsmiths

EDITOR'S NOTE
Mind, Body, Social

LETTERS
A Paramount mistake, poetry and one reader's crafty creations

BACKSTORY: CONSISTENTLY INCONSISTENT
Hot and cold in Alaska

STRAIGHT LINES: RECLAIMING LOST GROUND
A new law brings quietness back to wild spaces

BLOWN IN

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Utah's Wasatch Mountains contain some of the best and most accessible touring terrain around. Now, local stakeholders are joining together to conserve their home.

RAISING THE BAR
Aaron Rice dishes on his new record of climbing and skiing more than two-million feet in a calendar year.

ZERO IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Jackson Hole takes cues from the Swedes and launches a program to reduce mountain fatalities.

THAT GUY: AMAR ANDALKAR
The unofficial King of the Cascades gets turns year round.

BOARD ROOM: RIDING THE TIDE
Splitboarding technology has come a long way, thanks to innovation and one NASA rocket scientist.

GEAR BOX: SAFETY ESSENTIALS
Eight accessories for better and safer days in the mountains.

BASECAMP

MOUNTAIN SKILLS: MEDICAL ALERT
Physical injuries—commonly called trauma—get a lot of attention. But medical emergencies can be equally disastrous. Here's how to be prepared.

MOUNTAIN ACCOUNT: TRAPPED IN TANNER GULCH
When a day trip in Little Cottonwood Canyon goes wrong, an emergency physician becomes the patient.

WISDOM: WALK AND TALK
Bruce Engelhard recaps three decades of life lessons on avalanche safety and risk taking.

ON LOCATION

ICELAND IN FLUX
Iceland's Westfjords are full of steep slopes that run straight to the shores of the north Atlantic. And as the fishing industry—once the main economy in the island—wanes, could those slopes offer an alternative industry? Mary McIntyre investigates.

BLOWN OUT

BIFF AMERICA
What do love interests, ski partners and Utah liquor stores have in common?

LAST COL: SUN DOG MILLIONAIRE
Tuned in and tapped out in Aspen's Highland Bowl