Backcountry Magazine 121 - The Spring Issue
FEATURES
THE GREAT BARDINI
Allan Bard wasn't just one of the most highly regarded mountain guides of the 1970s and '80s. According to Tom Carter, Bard's longtime friend and colleague in guiding California's Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, "Allan was a world-class zealot, an upbeat and hilarious vaudevillian cornball poet." And while Bard suffered an untimely death 20 years ago, his writings and musings live on in these pages.THE GATEKEEPER
Unlike other mega resorts like Jackson Hole, Wyo. and Snowbird, Utah, California's Squaw Valley has kept its backcountry gates firmly closed to the public. But internationally renowned mountain guide Adrian Ballinger is working to change that. Through careful negotiations between the resort and his guiding company, Alpenglow Expeditions, Ballinger is aiming to change his backyard's boundaries.THE CHUTING LEGACY
In 1998, Andrew McLean took 90 of the best lines in Utah's Wasatch Mountains and created a cult classic. The Chuting Gallery, reprinted three times since its first publication, offers a systematic and sarcastic approach to some of the best terrain on Earth. Now, 20 years later, McLean and those he's inspired to ski all 90 Chuting Gallery lines reflect on the book's legacy.THE LAST HILL UNTIL THE NEXT ONE
Last spring, Max Hammer, accompanied by a crew of offbeat friends and filmers, set out to ride their bikes, loaded down with ski equipment, from his home in Reno, Nevada to the base of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Throughout the saddle-sore 400 miles, they rode new lines, found soothing hot springs and discovered a fresh approach to the mountains.
DEPOSITION
CONTRIBUTORS
PERSPECTIVE: LIGHT WALK
EDITOR'S NOTE: CONSUMED
SPECTACLE
STRAIGHT LINES
A trifecta of classic Canadian descents, knowing when to turn around and, in California's Lost Sierra, dope is still king.
BLOWN IN
NEVER DOUBT THE RIDGE
How a steel gate at the end of Hurricane Ridge Road in Washington's Olympic National Park is fueling backyard tensions.THAT GUY: JD HARE
From his roots as a Coast Range diehard to farming blueberries in Pemberton, B.C., JD Hare chases lines all over Whistler's Spearhead Range.WISDOM: RETURN TO EVIL
After a failed attempt to climb and ski India's Papsura—The Peak of Evil—in 2013, Hilaree O'Neill returned in 2017 to conquer demons.MOUNTAIN SKILLS: HIPS DON'T LIE
MOUNTAIN ACCOUNT: ILLUSIONS OF SAFETY
BEERBOX: 2018 BEER GUIDE
The best porters, stouts and standouts to transition from winter to spring.
ON LOCATION
FRUITS OF THE SEA
A northern Québec city, while shifting from an economy based on fishing to one of ski tourism, embraces corn alongside crab.
BLOWN OUT
LETTERS
Long-form journalism's new day, the editor in chief's lunchbox notes and rescue sled feedback.DEPTH: WINTER'S LAST FIGHT
LOCAL LEGEND: DINY HARRISON
LAST COL: THE NORTH FACE OF UTAH'S NORTH TIMPANOGOS
BIFF AMERICA: SLOW AND SMELLY