Backcountry Magazine March 2016 – The Future Issue Print MOUNTAIN SKILLS: SPANDEX SECRETS

MOUNTAIN SKILLS: SPANDEX SECRETS

elusive Charlie Porter

In Utah's Uinta Mountains

Western explorers have longed to fill in the world's "blanks on the map

the Grand Canyon

Backcountry Magazine March 2016 – The Future Issue Print MOUNTAIN SKILLS: SPANDEX SECRETSFEATURES LAND OF BEYOND In the outdoor world, few individuals are lionized more than the explorer. And exploration, and the excitement, mystery, uncertainty and danger it entails, is fundamental to everything we do as backcountry skiers. Yet skiers have visited every snowy range across the world and technology and crowding are shrinking the mountains. What does this mean for the concept of exploration? And what does it mean for us, the explorers?