Thanksgiving was never a really big deal in my family, which is perhaps part of the reason that—despite gluttony being my favorite deadly sin—I’ve never felt strongly about it one way or another.
Continue reading “A dirtbag’s guide to self-selected families”
In recent weeks, lots of bloggers—in the outdoor sphere and elsewhere—have been batting around an idea that I think we’re all pretty much in agreement on: social media is not real life.
Continue reading “Reminding myself that social media is not real life (#iknowbetter #mostly)”
Until recently, I’ve spent very little of my life thinking about death. It was pleasantly abstract; a concept with which I was lucky enough to have almost no personal experience. I have four living grandparents. I can count the funerals I’ve attended on one hand.
As my interests in climbing and skiing developed from infatuation to lifestyle, though, I’ve been forced to come to grips with the harsher realities of my chosen professional and recreational pursuits.
I first realized it when I was an intern at the American Alpine Club. As I pored over old editions of Accidents in North American Mountaineering, tallying the ways in which climbers had been hurt or killed in the preceding decades, it dawned on me: Statistically speaking, if you do this long enough, you or someone you know will die.
Continue reading “A post where things get heavy: On life, death, and life-and-death matters”
As I think has been well established, Alaska is a place of extremes; it is by no means fucking around. This philosophy applies to its weather conditions as well as its residents, and this week was no exception: heavy rainfall in the Mat-Su Valley led to some pretty NFA flooding of the Knik and Matanuska Rivers, and the Alaskans whose homes are affected are dealing with the phenomenon in the only way that is truly Alaskan: with large vehicles and frequent updates on the weather.
Continue reading “2012 PFDs to be spent on Ark-building materials; firearms”
my alaskan odyssey 