FOR THE ADVENTURER IN ALL OF US EDITORIAL
Jan Nesset editor Colleen Donley art director Terrance Siemon photographer & videographer Laurie Kain photographer & videographer Hunter Harrell copy editor CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Carter Atkinson Tiona Eversole Margaret Hedderman Nancy Prichard Bouchard Lis McLaughlin
Morgan Tilton Josh Jespersen Bruce Grubbs Andrew Gulliford Jenny Johnston Morgan Sjogren
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Carter Atkinson Tim DaCosta Meredith Edwards Tiona Eversole Jarrod Fast Mark Going Bruce Grubbs Andrew Gulliford Josh Jespersen
Robert A. Jonas Didrik Johnck Dustin Kisling Cameron Maier Eric Phillips Doug Scott Jerry Sintz Morgan Sjogren Wouter Van Tiel
A DV E R T I S I N G
Jamie Opalenik director of multimedia sales Amy Baird Joe Nelson Tana Bowen Teressa Nelson Kelly Bulkley Shell Simonson Shelly Corwin Chandler Sommerfeldt Cole Davis Cecelia Wazny Colleen Donley MARKETING
Kyndal Carter marketing coordinator DESIGN
Tad Smith manager of creative services Gary Markstein designer Bridget Williams designer I N T E R AC T I V E
Jace Reynolds web designer Skylar Bolton web development M A N AG E R
Douglas Bennett chief executive officer Carrie Cass director of finance /ADVENTUREPROMAG @ADVENTUREPROMAG ADVENTURE PRO MAGAZINE @ADVENTUREPROMAGAZINE ADVENTURE PRO MAGAZINE
© 2020 All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Published in the United States by Ballantine Communications, Inc. 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301 Ballantine Communications uses reasonable effort to include accurate and up-to-date information for its special publications. Details are subject to change, so please check ahead. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this guide. We welcome suggestions from readers. Please write to the editor at the address above.
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EDITOR'S NOTE
U P WA R D O N WA R D
“I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of a man is to live, not to exist.”
W
~ jack
london
When the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic in March, our team at Adventure Pro was busy writing stories, planning issues and playing outside. The pandemic turned everything upside down. It required changing stories to fit a “new normal,” altering plans to an unsettled recreational landscape and rethinking how we play. In very little time, I got restless. My equally restless daughter and I climbed a closed ski resort and skied an easy route down. A “normal” day would have been spent chasing her down steep slopes. The whole day. Did we do the right thing? Not in everybody’s eyes. The chance we took risked too much. I get it, but I also don’t. I grew up with a craving for adventure and a resentment for how it led me into trouble at home. A wood pallet makes a lousy raft. Tree tops have limits. Caves go deep. Wind spreads flames. Snakes strike. Rocks tumble off course. Who knew? Now that I do know, I also know that I cannot shake my intrinsic craving for adventure. Don’t want to. Trouble be damned. I also recognize real trouble and appreciate what’s behind those who expressly avoid trouble. And the coronavirus is trouble. Avoid it, everybody. I get that. But at all costs? The rub here is the same for everybody. How do we live that penultimate cliché of “living life to the fullest” with sheared-off gusto? Fortunately, our writers know how to explore for newness in the familiar. In “Life, Still Full of Magic,” writer Morgan Tilton samples the new normal with a mountain bike ride near her home in Crested Butte. She reminds us of the lightness beyond the heaviness of a global pandemic. “The whole process is uncharted and messy,” she writes, “but it starts with a mountain bike ride in this sacred expanse.”
Jenny Johnston takes us far and away from crowds in our Hidden Gems department. In “Seeing is Believing,” a story about out-of-theway spectacles, she writes, “perhaps there is no better time to reflect on space and no better place than the middle of nowhere to realize that the empty void is actually full.” Our veterans carry burdens that most of us can’t know. Burdens on top of the coronavirus. Veteran and writer Josh Jespersen gathers fellow veterans in the mountains to face the present and talk about how war affected them. “This summer, as long as COVID-19 releases its grip on society,” he writes, “I plan to take another group of veterans on an escape to ease their pain. An escape to provide long-term healing from what I’m guessing won’t just be past conflicts this time, but also a global pandemic.” We hope this issue inspires you to explore your own paths back to the outdoors during this historic event. And with gusto!
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