CONTRIBUTORS editor’s note Because I consider myself a bit of a thrill-seeker, I had a tremendous amount of fun collecting winter adventure stories from six of my writers for this issue’s cover story. It was also humbling. They all did things I have never done – and probably never will. One thing I was brave enough to try last winter was skijoring, and that’s the subject of another feature story. This newest Winter Carnival event debuted in Sandpoint last winter. Enjoy reading about this peculiar marriage of skiing and horseback riding, starting on page 47. Then I’ll see you in the grandstand or you’ll see me in the arena, if I’m brave enough to go skijoring again. I also had fun interviewing skiers who are obsessed about their sport – all admirable athletes. They’ve got moxie. Read the story, page 53, and you’ll know what I mean. Linger longer with this issue of Sandpoint Magazine to learn about mustelids – wolverines, fishers and martens. These critters are definitely in the Selkirk Mountains and Scotchman Peaks area of the Cabinets, as an Idaho Fish and Game study proved. Meet the new executive director of the Panhandle Animal Shelter, Mandy Evans, and Sandpoint’s project manager, Stephen Drinkard, who was pegged for the first in a series of profiles on people who work behind the scenes to “make the town tick.” Meanwhile, I encourage all of our readers to get out and try something different this winter – whether or not you’re a thrill seeker – because it keeps life interesting. We all need some adventure in our lives. Get off your duff and get out there! – B.J.P. 8
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Rick Bass
Author was befriended by the late Scott Daily when the young Easterner traveled out West. He came to hear Bass read in Montana’s Yaak Valley and ended up settling his family there. Their friendship and the loss of Daily in August 2011, after a threeyear battle with cancer, inspired Bass to write the Sandpoint of View essay “He Lived for the Here and Now,” page 114. Bass and Daily, who later moved to Sandpoint, helped found the Yaak Valley Forest Council, an organization for which Bass still serves on the board; see more at www.yaakvalley.org. He lives in Missoula, Mont.
Kevin Davis, director of the Idaho Panhandle Avalanche
Center and a U.S. Forest Service hydrologist, has been contributing to Sandpoint Magazine since 1999. Winter is his favorite time to be outdoors, whether in a canoe on the lake or teaching avalanche classes in the backcountry. His exploits as an adventurer and as an avalanche forecaster gave him plenty of material for “Avalanche Hunters,” page 57, and one of the six winter adventure stories comprising the cover story, “Paddling Clark Fork,” page 60. He is predicting a big winter, with snow and avalanches, which is just the way he likes it.
Marsha Lutz‘s contributions to Sandpoint Magazine,
until this issue, had been limited to photography. Living in the Sandpoint area and working as a freelance photographer since 1995, she got the inspiration to write her first story for the magazine from her dog and best buddy, Jackson, whom she adopted from the Panhandle Animal Shelter in 1999. See her story on the shelter and its new executive director, Mandy Evans, “For the Love of Animals,” on page 31. Sandpoint Magazine is published twice yearly, in May and November, by Keokee Co. Publishing, Inc., 405 Church St., Sandpoint, ID 83864. Phone: 208-263-3573 E-mail: inbox@keokee.com Publisher Chris Bessler Editor Billie Jean Plaster Editorial Assistant Beth Hawkins Advertising Director Clint Nicholson Sales Executive Scott Johnson Art Director Laura Wahl Ad Design/Production Christine Barrett Office Catherine Anderson & Beth Acker
Contributors Ralph Bartholdt, Nick Bandy, Rick Bass, Joshua Burt, Sandy Compton, Kevin Davis, Cate Huisman, Gary Johnson, Jennifer Lamont Leo, Marsha Lutz, Matt Mills McKnight, Chris Park, Carrie Scozzaro, Jesseca Whalen, Amie Wolf ©2012 by Keokee Co. Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Subscriptions: $12.00 per year. www.SandpointMagazine.com. Printed in USA. BACKGROUND Photo by Woods wheatcroft
WINTER 2012
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