Crooked Thumb is the spectacular skyline pinnacle of Teewinot Mountain in the Teton Range, Wyoming. This quirky summit is seldom climbed.
Welcome to Crooked Thumb! Created by Steve Markusen, Crooked-Thumb is designed to inspire and inform. Dedicated to health, fitness and adventure, our site connects you with articles and resources to enlighten your mind, body and soul. We offer personal training and nutrition plans for recreational and competitive athletes; adventure sport athletes and travelers; and for those with interested in improving their health, fitness, body weight and composition.
For over 50 years, Steve has been pursuing high risk adventures. He is a competitive cyclist, expert rock & ice climber, ski mountaineer, and paraglider pilot. In addition to being a published writer, Steve is a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and cycling coach.
DISCOVER PUBLICATIONS
Grand Design
GRAND DESIGN – Non-Fiction by Steve Markusen – Author’s Note: An abbreviated version of this article was published in Rock & Ice in November of 2017. This article has been published on Dreamers website https://www.dreamerswriting.com/stories-poems/exum-ridge/ An insistent voice brought me out of the void and darkness. “What is your name? Where are you?” My eyes […]
Chasing Ghosts: Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine, January 2018
It is June 26th, 2017, six days after the summer solstice. Thad Spencer and I are chasing ghosts across Southern Minnesota. The ghosts are of course, thermals, stepping stones for cross country pilots travelling down a river of air. Thad is my mentor. Flying paragliders since 2002, he is an excellent cross country pilot and […]
DISCOVER HEALTH & FITNESS
Gaining Fitness, Losing Weight and Slowing Aging with Interval Training
Photo: Doing what I love to do at age 65. Deep in the Escalante Grand Staircase wilderness, Utah; on a eight day, eighty mile off-trail through hike. May 2019. Photo Credit Paul Gardner In my previous What I Learned newsletter, https://crooked-thumb.com/2021/04/07/interval-training-live-longer-live-healthier/ I defined interval training, how it works and the benefits of incorporating interval training […]
Interval Training: Live Longer, Live Healthier
Photo: Steve taking the inside line to a third place podium finish at the 2008 Hopkins Raspberry Criterium. Like the namesake chariot races from Roman times, riding the fine line between control and mayhem. Interval training is not just for competitive athletes. A number of years ago I took on a client in his early […]
DISCOVER ADVENTURE
Listening to Your Inner Voice: A Backcountry Solo
The ski track ended at tree line, the top of a three thousand vertical foot backcountry ski run called Mavericks at ten thousand feet elevation on the east flank of Buck Mountain, in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. I started breaking my own trail, but quickly gave up. Strong winds were transporting thirty inches of […]
Best Friends
January 1978, Bob McCord was breaking trail and I reluctantly followed. We aimed for a low angle ramp between steeper slopes topped with five foot cornices: wind-blown snow at the tops of ridges curled like Dairy Queen Cones. The slope steepened. We made a switchback turn. Behind me, I heard a soft crack and a […]
Resources that enlighten
mind, body, soul.
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