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
Get Lean and Stay Lean: 7 Strategies for Losing Weight
Photo: Steve skiing untracked powder on Mavericks, a 3000 foot vertical backcountry ski run in Grand Teton National Park, January 30, 2021. Credit: Jack Henley Why is it so hard to lose weight? This is the subject of my previous What I learned newsletter article, https://crooked-thumb.com/2021/01/19/body-set-weight-why-its-so-hard-to-lose-weight/. As I wrote in that article, the brain sets […]
Body Set Weight: Why It’s So Hard To Lose Weight
Photo: Steve ice climbing at Sandstone, MN, January 2021 I had the privilege last week of ice climbing with my twenty three year-old son Charlie. It felt good. I am sixty six years old, but good nutrition, exercise, and a goal of younger every year is working. I can still do well all the activities […]
DISCOVER ADVENTURE
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 […]
Gone With The Winds
Featured Photo: The Fortress from Alpine Lakes, Wind River Range, Wyoming Photo: War Bonnet and Warrior, Cirque of the Towers. Driving south from Green River Lakes, our exit trailhead, to Sweetwater Gap trailhead at the southern end on the range, you crest a hill just outside Pinedale, Wyoming. From the top of the hill, stretches […]
Resources that enlighten
mind, body, soul.
Ready to thrive? Crooked Thumb now offers virtual training sessions, in addition to at-home and in-studio classes.
Schedule a conversation about your health and fitness strategy today.