Adventure
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Live Better Longer: Learn Something New
Featured Photo: Looking out over the Virgin River from the last rappel at the mouth of Behuenin Canyon, Zion National Park, Utah. Credit Max Markusen We walk on flat white sand, red rock walls to the left and right rise a thousand feet framing an impossibly blue sky with puffy white clouds. The air carries…
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Training with a Plan Part III: The Taper
Featured Photo: Max Markusen leading the first technical crux, Lady Mountain Route, Zion Utah May 2024 Carefully making our way across an exposed traverse above a sandstone cliff, we pause to marvel at the scenery and solitude. The shadows on the canyon wall slowly descended as the sun climbs. Far below the sound of the…
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Training with a Plan, Part II: Light the Fire
Photo: Carrie Markusen in a cloud on the summit of Hailey Pass, Wind River Mountains, Wyoming 2023. Emerging from the forest, we follow a faint path winding through wet alpine tundra dotted with drooping Blue bells. Dark clouds scud across the sky pregnant with rain. A flash of lighting brightens the sky. I count, “One,…
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Mindful Movement: Moving in the Present
Photo: Mindful movement in a high risk environment South Buttress Right, Mt. Moran, WY, 1995. Credit: Paul Gardner The sun-washed granite rock is warm to the touch; the alpine air cool and fresh. My rock shoes are smeared onto tiny depressions 2000 vertical feet above the floor of Leigh Canyon. The climbing rope in front…
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Total Eclipse of the Sun: A Wilderness Adventure
Photo: Waiting for the 2017 Total Eclipse of the sun with high tech glasses. The sun is obscured by thick clouds; the air heavy with the smell of wet rock and tundra. Winding through shards of granite and alpine wildflowers, the trail snakes upward toward the 11,000 foot pass. Approaching the pass the clouds thin,…
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Pain: The Body’s Call to Action
Photo: Credit Paul Gardner 2009. The view from Jackass Pass looking back at our rock climbing route which ascends directly up the classic 1200 foot Northeast Face of Pingora in the Wind River wilderness, Wyoming. Note my knee brace. Six weeks after our trip I had a total knee replacement. It was a memorable, but…
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A Purposeful Life: Training for Sport, Adventure and Life
Photo: A purposeful life backpacking in the Escalante Wilderness. Credit: Paul Gardner, 2019. The names on the map tell stories: Scorpion Gulch, Deadman Ridge, Carcass Canyon, Fifty Mile Cliffs, Rattlesnake Bench and Little Death Hollow. This is the Escalante, three million acres of National Monument and National Recreation Area in Southern Utah; among the most…
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Last Tracks
Featured Photo: My “last tracks” to the right of center, Edelweiss Bowl, Teton Pass, Wyoming 2014 The only sound is the hiss of my skis moving in the deep ski track. Week sunlight filters through giant Ponderosa pines. Light gusts of wind pitch snow crystals into the air sparkling against the blue sky. I am…
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The Long Way Back: Recovering From Traumatic Injury or Major Surgery
Featured photo: Teton Rescue Ranger Nick Armitage airlifting his “package” Steve Markusen. The rest of the rescue team (lower left corner) remain on the Exum Ridge, Grand Teton, August 8, 2014. Credit Brian Carver “What is your name? Where are you?” My eyes opened to see a chiseled face with furrowed brow. Pain stabbed my…
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A Question of Balance: Staying Upright as You Age.
Featured Photo: Balance traverse on the East ridge of Wolfs Tooth, Wind river Range, Wyoming. Photo Credit: Paul Gardner I balance on the balls of my feet pressing the sticky rubber soles of my climbing shoes to the narrow ledge. The heels of my shoes stick out over five hundred feet of big air. I…