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 remote in the country, it was the last to be mapped in the […]
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 […]
“I don’t know what happens when people die Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try” (Jackson Browne, For a Dancer) I was struggling, too much effort and too little output. It was my eighth day on skate skis. Since early February 2019, we had epic Nordic ski conditions. Every week I skied […]
Photo: First tracks on Triple Direct, south of Teton Pass, WY, January 8, 2019. Photo credit Max Markusen. This is the ninth and final installment of my series Deliberate Training: Principles of Periodization. Whether you are alpine climbing, ice climbing or backcountry skiing, mental and physical fitness is your key to enjoying the moment and […]
Photo: Me and my buddies on a March 1978 backcountry ski tour, Sun Valley, Idaho Fitness programming works. There is a formula for success: goal + reality + determination = a positive outcome. You need to have clear goals. Decide what you really want and commit. Prioritize, you can have most anything, but not everything. […]
Wilson Peak: Photo credit Whit Richardson, The Trust for Public Land Author’s Note: Fred Beckey, a fabled mountaineer and author, made as many as a thousand first ascents of North American summits and routes, considered at the time, too difficult to climb. Fred passed away at age 94 in October of 2017. There are two […]
Photo: Bob Goforth, 18,000 feet on the Harper Glacier, Denali AK, 1976 Remembering Robert Goforth 1953-2016 Bob and I were the first to descend to the West Buttress high camp at 17,200 feet. Two days earlier we had stood on the highest point in North America, the summit of Denali 20,310. The 17,200 camp was […]
Photo: Powder goatee, Vail Pass backcountry, 1984. Photo by David Bispham Deliberate Training Week Five: Strength Part Two I am glad Week Five is over. Last Friday at the climbing gym I was dead. Two hard weeks of building strength and now it is time to back off. After a week of recovery, we will […]
Photo: Rigid Designator, Vail, CO. My first big ice lead in 1991. This is Week Four: Strength Building phase of my Nine Week Periodization program. When creating a workout program for myself or my clients, I always keep in mind my goals. With my current program, I have four specific goals. I want to climb […]
Photo: Waist deep in Eagle’s Nest, Alta, UT. Photo by Robert McCord, 2008. Achieving big athletic goals requires a capacity and affinity for hard work. Successful athletes train hard. As physical and mental stress increases, the need for rest and recovery accumulates. Continuously hard workouts reach a point of diminishing returns. When you hit that […]