aging
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Lucky to be Alive: 52 Years of Backcountry Skiing
Photo: The author telemark skiing on Berthoud Pass, Co 1978. Steve Markusen Collection. Arriving at Grand Teton National Park headquarters, a park ranger is waiting for me at the door. It is 8:30 am on Wednesday January 8th, 2025. My friend Nick, a climbing ranger supervisor invited me to give a 30 minute talk to…
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My Aching Back: Managing Lower Back Pain
Featured Photo: The origin of my lower back pain: backcountry telemark skiing. Berthoud Pass, CO 1979. Credit Dale Anderson It’s 5:30 AM. Turning off the shower, I grab the squeegee to clean the glass door. Lifting it over my head, I feel a twinge in my lower back— red light. My lower back muscles spasm.…
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Weight Loss: Changing Your Body Set Weight
Photo: Off the beaten path looking at Baker Lake, Klondike Glacier, and Klondike Peak on our way to climb Gannett Peak and a new body set weight. Wyoming, July 2024. Credit Paul Gardner. We walked in circles under grey skies. The air was bitter cold. Thanks to an early season snow storm, two foot high…
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Show Up and Pay Attention
Photo: Smiling because I’m done training for 2024 and I qualified for the 2025 National Senior Games Straddling my bike, I wait my turn to start the 5K time trail. The race referee sends off a rider every 30 seconds starting with the 50 year olds working up to my 70 to 74 age group.…
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Resilience: Learned from Adversity
Photo: Tripp and Steve Markusen on the summit of the Grand Teton, Wyoming, August 8, 2024 As we reached the Upper Saddle at an elevation of 13,200 feet, I turned to my youngest son Tripp (age 24) and said, “Don’t worry about leading, I got this.” It is Thursday August 8, 2024, 9 am. We…
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There and Back Again: Gannett Peak, WY Fifty Year Anniversary Climb
Featured Photo: Paul gardner and me on the summit of Gannett Peak, highest point in Wyoming 50 years after my first ascent. To our left, is a sheer rock drop-off 1000 vertical feet to the Minor Glacier. To the right, a steep snowfield ends in a cliff falling 500 feet to the Gooseneck glacier. We…
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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 One: A Disciplined Approach to Achieving Goals
Photo: Achieving goal on Spaceshot, Zion, Utah. Credit: Paul Gardner, 2000 Sitting at my computer, I am listening to the drumbeat of rain on the skylights and day-dreaming about adventure… The position is surreal: a vertical wall split by a single crack. There is no ledge. Called a hanging belay, I am connected to the…
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Balancing Act: Common Overuse Injuries and Muscle Imbalance
Photo: Paul Gardner and I balanced on the Hindu, Fisher Towers, Utah 2004. Credit: Zeke Over the years I have had clients with common injuries such as tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), knee pain (patellar tendinitis), and heel pain (plantar fasciitis). I have found through my practice these types of injuries are most likely due to…
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High Intensity Interval Training: A Fitness Regimen for all Ages and Abilities
Photo: ready to rock the Minnesota Senior Games Time Trial. Perhaps you’ve seen them or participated—group fitness classes at the gym. I mean the ones called cross-fit, boot camp, or alpha. The participants generally range in age 20 to 40 moving from exercise to exercise, sweating and breathing hard. These classes are based on principles…