Backcountry Magazine

Last October, former Backcountry Editor in Chief and current Height of Land CEO, Adam Howard, better know as “Howie”, left his home in Cambridge, Vermont, and headed south. His destination? Antarctica. From Burlington, he flew to Ushuaia, Argentina—about as low as you can go on the South American continent. If getting there wasn’t adventure enough, next he boarded the Ocean Albatross alongside 100 other skiers and 40 guides, including the legendary Hollywood actor-turned-leading-Antarctic-explorer Doug Stoup and headed for the bottom of the world.

Upon his return, Howie asked us editors to extend his assignment. There was simply too much there to tell in just a feature. So, we shuffled around some stories and made room for an Antarctica Contours: 18 pages of trip report, history lessons, photos and three essays by those most familiar with the White Continent.

As it turns out Howie’s Antarctica article meshed well with what we had coined The Historic Issue.

There is something to be said for the interwoven exploration of history and land. Whether it’s from the perspective of fur traders and glade-cutting teleskiers on Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula; via the curious lens of a photographer traversing Morocco’s Mgoun Massif; recognizing the impact of the 10th Mountain Division on U.S. backcountry skiing and mountaineering; or from a thoughtful writer’s investigation of what “home” means in Colorado’s mountains.

But there are also those acknowledging the past and changing the future. The former U.S. Snowboard Team slalom racer who, after being diagnosed with myriad autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 Diabetes, has splitboarded around the world and founded an organization to help get more kids with diabetes into sports. And there’s the tele skier who found community in the National Brotherhood of Skiers and is encouraging Black people to explore the skintrack.