Backcountry Magazine

THE TRANGO TANGO
In 2023, Christina Lustenberger, Jim Morrison and Nick McNutt made an attempt to ski one of Pakistan’s Trango Towers, a well-known objective for alpine climbers, not skiers. It wasn’t successful, but it lit a fire, and a year later, Lustenberger and Morrison returned with climber Chantel Astorga. After three months at base camp, they pulled off the impossible with a successful summit and descent of the Great Trango Tower.

IGNORING CONVENIENCE
According to environmental activist Robin Greenfield, “We need extreme people because, it’s just a simple fact, if nobody takes it to the extreme, then we never see that we can go to a further possibility.” In the ski world, no one better embodies that than Stratton Matteson, a professional splitboarder who spent five years forsaking gas-guzzling vehicles for a bike and pedaling upwards of 40 miles a day to trailheads around his Oregon home.

CONTOURS: HOKKAIDO
When considering the perfect powder, endless supply of ramen and healing onsens, it’s obvious why Japan’s northern island is a bucket-list item for skiers. But, beyond the low-density flakes and hot springs, there’s a deep history of sliding on snow, starting with the indigenous Ainu people’s fur-lined birch skis and continuing with an Austrian military man, thriving university outdoor programs and a post-Olympic ski boom.