Backcountry Magazine - Backcountry 164 | The Perseverance Issue

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Per-se-vere verb: continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success
Let’s be real, if you’re a backcountry skier, the ability to persevere is more practice than vocabulary. Long days, tired legs, gear malfunctions, bad conditions, hard climbs. When we’re lucky there’s an untouched stash, perfect corn or a pristine snowscape to reward the long, slow miles in our wake; other times, the reward is just a day outside in the mountains. And then there’s The Perseverance Issue, whose pages offer a snapshot of the people across our community battling to be in, return and protect the mountains.
Perseverance is Hilary Eisen advocating for public lands and Caroline Gleich weaving politics and professional skiing together. It’s Tom Hallberg signing up for the Grand Traverse to find his limit. It’s Marcello Cominetti checking off the Dolomite’s most iconic couloirs. And it’s Elena Hight climbing from halfpipe podiums to big mountain expeditions. Perhaps most of all, it’s her return the mountains after they claimed the life of her partner. And then there’s the perseverance that traverses a millennium, like that of the people of Honshu and their ventures into the Japanese Alps; first in service of spirituality, then in pursuit of mountaineering feats and today, to ski.
However you slice it, it seems us backcountry skiers and riders are a proudly stubborn breed. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, commiseration or just a good read, The Perseverance Issue is here to usher in the first tracks of winter.