A Guest Along Cottonwood Creek
I spent many years in this cabin in Lupine Meadows, but in many ways, I was only a guest. ❄️ The bats and the mice wonder When their guest will leave. The pronghorn, too, were seasonal guests.
BOOK REVIEW - Making Decisions in Avalanche Terrain: Human Factors in Theory and Practice by Jerry Johnson & Jordy Hendrikx, review by Drew Hardesty
(previously published last winter in The Avalanche Review) WARNING! Books like these are not for everyone. They’re only for people interested in how to make better decisions, not just in the alpine or the backcountry, but in our day to day lives. There was an era when the conventional
The Two Kings
(I’ve adapted Los Dos Reyes y Los Dos Laberintos de Borges). Long ago, in a faraway land, there lived two brothers, kings who ruled his own kingdom and between these kingdoms rested an uneasy detente, for the brothers only pretended to get along. The one-eyed king lived in
“He Drove Right Into the Fire”
Whenever we are confronted with an important decision, *Conventional Wisdom* dictates that we look at and weigh various options, minimize the risks, and set forth upon a course of action. But there are certain situations when, as long time cop and risk consultant Gordon Graham describes, there’s “No time
Ante Ora Parentum: The Climbers’ Memorial
We were in Alaska last week visiting friends. One of our stops was in Talkeetna to see Tucker and Chrissie. They are climbing rangers for Denali National Park. Chrissie let me publish her essay Ante Ora Parentum here; though she previously published it on the Denali Dispatch page. You'
Fight Like Hell
“After my brother's death, my father never walked very well again. He had to struggle to lift his feet, and, when he did get them up, they came down slightly out of control. From time to time, (my brother) Paul’s right hand had to be reaffirmed; then
Snow Falls Again in Autumn
Basho traveled north from his home in Edo (Tokyo) in spring 1689; his masterpiece from the 1500 mile walk is called Narrow Road to the Deep North. Another translation is Journey to the Interior. He writes, At Hiraizumi, I remember these lines from the 8th-century Chinese poet Tu Fu:
Letter from Shinya
Mr. Hardesty, Patches of winter snow still linger above 1000m, while the mountains are covered in fresh greenery, with kobushi magnolias and wild cherry blossoms in bloom. Just like the Wasatch Range, it is a beautiful season here. The Niseko Avalanche Information was born out of sheer necessity. Forty years
"We must stop confusing academic research with safety education."
My journey to find Akitaya has led me to some unexpected delights. One of the people whom I hoped could provide a path was Shinya-san. He turns 80 years old next year and has been - to oversimplify - the avalanche and mountain weather forecaster (link) in Niseko, Hokkaido since the
Utah - The Greatest...*Rain* on Earth?!?
(originally published in winter 2026 The Avalanche Review) It was towards the end of the 2002/2003 winter when Utah Avalanche Center forecaster Evelyn Lees wrote that the Wasatch range was like “A cake decorated by a child, where they put frosting on top but they forgot the sides.” That
Looking for Akitaya
Even though I lived and skied in Japan (northern Honshu and Hokkaido) for a couple years in the early 1990s, I remain an outsider. I've been looking for Akitaya for quite some time. Some history. On April 2, 1961, a number of large ground avalanches broke out almost
God
I used to believe that we were nothing without God, but I also believed that God was nothing without us. Now I believe the opposite is true.