O Canada! Your natural charms are many, but perhaps none so staggeringly stunning as the steep, snow-covered summits belonging to Banff National Park. Established in 1885, not long after three Canadian Pacific Railway workers stumbled upon a series of natural hot springs, the 2,564-square-mile swath...
Cross-country ski areas are particularly vulnerable to the vagaries of winter. This is especially true for Tahoe Cross Country, which, at a relatively low elevation of 6,600 feet, needs cold winter storms to open its extensive network of trails above the North Shore of Lake...
A hiking hotspot in the summer, Tahoe’s prized wilderness area transforms into a serene backcountry paradise come winter I hook the tail of my climbing skin on my ski and toss it up on the snowbank next to the other one. “What time do you have...
An old logging road cuts deep into the Sierra, past towering conifers and prickly Christmas trees, their needles softened by a layer of fresh snow. The wooded passage leads past a “Bigfoot Crossing” sign—fittingly placed in this rugged, high-elevation landscape—and ends at a frozen lake...
A backcountry snowboarding adventure into the Great Western Divide Mileage smileage. This is one of those High Sierra adventures where it’s better not to know exactly how far we’re trying to go. Distances and elevations spinning in our heads might only distract from our confidence. The...
Few activities in life are as aesthetically soothing to the soul as skiing. Acknowledging bias, this is particularly true in Tahoe, where beauty prevails over a stunning landscape of snow, water, mountains and sky. It’s one of the reasons skiers move to Tahoe and never...
Framed by towering glacier-carved cliffs rising dramatically from its shoreline, Frog Lake holds its own among the Northern Sierra’s most rugged and picturesque alpine lakes. Despite its close proximity to Truckee, however, few have seen it up close. Set at 7,600 feet between Castle...
Aaron Fleenor flips off a bridge over the Yuba River, photo by Ryan Salm In Tahoe and beyond, the adrenaline-inducing sport of cliff jumping is gaining steam A granite cliff as high as a 10-story building falls away beneath my feet to the shimmering blue of Lake...
Virtually frozen in time, this former stagecoach stop and fabled fishing lake is both a reminder of the Sierra Nevada’s past and a harbinger of its environmental future For decades the only things that escaped the gates of Webber Lake were stories and legends—whispers of rainbow...
Photo by Clayton Boyd, courtesy The North Face World-class Tahoe ultrarunner Rory Bosio driven by her love for the outdoors In 2013, Tahoe City native Rory Bosio crossed the finish of her first Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc in Chamonix, France, with a relieved smile spread across her sweaty...