Winter is here. Although the millions of people just a dozen miles away might disagree as they play golf, go for a climb, or walk in the park with 60 degree temps, up here in Alta, there’s snow everywhere, icicles are forming, and I’m skiing every day. Sure feels like winter. In reality the shift is much more of a mental one in which I’d rather go for a ski tour, or find a half frozen runnel of water to climb then catch a ride to the valley to try and climb a few pitches in the sun or play a round of disc golf. I guess my point is, it’s winter in the mountains, and that’s where I live. But my intentions aren’t just to give you some sort of over generalized weather forecast but to give you all who’ve been following along a heads up on what this change of seasons, and change of locations means for the Nature of Motion, and what you might expect to find here in the coming months.
So if you haven’t picked up on it already, we’ve re-located to our winter home of Alta, Utah, where we originally hatched the plans for our human-powered summer in Leavenworth. Alta’s a unique place, one where you don’t really need a vehicle except to get down to the Salt Lake Valley, which you can also do with the help of an extensive bus system or one of many friends. Also, Highway 210, the lone road that weaves it’s way up to Alta, is one of those last bastions of responsible hitchhikers and considerate drivers. In moving back to Alta we’ve once again effectively eliminated out commute, and while this is a great thing for us -not driving, and living in the heart of the mountains- it creates some difficulties in writing about and encouraging others to take part in sustainable and human-powered transportation. In simplifying our lives so much, it almost makes it more difficult to convey in some ways. For example, if I was to live in the valley below I could be writing about the myriad of opportunities and challenges that exist to make it up to the mountains in a car-less fashion every day, catching rides, riding the bus, trying to ride my bike, or some hectic mixture of all three. But as it is I’ve got things incredibly easy, wake up, look out my window, walk out the door and immediately be on snow, slap on my skins and head out on an endless number of adventures. Although I don’t really have a commute, I should say that my work, and recreation isn’t completely human powered. While speaking of backcountry skiing as a human-powered adventure is somewhat self-evident, resort skiing is something of a public/mass transportation supported initiative.
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| Early season above Alta. |
But how can I use this advantage to encourage others to get out and recreate without using their cars when it might not be so easy. Well first off, this winter Liz and I will also be branching out on day trips and ski tours that employ the use of public transportation. Although inter-canyon adventures might be becoming more popular, driving up and down the canyon and shuttling cars is as well, and we’re hoping to show how accessible and convenient using the bus can be. SLC has a pretty great urban transportation system, and there are initiatives in the works to make it better, expanding canyon transportation year round and multiple times a day, with stops at trailheads to encourage climbers and hikers to minimize their amount of driving up and down the canyons.
We’ll also be employing the help of some friends living in the valley who are interested in getting into the mountains without the use of their cars, going ice climbing, backcountry skiing, resort skiing, or any number of activities we’re privileged to take part in here on the Wasatch Front all winter long. So don’t be surprised if you hear from some guest authors to help give some alternate perspectives on mixing car-less, urban mobility and our passion for adventure in the mountains.
Another thing I’m hoping to see is for the Nature of Motion to make some strides to become as much of a source of interest for advocacy and research into the relationship between sustainability, mobility, and recreation, as it is a place for trip reports and photos. So look here for news and events pertaining to state, local, and national cycling and sustainability advocacy.
But as always we’ll simply be getting out in the mountains and having fun. And as the snow piles us and we start chasing the powder, check out the SkierBoyz page for trip reports of ours and other’s (hopefully) deep adventures. This group of amazing individuals and it’s communal web-log started it all for me, being part of an awesome group of friends and getting me stoked on sharing our passion for adventure in the mountains. Check it out for some amazing and halarious TR’s and photos from the Wasatch and Beyond.
So, just giving you a heads up. Winter, for me, is as much a time for much sleep and hibernation as it is for recreation in the mountains. I hope to devote some of the time I spend reading and napping to musings and thoughts pertaining to all things sustainable and mobile. I don’t expect you’ll find yourself here reading gear reviews or anything of that sort, but you may just end up reading some regurgitatoin and re-interpretation of current events and recreational (climbing/skiing) news with a sustainable perspective. I won’t be giving you my up-to-date opinion of the latest Adam Ondra climb, but in other ways you may see the Nature of Motion become a little more like popular blogs today, that is, a little more in the vein of social media inspired news and connections.
As always, thanks for reading along, and if you’ve got any comments, advice, anything at all, feel free to leave them below, or with me personally at burleighman(at)gmail(dot)com. Be Well.