By Jon Jonckers

Across Spokane County, so many regional parks and trailheads underwent dramatic upgrades and improvements that it’s impossible to pick a favorite in 2025. Beginning last May, Liberty Lake Regional Park received an expanded and paved parking lot with 88 regular and three accessible parking spaces, new lighting, and improved stormwater management, all connected via a new sidewalk to the beach area. Zephyr Road, leading into the park, was widened, repaved and improved to accommodate RVs and buses.  

Located in north Spokane County, Bear Lake Regional Park received an entire facelift. Shorelines were improved for launching kayaks and paddleboards, and the county added three 10footwide fishing docks with lowered-rail design to improve safety and usability. The main restroom facilities were also fully upgraded, and a new lakeside picnic shelter was built on the site of the former caretaker’s house. 

The addition of a trailhead at the popular Knothead Loop hike is a major boost for Riverside State Park. Not too far from the Little Spokane River, the new trailhead features a gravel lot with roughly 38 regular and two accessible parking spots, a vault toilet, a kiosk and overnight gates about 300 yards north of Indian Painted Rocks on Rutter Parkway. This radically improves the parking problems at the Painted Rocks trailhead. 

The Liberty Lake community also gained an improved launchpad for running, walking or cycling at the Harvard Road Trailhead for the Centennial Trail. The fresh design for this trailhead includes ADA access, improved parking, two EV charging stations, a vault toilet, as well as a new water station for people and pets.  

Last but certainly not least, construction began at Pines Road and Trent Avenue for a new roundabout. This is part of a larger project involving BNSF Railway and the adjacent intersection. This project will take up to two years, but the endgame includes a new Centennial Trail trailhead and adds sidewalks and shared-use paths for the safety of pedestrians, schoolchildren and cyclists. (Jon Jonckers)   

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Cover photo courtesy of Lara Gricar

My 900-square-foot garden has been generating fruit, vegetables and an insane amount of weeds for 15 years. When it comes to preserving that bounty, I like to get creative. Especially in the fall. My favorite companion on this adventure has been a book: Not Your Mama’s Canning Book: Modern Canned Goods and What to Make with Them by Rebecca Lindamood. During tomato season, my teenagers insist I make the Tikka Masala. 

Tikka Masala Sauce  

(adapted from “Not Your Mama’s Canning Book,” yields 6 pints) 

1 Tbsp olive oil // 3 large onions // 12 garlic cloves, peeled and minced // 2 tsp kosher salt // 3 Tbsp garam masala // 6-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated // 3 jalapeño peppers, stems and seeds removed, minced // 12 cups peeled and diced tomatoes 

Sauté the garlic and onions in olive oil on medium heat. Sprinkle in the garam masala and stir until fragrant. Add the ginger and peppers. Cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and stir, raising heat to medium-high. Bring to a low boil. Scrape sides and bottom regularly to avoid scorching. Drop heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Ladle into pint jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Use a chopstick to release any air bubbles. Moisten a paper towel with vinegar and wipe the rims of the jars before placing on the lids. Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 30 minutes. Let canner come back to atmospheric pressure naturally, then transfer jars to a towel-lined rack to cool for 24 hours. Store in a cool, dry place for up to one year. 

If you don’t have a pressure canner (I don’t), split the mixture into six freezer-safe containers and freeze. Use within six to nine months. 

This makes for an easy dinner: Sauté chicken (or your protein of choice) and any veggies you desire. (I love adding sweet onion, red bell pepper, and garbanzo beans.) Add 1 pint of preserved tikka masala sauce and 1 cup of heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk. Serve over basmati rice. Pro Tip: Put the canned sauce in the blender (or use an immersion blender) before adding the cream for a smooth and yummy result. For bonus points, add frozen peas, chopped dill, and cilantro to the rice. 

Kale, 3-in-1 Pears, and Apple Pie Filling 

We all need easy preserving options in fall. I blanch kale and freeze it for an easy addition to soups and pastas. My other low-maintenance favorite is to mash peeled pears with a little lemon juice and grated ginger into a crockpot. Cook it down to make a pear butter you can enjoy all winter! An immersion blender used at the end makes it extra creamy. 

Here are two other options that require a little more effort, but the results are mouthwatering! Preserve fall pears by making three-in-one pears (also in Lindamood’s book). This simple recipe combines making dark ginger pear syrup, pears, and pear juice into one session. All three are canned using the standard boiling-water bath technique. If apple pie filling calls to you, use the recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. It has one-quart and seven-quart recipe options.  

Fall is delicious for its abundant social time, amazing hiking and biking under yellowing larch trees, and so much good, fresh food. Canning and freezing means that the garden goodness can be enjoyed all winter, and I love that it makes meals easier once that sweet snow begins to fall.  

Crystal Atamian is a writer and science editor who is looking forward to skiing, winter bonfires, and vanilla ice cream topped with pears in dark ginger syrup. She has written about bear safety, fishing with kids, and the impact of budget cuts on avalanche forecasting in the West in recent issues of Out There. 

The post Preserving the Harvest  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Washington DNR

By Bri Loveall 

Think of a big fire. Pull it up in your mind. I can picture the Carlton Complex fire of 2014 in the Methow Valley, when the sun was a constant circle of fiery red, barely visible through the smoky sky, and the AQI (Air Quality Index) hovered in the 500s for weeks. My throat felt raw after only minutes outdoors. I kept Visine in my day bag to alleviate the constant grit I seemed to have in my eyes. The Carlton Complex fire burned a little over a quarter of a million acres in the course of its six-week burn, with almost 3,000 personnel working the fire. And, as you know, there have been many wildfires in the Inland Northwest since then. 

As devastating as it is, wildfire isn’t an inherently bad thing. In fact, fires are an essential part of a healthy forest ecosystem, recycling nutrients back into the soil and clearing out dead or diseased vegetation so that other healthy plants may grow. But the effects of climate change, increased human-caused fires, and other complex dynamics mean that many present-day wildfires are larger, more destructive and difficult to manage.   

Aside from some vague, Hollywood-esque images of firefighters running through a burning forest, I had no real knowledge about how wildland fires were fought. Nor did I understand the complex level of communication and collaboration that happened between multi-jurisdiction agencies, which are dependent upon a healthy working budget and adequate staffing. While budget cuts and seasonal employee layoffs are a routine fixture in any organizational setting, the recent financial decisions of the Trump administration have generated a lot of cause for concern for the coming fire season.  

Monkey Wrenching with Wildland Firefighting and Public Safety 

Initial hiring freezes ordered by the Trump administration in early 2025 sent shock waves of concern through many of the federal and state agencies we rely on to combat wildfires. While wildland firefighters were eventually deemed exempt due to their critical public safety duties, the federal workforce layoffs that followed led some federally funded public land agency employees to take to the internet with tweets, posts and videos lamenting layoffs of critical wildland firefighting support staff, a move they say will hinder wildfire preparedness and response. 

When I spoke with Ryan Rodruck, Public Information Officer with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), he assured me that local teams of wildland firefighters would have no trouble managing the fires in their jurisdiction (smaller fires that begin on DNR land) this year.  

Since the DNR is a state agency and adheres to a state budget, it is not affected by federal cuts. In the last three years, 90% of fires in the northeast Washington region have been contained to fewer than 10 acres. This is thanks in large part to the DNR’s aggressive fuel management efforts, forest health management, prescribed burns and other wildfire prevention programs. The concern, Rodruck told me, is in the larger, multi-jurisdiction fires that exceed 10 acres. 

These larger fires are assigned to an incident management team (IMT), a group of people from various agencies: DNR, the Bureau of Land Management, USFS, local fire districts, and even the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The people who serve within these organizations typically have day jobs that are unrelated to their roles in fighting wildfires, but they are crucial to the functioning of complex interagency wildfire response teams. With the projected layoffs and budget cuts that multiple public land agencies are experiencing, it’s unclear if the employees with dual roles will be there when they’re needed.  

On the Job as a Wildland Firefighter 

Andrew Stenbeck is a veteran DNR wildland firefighter. During the off season he works with the DNR managing state lands, which includes timber harvest, planting trees, fuel reductions, and firefighting training. During the fire season, Stenbeck is a part of a Type 3 team, one that specializes in responding quickly to local fires and taking over the fire management from local resources.  

As Stenbeck described his 35 years as a wildland firefighter to me, I was surprised by the level of communication happening between multiple public land agencies. At the incident command post, or base camp, a slew of operations management teams (all staffed by members from different agencies) gather morning and night to create an Incident Action Plan, a detailed list that discusses safety, logistics, finances, and media plans. An incredible amount of planning happens before a firefighter ever steps foot onto the fire line, with multiple agencies working together to create a cohesive plan to safely contain a wildfire.  

At an incident command post (ICP) camp, firefighting personnel spend 14 days at a time (but sometimes up to 21 without reprieve), sleeping on cots, in tents, or on the ground as they work nonstop to fight fire. ICPs are usually located a safe yet practical distance from the wildland fire, though Stenbeck says he has been stationed as many as 45 minutes away. “It isn’t ideal,” Stenbeck tells me.  

Rodruck agrees, explaining that driving is the second most dangerous thing firefighters will do during fire season as they move back and forth from base camp to the fire line. Increases in wildlife movement, narrow (and often) gravel roads, as well as general fatigue on behalf of the drivers puts personnel at increased risk for accidents.  

When I ask Stenbeck what he likes about this job, he smiles and says he likes to be outdoors. I try to imagine what the fire line looks like before Stenbeck confirms that yes, it is hot, but the weather is still happening as a fire is raging. During the last fire of the season in 2024, Stenbeck awoke to find frost covering his tent. He then donned his gear—a heavy ensemble that includes Nomex pants and jacket, fire-resistant boots like Nick’s or Whites, as well as a hard hat, water, hand tool, first-aid kit, and fire shelter—and got back to work fighting fire.  

Fire bugs, the nearly 40 species of insects that are drawn to heat and smoke, pose another added risk to firefighters on the line. In the last season alone, Stenbeck watched three firefighters airlifted to medical facilities after entering anaphylactic shock from stings. In one summer, he counted 37 stings himself. Bears, displaced, fatigued, and sometimes injured, remain outside the perimeter of the fire as they search for food, often in the form of a firefighter’s lunch sack. As firefighters traverse on foot toward the fire line, mosquitoes are a near constant whine, and among the litany of precautions a person takes every day, they’ll also be checking for ticks each night.  

Uncertainty as Wildfire Season Approaches 

With recent layoffs across multiple federal agencies, there might be fewer boots on the ground facing those hazards as the summer progresses. For instance the return of Incident Management Team staff meteorologists—team members supplied by the NOAA who are essential to fighting fire—may also be in jeopardy. The meteorologists work closely alongside the DNR and other agencies to give accurate predictions of when fire season might start and how the weather will influence a fire incident.  

“We don’t know what the status of these employees are going to be during this round of layoffs,” Rodruck says. It’s these “small, downstream-type effects,” that will ultimately determine how well agencies are able to fight fires this summer. What will those downstream effects mean for our public lands? According to Rodruck, it’s too early to tell.  

Stenbeck, along with others on his team, will be preparing for the 2025 fire season with the mentality that it isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. “It isn’t a matter of if it starts, but when,” Stenbeck says.  

Will those who are needed make it to the fire line this season? Let’s hope so for the sake of our communities, wildlife and the forests and trails we love. 

Until completing this interview, Bri Loveall had never considered what wildland firefighting looked like. She wishes all firefighting personnel a safe fire season.  

The post Smoke Signals from the Fireline  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Mt Spokane

This summer, Mt. Spokane Ski & Snowboard Park invites young adventurers to trade ski boots for hiking shoes and bike helmets. The 2025 camps emphasize outdoor fun, skill-building and environmental learning all at Spokane’s namesake mountain playground.  

What sets Mt. Spokane’s day camps apart, says outdoor recreation director Katrin Ferraro, is the wildness of the mountain and the surrounding state park. “Our day camps feel a lot like an overnight wilderness camp—kids get many of the same experiences without needing to stay overnight.” Many campers are already skiers, she says, but for a lot of them, it’s their first time seeing the ski area up close without the snow, which helps cultivate a stronger connection to the mountain. 

Both the Mountain Adventure and Mountain Bike camps are built to boost kids’ confidence and outdoor skills—without overdoing it. Leaders also focus on fun and play, creating space for campers to be kids, says Ferraro. “We do an activity where one of the counselors dresses up in a bear costume, and the kids practice what to do if they see a bear—being big and loud, using squirt guns as bear spray.” While bear encounters at camps are unlikely, it’s a fun, memorable way to teach wildlife safety and appreciation.  

Mountain Adventure Camps 
Designed for children ages 5–13, this three-day camp immerses participants in the natural beauty of Mt. Spokane State Park. Activities include hiking, climbing, crafts, and games, all emphasizing nature appreciation. Choose from three Mon.-Wed. sessions: June 23–25, July 14–16, or July 28–30. Each session runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ($209 registration fee includes a t-shirt). 

Mountain Bike Camps 
Mt. Spokane offers some of the only kids’ mountain bike camps in the region, including options for new and experienced riders. The four-day mountain bike camps for kids ages 7–15 encourage them to build mountain bike skills and confidence. Some of the camps even offer the chance to shuttle some of the trails.   

• Beginner Camp: July 7–10, focusing on foundational skills on double-track trails. 

• Advanced Skills Camp: July 7–10, for riders ages 10–17 with prior singletrack experience. 

• All-Levels Camps: July 21–24 and Aug. 4–7, accommodating various skill levels with group placements based on ability. 

Each mountain bike camp runs Mon.–Wed. from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thurs. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. ($329 registration fee includes a t-shirt). Participants must bring a mountain bike with at least seven gears, front suspension and no pedal brakes, along with a helmet and other appropriate safety gear. “It’s incredible how much confidence kids build—on the trails, in themselves, and in the outdoors,” says Ferraro. 

Junior Camp Counselor Program 
New this year, this two-week program offers teens ages 14–16 a chance to gain leadership experience while assisting with both camp types. Participants develop mentoring skills, boost their biking abilities, and learn what it takes to be a future camp counselor ($199 registration fee and reliable transportation required). Session options run June 23–25 and July 7–10, July 14–16 and July 21–24, or July 28–30 and Aug. 4–7. 

Parents Can Work in the Lodge or Hit the Trails while Kids Play 

Simplify your drive to and from Mt. Spokane’s day camps by staying up on the mountain to get some work done (or go for a ride or hike yourself!) Parents can use Lodge 2 as a workspace or relaxing place to read with Wi-Fi and a coffee shop or hit the trails.  

As a non-profit, Mt. Spokane prioritizes making its camp experiences accessible to all by offering a limited number of camp scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information and to register, visit Mtspokane.com/summercamps.  

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Learn about Nature at Bear Lake June 7: Learn the names of the plants and animals at Bear Lake Regional Park near Chattaroy with guidebooks and specialized apps. 

Medical Lake Geology Walk & Water Sampling Aug. 6: Walk along the trail around Medical Lake with Chad Pritchard, professor of geology at EWU, to learn about the lake’s history and natural science.  

Introduction to Wilderness Survival (Aug. 5, 13, Sept. 18): Gain insight on ways to bolster your outdoor skills and survivability in our local wilds with an experienced U.S. Air Force survival instructor. 

Introduction to Urban Survival (Aug. 26, Sept. 24): Learn about some of the basic urban survival techniques such as procuring food and water, ensuring personal safety and security, and dealing with inherently unsanitary conditions. 

Tree Identification Walks (June 6, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 5): Educators from The Lands Council will introduce the fundamentals of tree identification during these interactive walks. Locations will include Waterfront Park in Medical Lake, Indian Painted Rocks, Dishman Hills and the Appleway Trail. 

Outdoor Painting (June 21, July 12 & 19, Aug. 2, Sept. 27): Bring your own art supplies to paint or draw en plein air at multiple local outdoor settings. Learn from experienced artists how to better replicate your surroundings in your art.  

The post 6 Ways to Get Outside this Summer with the Spokane County Library District  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Most people sign up for a wilderness first aid class after panicking their way through some type of backcountry medical emergency. Left with regret at having been unprepared, they want to make sure they’re ready for next time. The trouble with this approach, says Katie Luthy, co-owner of Longleaf Wilderness Medicine in Sandpoint, is that there usually is no next time. You aren’t likely to run into the same accident twice.  

After some close calls over the years, I’ve started worrying about what I’ll do if some benign misadventure ever deteriorates into an actual emergency. I recently spent 16 hours over a single weekend getting certified in wilderness first aid with Longleaf. Luthy taught everything imaginable, including accident prevention, building splints out of backpacking gear, how to seal up someone’s sucking chest wound with a Ziploc baggie until help arrives, how to use tincture of benzoin and Steri Strips together for lacerations, and how to intentionally stock and organize a first aid kit.  

Luthy recommends Adventure Medical for pre-stocked commercial kits because they’re organized according to accident type: wound care supplies together in one compartment, stop-bleeding-fast tools in another. You can do the same when packing or re-stocking your own kit. If you can’t take a class, research basics like how to stop bleeding, how to treat burns and wounds, how to splint a limb and how to identify problems such as hypothermia and shock. Bundle injury-specific supplies together for quick access and only carry what you know how to use.  

Preparation is the only control you have in a complex and unpredictable environment. In his poem “Lost,” David Wagoner writes about wilderness, “And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, / Must ask permission to know it and be known.” Here is a stranger who can heal and purify you as easily as break your bones and feed you to a bear. Go if you can. Go far, and often. Just don’t go unprepared. Visit Longleafmedical.com to find classes all over the Inland Northwest or get a bunch of friends together and schedule a group session.

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From easy, flat walks suitable for all abilities to strenuous mountain climbs that reward hikers with panoramic views and potential wildlife encounters, the Sandpoint area’s trail system provides diverse opportunities to take it all in. Whether you’re seeking prolific lupine displays, beargrass meadows, or the chance to spot mountain goats, moose, and eagles, these trails offer wonderful discoveries for wildflower and wildlife enthusiasts. Visit the links below for driving directions and other info for each of the hike and wildlife-viewing destinations.

Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge

Although wildlife generally avoids humans, Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge near Sandpoint offers exceptional wildlife viewing opportunities, especially during spring bird migrations. The 2,774-acre refuge’s wetlands, meadows, riparian, and coniferous forests provide sanctuary primarily for migrating waterfowl. During spring, when birds are moving along the Pacific Flyway, thousands of ducks, geese, and swans may be resting and foraging at the refuge ponds.

Over 300 species of wildlife have been observed here: 22 species of fish, 7 species of amphibians, 6 species of reptiles, 45 species of mammals, and over 223 bird species. You’ll see waterfowl and raptors such as eagles and osprey, while moose, deer, and even bear frequent the refuge. The refuge has easy and flat hiking trails, wildlife blinds, and a driving route offering multiple ways to experience the wildlife and its beautiful location in the Kootenai River valley.

Mickinnick Trail

One of the most rewarding spring hikes near Sandpoint, the Mickinnick Trail is a challenging route that rises more than 2,000 feet in its 3.5-mile length to the topmost overlook (7 miles roundtrip). Even in the lower, easier reaches, the wildflowers are varied and glorious in spring and early summer. The trail wends through big granite features amid open forests and, in spring and early summer, profuse displays of many different kinds of wildflowers.

The trail ends on a rocky knob commanding a view of Sandpoint, the Long Bridge, the Cabinet Mountains, and Lake Pend Oreille. On warm summer days, the east-facing aspect of the trail makes it more user-friendly in the afternoon.

Scotchman Peak Trail

Looking to spot mountain goats in the wild? The Scotchman Peak Trail, a top-rated challenging hike near Sandpoint, offers a strenuous climb with rewarding wildlife encounters and panoramic lake views. About 30 minutes’ drive east of town, the trail ascends more than 3,700 feet over roughly 4 miles to the highest point in Bonner County at 6,872 feet. A resident herd of mountain goats frequents the peak, affording a good chance of seeing the amazingly sure-footed mountain climbers up close. Hikers are asked to keep a distance of 100 feet for their safety as well as the goats’.

Pine Street Woods

Just over two miles from downtown Sandpoint, Pine Street Woods offers family-friendly hiking trails with prolific lupine blooms in late spring and early summer. More than a dozen trails provide miles of hiking opportunities through this unique place where the numerous off-leash dogs and varied terrain create a welcoming outdoor experience.

Photos courtesy of Visit Sandpoint

Round Lake State Park

Round Lake State Park, located 12 miles south of Sandpoint, features 7 miles of easy hiking trails through towering pines and lakeside wetlands—perfect for birdwatching and springtime wildlife viewing. Visitors often spot wildlife as Canada geese pass over the park’s pine, hemlock, and larch trees and ospreys plunge for perch. Hikers may discover beaver lodges and catch a glimpse of a resident moose, while along the lake in summer, they may hear a chorus of bullfrogs and spot ducks and Red-winged Blackbirds among other birdlife.

Gold Hill Trail

The Gold Hill Trail is a popular 3.7-mile hike near Sandpoint that climbs to sweeping views of Lake Pend Oreille and the Selkirk Mountains, ideal for spring and fall hikes. Most start at the trailhead on Bottle Bay Road, about 8 miles south of Sandpoint, making this mountain hiking at its best in the Pacific Northwest.

Schweitzer Trails

Beginning in June, the beargrass make lavish displays along Schweitzer’s many trails. Schweitzer Mountain Resort features over 20 miles of dedicated hiking trails, with alpine wildflowers and panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille, ideal for summer hiking in North Idaho.

Recommended Schweitzer Hikes:

Nature Trail: This 2.5-mile one-way trail ascends approximately 1,700 feet, leading hikers through forests and meadows to the summit. At the top, visitors are rewarded with panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille and the surrounding mountains. Hikers can choose to descend the same way or take the Great Escape Quad chairlift back down.

Picnic Point: Ideal for families and those seeking a moderate hike, this 3-mile round-trip trail offers sweeping vistas with minimal elevation gain.

Additional Hiking Trails in the Sandpoint Area:

• Evans Landing Trail: A moderate 2-mile forested hike to a secluded beach on Lake Pend Oreille—perfect for spring picnics and birdwatching.
• Maiden Rock Trail: A steep and scenic 2-mile trek through deep forest to a hidden cove on Lake Pend Oreille’s western shore.
• Lost Lake & Mineral Point Trail: This 6-mile trail system offers panoramic views of Lake Pend Oreille and the Green Monarchs, with loop options ideal for spring wildflower hikes.
• Farragut State Park: Farragut State Park, just 40 minutes from Sandpoint, boasts over 45 miles of scenic hiking trails ranging from easy lakeside walks to challenging forest hikes. Located on the southern tip of Lake Pend Oreille, it’s a crown jewel of Idaho’s state parks.

You’ll find your perfect spring hike near Sandpoint to soak in the season’s sights, sounds, and serenity. Check out all of the spring trail recommendations and start planning your wildflower and wildlife spring getaway. Combine fine days outside with Sandpoint’s vaunted culinary and entertainment opportunities for a weekend or multi-day visit; discover those, plus an array of lodging choices, at VisitSandpoint.com.

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Cover photo courtesy of Tele Colo

Over the years skiing on telemark gear, I’ve encountered a few slogans from tele skiing’s zenith, some of them on faded stickers plastered to Subarus and others repeated by lifties with a Jeff Spicoli-esque cackle in the lift line as I approached: “Free your heel, ski for real.” Or, my favorite, “Free your heel, free your mind.” Are such sayings tired mantras of a dying sect of snow-sliding’s more archaic brethren? Or is there something significant about telemark that just won’t let it die? 

Telemark skiing on free-heel gear and the signature turn that involves the dropping of knees, scissoring of skis, and sometimes wild, dance-like movements down a mountain, was pioneered by Norwegian skier Sondre Norheim in the middle of the 19^th century. No doubt, the telemark style of skiing—which takes its name from Norheim’s home turf in the Telemark region of Norway—played a profound and foundational role in the evolution of skiing. But, time marched on, gear evolved, and modern fixed-heel alpine ski bindings, burly plastic boots, and fatter shaped skis have largely replaced their telemark forebearers on modern-day ski area and backcountry slopes.  

You don’t see too many skiers donning minimalist leather boots and 3-pin tele bindings on the lifts these days, although some still roam the hills in the backcountry. Yet, tele skiing and its devotees continue to persist at ski areas, most of them on modern tele gear that to most skiers look indistinguishable from all the other alpine skiers out on the snow. That is, until those heels lift up off of the skis in the shuffle to the lift line or the knees start dropping with each turn down the mountain. 

The Origins of Tele Ski Gear and the Persistence of the Free Heel 

For years, those looking to get into telemark only required an inexpensive 3-pin (think XC ski bindings) or cable binding setup and leather or plastic Nordic-style boots. While that style of tele gear is still widely available, affordable, and great for learning to tele ski or tour around in the backcountry on a budget, there were drawbacks with that gear for skiers wanting to keep up in the alpine world, including less power, control and stability, especially for beginners.  

Likely coinciding with the last major tele boom around 2010, when new NTN tele bindings (New Telemark Norm) hit the scene, the number of new tele converts at alpine ski areas grew, even as the trend in backcountry skiing continued to see former tele skiers converting to fixed-heel AT gear. With the rise of NTN, beginner and veteran free heelers finally had access to gear that was comparable in many ways to that of their modern alpine skier cousins, while still providing the flexible, free-heel movement that defines telemark skiing.  

A long-time Inland Northwest backcountry and telemark skier and the owner of Altai Skis in Curlew, Wash., 70-year-old Nils Larsen’s life has been so inspired by and intertwined with free-heel and backcountry skiing that he named his daughter after the aforementioned telemark founder Sondre Norheim. After being a part of several other boom and bust times in the world of telemark, Larsen observes that the telemark scene, at least regionally, has been at a low ebb in general but certainly not dead.  

“The whole ‘tele is dead’ thing is a little overblown,” says Larsen. “There are still plenty of people in my age group doing it and a growing cohort of younger skiers getting into it.”  

Though as Larsen and other veteran tele skiers readily admit, telemark skiing is definitely past its high point in the ‘90s. The sport has changed a lot too, says Larsen. “I feel like tele has veered off from its origins, constantly trying to catch up with alpine skiing with stiffness and power. It’s a little bit of false narrative,” he says. “Tele is never going to be the same as alpine. It should be its own thing.”  

To that point, Larsen’s company Altai Skis makes free-heeled skis with built-in traction to allow them to both climb and descend without the need for climbing skins, additional traction or to learn the tele turn. Inspired by the origins of skiing in the Altai Mountains of China, where they’ve been used as a tool for backcountry travel and hunting for millennia, Larsen’s skis, including the Hok that’s popular with snowshoers and skiers looking to tour around any size hills or mountains, have seen increased interest and sales in recent years.  

Larsen says that many skiers first gravitated to telemark back in the earlier days as a way to ski in the backcountry. “AT didn’t really exist in the U.S. back then and you could go out with this super light and inexpensive tele system and ski in the backcountry.” As alpine touring (AT) gear became a more popular and affordable setup for backcountry skiing, however, tele gear began collecting dust in many skiers’ garages. Still, some long-time tele skiers resisted locking down their heels and new telemark skiers of all ages continue to bolster the ranks of free-heelers every year, making the discipline surprisingly resilient at both resorts and on backcountry terrain.  

Larsen attributes this phenomenon to the aesthetic appeal of the telemark turn and freedom of movement in the gear. “It’s never going to be as functional or powerful as alpine, but it doesn’t have to be. We don’t ski because it’s functional, we ski because it’s pleasurable.” 

Today’s Tele Fanatics and the Modern Gear Many Ride On 

Shelley Kovacs and Marc Schanfarber, both tele instructors at 49 Degrees North, have an appreciation for the minimalist free-heel legacy, but are also proponents of modern NTN tele gear at ski areas, emphasizing how it has made tele so much more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience.  

“Things have evolved so that you can do many of the same things on tele gear as alpine gear now that wasn’t formerly possible, or harder to accomplish with older 75mm equipment,” says Schanfarber, referring to early Nordic-sized tele boots and bindings.  

Compared to alpine ski gear, any type of tele equipment allows a skier to lift their heel and walk and move and climb. You can do parallel alpine turns or tele turns, all with added boot comfort and the freedom of expanded movement created by the unattached heel, Schanfarber explains.  

What sets newer NTN boots and bindings apart from the more traditional tele gear, however, is greater power and control—things that are especially handy for those skiing at resorts, in the park, or on aggressive backcountry terrain. Mark Beatie, longtime Mountain Gear boot fitter and telemark gear specialist who’s also a tele instructor, agrees that the gear has gotten so much better. “It offers better fit, more safety and significant improvement in control and energy transmission.” On the downside, he adds, “It is coming at a dramatic increase in price.”  

Beatie also points out that the technique has evolved right along with the gear. “We have brought the stance from knee on the ski to a taller, stronger base for movement. The lead change is a shorter motion and everything is intended to work with the skier’s natural range of motion while maintaining strength, stability and that graceful flow down the mountain.” 

The modern gear and style is also likely the driving force keeping the sport alive, and it’s the new generation of passionate and innovative tele skier evangelists themselves who are driving this latest resurgence in telemark skiing. 

New Wave of Tele 

Avid 54-year-old western Washington-based skier Serge Baranovsky may be a recent tele convert, but when the bug bit, it bit hard. In 2021, he started Rise of Telemark, a resource that has created more access to the sport with gear rentals (out of the Seattle area), a local online shop, and tele events like the Wenatchee Telemark Festival at Mission Ridge, which debuted last season, all with a goal of growing participation in the sport.  

While greatly improved gear is a major driver, Serge says the main reason tele is still thriving is the younger generation coming in. “It’s far from dead and is coming back to life. There are a ton of telemark skiers on Instagram in their 20s and 30s hucking cliffs and pulling off tricks in the park that helps create the awareness of the sport with a new generation.” 

Thirty-year-old Seattle tele skier Brian Hitchens, who runs the Cascade Telemark YouTube channel, echoes this sentiment, noting that there are plenty of tele skiers at the resorts he frequents, including Stevens Pass, Mission Ridge, and Whistler, who are remaking the old-school image of tele in and out of the park. He calls out Tele Colo, founded in 2018 by skateboarder and surfer-turned-tele-skier CJ Coccia, as a major influence behind the evolution and image of the sport. Tele Colo, says Hitchens, is playing a big role in boosting the new generation of telemark culture through digital media and pushing the boundaries of telemark with their ski films and hype more than anyone. 

People really like how they can represent their own style on modern-equipped telemark skis, says Hitchens. “It’s sounds a little woo-woo, but the way you can move on telemark skis just opens the door up to really however you want to express yourself on skis.” He says many of the younger generation of telemark skiers have a different philosophy from traditional tele skiers. “I have [tele-skiing] friends who are insane how they ski. Like I don’t physically think it’s possible, until you go down the hill with them. I think people latch onto that freedom of expression and that matched with this newer technology have been propelling new people to get into it.”  

All of that new generation passion and creativity translates into curiosity too, he says. “Last season especially there was an insane amount of tele skiers out there, to the point where every time up the chair lift somebody’s skiing tele down the hill.” 

Three Hallmarks Behind the Tele Resurgence 

Contrary to rumors circulating around the ski community that tele is dead, there are some very real signs that it’s experiencing a renaissance of sorts.  

After talking with a half dozen modern tele acolytes from around the Northwest and beyond, three reasons for this resurgence—in addition to the big one, improvements in the modern gear—were repeated by nearly all of them: freedom, not just of the heel but in movement and the creative expression it affords a skier in their turns; the challenge of learning a new way to ski; and the community. 

The Close-knit Tele Community: Nearly a quarter century into the 2000s, one might conclude that tele skiers at Inland Northwest resorts are but a few torn ACLs away from an endangered species listing. Ironically, the infrequency with which tele skiers encounter one another also plays into tele skiing’s resilience: the community that arises when tele skiers come together for events and festivals.  

Several telemark and free-heel backcountry events are happening this season at ski areas and mountain passes throughout the Inland PNW (see sidebar for details), including the Telebration event, which has been organized in various forms by 49 Degrees North just about every year since 2019.  

Last March, I finally made it to the two-day iteration of Telebration. While I’ve been skiing on telemark gear for over 20 years, it’s been nearly as long since I took a lesson and worked to improve my technique. Telebration included group telemark ski clinics and private lessons for all experience levels, demo gear from 22 Designs, and a post-slope showing of Tele Colo’s 2023 film release “This is Telemark” with giveaways and festive vibes.  

I admittedly signed up for the clinics for the chance to learn and make my skiing more fun and fluid, something my instructors Kovacs and Schanfarber didn’t let me down on. But, being a shameless introvert, community wasn’t necessarily why I signed up. Before my first Telebration experience, I didn’t totally get the contagious power of the tele community that comes with skiing and revelry with other free-heeled kin until then.  

As Schanfarber would later tell me, gatherings of telemark skiers at events like 49 Degrees North’s Telebration play an essential role in growing the sport and community. “Whenever groups of tele skiers come together, it catches peoples’ attention and they’re like, I want to try that,” he says, a sentiment that helps spark the next wave of tele skiers. Such gatherings also tighten the bonds of the tele community, adds Kovacs. “Anywhere you go and see someone else tele skiing, you can end up instant friends. Because we’re such a minority, there’s real and lasting camaraderie.”  

Learning Something New: The tele gateway for many skiers is a realization that it’s time to expand their skiing horizons. Hitchens was working as an alpine ski instructor at Stevens Pass when that moment hit. “At some point, it became clear that I was kinda skiing unsafe on alpine skis.” Since on many days he was teaching others to ski, it was the perfect time to slow down and learn to tele. The flow and pace of tele skiing resonated and he hasn’t looked back.  

“You can just show up on any type of tele gear and you don’t feel like you have to compete with everybody on the mountain. It removes you from the rat race and at the end of the day you are trying something different,” Hitchens says. 

Schanfarber concurs that learning to telemark is a great new challenge for a long-time alpine skier or snowboarder who may find themselves less inspired from skiing or riding the same terrain and making the same turns ski day after ski day. “Taking up tele can help make a small mountain big,” he says. “It’s a way to spice things up and learn something new.”  

Kovacs points out that many people take up tele skiing when skiing with a friend, spouse, or child who is a beginner or slower skier. “If you are skiing with someone who is learning, it’s a great way to slow you down while learning something new in the process.”  

The Freedom and Magic of the Turn: There’s a tele joke I read online recently that I think illuminates the heart of why tele seemingly refuses to die: How many tele skiers does it take to change a light bulb? One to screw it in and two to stand back and say, ‘Nice turns!’  

Funny for sure, but there’s something to it. I got my first telemark setup as an inexpensive tool to build leg strength after multiple snowboarding injuries and as a way to get into the backcountry, but the reason I’ve stuck with it is all about the feel of the turn. 

The allure of tele is really about the mechanics and what you can do, seconds Hitchens. “It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t gotten over the hump of staying in control. If you are willing to put in the time and effort, you are basically moving in a completely different plane of motion and you can apply forces to the skis that you never could on alpine skis. It’s like skiing with added dimensionality and your reward is a whole new way to get down the mountain.” 

Founder and publisher of “Couloir Magazine” Craig Dostie summed up the magic potential and allure of the telemark turn in the 2010 Josh Madsen film “Freeheel Life 2: Hippies, Punx, & Misfits” more aptly than I’ve read or heard anywhere: “There’s this sweet spot in any turn on snow or in water, . . . there’s a sweet moment, a sweet moment, a magic moment . . . and in tele it’s whatever you want. It can be really huge and it can be really tight. You can make it whatever you want. But the sweet spot is more dynamic and it’s deeper and it’s wider.”  

49 Degrees North: The Local Place to Learn to Tele Ski  

Coming up on their 12^th season as telemark ski instructors at 49 Degrees North near Chewelah, Wash., Kovacs and Schanfarber are playing a major role in keeping telemark skiing alive and well at 49 and around the region. For starters, 49 Degrees North is the only ski area in the Inland Northwest where you can rent a modern NTN tele ski setup and give it a try without having to buy all of the gear yourself right off the bat.  

When Mountain Gear went out of business, 49 bought up their tele rental gear and started offering rentals to give people a place to try it out, says Schanfarber. 49 also has some of the region’s best tele instructors, with Kovacs, Schanfarber and other instructors available to get you started with plenty of pro tips to make sure your first day on telemark skis is productive and fun. 

If you already have tele gear and some turns under your belt, lessons at 49 and the clinics at Telebration (scheduled for March 16 for the 2025 season) can help you identify plenty of bad habitats and new techniques to improve your tele turn game.  

“Lessons aren’t just for beginners,” explains Schanfarber. “I’ve probably gone through a few hundred hours of advanced lessons because I want to get better. Lessons will make you ski more efficiently.”  

There’s another tele-themed bumper sticker maybe you’ve seen: “Nobody Cares That You Tele!” Snark aside, that’s precisely the way that it should be. You probably won’t reach Nirvana like the Buddha on a pair of tele skis, and the telemark turn certainly won’t make you better than anyone else on the mountain, but you may find your own state of enlightenment in that distinct tele flow.  

Some tele skiers may enjoy the spotlight of standing out against the masses of parallel-turning skiers shredding down the slopes and talking up their turns afterwards, but when it comes right down to it, it’s just another way to enjoy sliding down snowy mountains. A damn fun way, I might add, that you will likely find soul-filling and exhilarating if you give it a try. 

Derrick Knowles is the Publisher of Out There Venture. He’s been skiing on tele gear since 2001, although mostly incognito blending in with his alpine and AT skiing partners with frequent parallel turns.  

The post Tele Ain’t Dead in the Inland Northwest appeared first on Out There Venture.

By Karie Lee Knoke 

During a recent course at Sacred Cedars Wilderness School, called Survival Sisterhood, I dove in deep about the concept of creating an ongoing community of women centered around the subject of survival. In the circle of women who attended the course, we discussed what ‘survival’ really means. With the popularity of reality survival TV shows, most folks instantly think of survival as something we do in the wilderness or preparing for when SHTF. However, the real meaning of survival is much more serious. 

In short, survival means, “to continue to live, especially after being in a difficult or life-threatening situation.”  The key words are life-threatening. Let’s not forget our dear loved ones who are faced with cancer or other life-threatening illnesses who are often left to fight their battle, alone. How can we, as women, support each other? It can be as simple as going for a walk with someone who just wants companionship while they are going through Chemo. A simple, yet priceless act of compassion can go a long way!  

As we contemplated the many facets of survival, we set the intention of our circle as this: Survival Sisterhood is a circle of women teaching women survival skills in a safe, supportive, non-judgmental, non-competitive, heart-centered, fun and community-oriented environment. To empower women with tools that build self-confidence, self-reliance, courage and strength to endure whatever challenges life brings forth.  

Throughout the Survival Sisterhood course, we covered several skills starting with the basics of knife safety and cutting techniques. The knife is an essential tool in survival, and knowing the proper way to use it and care for it is critical.   

We found fresh tracks of coyote, bobcat, skunk, black bear, moose, snowshoe hare and a feral house cat. Tracking what animals are in your area can not only provide an opportunity for food, but also alert you to what predators are around.  

Foraging for wild edibles is always a hit! Harvesting fresh cattail roots for dinner during a refreshing swim was the most hilarious adventure of all! I haven’t laughed that hard in years! We cooked up the roots in a hollowed-out pumpkin using hot stones. 

One of my favorite skills is archery. Witnessing the transformation of a woman who pulls a bow for the first time to hitting her target is astonishing. Taking aim at something, whether small game for dinner or an envisioned personal goal, teaches you how to have the fortitude and courage to go for what you want in life.  

One skill that is almost always overlooked, yet vitally important, is self-care. Maintaining your well-being when times are tough is critical for mental clarity, keeping your emotions in check, and your physical body vibrant and resilient.   

In future Survival Sisterhood courses, top-notch women instructors will be offering other practical skills, such as self-defense, wilderness emergency care, herbal medicine, S.E.R.E. (survival, evasion, resistance, and escape) tactics, hand gun training, and hunting techniques, just to name a few.  

You don’t need any experience to belong to this community. Survival Sisterhood is a supportive and safe environment for women to learn and grow. It allows women to connect with each other, creating life-time friendships and a support network to help those in need. Survival Sisterhood is more than survival; it’s about thriving in all areas of life.  

Survival Sisterhood will launch as a new program in Sacred Cedars Wilderness School this November. Come on ladies! Let’s do this!  

Karie Lee Knoke is a wilderness/primitive skills instructor and founder of Sacred Cedars Wilderness School. She was a contestant on the reality survival TV show, Alone Season 9, on the History Channel. Go to www.karieleeknoke.com for more information, or follow her on Facebook @SacredCedarsWildernessSchool or Instagram @karie_lee_knoke 

The post Survival Sisterhood  appeared first on Out There Venture.

Cover photo courtesy of Olivia Dugenet

By Olivia Dugenet 

“Caprice” was a 25-foot boat with a cockpit, engine room and just enough space to sleep Muriel Wylie Blanchet and her five children. They spent entire summers on “Caprice” back in the 1920s and ‘30s, exploring the waters and wild shores of British Columbia. 

Blanchet’s book “The Curve of Time” has become a classic adventure/travel memoir. A widow and independent woman exploring the wild world alone with five children in the early part of the century—this took a sort of subversiveness that shines in her writing. She was both stern and playful, adventuring like a wild young spirit herself while also taking up the role of serious leader and parent. Her stories show how she simultaneously learned from and taught her children how to understand the world.  

These five core outdoor parenting ideas embedded within the book offer valuable insights: 

1. Everyone contributes. Even young children had real responsibilities, and life on “Caprice” depended on everyone pitching in. While older kids were reading charts, watching the compass and scanning for reefs, the youngest boy was given a whistle to blow in the heavy fog—sounding for echoes and helping steer clear of cliffs.  

2. Courage coexists alongside vulnerability. They didn’t seek out adventure or aim to conquer anything, and they intentionally practiced what the explorers of old called “exercising due care.” Still, adventure found them. They encountered bears and cougars, near falls, near crashes, extreme cold and dangerous rapids. After one particularly challenging moment, one of the older children said, “You were scared, too, weren’t you, mummy?” Neither denying her fear nor giving in to it, Blanchet winked at him. “Weren’t we sillies!” she said.  
    

3. Everyone plays. Blanchet took youthful delight in having fun. She rocketed down slippery granite slides with her kids and splashed into crystal lukewarm pools—this is how they took baths and washed their clothes.  
    

4. Curiosity is a virtue. For Blanchet and her children, the world was a fascinating place full of mystery and discovery. The group regularly paused, pivoted, or changed plans to follow the thread of someone’s curiosity. When they found some strange new wonder, they explored it, wrote about it in their journals, and looked it up in the Encyclopedia Brittanica when they returned home in the fall.  
    

5. Community is important. On their travels, Blanchet and her children met people from all backgrounds and perspectives, built lasting friendships, learned to ask for help when necessary, and gave help whenever they could.   
    

6. Ponder big ideas. As suggested by the book’s title, Blanchet studied theories about time and other complex ideas. She continually sought wisdom and understanding, bringing depth and beauty to her life and writing. 

These ideas are woven through my own experience of parenting in the outdoors. I let the kids make and break camp in the backcountry, even when they pitch the tents a little crooked or don’t pack up precisely the way I showed them. If they take their inflatable sleeping pads into an alpine lake, I am more likely to join them for a float than to scold. So long as the kids show they’re practicing required safety strategies, I let them get out ahead of me and lead, even when it makes me nervous. We talk about how being outdoors away from devices changes our experience of time and being in the world, and we carry those conversations back to the city and into our everyday lives. Blanchet’s stories showed me, years before I even became a mom, how time spent together outside fosters wisdom and strong connections between children, their parents, and the wider world. // 

Olivia Dugenet is a Spokane writer and mom who has learned a lot from exploring the outdoors with her children. She and her teenagers are excited to backpack routes in Washington and Canada this summer. 

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