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Ask Us Anything: Canyoneering

By Katie Gerber / December 4, 2023 /

Next Thursday, Andrew and I will be joined by one (or more!) of our canyoneering guides to host a Canyoneering-focused Ask Us Anything event. The event will last no more than 60 minutes and will be similar in structure to the three Ask Us Anything events we hosted last week with Dan Durston, Brian Robinson,…

Ask Us Anything: Mikaela Osler

By Katie Gerber / December 1, 2023 /

Last night, Andrew and I hosted the last of our Ask Us Anything events this week. Our special guest was Mikaela Osler. Mikaela is a Triple Crown thru-hiker (AT, PCT, CDT), has set FKT’s on the Long Trail and Colorado Trail, is an excellent guide, and has an infectiously positive personality. In this conversation, we…

Season recap: 204 testimonials about our 2023 guided trips

By Andrew Skurka / November 14, 2023 /

Since 2014 I’ve asked our clients to complete a post-trip survey to gather feedback about our guides, locations, meals, and curriculum, plus their overall satisfaction. Reviewing the results is a time commitment — this year the document runs for 138 pages, plus a few more pages of tables with quantitative data! But it’s entirely worthwhile,…

Our Brooks Range trips: What are they really like?

By Andrew Skurka / August 9, 2023 /

In June and July, Christy Rosander and I guided two 7-day trips in Alaska’s Brooks Range. This is our marquee location, and at the end I felt exceptionally thankful for the experiences that this wilderness had provided. Christy put together videos for each trip. They’re not polished or narrated, and don’t have any drone footage,…

Boston 2022: Setting high expectations

By Andrew Skurka / April 4, 2022 /

The 2022 Boston Marathon is just two weeks away, and the most difficult and most revealing workouts of the training cycle are now behind me. So where am I at, and what am I expecting on race day? Goals I think it’s useful to include some degree of flexibility when setting goal times for a…

Flattering: 179 testimonials about our 2021 guided trips

By Andrew Skurka / December 14, 2021 /

Since 2014 I’ve asked our clients to complete a post-trip survey to gather feedback about our guides, locations, meals, and curriculum, plus their overall satisfaction. Reviewing the results is a multi-day project but entirely worthwhile: they confirm what we’re doing right, and they give me a checklist of improvements for the following year. Among our 2021 client…

Blowdowns & wildfires: Pfiffner Traverse conditions update

By Andrew Skurka / July 12, 2021 /

Several sections of the Pfiffner Traverse were significantly impacted by wildfires and storms in fall 2021, including both on- and off-trail portions, and both the Primary Route and Section Hikes. These events caused an official area closure by the National Park Service and de facto closures on NPS and US Forest Service lands because of…

A 7,000-mile hike || The Earth Beneath My Feet

By / June 7, 2021 /

Like millions of people – like you perhaps? – I grew up in the sprawling suburbs of a city. I spent my childhood with carpet and concrete underfoot, not the wild earth. But from the second I saw my first mountain at the age of fifteen the city faded into insignificance.  Trouble was, the city…

76 testimonials about our 2020 guided trips

By Andrew Skurka / December 2, 2020 /

Since 2014 I’ve asked our clients to complete a post-trip survey to gather feedback about our guides, locations, meals, and curriculum, plus their overall satisfaction. Reviewing the results is a multi-day project but entirely worthwhile: they confirm what we’re doing right, and they give me a checklist of improvements for the following year. Among our…

Photo of Iceberg and Barker Lakes WRHR

Trip Report: Wind River High Route, Loop 6 || An extraordinary trip for an ordinary hiker

By Erik Van Os / November 25, 2020 /

I’m not an elite endurance athlete, a long-distance thru-hiker, or a climber.  I respect those things tremendously, but that’s just not me. That probably puts me with most others who visit this website: I love backpacking and keep in reasonably good shape, and I enjoy chasing spectacular scenery and the challenge that it provides. Let’s just…