Recent posts

15Jan 202621 Jan 2026

100-mile Ice Skate in Katmai National Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXqoUVId6lk Alaska experienced a sustained cold spell throughout December, which froze many lakes without snow cover. I tracked satellite imagery…

7Aug 20258 Aug 2025

Western Brooks Range to Point Lay, Alaska

Another passenger on the flight to Kotzebue stopped at my row and introduced himself as Colin Arisman. Colin is an…

13Jan 202517 Jan 2025

Bad Date Ideas in Boston

I met Amy on the subway from Boston’s Logan Airport. I struck up a conversation with her son (6 years…

The Avalanche Factor—the Modern Era of Avalanche Education

28 Nov 202328 Nov 2023

This is meant to be a book review of The Avalanche Factor by Joe Stock (2023). But the real value of Joe's book is that it captures changes in avalanche…

A Hike Along the Northern Alaska Range, Denali National Park

14 Nov 202315 Nov 2023

https://youtu.be/3345kds5RB8 A girlfriend of Sarah's suggested that we go to Denali National Park for our annual "SnL" (Sarah and Luc) vacation. The Alaska Range has not been on our radar…

A Weekend with Packrafting’s Elite: Black Canyon

3 Oct 20236 Oct 2023

I feel like a combat journalist fresh back from an assignment to observe some of today’s packrafting elite. This is that report. Trent Pearce took the cover photo for this…

Skolai to McCarthy via Doubtful Creek

17 Sep 20233 Oct 2023

I've never been particularly interested in guiding. I have a lot of friends who used to guide, and they were all pretty eager to transition into more stable jobs as…

Boat control: Why it matters and how to get it

8 May 202328 Aug 2023

There is a frequent debate within the rescue/instruction community about what really matters in swiftwater safety. The conflict is that we can spend a lot of time practicing technical systems…

Big water, little boat: Tatshenshini River to Yakutat

My shared birthday buddy Jeremy Wood invited Sarah and me on a Tatshenshini float trip, Southeast Alaska, in August. Sarah was excited about the scenery and I was excited to…

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Kotzebue to Kivalina

26 Apr 202327 Apr 2023

https://youtu.be/zc_bM6vGuv8 The 85-mile stretch of Chukchi coast between Kotzebue and Kivalina was the final remote leg in my Molly of Denali-inspired 3,500-mile route from Kaktovik to Juneau. It has taken…

Lake Clark Skate Date

4 Apr 20235 Apr 2023

Lake Clark, and Lake Clark National Park, is a precious pocket of Alaska bound by the Chigmit, Neacola, and Alaska Ranges. The tallest mountains rise 10,000 feet from rugged beaches,…

Trusting Tustumena

20 Mar 202324 Mar 2023

Tustumena is the largest lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (and one of the ten largest in Alaska), three hours south of Anchorage. The Dena'ina name is reported as…