The Crusade/hiding beneath the bed

When I first saw Sky’s quote on death and hiding beneath the bed…I thought ut-oh. I produce an outdoor podcast and that quote came out of a radio/rich media piece I worked on with the Hummels and Sky and well in makes more sense inside the context of the radio piece than as a quote on a message board. I'd hoped to have the photo/video version out sooner...but it's been sunny.

Click here to listen – it's a big file featuring photos from Sky and Jason. Phil kicked down some video. If you ever wondered what makes the Hummel’s tick or Sky so motivated, it’s worth a listen.

For the record: I wasn’t attempting to write a history of northwest skiing. I think we are probably all in agreement that over the last few years there has been an incredible amount of energy poured into steep skiing up here. If you look at it nationally, the Northwest is going off at the moment. That energy comes from many different sources, but this isn’t a history or web database of descents. You can find that elsewhere on the Internet. This is a story about a couple of very unique individuals, about their growth as skiers and people, and the thought process that we all go through in determining our personal threshold for risk.

On a side note, you guys have really developed a rich community up here. TAY seems to have been so influential in connecting people to one another and creating friendships in a pursuit where there are no pick up games. I can’t tell you how much I wish something like this had existed for climbers back when I went to college(I guess there was the UW list serve, but that was debacle). I always struggled to find partners, in part because I was shy, but also because I struggled to find people my age interested in the types of routes I wanted to climb. Instead, I climbed alone – passing on corners as Lowell would like to say. So I think this piece – The Crusade – is a reflection of what you all have built up here.