January 2023
Want our monthly Stash Blast delivered to your inbox? Subscribe here: winterwildlands.org/subscribe.
The Future We Could Have
We human beings have an extraordinary capacity for envisioning a better world. In the midst of a crushing heat wave, the air filled with exhaust, the noise of jackhammers and chainsaws, and the smoke of a half dozen wildfires, we can imagine drifting snow. We can imagine healthy watersheds teeming with wildlife. We can imagine birdsong, glaciers, stately whitebarks standing strong against a winter sky. We can imagine the long, switchbacking climb to the col, the view across countless unbroken ranges, the wind cold on our cheeks, that first sweet turn down into the gully. We can imagine half the Earth set aside for the ancient ways, a perfect counterbalance to our penchant for invention and mechanization.
Member Profile: Maddie Fahnline
“I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and hope that someone else will save these places; if they are to be protected it takes action in the present and people who will speak up for them.” Read more about Maddie, WWA Member and Advocate in Ely, Minnesota.
Why Is It Snowing When It’s Way Above Freezing?
During the winter months, when valley-drenching rain storms march across the flats, the people who love to play in mountain snow will invariably wonder: at what elevation will the rain change to snow?
Paradise Squeezed: Reduced Winter Access to Mount Rainier National Park
Staffing shortages have forced Mount Rainier National Park to restrict access to Paradise to weekends only this winter. We’re working with the Park to make sure this isn’t the new normal.
December Policy Update
In this month’s policy update, we share about our Policy Director’s recent trip to DC, permitting reform, winter solstice, and the end of 2022.
Backcountry Film Festival: On Tour Now!
#KEEPWINTERWILD
“Happy New Year! Over the past week, our staff has been enjoying time off to explore their backyard backcountry areas, taking a break from their inboxes and promoting the @ski_kind mentality on their local trails.
Our members have been showing their support with year-end gifts, winter solstice stoke, and sharing how to #keepwinterwild in the skin track with their best backcountry buddies.
Our grassroots groups have been shoveling snow, breaking trail, and continuing their work to advocate for human-powered wild winters at the local level.
Our @wwasnowschool sites have been prepping for another season of in-person and virtual K-12 snow education.
And our @backcountryfilmfestival
What have you been up to?”
See more at our Instagram profile here.
