As daylight wanes, with the Winter Solstice almost here, it is the time to give. Here are some ideas—happy holidays.
The High Route is new. As noted in our About page and FAQs, we’re going to get some things right and some wrong, with the remainder of things, perhaps, somewhere in the middle, which brings us to gift guides and ’tis the season vibes.
One thing we’re trying to be mindful of at THR is #1. The disposable nature of Internet content, and #2. The literal disposable nature of the hard and soft goods we review on The High Route. In short, we aspire to refrain from contributing willy-nilly to the feed-me-now culture of it all. We believe in what we are doing and know you don’t need one more affiliate-link-motivated sponsored-content-driven gift guide. We could direct you towards them, but you know where to find them.
On that note, here’s a gift guide focused on things that help drive the inner workings of the backcountry community, and you might consider supporting this season. If you feel we missed a group or item worthy of a mention, email us or contribute in the comments.
Avalanche Centers
The List is long, but we encourage you to donate/become a member of your local avalanche center.
- Avalanche.org maintains a complete list of U.S. forecast centers. Often, forecast centers have affiliated nonprofits that serve as the fundraising arm for the forecast center. For example, the Friends of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center helps raise funds for the CAIC—a state-level government agency.
- The Avalanche Canada Foundation is where folks up north can find a place to send their Loonies to support Avalanche Canada’s downright awesome work.
Outdoor Access
- Big City Mountaineers is downright rootsy and effective. Their mission says it all and they stick to it: “Big City Mountaineers provides transformative experiences through connections to nature that strengthen life skills and build community for youth from disinvested communities.” Big City Mountaineers has programming in California, Colorado, Oregon, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Washington.
- Coombs Outdoors is a Teton-based nonprofit that promotes access and personal growth by reducing barriers to outdoor access. If you have spent time in the Teton Hills, you know these folks do good work.
- She Jumps advocates for outdoor access. Their mission is worthy: “SheJumps empowers women and girls to enjoy the outdoors through hosted events, educational clinics, and fundraising climbs. Our participants join for a wide variety of outdoor activities where they learn skills ranging from wilderness survival to mountaineering to outdoor medicine and more. These events are educational and help women and girls become self-sufficient in the outdoors.”
STOP!!
Tap the breaks for a moment. We could go on and on. The point is that we’ve got some well-vetted and worthy groups to support. And if you are who we think you are, you likely have a group in mind that you have considered supporting. Here’s the thing: if you are reading this and are a subscriber, you understand that good work takes the community’s support. This article is simply a nudge to support a group or someone you believe in.
The Art
We will conclude this gift/nudge guide with a nudge to support a favorite artist. The truth is that it’s difficult to tune out or, at a minimum, dial down the gift guide and buy-now cacophony. Cool art can be had for a price that meets a small budget. (Good on the High Desert Museum here in Bend for supporting the $20 Art Show. Shameless plug.) You could hunt around, see what fits your budget, support an artist, and gift someone an art-induced smile or vision.
The last note on this: if you love ski and adventure photography, many of the known and lesser-known photographers out there also create non-commercial work that is often accessible and affordable. As long as you protect it from harmful UV, a good photograph should last a long time and remain a prompt for going deeper into the mountains.
Happy almost Winter Solstice,
Folks at The High Route
