Issue 1 of The High Route magazine is printed. We aim to have the publication in the mail to readers on February 1. We are stoked. 

 

If you are reading this, we assume you are a regular/semi-regular reader of The High Route. No doubt, we appreciate it.

Regular readers know this too; we are passionate about the backcountry first. Selling and upselling are things we are trying to do, but they don’t exactly come naturally for any of us. Furthermore, we aspire to create stories with a shelf life of more than a few scroll-through seconds.

Ok, so here comes the upsell. Issue 1 of The High Route magazine is printed (confirmed this AM), and we should receive the magazines in a week or so at THR HQ; then, we’ll begin shipping them to readers. Yikes—that’s a lot going on, and we still need to get our frequent backcountry fix.

The High Route magazine will be our home for long-form backcountry storytelling. Whether journalism, personal narrative, fiction, or photo essays, our content’s throughline is human-powered skiing or riding adventures. This first magazine issue runs roughly 114 pages (with minimal advertising) and offers what you might expect: high-quality paper stock, excellent writing, and photos. Our format is 10” x 8”. We prefer our readers to have options—they can display the mag on the coffee table or stow it in a pack for easy on-the-go reading.

Last week, we disclosed our sweet cover shot, which exemplifies what we love about being backcountry tourists: going uphill to the top, where the view is often better. Inside the magazine’s cover, we think you’ll like what you find.

Contributors include writing by Kelly Cordes, Spencer Dillon, Adam Fabrikant, Billy Haas, Hadley Hammer, Alex Lee, Christina (Lusti) Lustenberger, Paisley Rekdal, Sophie Stuber, Cody Townsend, and Pete Vordenberg.

Photo Essays by Jason Thompson and Pat Valade.

Photos from Noa Barrau, Sophie Denison, Sam Hennessey, Chris Kussmaul, Erich Roepke, Drew Smith, and Pat Wadsworth.

 

Photo: Pat Valade

Photo: Pat Valade

 

There are many highlights. We are proud of all the pieces. We believe they will resonate with our audience. But for now, let’s focus on the stories by Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas. Adam, Billy, and their good friend Brendan O’Neill (yeah, he is in his 50s!) climbed and skied Gasherbrum I and II this July. If you are familiar with these three ski-mountaineers and guides, it is not because they are spraying. They are skiers skiers, doing what they do because it 100% makes them feel more alive.

Adam’s story is about the Gasherbrum trip, and he reflects on his style in the mountains. Climbing and skiing 8,000-meter peaks is something most of us can only imagine. It’s another reality to climb and ski these peaks with no oxygen, no fixed ropes, and no support above basecamp. Their style in the Karakoram’s high mountains makes us believe that small and proficient groups can do amazing things, no matter the objective.

The story by Haas relates to the Gasherbrum expedition, but it takes a hard 90-degree turn away from the mountains. Over the past several years, Haas was diagnosed with a severe heart condition and underwent two open-heart surgeries.

Behind the scenes, Kelly Cordes (go read The Tower) and Jason co-edited these stories. Over and over, they commented to one another how blown away they were by the fact that Billy could do what he had done in the past and, even more, push himself to another level at such rarefied altitudes, click into skis, and make some audacious turns.  

Which is to say that we would love your support as we launch the new magazine. If you have not subscribed, please consider it.

If you need more convincing and want to discuss how great issue 1 is, email me, and we can hop on a call.   

You can subscribe to the magazine here.