Welcome to The High Route.
We’re guessing you found us because you thrive on moving through the mountains, especially under you own power, on skis or boards.
We wanted something different at The High Route—a place where we get granular about skinning, the climbing, and the turn making without a whole lot of extraneous noise. Or extraneous influence. In other words, we are about exploring the world of human powdered backcountry travel involving turns on snow. The site is owned and operated by dedicated backcountry skiers. Our goal is to create a community focused and community supported site. We’ve got to keep the lights on; we landed on a subscription model to access The High Route’s content. Readers are allotted ~eight free articles, after which a prompt will ask you to support us by subscribing.
During the subscription process, you’ll create a login and password to access the site.
“You work for who pays you,” said our guest in the first episode of The High Route Podcast. His endeavor (a thriving reader-supported cycling website) inspired ours, and his words have never been more true than in today’s media landscape. In the case of many commercial sites, you endure a bombardment of advertisements, sponsored content from the local tourism board, and the ubiquitous affiliate links—which are a more subtle version of a “BUY NOW” logo with flames dancing around the perimeter. “Free” content has a cost.
Our focus is narrow and we are sticking to it. As a site funded by the backcountry community, through your subscriptions, we understand who we are writing for.
Along with the site, we are producing two podcasts: one focused on non-gear-related topics, the other a deep dive into backcountry and ski mountaineering gear. Those podcasts are free to listen to, although they are not free to produce.
Risk is an interesting calculus. It carries a particular allure, but it’s also unnerving. We’re taking a risk and we’re hoping you help us nail the landing.
You can learn more about us on our About page and the FAQs.
Thanks for checking out The High Route, and reach out if you have any questions.
