For the eighth year in a row Washington has been named the top bicycle-friendly state in the country by the League of American Bicyclists. Cities across the Pacific Northwest have been adding commuter bike lanes to make urban biking safer and to encourage traffic weary commuters to leave the comfort of their car for the exhilaration of the bike seat. …

The Pacific Northwest has a strong connection with Nepal – the climbing and trekking industries benefit both economies. Names of local legends like Jim Whittaker, Ed Viesturs, and Pete Athens echo in the thin air of Nepal’s high places alongside tales of Himalayan heroics on steep ice.  But this spring when disaster rocked Nepal it was another group of Pacific …

You may have seen one of these rare beasts – a mountain bike looking thing with cartoon-like over-inflated knobby tires. These bikes were once as rare as a Sasquatch sighting, but in the last two years the fat bike has opened up all-season, all-terrain biking in the Pacific Northwest from the backcountry trails of Kootenay B.C. to Oregon’s Christmas Valley …

It is time once again to put down your latte and find your ice axe, climbing harness, and willpower – it may be summer break for the kids, but school is in session on Northwest mountains from the Alaskan Range to the Cascades and there is no better teacher than internationally respected  American Alpine Institute (AAI) of Bellingham, Washington. This …

Brown’s farm vanishes from sight as you turn left along the Methow River and disappear into trees and rolling hills.  The only sound is the crunch of perfectly groomed snow under your skate skis and the air rushing from your lungs as you glide over the Twalks-Foster suspension bridge on your way to exploring 120 miles of groomed trails that …

Ed Viesturs, the first American to climb all fourteen of the world’s eight-thousand foot mountains without using supplemental oxygen, once said, “The only extras you can afford at altitude are willpower and stamina.”  He also famously said, “Getting to the top is optional.  Getting down is mandatory.” Often your success going up or trying to come back down depends on …