“The opportunity to explore the accessible powder stashes with the most passionate locals is the mission. Getting it the best we can is our objective.” This winter, Neil Provo, Molly Baker, and Zack Giffin are subscribing to the gypsy life and taking off on a two-month tiny house road trip in celebration of a passion-driven, low impact, ski bum lifestyle while searching for fresh talent to add to the OR athlete roster. Follow along, here on VertiCulture.

Whitewater is a mythical place for an American skier. Not too distant, but yet so far out of reach. How does an American stay in Canada, land of epic powder for the winter? Or even a lifetime?

Looking for the comfort and peace solitude can bring, Kyle Dempster left for open land and big sky spending three months biking and climbing through Asia.

We checked the climbing potential near Saser Kangri II, the world’s 2nd highest unclimbed peak, called “Baby Ruth” for its similarity to Alaska’s Ruth Gorge. Up and over a high col to the South Shukpa glacier we find stunning unclimbed peaks in every direction.

In November, 2010 a friend asked me to join his month-long NPS patrol on Denali. I don’t like sitting in a tent if I’m not sleeping and I hate being cold. I said yes, of course… Mountaineering is a weird sport, both thrilling and ridiculous. We spent 25 days walking and waiting to get to a summit that we stood on for three minutes. Then we walked back down. That sort of elected suffering incorporates patience, determination, ego, grit, money, time, gear, self-reliance, self-absorption, an anti-stir-crazy syrum (in our case, Hearts and Bananagrams). Along the way I tried to meet the people who do this sport. From 14 Camp, meet some mountaineering people…