Outdoors & Offline with Bryan Schaeffer

Dr. Andy Luks explains altitude physiology and acute altitude illnesses. Learn practical steps on how to prepare for high-altitude environments.

Here are some great resources to learn about altitude illnesses.

How to prevent altitude sickness:

https://theuiaa.org/uiaa/how-to-avoid-and-prevent-altitude-sickness/

High Altitude Doctor:

http://www.highaltitudedoctor.org/

Recommendations for high-altitude travel:

https://theuiaa.org/mountain-medicine/medical-advice/

WMS Guidelines :

https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S1080-6032(19)30090-0/fulltext

Professor Devon Orme gives us a geology lesson on the area of Montana covered in the new The Last Best Trails book.

Instagram: @testresearchgroup

https://devonorme.com

Email: devon.orme@montana.edu

Buy the first edition signed book at:

www.thelastbesttrails.com

I met Sebastian on the Bozeman Hiking Forum Facebook group. It was the middle of a long, dark, and cold winter. I was looking for photo references to illustrate a few of the waterfalls I had yet to capture in the summertime. Sebastian has an expansive archive of hiking photography from his Bozone adventures. Join us as we take a spring stroll up the college "M" trail and talk about the upcoming season on the trails.

Follow Sebastian on Instagram @sebawebba

Learn more about the new guide book at: www.thelastbesttrails.com

Co-founder and Editor of Outside Bozeman print magazine talks about its inception in the 1990s and what makes the "Bozone" a mecca for outdoor recreationists and sportsmen.

Contact Outside Bozeman Magazine:

https://outsidebozeman.com/company/contact

The Last Best Trails Book avialble May 3rd

www.thelastbesttrails.com

Bringing a communication device, going with a partner and dressing for the conditions are the big 3.

#1 is not going anywhere alone.  Some of our most difficult rescues are people that have gone solo somewhere.  When people bring another person they have someone who can call for help if they aren’t getting cell reception, provide extra clothing, food and water, or help stabilize the injury until we get there.

 Having another person is crucial.  That would cut down 50 percent of our calls.  

People are still going to get hurt, but with another person, they self-rescue. 

https://gallatincomt.virtualtownhall.net/search-and-rescue

https://www.friendsgcssar.org/

We are trying something different, making a walk and talk recording on the Sourdough trail at Tuckerman park in Bozeman.

I met Jacob at an indigenous edible plant walk a few weeks ago.  I invited him to share some of his foraging wisdom with us.

Find Jacob online:

http://ecologicalhuman.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ecologicalhumanproject

I am at the Forest Service District Rangers Office in Bozeman with Corey Lewellen and Marna Daley to discuss the newly-released Land Management Plan.

Corey and Marna discuss the creation of the LMP with local feedback and how it affects popular recreation areas around Bozeman.

Visit the local ranger district office for more information or visit online:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/custergallatin/landmanagement/planning

https://www.facebook.com/CusterGallatinNationalForest

Closures and alerts: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/custergallatin/home

I am sitting down with Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson in the Federal Building downtown Bozeman to discuss the newly-released Land Management Plan.

Discover what a Land Management Plan is, the steps taken to create it, and how it affects the Custer Gallatin National Forest.

Visit the local ranger district office for more information or visit online:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/custergallatin/landmanagement/planning

https://www.facebook.com/CusterGallatinNationalForest

http://t.co/GvqB6koOSa

Guidebook Author Bryce Stevens and I talk about digitizing maps and materials for one of the early online trail platform trails.com.

Always curious about what lies around the next corner or beach, throughout his career Bryce has authored hiking guidebooks and more recently backcountry adventure dirt biking routes.

Previously co-founder of Trails.com, Inc. d.b.a. Hillclimb Media - owner of websites that included Trails.com and GolfLink.com. Hillclimb was sold to Demand Media in 2006.

Learn more about Bryces projects at: 

https://ridebdr.com 

www.topozone.com 

https://www.californiabeaches.com

www.hawaiibeaches.com

Prolific guidebook author Craig Romano talks about the resurgence in physical guide books and how he got his start.  I met Craig several years ago at a hikers expo at the REI Flagship store in Seattle and was immediately drawn to his enthusiasm.  

In 2016 we hiked the Gothic Basin Trail one of his 100 Classic Hikes Washington the year the new book printed and filmed for the guidebook review.  

Watch the 100 Classic Hikes Guidebook Review Video here: https://botnw.com/prep

I grew up in Dillon, MT skiing with the Birkenbuel brothers - Nordic Bill Koch Youth Ski League and alpine at Maverick Mountain.

I moved on to Seattle for college where I witnessed my first Warren Miller show.

Through a series of fortuitous events Cory and Kevin Hilton were paired with the late-great Warren Miller to produce some meaningful short films in the tradition of Warren's original work.

This is Cory's story.

The brilliant colored topographical sun hoodie designs drew me to Damon's work.  These custom river maps printed on recycled plastic garments give a portion of the proceeds to water conservation efforts across the west.  Damon shares his founding story and how design can bring communities together for the common good.

Check out Damon's work at: https://www.kinddesign.co/

I met John a decade ago in Seattle after my family and I completed all 70 hikes in his self-published Beyond Mount SI guidebook.

https://botnw.com/blog/2020/1/27/trailrunningsafety-a4wlg-s4zm6-cksfh

Fast forward a few years and John is taking his creative/innovative side to a new level co-founding a new running shoe company that builds models tuned to your running pace.

Learn more and follow there progress at:
https://vimazi.com/

Bozeman's Bike Kitchen is the place to learn how to fix your bike or build a bike.  

Hailey Renner takes us through what the Bike Kitchen does and invites us to come in and check out this unique place.

https://www.bozemanbikekitchen.org/

Bike into your best self with Bozeman’s head NICA coach Heidi Makoutz.

If you have ever been around Sunset Hills trails in the summer or the winter, you might recognize Heidi.  She is the Masters Coach for the Bridger Ski Foundation and Bozeman’s head coach of the NICA mountain biking program.  Learn about the upcoming third season of Bozeman's National Interscholastic Cycling Association for high school riders. 

Pre-order limited firsts-edition The Last Best BIKE Books and more on Kickstarter this June only.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thelastbestski/the-last-best-bike-book-montana-bozeman-big-sky-and-beyond

Paralympic Nordic skier and track athlete Dani Aravich talks about training, why exercising in nature is so important and what makes her home base between travel for competitions Bozeman so special.

Jim & Claudia Schaeffer (my folks) spent winters in the late 70s working at the new Big Sky Resort and off hours exploring Yellowstone National Park on backcountry skis.  The meadows and ski basins along corridor from Big Sky to Yellowstone have a timeless feel, not having changed much over all those years.

"I like the quietness.  The snow conditions are great, it’s dry snow, easy to wax. I like being able to see critters running around.  There’s buffalo; we have seen wolves driving through Lamar (Valley) in the wintertime.  And the lack of people in the wintertime.  A lot of the stuff that’s really busy in the summertime turns in to a defacto wilderness, so it’s a totally different experience in the winter."

- Jim Schaeffer former Forest Ranger Gallatin, Beaverhead and Bighorn Mountains

Photo editor of Outside Bozeman Magazine and Backcountry Skier Simon Peterson shares why he’s not good about keeping secrets about great ski lines in the mountains around Bozeman.

"There shouldn’t be any secrets.  We need the user days to progress the sport, to keep the accesses open.  We are getting more people, the sport is getting more popular.  All you have to do is drive 15 more minutes and you are going to find a spot where there is nobody.  I don’t like the secretive, hush, hush; how did you learn about it?  You learned about it from somebody.  Teach the next person, maybe, just maybe they will become your friend.  Maybe they are a great skier and fun to ski with.  I’m not good about keeping secrets about that stuff.
I had my priorities straight.  I moved here for the skiing and school second.
Doing some progression where you learn the fundamentals before you are diving into extreme terrain is huge."

- Simon Peterson
Photo Editor Outside Bozeman Magazine

Right next to Bridger Bowl.  Let’s talk Crosscut Mountain Sports Center’s big plans with Nordic Center Director Fay Johnson.

"Our enthusiasm and optimism is the community's response and interest in Crosscut.  

They recognize the fact that cross-country Skiing is a great alternative in these troubled times because you can distance so easily.
We are instituting a new online system where people can purchase day tickets as well as reserve rental gear and book lessons."

- Fay Johnson Nordic Center Director

After missing the Olympics, by one spot, Nick Michaud turned his focus to coaching a diverse population of Nordic skiers including the US Paralympic Team partnered with Crosscut.

Yeah, I think skiing is for everyone—it just requires some collaborative, creative pooling of organizations & resources.  People from all backgrounds are coming here.  We have a couple of the best sit skiers in the world as part of our program and we have athletes that have just learned to ski this year.  There are all these unique stories in a sport that is less widely unique.  That is a huge motivation for me and the other staff.  It makes our sport more special.  We are bringing in more people; it makes it more accessible.  Our goal as the paralympic team is for the sport to keep growing from the bottom up.  They are thriving in that community.
Asking questions, questions, questions, good coaching is good coaching.  In an ego-free way, let’s learn together.  Meeting people where they are at to help them become the best version of themselves.
At some level we are all adaptive.

- Nick Michaud
US Paralympic Ski Team Crosscut Mountain Sports Center

Bridger Bowl Snowsports School Director Shannon Griffin shares her love for Bridger, gives us some great ideas on where to go exploring at different skill levels and some new changes for this season.

There is easy beginner terrain to steep technical chutes, trees and cliffs.  Everything you could want is accessible and it’s right there only 20—30 minutes away from town.

The spirit at Bridger has really stayed as being a community area it’s our backyard.  It’s where we get to go play.

With the Bridgers being a north to south range, primary winds move west to east.  The Bridgers catch the air masses forming a long cloud that hangs over the range known as the (BBC) Bridger Bowl Cloud.  Any snow storms that come through start dumping straight down leaving Bridger’s famous cold smoke Powder.

-Shannon Griffin
Bridger Bowl Snowsports School Director

I’m in Bozeman grabbing coffee with Nordic skier and North Face mountain athlete Erika Flowers.  Erika shares her transition from pro athlete to making the balance training, racing, and working full time and having a blast in the mountains. And her amazing attitude.

"The access here is probably some of the best cross-country skiing access in the world.  Just the fact that there is so much access here makes it a really ideal spot for a skier growing up."

-Erika Flowers