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  Sierra Magazine
  November/December 2008
Table of Contents
 
  COLD SWEAT:
Ice Manliness Cometh
A Six-Dog-Power Engine
I (Heart) Snowshoeing
Skiing Yellowstone
Freeze-Frame
 
  MORE FEATURES:
Welcome Back to the World
Rotten Fish Tales
Big Fun in the Green Zone
 
  DEPARTMENTS:
Spout
Create
Enjoy
Hey Mr. Green
Smile
Act
Explore
Grapple
Comfort Zone
Mixed Media
Bulletin
Last Words
 
  MORE:
Sierra Archives
Corrections
About Sierra
Internships at Sierra
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Cold Sweat
Five places to get a great winter workout
November/December 2008


A cross-country skier glides across Yellowstone National Park's backcountry on an eight-day Sierra Club outing. Highlights include the insights of a former interpretive ranger, group frolicking (below), and alone time with Old Faithful.

Does any natural substance cause such disparate human responses as snow? Maybe the reason it can make mundane moments wondrous is that misery is never far away. The simple sensations of air pumping through lungs and blood through muscles seem transcendent when the ever-present alternative is spasmodic shivering. So while many animals curl up in their dens and vegetate until spring, a subspecies of human charges into winter headlong. To understand this behavior, Sierra sent writers to cold, white landscapes from New England to the Pacific Northwest. Go figure: They all had a blast.

Ice Manliness Cometh
How to climb a waterfall.
DAVID FERRIS

A Six-Dog-Power Engine
When mushing gets mushy.
DEBRA JONES

I (Heart) Snowshoeing
A family falls for chilly adventure.
ERIN PURSELL

Skiing Yellowstone
Why vroom when you can shoosh?

Freeze-Frame
Squeeze into a Michigan ice cave.
JERRY HARPT

Winter Action Wear: Warm, non-cotton clothes are essential: wicking internal layers; several fleece and wool middle layers; and a waterproof, breathable, windproof shell. You'll also need winter boots rated for low temperatures, plus wool socks, windproof fleece gloves and warm mittens, a hat and balaclava, sunglasses, and a headlamp for morning and evening excursions. Tip: Your clothes may get covered with dog drool or be shredded by an errant ice ax, so functionality definitely trumps fashion.


Photos by David Stubbs; used with permission.

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