As adventure sports enthusiasts, mountains play an outsized role in all of our lives. For those lucky enough to live amongst them, it’s their actual physical presence – you can’t help but be overawed by the sheer scale of the peaks which surround Chamonix for example. But even those of us who only get to travel to the mountains a handful of times each year often spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking and dreaming about these magnificent natural wonders.
Mountains are, after all, our playground. They’re the arena in which we do the things we love. Whether it’s rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking or road cycling, mountains are the place to do it. But it’s more than just that. Mountains aren’t just about having a good time. They can also be an incredibly unforgiving environment, and one that often presents us with our toughest challenges.
“We spoke to Steve Wakeford, a man who’s lucky to be alive…”
This month’s issue contains plenty of aspirational tales of people enjoying themselves in the world’s mountainous regions – from heli-skiing in Iceland to sampling adventure sports in the frozen hills of Quebec. We also spoke to the British freestyle skiers who are shaking up the establishment, and it was hard not to get caught up in their infectious enthusiasm. But this month we also looked at the darker side of mountains. What happens when things go wrong.
