Contributors

Meet the writers, poets, photographers, and artists who have contributed to Mountain Gazette since its revival at issue 194.

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Megan Michelson

Megan Michelson is a freelance writer and editor based in Tahoe City, California. Formerly an editor at Outside, Skiing magazine, and ESPN.com, she writes about travel, the outdoors, and mental health for publications like the San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, Backcountry, Ski, Outside, and others.

Emily Tidwell

Emily Tidwell is an avid skier, mediocre runner, and senior photographer at Mountain Gazette. When she’s not skinny-dipping in alpine lakes for captivating stories found here, you can find her galivanting around the world, capturing your favorite outdoor sports. While she’s spent 15 years on the West Coast, she’ll still overenunciate the vowel in any word, just like her Minnesota roots taught her. She now resides in Reno, Nevada.

Baratunde Thurston

Baratunde Thurston is an Emmy-nominated multi-platform storyteller and producer operating at the intersection of race, tech, democracy, and climate. He is the host of the PBS television series America Outdoors With Baratunde Thurston, creator and host of How to Citizen with Baratunde, which Apple named one of its favorite podcasts of 2020, and a founding partner of the new media startup Puck. His comedic memoir, How to Be Black, is a New York Times bestseller. Baratunde serves on the boards of BUILD.org and the Brooklyn Public Library and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Jenny Wyss Ulrich

Jenny Wyss Ulrich grew up in the coastal forests of Oregon to become an artist, education leader, and naturalist. As a child, she met author-illustrator Barbara Cooney, who challenged her to make the world a more beautiful place. With her first children’s picture book underway, she hopes to fulfill her promise. Inspired by sharing lessons of self-reliance and interconnectedness with her daughter, Jenny’s storytelling and paintings bring the Cloud Girls’ legacy to life for the youngest audience. She lives in North Lake Tahoe, California.

Liz Chamberlain

Liz Chamberlain wants you to know this is her second contribution to Mountain Gazette, where writing and creating is a pastime to her main hustle: slinging ski and bike gear in her hometown of Truckee, California. Catch her on the open road with a bike on her rack and a Pacific Crest Coffee in hand.

Sadie Stein

Sadie Stein is a writer and editor. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and New York, as well as places without her hometown in the title. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and son.

Michelle Parker

Michelle Parker has had a long and storied career in skiing. One of the most documented skiers of her time, she has starred in dozens of ski films following a successful run in slopestyle and halfpipe competitions. Her passion for bigger mountains followed her education after she took a guide course in Haines, Alaska, in her early 20s. Working with Matchstick Productions for more than a decade and winning multiple Best Female Performance awards at both the Powder Video Awards as well as the iF3 Festival, she branched off to produce her own series with Red Bull, titled Originate, where she was able to explore other aspects of the mountains on film, including mountain biking and climbing. She resides in Tahoe City, California.

Peter Kray

Peter Kray is a former editor of Mountain Gazette and the author of American Snow, a history of U.S. snow-sports instruction, and The God of Skiing, which writer Porter Fox has called “the greatest ski novel of all time.” He likes walking his black Labradors Rose Marie and Moses Leaf in the open fields south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, listening to his wife, Catherine, play piano, and telling anyone who will listen why there should be more books about skiing. His advice for every hopeful writer is, “Trust your voice, write what you want to read, take chances, and put the work in.”

 

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Jimmy Chin

Jimmy Chin is a professional climber, National Geographic photographer, Academy Award–winning film director, and New York Times bestselling author. His work is world-renowned. His latest book, There and Back: Photographs from the Edge, is available in independent bookstores. He resides in Jackson, Wyoming.

Lily Krass

Lily Krass is a freelance storyteller. Her work has been featured in SKI, Powder, Freeskier, Teton Gravity Research, and Ascent Backcountry Snow Journal. In addition to an all-consuming addiction to powder skiing, Lily takes snacking seriously. She is the co-author of Beyond Skid: A Cookbook for Ski Bums, a collection of dirtbag-friendly recipes inspired by life in a mountain town. She lives in Jackson, Wyoming.

M. John Fayhee

M. John Fayhee is the former editor of Mountain Gazette. His work has also appeared in several local, regional, and national magazines and newspapers. He is the author of many books, including Along the Colorado Trail, The Colorado Mountain Companion, and Bottoms Up. John has also hiked the Colorado Trail and the Colorado section of the Continental Divide Trail. A Colorado resident for 24 years, he lives in Silver City, New Mexico.

The Mighty Quinn

Quinn is a golden retriever puppy. He did very little to help get this issue off to the presses. When he’s not pissing off the accountants who rent office space below Mountain Gazette HQ, Quinn is a good boy who resides in North Lake Tahoe, California.

Yuriy “Niks” Nikityuk

Yuriy “Niks” Nikityuk is a Ukrainian professional photographer. Before the current war with Russia, Niks ran a small e-commerce music shop in Kyiv. Today, he and his family reside as refugees in Romania as the conflict in Ukraine rages on. If you’d like to help Niks, contact him at beat-com-ua[ at ] gmail.com.

Ari Schneider

Ari Schneider is an investigative journalist. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Vogue, and Slate. He was born and raised in the Green Mountains of Vermont and enjoys climbing, motorcycles, dogs, good socks, and good books. He resides in Colorado.

Jason Roman

Jason Roman is a photographer and content creator born and raised in New York. His photography documents and reframes the mundane into moments of note. He has been featured by Leica, New York magazine, and Genius, among others.

Aimee Maila Doran

Aimee Malia Doran is a Jane of all trades and the social-media coordinator for Mountain Gazette. When she joined the magazine, she was juggling seven to 10 seasonal jobs to pursue her goals of being a ski bum and a sports model. She is also a singer-songwriter, plays guitar and ukulele, and is a self-proclaimed plant nerd. She resides in Olympic Valley, California.

Javier Alonso

Javi Alonso is a nature lover, former athlete, and passionate outdoor photographer. Although he calls the Spanish Pyrenees home, he has been dreaming about (and chasing) photography projects around the world for nearly a decade. His work combines an artistic point of view with creative editing, while never straying from the real stories found adventuring in the mountains. Currently, Javi is participating in the Everest Recycling Project, developing a documentary during his time on Everest and Lhotse. He is based in Val d’Aran, Spain.

Hans Ludwig

Hans Ludwig was a washed-up mogul skier from Colorado who moved to California to wash up even harder as a backcountry skier. Thanks to an introduction to Powder Photo Editor Dave Reddick by skier Glen Plake on Mammoth’s Chair 23, he was a correspondent/senior correspondent at Powder magazine for more than 20 years. Besides writing the “Jaded Local” column, he mostly spent that time freezing in remote, scary places and skiing deep snow, unleashing blitzkrieg attacks on the corporate expense account at the bar with ski patrollers, and blowing his knees while heli-skiing. Hans is currently trying to resurrect Powder and writing the soon-to-be-released Mustache Squad: Couloir of the Damned, a psychedelic odyssey of alpine self-actualization and supernatural intrigue.

 

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Kayden Richards

Kayden Richards is an ancestral native of the Virgin Islands, from St. John. Fascinated with animals and nature, he grew up watching hours of Animal Planet and nature documentaries, and looked up to his grandfather, Alva Richards, known in the family as the Animal Whisperer. He moved back to St. John, saved up to buy his first camera, a Canon Rebel T6, and works at a shelter.

Veronique de Viguerie

Véronique de Viguerie, a multi- awarded French photographer represented by Getty Reportage and Verbatim Photo Agency, is based in Paris, France. Having completed a master’s degree in law in France, she studied photojournalism in England. She spent years living and working in Afghanistan.

George Sibley

George Sibley came to the mountains of the Gunnison River region in 1966 and stayed. He has now written for all three risings of the Mountain Gazette, and has a couple of books derived from that experience: Part of a Winter and Dragons in Paradise. At 80, he’s more of a valley man now.

Reza Farazmand

Reza Farazmand is a New York Times bestselling author, comedy writer, and creator of the popular internet comic series Poorly Drawn Lines. He has published four books. His work has been featured in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, the Adventure Time comics, Buzzfeed, and on NPR and Comedy Central. Poorly Drawn Lines debuted as a show on FX last summer. He lives and draws in Los Angeles.

Kim Stravers

Kim Stravers is the copy editor at Mountain Gazette. She has been telling and editing stories about adventure and action sports since the turn of the century, having labored happily over a hot computer for ESPN, Powder, Bike, Surfer, The Golfer’s Journal, The Surfer’s Journal, The Motoring Journal (all the journals!), and Nowhere, among others. She still goes weak in the knees over exceptional paper stock. She savors slow Western meanders on about any type of surface, from the Sierra to the Salt River to the Sonoran Desert, and rarely turns down a doughnut, literal or figurative.

Jamie Wanzek

Jamie Wanzek is a journalist and skier based in southwest Colorado. She recently moved home to the San Juan Mountains, where she is rediscovering a known place. Sometimes she jumps off things with her mountain bike or skateboard, although she tends to opt for crafting instead.

Daniel Arnold

Daniel Arnold is a New York City street, Instagram, and fashion photographer. He captures the city as it exists in the moment. His images appear regularly in Vogue and The New York Times. Follow his work at @arnold_daniel.

Aaron Blatt

The ties between art and sport have long been central to Aaron Blatt’s work. With roots in New England, Aaron and his camera traveled to mountain ranges around the world as he worked his way up to staff titles with several publications and brands. He splits his time between Portland, Oregon, and Lake Tahoe, California.

 

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Jason Roman

Jason Roman is a photographer and content creator born and raised in New York. His photography documents and reframes the mundane into moments of note. He has been featured by Leica, New York magazine, and Genius, among others.

Hannah Eddy

Hannah Eddy grew up by the ocean in Maine, but her love of the mountains brought her out West. She is currently based in Reno, Nevada, nestled close to the Sierra Nevada, which she loves exploring. As a snowboard, skate, and surf enthusiast, her art is inspired by seeking adventure outdoors and caring for our planet and each other. See more of her work at hannaheddyart.com.

John Maclean

John N. Maclean wrote five books about wildland fire before turning to his memoir, Home Waters: A Chronicle of Family and a River. His father, Norman, wrote A River Runs Through It. Maclean previously worked for 30 years for the Chicago Tribune, most of that time as a Washington correspondent following the legendary diplomatic journeys of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Liz Chamberlain

Liz Chamberlain hails from the illustrious hills of Truckee, California. As an athlete of unmatched prowess and prestige, you will likely find her tripping uphill or going over the handlebars at 30 miles an hour. Don’t be alarmed. She usually bounces back.

Amanda Monthei

Amanda Monthei is a writer and skier in Bellingham, Washington. She enjoys being thoroughly humbled by such undertakings as wildland firefighting, ski patrolling, karaoke, and trying to jump off things with her bike. She aspires to one day not suck at banjo. Her work has been featured in The Atlantic, The Ski Journal, and The Flyfish Journal.

Shannon Rogge

Shannon Rogge is a marriage and family therapist in private practice in Northern California. Her diverse training, along with a passion for all things wild and Earth-based, has nourished her practice over the years. Rogge feels profoundly connected to the natural world and works hard to both embody and teach this reverence to others.

Jake Murie

Jake Murie is returning to his 10th year as a wildland firefighter and currently works on a hotshot crew based in Alaska. In his offseason he desires international travel opportunities in less frequented countries that pose challenges. When back stateside you can find him out of cell service exploring rivers and canyons. He loves cinnamon rolls.

Jon Buzdar

Jon Buzdar is a journalist and photographer based out of Southern California. A Pakistani native, born in Quetta, he moved to the States at a young age. The purpose of his work stems from the belief that everyone has a voice and from the importance of seeing the world through different lenses. He hosts The Double Life podcast.

Ingrid Backstrom

Ingrid Backstrom is a professional skier, mother, and sometimes writer. She has appeared in over 20 ski films and feels fortunate to have skied from the tops and sides of mountains all over the world including Pakistan, Antarctica, Greenland, Denali, and China.

John Coleman

John Coleman is the art director at Mountain Gazette. He is a graphic designer, illustrator, and second- generation journalist who, like his father, started his career at a newspaper before finding his way into marketing and advertising. John is a die-hard Yankees fan, marking the first time a Yankees and Mets fan (Rogge) accomplished anything.

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Sadie Stein

Sadie Stein’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, The Paris Review, and many other places. She loves walking and exploring the many hidden natural treasures of her native New York City and hiking and camping whenever she can.

Gina Danza

Gina Danza (Wild Gina) is a fine art landscape photographer and artist in Arizona. She uses natural light and the sun as a way to enhance her storytelling in natural settings. She can be found on Instagram at @wildginaa.

Tao Lin

Tao Lin is the author of ten books, including Trip (2018) and Tapei (2013). His next book, Leave Society, is forthcoming from Vintage Books. He edits Muumuu House and lives in Hawaii.

Gabby Dodd

Gabby Dodd grew up in Durango, Colorado and moved to Lake Tahoe in 2016. She graduated from Sierra Nevada University in May 2020 with a degree in journalism and communications. Gabby’s first passion is skiing, but she also enjoys mountain biking, skateboarding, paddle boarding and hiking.

Thomas Morton

Thomas Morton is a writer and television host. He was a producer and correspondent for Vice on HBO. He is the Editor-at-Large at Mountain Gazette and lives in New York.

Ming Poon

A decorated photographer based in North Lake Tahoe, California, Ming Poon’s work speaks for itself. In 2018, Ming received Powder Magazine’s prestigious “Photo of the Year” award, and in 2019, he won the renowned Whistler Blackcomb “Deep Winter Photo Challenge.”

Jarred Haynes

Jarred Haynes is a musician, preacher, and podcast producer in Long Island, New York. He is the host of the Mountain Gazette Library Podcast debuting everywhere podcasts are available in 2021.

Cy Whitling

Cy Whitling started ski blading before he ever went skiing and that’s all you really need to know. He swings hammers and paintbrushes in Idaho, frequency taking breaks to give his dog belly scritches. His work can be found on Instagram at @cywhitling.

Dick Dorworth

Dick Dorworth is passionate about mountains, skiing and the written word as a path in life. He has contributed to Mountain Gazette since its inception in 1966. Dorworth lives in Ketchum, Idaho, and Bozeman, Montana and invites everyone to visit his blog at DickDorworth.com.

Norman Maclean

One of America’s most cherished outdoor writers, Norman Maclean is the author of A River Runs Through It and Other Stories. He taught English at the University of Chicago, focusing primarily on the Romantic Poets and Shakespeare. Maclean died in 1990.

The Down and Dirty History of Mountain Gazette goes even deeper into our history and past contributors. When in doubt, go higher.