December 14, 2020

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You know when you’re moving…packing materials and boxes everywhere…your family is there trying to help, but are really just making it more stressful...that’s what it was like last week moving the newsletter. In all that confusion, we missed International Mountain Day last Friday… our most important day of the year! So we will celebrate it today.

- Kirsten​

PS: We are in our new comfy home. It may look a little different…maybe a bit wider? Different font? It saves me about 30 mins of production time each day and $40 per month in technology charges…so a little change is worth it to keep this going each day!

PPS: We have moved fully to Canadian spelling (aka British); hopefully, that doesn’t offend anyone. A quick guide here.

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New Poll:

Should we stick with underlined links like this or change the colour (⬅︎ Canadian spelling) with no underline?

♎︎. Underlined
🌈 Coloured

Today's Top Non-MTN News:

More Fitness: 16 Things You’ll Need to Exercise During Pandemic Winter (3 min read)

With the majority of us continuing to work from home, we’re also still working out from home. In our bedrooms, tiny living rooms, and maybe even a hallway or two (hi, walking lunges). It’s not easy — there’s not much space and #tbt to actual equipment.

DO Better: International Mountain Day

Yes, we missed the big day last Friday, and I feel shame and guilt, but that’s every day for a mom…joking..maybe not 😕. Anyway, while I do some self-reflection, you can read this post on why we have an International Mountain Day and what is special about this year. (2 min read)

For the Canadian folks (or anyone curious, really), see how the University of Calgary uses this special day to springboard a new mountain project. UofC intends to provide a comprehensive view of Canada’s changing mountain systems based on western science combined with Indigenous knowledge. I know there are a few University of Calgary Alumni in the house, so support your peeps. (2 min read)

Bringing Indigenous wisdom to the table is a core component of the project. “The diversity, uniqueness, and specificity of Indigenous knowledges, which are often rooted in epistemological and cultural foundations that are distinct from western conceptions of mountains, will greatly enhance our collective understanding of Canadian mountain systems.

Mountain Facts (source):

• Mountains make up about one-fifth of the world's landscape and provide homes to at least one-tenth of the world's people.

• The world's highest peak on land is Mount Everest in the Himalayas. It is 8,850.1728 m (29,036 ft) tall.

• The tallest known mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons, located on Mars.

• Mountains occur more often in oceans than on land; some islands are the peaks of mountains coming out of the water.

• About 80 percent of our planet's freshwater originates in the mountains.

RAD Gear: Gortex Converse “Chucks”

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You want to keep up your super coolness all year long but also want to have super warm toes…boom…we have this RAD gear for you. Converse is making several styles of what I call “Chuck Taylors”…really just high tops in winter form. Getting teenagers to wear anything but running shoes in the winter has been an ongoing challenge, so this might be the solution. Check out this post from Rolling Stone curating the best of Gortex Converse. (3 min read)

Play More: The Portal

Saturday was a weird inverted weather day when it is frigid and snowing below 6000 ft and sunny and warmer at the summit…this was foreshadowing for a strange day indeed.

We were skiing around, minding our own business…when it appeared—a portal to another dimension.

We got closer to investigate…I was only thinking of you, my readers…my life could be at risk, but it didn’t matter. I needed to fully investigate this mountain portal and bring the truth to the MTN Impact community!

I was scared, but on some level, it looked peaceful and harmonious. Could this portal be the source of all the monoliths appearing around the world? We went a little closer…

That’s as close as we could get…it was beautiful…it was beckoning us inside. We will never know where this portal led to, as it was out of bounds, and I didn’t want my ski pass pulled by some overzealous ski patrol. It took so much emotional strength to turn and ski away. The End…or is it? 👽

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Good Links 🔗

People: Inside Prince Charles' favourite ski resort, where he survived the fatal avalanche featured on 'The Crown'’ (4 min read)

COVID: Covid has shuttered the ski season in the Alps -- with one exception. (3 min read)

Gear: The best winter tents for your next snowy adventure. (10 min read)

How To: How to break into a career in the outdoors. (9 min read)

Lunch Break Video: This dude has skied every month for 32 years straight. Carl Zimmer has a feather in his cap that if you too want to accomplish, best get started now because dudes’ been skiing every month for the last 384 months. (20 min watch)

Gear: The Best Plus-Sized Women’s Hiking Apparel for Winter. (5 min read)

Do Better: North Face turns back on Texas oil and gas company, refuses jacket order. (2 min read)

Places: The latest 'Everest' is a mountain you've probably never heard of. (4 min read)

Coffee Break Video: Bovine skier promoting calcium-rich beverage will have you craving a little milk with your coffee 😜 (30 sec watch)

Huh?: Tiger spotted at a record altitude of 3,165 metres in eastern Nepal…Tigers live in the mountains? 🤭 (4 min read)

Deals: Mountain Hardwear Firefall 2 Gore-Tex Glove - Women's - Steep and Cheap - 56% off

Deals: 17 Climate Neutral Brands Discounted, One Day Only - Gear Junkie - I checked a bunch of these sales, and they seemed to be more than 1 day

Live From The Wild

Vanilla Cake? - @​flotodiary - Dorset, England

How did we do today?

😍 Good Read
😴 So So
👎 Sucked