Locals’ Guide to Hiking Highland Bowl

Slogging up the ridge at to the top of Highland Bowl with my teenager in tow made me realize, there’s got to be a better way. Three locals’ share their wisdom. Hiking Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands is a rite of passage for any diehard skier. It’s a 782-foot bootpack […]

Luxe Camping Gear

Sounds like an oxymoron, but there is such a thing as luxury gear for backpacking, from high-tech pillows to whimsical lighting. Why not? My two sons and I just spent a superb three days backpacking in Colorado’s Indian Peaks. Our campground had a lake view and a perfect sawed-off stump […]

Gift Guide For Campers

It’s not too late to stock up on gifts that are perfect for campers. Herewith a list of some of my favorite pieces of gear–and a few items I’m putting on my own list for Santa. Trek-Light Hammock ($70-$80) A lightweight hammock is probably the single most loved nonessential gear […]

Summer Ski Gear Storage

Mud Season: Time to Store Your Gear Just yesterday the trees were budding and the robins were singing. Today it’s dumping. Ridiculous spring weather aside, for most people it’s time to store the skis, snowboards, and boots, and put away the parkas and ski pants. When a brand-new gear setup […]

The Ultimate Camp Checklist

Based on a 1956 study by a Princeton psychologist, Miller’s Law suggests our short-term memory can hold a maximum of only seven items. My camping checklist has 214 items on it, I am not kidding. And unless your cranium has considerably more RAM than the average person, what you need […]

Camp Gear on Daybreak

So this morning, I was waiting in the lobby with two shopping carts of camping gear to do a segment on CW2’s Daybreak morning TV show in Denver, and the receptionist asked me to just hold up a minute. They were going to send another guest up first. Just happened […]