January 2021
TGR Journal: Volume 2
Story by Teton Gravity Research
Welcome to the TGR Journal Vol. 2 - Letter From the Editor
Max Ritter
Last spring, the TGR Journal was conceived as a collection of TGR’s best writing and long-form storytelling that would run a few times a year. Well, we all know how 2020 went. Either way, it’s good to be back, and we're beyond excited to show off our second volume of the TGR Journal, this time with a whole new collection of words, photographs, thoughts, and even some art.
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Elyse Saugstad - On My Own Terms
Katie Lozancich
How Elyse Saugstad crafted a ski career she's proud of. If you ask Elyse how she feels about the future of the sport she doesn't even need to think twice to tell you: "I honestly think that the most exciting thing in skiing right now is women, and I'm really thankful that I've been a part of it one way or another."
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A Cookbook For Ski Bums
Katie Lozancich
If you're a twenty-something-year-old still poaching free breakfast burritos from the gas station then it's time for either an intervention or to get yourself a copy of Beyond Skid. The Beyond Skid cookbook is a volume of delicious, healthy meals that can fuel your passion for all things mountain sports. And the best part? Everything is super easy to make.
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Behind the Lens: Keegan Rice
Taylor Fry
Keegan Rice is a man who eats ants off the ground. I’ve seen him do it. He says they taste like citrus. Aside from trail-ants, Rice is also known to appreciate other finer things in life: A nice surf break, a tallboy of Modelo, and some deep pow. For a while now, one of the things in life he holds closest to his heart is photography, and he's going to tell us all about it.
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Loose Boots: Caite Zeliff
Taylor Fry
Caite Zeliff, about skiing, passion, obsession and mental health. A lot of athletes talk about their “mental game.” But not so many of them talk about their mental health, and few athletes, let alone people, talk about it as candidly as Caite Zeliff. TGR Athlete, two-time Queen of Corbet's and all-around badass Caite Zeliff sits down with our own Taylor Fry to chat about her journey to where she is now and how mental health and skiing can be totally intertwined.
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Oaxaca Dreaming - A Mexico MTB Adventure
Max Ritter
Mexico isn’t just for spring break. Last November, in a pre-pandemic world, TGR Editor Max Ritter made the trip down to Oaxaca's Sierra Norte mountains. On Day 1, getting his mouth burned by spicy hot chocolate that was too good to put down really set the tone for the whole week-long trip to Mexico’s mountain biking paradise, getting his fill of singletrack, mezcal, and culture so beyond imagination, all while knowing that his crew barely scratched the surface.
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The Internet VS. The Backcountry
Max Ritter
It’s 2021, so we can all agree that the internet is one of the single greatest things to happen to humankind, right? Well, maybe. Online information is a powerful thing, its influence reaching like tendrils into our world in ways we are only now starting to understand. But is it affecting our relationship with taking risk in the mountains?
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Rules of the River - A Grand Canyon Photo Epic
Charlotte Percle
Click. Click. The gas on the stove ignites. Someone has started boiling water for coffee. This is my alarm clock most days, unless I’m on morning cook duty myself. It’s November and I’m on the Grand Canyon; time really doesn’t matter down here in the ditch. The pace of life is determined by the sun and the moon, so I’ve decided: no watch on my wrist for 24 days. I open my eyes, greeted by the glowing red walls and a large moon setting behind them. Delphinus is still just visible in the sky. There are a lot of things that usually happen on a day in the ditch, but things normally start with a coffee and Baileys followed by a good breakfast, and I’m totally alright with that.
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The Reality of Last Ascents
Katie Lozancich
How Kilimanjaro’s dwindling glaciers are warning sign for the rest of us. Many athletes are watching the landscapes they love to recreate in change before their eyes due to climate change- particularly in winter sports. For ice climber Will Gadd, this meant watching glaciers he's climbed in the past melt before his eyes on an expedition to Africa. There's always been a huge focus on first ascents in climbing, but how about last ones?
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Mindfulness in the Mountains
Izzy Lidsky
On the magic of ski towns, how skiing fast can help us slow down, and the sacred ritual of waxing your skis. Mental space counts for a whole lot in the outdoors. But it's easy to lose sight of it when all the fun, enticing things about a mountain town are calling for you. So, how in the world do we just slow down for a minute?
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The Rise of Hardboot Snowboarding
Meg Matheson + Justin Morgan
With the popularity splitboarding has gained in the past few years, snowboarders can finally get in the backcountry with their two-planked friends. But the set up still isn't perfect and lacks some key features needed for long days in the mountains. Phantom Snow Industries is looking to fill the gap between splitboarders and skiers in backcountry technology with one simple tool: the hardboot.
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Doodles and Day Dreams
Katie Lozancich
Artist and photographer Katie Lozancich blends reality and fantasy in her mixed media artwork.
