Table of contents for Winter 2024 in Explore Magazine

Seasons and styles change. When I was a kid, I sported packable K-Way windbreakers in the autumn, then moved to my treasured Sun Ice quarter-zip ski jacket by December. (Anyone remember Sun Ice?) As a more serious snowsports enthusiast in my teens, my interest in technical fabrics led to spending way too much cash on Gore-Tex and Entrant. By the late ’90s, the puffy jacket became ubiquitous, driven by The North Face’s now-classic Nuptse, which debuted in ’91. The list goes on: merino wool. OutDry. Lifaloft. Primaloft. PFC-free DWR. DWR-free face fabrics… But one item of apparel has been here the whole time, and likely will stay here, too. Fleece—the official outfit of the outdoorsy for 40-plus years. A lot of people sport puffy jackets and it doesn’t mean they’re…

Flips off cliffs. Forty-five-degree steeps (or steeper!). Triple-digit speeds. This is the Freeride World Tour—a worldwide ski and snowboard competition that will stop at six mountains in 2025 to see the best freeride skiers and boarders compete for big-mountain supremacy. It’s an in-your-face sporting competition like few others. Because at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, in Golden, British Columbia, you can ski right to the on-slope viewing area, watch the athletes compete live—literally speeding downslope toward you—and even high-five them in the staging area. You’ll live vicariously through a competition you’d likely never have the nerve—or skill—to tackle. And that’s OK. Because you can still feign to be an FWT athlete at Kicking Horse, whether you carve groomers, brave one of the 87 in-bound chutes or hike into the other FWT-worthy…

If you’re still wondering if climate change is real, then you haven’t spent a lot of time outdoors in Canada’s wintertime lately. Our coldest season is definitely warming up. It’s predicted that once again much of Canada will have a later start and an earlier end to winter, with warmer average temps and less snow… making those ski hills slushy, backyard ice hockey ponds sketchy and new winter camp gear to match the trend essential. Here’s how I’ve adapted my equipment list for this season’s climate change-era winter camping adventures. Footwear I spotted my mail carrier wearing an overboot called the NEOS Adventurer Hi Overshoes (neosovershoescanada.com) a couple of years back and I’ve been packing them on winter trips ever since. I’ll pull them over my mukluks or leather hikers…

YETI Roadie 15 Hard Cooler $300; yeti.ca YETI’s Roadie 15 Hard Cooler fits 22 cans (no ice) or seven kilograms of ice—so as portable as it is (only 4.4 kilograms), it’ll still keep a picnic well-stocked. Tough latches designed for one-handed opening, a drain plug, no-slip feet and that incomparable YETI durability makes this a cooler you only have to buy once. YETI Rambler 1.2L Straw Mug $56; yeti.ca We’re willing to bet there’s someone on your list who would love to see a YETI Rambler 1.2L Straw Mug under the tree this year. Built to last with dishwasher-safe construction, this cupholder-compatible mug will keep your coffee warm in winter and your lemonade ice cold in summer—for life. Forrest Tool Co. MAX ® Multipurpose Toolkit $295; forresttool.com Having…

Looking for on-hill excitement but can’t make it to Golden? If you’re quick to the hill, you can catch the PwC Tremblant World Cup at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, on December 7 and 8, 2024. More than 15,000 fans will watch 72 of the world’s top women ski racers compete for the podium in a vibrant and fun atmosphere. coupedumonde.tremblant.ca A legendary springtime event in BC, the Whistler Ski and Snowboard Festival takes over the slopes from April 8 to 14, 2025. This unique event combines the best of mountain culture and art with on-slope competition and an epic aprés scene. There’s a reason locals say, “Party in April. Sleep in May.” whistler.com/events/world-ski-snowboard-festival…

FOR SLIDING ON SNOW Atomic Shift2 From $700; atomic.com This upgraded sequel addresses all our knocks on the benchmark, hybrid resort-touring ski binding, making it even more versatile. It boasts near downhill-binding security on the way down and near pin-binding capabilities on the way up. Mountain Hardwear High Exposure Gore-Tex C-Knit Jacket $700; mountainhardwear.ca This backcountry optimized shell has everything we want—light and dependable Gore-Tex C-knit fabric, pit zips, big pockets and a helmet compatible hood—and nothing we don’t. Smartwool Compression Ski Socks $50; Smartwool.com These ski socks prove that knitting technology has come a long way in recent years. The top-of-the calf design includes variable compression and targeted cushioning, with almost no seams, plus they have fun patterns. Boardworks Gear Lab Ski Sock $75; boardworksgearlab.com Riding on the roof,…

Beer is the wettest stuff in the world—but before we get to that, I have to tell you about my longest-ever trike-ride. This ride was not taken on a little kid’s tricycle when I was three. It was taken last summer in the Alberta Rockies on a fully adult recumbent tricycle manufactured of aircraft aluminum and other space-age materials by Azub Bike of the Czech Republic. Her name is Zubbie. She has two wheels in front. They can be turned from side to side, steering her like the front wheels of a car. “Recumbent” reflects how one sits on these things—really, kind of lies back—with your feet out in front and the rest of your body reclining on a comfortable, lounger-like seat. I bought Zubbie after many years of riding…

We love this serene winter image captured by photographer Robin Laurenson. In her own words, this is why she captured the image: “I took this photo at sunrise on the shore of Bow Lake, Alberta. Bow Lake is one of the largest glacier-fed lakes in Banff National Park, located off the picturesque Icefield Parkway about 30 minutes from popular Lake Louise. “This particular morning, I encountered a colourful sunrise and perfectly calm conditions at -15 C before the lake froze for the winter. To this day, it is one of the best sunrises I have ever captured.”…

"So, you want to work as a guide?” It was the first day of the 1974 Swiss mountain guide apprentice course and the instructor meant the question rhetorically. All of the students enthusiastically answered “Yes!” Not Ruedi Beglinger. “I couldn’t lie,” he chuckles at the irony. “I said ‘No. I just want to climb super hard alpine routes.’” A friend had cajoled him into joining the course and once he graduated in 1975, Beglinger fell in love with the craft. He’s been guiding ever since. That’s 50 years of leading skiing, climbing and hiking, with 45 of them in Canada. This means Beglinger might be the longest serving full-time mountain guide ever. “It’s the guests that inspire me,” he says. “I realized pretty quickly sharing an experience with a client…

T he first time I went snowshoeing, I used traditional wooden snowshoes, on a two-day winter excursion in New Brunswick. I still own that pair, although it’s been years since I’ve worn them. The last several times I wore snowshoes, they were modern aluminum ones. Although those are the types generally sold in outdoor stores and rented for short-term use, traditional snowshoes are still being made. In fact, they may be experiencing a renaissance. “I think there is a rebirth in people’s desire to have traditional snowshoes,” says Bern Crawford, a member of the NunatuKavut Inuit in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. He has been making traditional snowshoes for 40 years. He started out by repairing his own snowshoes. “I would disassemble existing snowshoes to salvage babiches (the rawhide, gut or…

We have all heard the expression “familiarity breeds contempt.” This aphorism applies to the realm of adventure sports as well, but not in the interpersonal sense of the phrase. It manifests in complacency and contempt for methods and systems. If someone is engaged in any activity for long enough and becomes intimately familiar with it, corner-cutting can creep into a routine practice without the person even realizing it. We all want to make it back home after a day in the mountains or on the water. To this end, a systematic approach can mitigate not all, but a lot of the risk of inherently risky pursuits. In some cases, it makes the difference between life and death or serious injury. I relearned this lesson climbing at the crags with a…