Unlike most people who own in our area, we are dedicated year round dwellers. We didnt plan it this way, all we knew was that we wanted to live in the mountains and we could afford to live on the other side of the pass. 6 years prior we earned our "cabin life lessons" by renting a 600 sq foot cabin at the base of a ski resort over there. This was our trail, and the nuances of cabin life started to reveal themselves. The rental cabin’s poor design taught us hard learned lessons about roof shed, wood storage, plumbing and snow removal. We would spend our days riding deep snow, but deep snow meant our nights were spent building fires, thawing frozen pipes, and constantly unburying our cabin from record-breaking snowfall.
As we took the deep dive into living in the backcountry, our first hurdle was in getting water. In our previous years of research, porch talk with locals, and dreaming we found out that neighbors on the other side of the hill had drilled 900-foot wells, some of which were dry and cost a fortune, yet they had yielded nothing.
Located in the middle of a basin, the natural springs surrounding gave us the confidence to roll the dice and start drilling our own well (permit accompanied with the home purchase). With a stroke of Midas, gratitude, and happy dances, we hit water quickly and have an affordable 120-foot well with clear mountain spring water.
As we took the deep dive into living in the backcountry, our first hurdle was in getting water. In our previous years of research, porch talk with locals, and dreaming we found out that neighbors on the other side of the hill had drilled 900-foot wells, some of which were dry and cost a fortune, yet they had yielded nothing.
Located in the middle of a basin, the natural springs surrounding gave us the confidence to roll the dice and start drilling our own well (permit accompanied with the home purchase). With a stroke of Midas, gratitude, and happy dances, we hit water quickly and have an affordable 120-foot well with clear mountain spring water.
Although we had little to no home building experience, we did have the ever present help of friend’s knowledge and YouTube. We step by step learned what we needed to do each project right. We worked our hands to the bone digging 7 foot deep water lines that were well below the frost line. We installed our own pipes and a custom plumbing system that, to this day, is accompanied by a proud sense of appreciation with the sound of running water from the faucet.
Over the span of three months, we tore it apart, salvaged what we could, and put it back together again. We built a makeshift crane out of lumber, pulleys, and rope to haul all forty 28’ long 2x16 beams up two stories. The cabin's design was simple and seriously overbuilt to take more than record snow loads. We put the main entrance on the second floor, opposite the roof shed, in order to minimize snow shoveling and dissuade rodents. We made the roof south facing with a nice pitch for shedding snow off and allowing for future solar power. We also put in a couple huge 8x4' windows on the south side that bring in a lot of passive solar heat. The location allows us to receive sunlight all day long, even in December, and all the windows make it so that we never have to use lights during the day.
Always keeping sustainability in our hearts, we proceeded to work on the place with materials we already had and focus on heat retention solutions as the snow started to pile up. When Zach and I moved in, all the high R-value insulation we sprayed was still exposed, we only recently covered the therma-shield OSB in house wrap, and we had just reconnected the wood-burning stove pipe to the chimney the day before. The old metal roof was cut up to use as siding. We used recycled beetle-killed knotty pine to cover the walls and ceiling–pulling out each nail, cutting to size and nailing them back up. We proceeded to use my mom's construction ladder to climb up to our bed positioned underneath a 5x7 transom window so we can fall asleep star gazing.
As we continue to snowboard and work on our cabin we also hold other jobs that pay our mortgage, but more importantly, allow us to ride as much as possible. These range from professional adventuring and directing a summer guide service, to writing and teaching yoga. Zach, meanwhile, works as a lumberjack, snow cat operator, and a farmer. Zach’s access to unlimited timber started his interest in woodworking and the Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, an attachment for a saw that allows you to cut planks. We dropped lodge pole pine trees, sawed them in half, sanded them flat, lacquered them, and built a log staircase, among other raw plank projects.
As we continue to snowboard and work on our cabin we also hold other jobs that pay our mortgage, but more importantly, allow us to ride as much as possible. These range from professional adventuring and directing a summer guide service, to writing and teaching yoga. Zach, meanwhile, works as a lumberjack, snow cat operator, and a farmer. Zach’s access to unlimited timber started his interest in woodworking and the Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, an attachment for a saw that allows you to cut planks. We dropped lodge pole pine trees, sawed them in half, sanded them flat, lacquered them, and built a log staircase, among other raw plank projects.
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At this point in our lives we have each logged many years of backcountry living and snowboarding, most of which have been spent exploring and learning together. This lifestyle comes with its own unique set of challenges like, driving on step snow-packed roads with no guardrails, snowmobiling/snowboarding/walking in blizzards to get home or work, warming our place with a wood stove, and creative hauling of groceries/recycling/trash- just to name a few. But it is that feeling of raw, pure, chilling, joy and serenity that comes with it all that has brought so much value into our lives. It is what keeps us thriving together and is worth sharing that defiance of the status quo with the world. We understand how rare a partnership like this is, but it exists and I would love to see more people living and collaborating with passion.
I write this now not only to share what backcountry living is like, not to brag, and defiantly not to say this lifestyle is for everyone. I share because I love stories, and maybe they will spark your dreams? This is what this new blog is all about, to give you a look into a life of seeming coincidences, and so maybe more people will open their minds to possibility and creativity.
We who dedicate our lives to snowboarding are a rare breed, but keep pursuing that joy. In a world were the billionaire class is buying up the mountain towns of the west, we can still thrive with a little creativity and relentless passion for riding mountains.
We who dedicate our lives to snowboarding are a rare breed, but keep pursuing that joy. In a world were the billionaire class is buying up the mountain towns of the west, we can still thrive with a little creativity and relentless passion for riding mountains.
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