With the threat of drilling on the jagged horizon of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a skier and conservationist looks to the local Indigenous community for answers. Words and photos by Brennan Lagasse   This article was originally published in The Backwoods Issue | No. 156. To read more, pick up a copy, or subscribe to see our stories when they’re first published.   The bush pilot looked at our gear.   We knew we were heavy, given all it takes for an Arctic expedition. Skis and boots should have been hidden away, but the ice axes were intentionally left out. It ..read more

Our 2023 Arctic Refuge experience with current students, alumni, Ming, myself, and Robert.   For POW Creative Alliance member Brennan Lagasse, protecting the Arctic is about more than just safeguarding the landscape from fossil fuel development and drilling. It’s about preserving the culture and way of life of its human inhabitants. Lagasse is a sustainability professor at UNR at Lake Tahoe (formerly Sierra Nevada College), a writer and a backcountry ski guide, and centered his career around advocating for the climate and the people affected by climate change the most.   This commitm ..read more

Always a collection of inspired ski images, grateful to contribute through this snap by Ryan Salm. Head here for the full gallery ..read more

  It’s difficult to imagine being blown away by anything snow related after last year’s record snowfall totals. Houses were buried, bodies ached from the constant cycle of shovel, ski, shovel, shovel, ski….   This year started off slow until the early March forecast honed in on Tahoe. 5-10 feet in three days was hard to even imagine. When it rolled in, the roads were bare, dirt showing in spots and decks dry to the wood.   Powder caption: Brennan Lagasse finds a line out of his buried front door in Tahoma into a perfect pick up powder scenario. My caption: Our house went from s ..read more

The roots. Mom taking me skiing in the early days at either Pico or Killington, VT. Thanks Mom! An interview on sustainable recreation with UNR at Lake Tahoe: Brennan Lagasse is a teaching assistant professor at the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe. He teaches courses across departments and programs through a holistic approach grounded in sustainability education. In Fall 2024, he will be teaching the Sociology of Climate Change as part of the semester-long Sustainability Certificate program.   Beyond his role as a teaching assistant professor, Lagasse is also a backc ..read more

Excited to share the stage with my good friend and standout photographer, Ming Poon sharing photos, videos, and stories from our trip to the Arctic Refuge last summer. Details here and below, I hope you can make it ..read more

Written by Jeremy Jones, Photos by Ming Poon. It’s hard to communicate just how fun and special this trip to Southern California was with Jer, Ming and Dostie. I had always wanted to nail a few of the obscure, standout lines in Southern California. It’s generally too hard to bypass the Eastern Sierra, but last winter a window opened and the four of us were able to ride an unforgettable wave across Death Valley, Palm Springs, and L.A. Check out the story in the latest Mountain Gazette, hats off to the team over there for putting such a rad print mag together! Walking into the Palm Springs Tram ..read more

L-R: Jeff Dostie, Ryan Delena, Brennan Lagasse, and Vivian Bruchez after skiing the Polar Star Couloir. A recount of the Baffin Dream trip from last Spring in the latest Tahoe Quarterly.   Also worth 33 minutes of your time is Ryan’s edit from our trip.   A few more shots from instagram here and here.   Unlimited thanks to the whole team for making this dream happen! Also to the partners that supported me, especially Flylow, Alpenglow Sports, and Praxis Skis, as well as Tecnica Sports, Black Diamond Equipment, Hestra, Intuition Liners, Shred Optics, Mountain Flow, 40 Below, and ..read more

Deep, stable powder in the all-time classic, Super C Couloir. Portillo, Chile. Skier: Jillian Raymond The Super C Couloir. This photo captures a true classic of a line in all-time conditions. This stands as one of my favorite days in the special ski center that is Portillo, Chile. I had skied the line a few times before, with each descent being memorable, but this was the one. It’s also one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken, with one of my favorite ski partners, Jillian Raymond. Stoked to see it land in the @nicetoskiyou card package that spotlights 32 classic ski lines from around the wor ..read more

The Sacred Place Where Life Begins: Stories and Adventures from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge   Brennan Lagasse has been traveling to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for over a decade. This past summer, a dream trip years in the making was realized when local Tahoe college students from Sierra Nevada College, alongside past and present community members, joined Brennan in the heart of the Arctic Refuge for an adventure envisioned by Iñupiat Elder Robert Thompson. Starting in the Neets’aii Gwich’in community of Arctic Village, Alaska, the group quickly comes to understand the sig ..read more