The show must go on. It will go on when we bust into September. But it's a wrap for season one of The High Route Podcast. Lucky number episode 13, we'll call it good right there.

In this episode, Adam Fabrikant and Billy Haas bring some closure to their fall trip to the Chilean Andes. Just before Fabrikant's and Haas' departure in October, we ran The "No Excess" Ski Expedition Packing Mantra episode, which mainly focused on their gear choices. If you haven't had a chance, now might be a good time to take that episode in.

Consider this 13th episode their Chile debrief. We learn how a seasoned team pivots objectives and envisions what Fabrikant calls the 5x5: ascents and ski descents of five different 5,000m peaks. As South America builds into what we hope is a robust winter, let Fabrikant and Haas plant an adventure seed.

In the meantime, we also will assert that Fabrikant claiming the "cat is in the bag" during this episode is an appropriate twist on the colloquialism "the cat is out of the bag." We are not going full-blown quantum physics and Schrödinger's cat, but it remains true: a cat must have once been in the bag to be out of a bag.

And thanks for listening to our first season of The High Route Podcast—we appreciate the support.

Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

Here are a few notes to get this podcast rolling. We hope you are reading this.

1) There is some foul language in this podcast. F-bombs abound, in particular, after ~the 45:00 minute mark.

2) The episode is broken into two parts: set 1 and set 2. The first "set" was recorded in late March after a fine day of Sunday skiing in the Wasatch. We recorded the second "set" roughly a month later. The main reason for "set" 2 is to discuss our interaction with another group the following Monday. We set the scene in the pod, but here is the gist: a low-traffic day in a zone with plenty of fresh snow and low-hazard terrain. The one party we encountered up high was less than excited to see us. Pete Vordenberg and I break down the brief interaction.

3) Trigger warning: We discuss the merits of some roadkill burritos.

4) Pete Vordenberg is the guest. Pete, or Peter, is a frequent contributor to The High Route. We love having him on board. Our most widely read piece on the site is a story he penned titled "Skiing: A Review." If you haven't read it, please read it. It's a highlight.

Vordenberg has a unique perspective on the backcountry scene. For years, he chased the Olympic dream with what we consider success. He made the Olympics as a cross-country skier. He became the head coach of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. Yet, for those who know him, Vordenberg seems most at home and peace, far away from the Lycra, deep in the Wasatch, seeking fine turns—which he has been doing for many decades.

Thanks for reading and listening. And again, the F-bombs spill forth in the later part of the episode. We'll work on cleaning up the potty language next season.

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Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.

Dr. Patrick Fink joins us on Episode 11 of The High Route Podcast. Fink is an ER physician in Bend, Oregon, involved with the local and broader Wilderness Medicine community. He hosts Wilderness Medicine Updates—"a podcast for those interested in wilderness medicine, search and rescue, disaster and austere medicine, and ski patrol medicine." Fink also has a site titled Mountain Lessons, where he shares valuable information about his travels and best practices.

All this is to say that Fink comes to the podcasts with some expertise. One aspect of backcountry travel he has thought a lot about is avalanche airbags. Fink presented some research at the 2023 ISSW, which got us talking about airbags, airbag adoption, and efficacy.

A solid podcast on Avalanche Airbags comes from the Utah Avalanche Center. You can find the podcast here.

As noted in the podcast intro, I first engaged with Fink when I moderated a comment at my last place of employment. Cutting to the chase, Fink and I spoke on the phone (it's always better to have a conversation to get the complete picture), and now we are friends. BTW—his moderated comment had nothing to do with airbags.

On to the show.

Thanks for listening.

Find us at the-high-route.com. Yeah, there are two hyphens for redundancy, which is a good policy in the mountains. For weight weenies, hyphens weigh next to nothing. We are a reader supported website with free podcasts. Our podcasts are not free to produce or store on a server. If you are enjoying the podcasts, please consider supporting The High Route, you can find subscription information here.

The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you've spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, "Beautiful Alien" is a good tune to start with.