Alpinist Magazine will relaunch under the direction of a former Climbing Magazine editor and I hope that this time the publishers will retain the honest virtues and develop a successful business model and not schlep out the same mag as Climbing, Rock & Ice, et al. While I love climbing and backpacking, I don’t try to summit huge peaks, such as Wilson Peak in this photo. But I related to Alpinist because the stories and photos emoted that satisfying thrill of being surrounded by wilderness that only those who love the outdoors understand. If their photos could talk, they would sigh with satisfaction, whereas the other mags’ photos would grunt with testosterone. I for one prefer that deep sigh.

Last night was one of those times when I feel so incredibly lucky to live here in Telluride, and in particular, in Mountain Village. I wake up to views of Mount Dallas and Mount Emma, and I look out my living room window to see Wilson Peak, watching over us from about 14,000 feet. The clouds around Wilson last night just after sunset were pretty spectacular. And although at first I wished the houses weren’t in the picture, now I’m beginning to like the glow and the realism that they add, because we aren’t always able to view natural beauty from out in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes it’s right from our front yard.