Stacy Bare, ski touring in an undisclosed spot in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and ski touring aren’t two things you typically hear in the same sentence but there’s been a slowly growing ski community there over the past several years. Stacy Bare — Iraq war vet, ski mountaineer, climber and founder of the initiative Adventure Not War — has been a key part of that. Now, due to the recent withdraw of US troops from Afghanistan, those communities, along with the rest of the country’s civilians, are under threat.
Skiers head uphill at the start of the Afghan Ski Challenge.
On the latest Totally Deep Podcast, we feature The Enormocast, our producer Chris Kalous’s renown climbing pod. In the episode, Kalous and Stacy Bare discuss Bare’s work in Afghanistan, how climbing and ski touring have grown and benefitted communities there, and how listeners can help evacuation efforts in Afghanistan.
Stacy Bare tests out the women’s course for the Afghan Challenge.
From Kalous:
“Stacy returns to the Enormocast to implore us not just to help our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan right this minute, but to think about our relationship with the global outdoor community and what it means to be an American abroad climbing, skiing, and seeking our spiritual connections with the mountain people of the globe.”
Have a listen, and check out these additional resources.
Ascend, an organization that seeks to empower Afghani women through athletics.
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While most of the WildSnow backcountry skiing blog posts are best attributed to a single author, some work well as done by the group.
