From the Editor “ We explore a host of outfitters putting the mystery back in the mountain experience – while maintaining the comforts of modern life „ 10 DEPARTURES FOR CENTURIES we were frightened by mountains. Foreboding and sublime, they were a landscape whose vertiginous terrain and extreme weather encouraged us to avoid them whenever possible, from the Alps to the Andes, the Rockies to the Himalayas. And then in the 20th century we conquered them, in a sense. Expeditions reached the summits with greater and greater ease as our technology improved, and we learned just how much pleasure there can be in schussing down powdered slopes on skis and, later, snowboards. Mountain huts transformed from inhospitable way stations to sought-after destinations all year around: the high altitudes became familiar, almost welcoming. Now, as Jen Murphy explores on page 26, a host of outfitters are trying to put the mystery back in the mountain experience – while maintaining all, or at least most, of the comforts of modern life. It’s a remarkable balance of, say, Alpine heli-skiing in the morning and Michelin-star dining in the evening. Or take eight-key Caldera House in Wyoming, which offers a different kind of engagement: a guided day of skiing with Olympic gold medallist Bode Miller. Elsewhere in the issue, we journey across the globe to find other locales that are promoting similar kinds of deeper engagement, whether it be one of Africa’s oldest national parks in the Republic of the Congo (page 30), Swiss artist Not Vital’s new outsized project in the Engadine Valley (page 54) or the freewheeling, four-season joy of California’s Lake Tahoe (page 72). As always, the issue contains a plethora of additional features which we hope will inspire and delight: young couture designers, Singapore, Rome, artisanal creations – and much more. We look forward to hearing from you offline as well as on our companion website, departures-international.com.
