Stio Stories: 10 Years In Review

By Stio Mountain on December 27

Normally around this time, we'd stop for a look back at our favorites stories of the year. Since it's our 10th anniversary, instead of just one year of stories, we're highlighting our top stories from the last decade. These stories share the mountain life moments and hometown heroes that make mountain culture the very thing we all love. We hope you join us reading them to remember, celebrate and anticipate what the next season will bring. Read the Mountain Town Journal below and dive into some of our favorite stories of the last 10 years.

Stio Stories 2021: A Year in Review

1. Rise And Grind

Hungry for balance in the new normal of 2020, Stio Ambassador Charlie Hagen and friends set out on a 650 mile bike tour linking ski descents on seven Cascade summits.

Words and photos by Andy Cochrane

As we packed almost 200 pounds of dehydrated meals into our bike trailers the day before departure, we agreed that the trip idea was good, at least in principle. We would take as much PTO as possible, turn off our emails, and call our moms one last time. Then we would begin the biggest backyard adventure we could imagine, a 650-mile bike ride linking together seven Cascade volcanoes with just sweat, candy, grit and 17 free days. In total we would log over 100,000 feet of vert and I'd be lying if my legs didn't take weeks to recover. The goal? We wanted to create an epic adventure without the use of fossil fuels, hopefully inspiring other people to find their own adventures closer to home.

Continue reading the story here: Rise and Grind Full Story

2. High Points

After six years of pushing peaks, Stio Ambassador Christy Mahon became the 7th person and the first woman to ski all of Colorado's 14ers in 2010. That was just the beginning of what would become a project of epic magnitude. In 2016 Christy, alongside her husband Ted Mahon and friend Chris Davenport, became the first people to summit and ski Colorado's 100 highest peaks. It was an accomplishment that earned Christy and team a nomination for National Geographic's Adventurers Of The Year Award in 2016.

Now, Christy's pursuit of backyard adventure continues as she and Ted work to ski the Bicentennials, Colorado's 200 highest peaks. Read the full story and watch the feature film here: High Points Video and Story.

3. Out West

With equal parts hustle and humility, Stio Ambassador Stephen Shelesky has established himself as one of the outdoor industry’s most promising up and coming photographers. But his story hasn’t always been polished and perfect.

For a long time, photography helped Stephen Shelesky deny who he was. It was a distraction and an outlet for an internal struggle around his sexuality. This all changed when he found himself in Jackson, Wyoming.

Out West is a film about Stephen's journey to find the courage, confidence and community needed to embrace his sexuality and express his true self. Watch the feature Film here: Out West Full Story and Video