The more-than 60 kilometers (37 miles) of trails at the Mt. Spokane Cross-Country Ski Park provide an abundance of opportunities for every level of Nordic skier, and attract everyone from the casual beginners to the hard-core long-distance enthusiast. Three main events during the season cater to this range of skiers. Winterfest (Jan. 28) […]
Mt. Spokane Cross-Country Ski Park Events Read More »
Millwood is a sleepy pocket of houses wedged between Trent Avenue and the Spokane River and spread about eight blocks in each direction east and west from Argonne Road. It’s here I’ve decided to meet my friend Anna on a cool Saturday morning for the third and last in the series of neighborhood runs. She
A Run in the Hoods Part 3: Millwood Read More »
In June 2015, I wrote an article for Out There Monthly called “Why I Run” about training for my first 50k trail run. The run never happened. I was supposed to be shaking my legs out in nervous excitement alongside a couple hundred other runners at the starting line of the Rattlesnake Ridge Run. Instead,
It’s a beautiful sunny Saturday morning as my wife Rachelle, 15-year-old son Evan, and I park near the roundabout at Pacific Avenue and Cannon Street in Spokane’s Browne’s Addition neighborhood. Although we live only a mile and a half away, it’s across the freeway and along a series of one-way streets, and we’ve spent very
A Run in the ’Hoods: Browne’s Addition and Peaceful Valley Read More »
Ten years ago, my wife and I brought our two boys up north from California’s Central Valley to Spokane. We bought a house that happened to be only a mile from the Dishman Hills Conservancy. Over the next few years, I slowly built up my distance by running in that amazing urban wilderness. Running became
In recent years, a growing contingent of people in the Inland Northwest have embraced snow sports besides downhill skiing – particularly snowshoeing and Nordic (cross-country) skiing. And while we live within easy reach of one of the premier Nordic ski areas in the Northwest, the Mt. Spokane Cross-Country Ski Park, it can be challenging to
Getting Into Cross-country Skiing in Four Easy Steps Read More »
Summer is a great time to hike or mountain bike to the summit of Quartz Mountain and see the historic fire lookout.
Hike to Quartz Mountain Fire Lookout in Mount Spokane State Park Read More »
The Skinny Ski Solution for Winter Fitness and Fun Ever since my first Spokane winter nine years ago, I craved some way to keep fit outside in the snow. I wanted to revisit a childhood spent outdoors during rural Alberta’s long winters. But unless you have a deep and abiding love affair with slush and
Confessions of a Cross-country Skier Read More »
Stories of Courage and Healing Lived Outdoors By Brad Thiessen Why do cancer survivors run marathons and triathlons? Why do divorcees journey to the hills of Italy? Why do grieving spouses hike the Appalachian Trail? At least a part of the answer is that nature–being outdoors–has the power to reach deep into our souls and
OutLive Film Festival 2025 March 20 Downtown Spokane Read More »
How the magic of the trails healed me By Brad Thiessen The Mountain Magic Trail Run, a race with 5, 10, and 25k options on the Mt. Spokane Nordic ski trails, is now in its 7th year and set for June 30, 2024. Here’s the challenging, sometimes harrowing story of how it was born, and
Running Cancer Into the Ground Read More »
