I was born in 1956 in Verdun, France and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. In the 1970’s, I read an article by Sierra climbing and skiing legend Doug Robinson in which he described skiing the John Muir Trail without carrying a stove or maps. I had taken up climbing, skiing, and wilderness travel in my teens, and this article inspired me to take a winter tour of the same trail. Actually, the inspiration came when I flourished the article in my friend Jim Keating’s face at a party. Jim turned beer influenced cheerleading into the positive action of setting out food caches. In March of 1979, we started out on what would be a month-long test our mettle. The trail affected me in a profound way, leading to my becoming a climber and a photographer.