Owls flock to new skies
Snowy owls have been swooping into South Dakota in unusually high numbers this winter, delighting bird watchers and stirring up a hoot over their mysterious arrival. Snowy owls typically nest in the Arctic tundra of Canada and migrate south for the winter. This season, however, these Arctic natives are participating in a dramatic migration called [...]
Cold weather coyote hunting holds memories
It was an extremely cold February afternoon, I was 10 years old and fascinated by all things hunting. I wasn’t quite old enough to actually shoot anything yet and still I was enamored. Cold as it was, I was determined to drink in all the sights and sounds of an entirely new experience. Having accompanied [...]
Boarders find way to play on prairie
Snow-mo-board-ing (v.)- The act of towing a snowboarder behind a snowmobile, usually the consequence of extreme boredom and lack of mountains (not a real dictionary entry). What do you do when you’re a snowboarder in Eastern South Dakota and Larson hill is about as exciting as College Algebra? In the words of the late Steve [...]
Body, Fatigue Keeps Climbers Grounded
Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the winter sports capitals of the U.S. Nestled in the shadows of the intimidating Wasatch Range, Salt Lake City offers big city life with mountains to disappear into. I flew into Salt Lake City a day before the New Year to celebrate in a slightly different way. I [...]
Tips to Stay in Shape This Winter
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s atypically warm outside. In fact, according to Weather.com, the average high in Brookings so far this year has been around 36 degrees. Mention the unseasonably nice weather and people will nod fervently, extolling the lack of ice and bitter cold while knocking on the nearest wooden surface, as though [...]
Tradition surrounds pheasant opener
The third Saturday in October is an important day in South Dakota. The state becomes a mecca, drawing pilgrims from around the globe to participate in one of the most unique upland hunting experiences in the world. Pheasant season brings tens of thousands of people to the state and generates well over $200 million in [...]
GM bites off too much in anti-bike ad
The ad that the article is based off of can be seen here: http://urbanvelo.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/gm_ad.jpg Riding a bicycle is about the squarest thing you could do. At least, that’s what anti-bike advertisements want you to think. They’re always the same: some dork wearing a suit and an ill-fitting helmet is riding down a congested highway—usually in [...]
World-class climbing not far away
I have a long-term relationship with the weather that isn’t necessarily positive. The weekend of Oct. 7-9, the weather once again showed its ugly, rainy, wet and cold behind. It was Friday Oct. 7 and I had just arrived in the only noteworthy region of South Dakota, the Black Hills. Ben Ekeren and I drove [...]
If it’s outside, Ekeren does it
Remember playing outside as a young whipper-snapper? Whatever happened to those days? It seems like modern day youngsters spend more time indoors playing video games or watching TV. The days of the question “Can Timmy come out and play?!” are long gone. Now, even 75 percent of our student body stays inside and plays video [...]
Finding Nemo: The lure of being lost
It is easy to understand why the Lakota consider the Black Hills sacred. It’s in the granite outcroppings, modest to monolithic, which so embody the island of mountains in a sea of prairie. It’s in the Ponderosa pines, some the United States Forest Service reports as ancient as 700 years, which dominate the landscape in [...]
Follow Us!