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This newsletter is brought to you by Snowshoe Mountain Resort

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So long, and thanks for all the fish!

If you got the reference for the bizarre phrase above, kudos! If you didn't, I suggest you read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. In that legendary tale, dolphins, which turn out to be the most advanced and intelligent of all life forms on Earth, decide to finally bail on our blue planet to leave humans to their own devices. As they skyrocket from the ocean to the heavens above, they collectively shout that phrase to us landborne creatures.

You might be wondering why I kicked off this edition of the newsletter with a such a silly phrase. Well, all good things come to an end—in business as well as in life. As such, the chapter of our beloved email newsletter has reached its logical conclusion in the ongoing Highland Outdoors story.

With that said, I'd like to keep things simple and dedicate this 50th and final edition of our newsletter to you, dear reader.

When we launched our fledgling email newsletter in late December of 2020, the primary goal was to create an additional avenue for community building among our incredibly loyal and dedicated Highland Outdoors readership. While the magazine has been successful over the years, the thing Nikki and I are most proud of is the community that has been created around the magazine. This is the collective product of our stories, our advertisers, our contributors, and, of course, our readers.

If you've been a subscriber over the years, you've seen this newsletter grow as a place for me to share a more personal touch of our lives inside and outside of the magazine. You've gone behind the scenes of our magazine production and distribution processes; you've traveled with us to far-flung locales; you've gotten a taste of what we like to do when we're not at our desks keeping Highland Outdoors humming along.

While I've genuinely enjoyed the journey of creating this newsletter, it's also been a challenge—and an extra task on our already overpacked schedules. It's no secret that publishing a magazine as a team of two is a monumental undertaking. I regularly do the workload that other publications have a staff of 10 people to tackle, and Nikki has a flourishing science writing career outside of her work on the mag.

I think it's safe to say that we all need less screen time in our lives. The other day, I was getting caught up in the endless onslaught of emails and realized how much clutter there is in my inbox—incessent clutter that literally never, ever ends. I was thinking If I feel burdened and exhausted by all these emails, most other people probably do, too. So, to do my part in cleaning up your inbox, here's one less email for you to deal with—whether it's via reading, bookmarking, labeling, or simply deleting.

But before we throw in the towel, close the curtain, and turn off the lights, I did want to throw a particularly impressive statistic at you to let you know how successful you helped make this newsletter. Across 50 editions, our average open rate is nearly 80%. For reference, the industry average open rate for email newsletters is just 21.5%. According to my good friend who is a respected digital marketing expert, an open rate nearly four times the industry average is virtually unheard of.

Regardless of stats, this year we've decided that we want to do more by doing less. And by that, I mean that we want to focus all our creative efforts on the print magazine by reducing the efforts in other aspects of our workload. For me, that means cutting back on the digital workload so our print magazine—which is the thing we are most proud of—can truly shine.

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But before we go, winter photos!

In case you haven't noticed, it's been a fantastic start to winter here in the WV highlands. In the era of climate change, it seems to be feast or famine for proper skiing conditions. You never know when that next powder day is arriving. Likewise, you also never know when the next rainy warm-up will swoop in and wash it all away (scope next week's forecast for reference). To be a skier around here, you really have to be intentional about getting out every day when conditions allow. Or, as they say at White Grass, carpe skiem!

Nikki and I have been getting after it at all hours to make sure we can get our ski days in while staying on top of work duties—early morning snowboard laps at Timberline, lunch break tours around Davis, and headlamp-lit night skies at White Grass. I hope you enjoy this snowy smattering of photos from my favorite season!

Some classic WV high country scenery whilst ski touring above 4,000 feet.

Heavy rime ice coats the hardy red spruce atop Timberline Mountain ski resort.

Like tire tracks from pulling parking lot donuts, a curvy ski line through the woods is proof that someone had a good time.

Comin' in hot, somewhere deep in the backcountry.

A night ski is always the right ski, even when it requires taking your skis off for an impromptu stream crossing.

Hikers on the edge of the void, surveying winter's monochromatic splendor.

A classic WV winter view: Bald Knob from the tippy top of the White Grass Ski Touring Center.

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My final plea: Support Highland Outdoors subscribing to the print magazine!

I bet you won't miss seeing this segment! Although I've genuinely appreciated your support as a subscriber to this newsletter, the single best way to support—and continue reading—Highland Outdoors is by subscribing to the print magazine. So, what are you waiting for?

Subscribe Here

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Have you seen these yet?

I know you'll miss this segment! I was always impressed to see how many of our newsletter subscribers clicked the links to read our latest stories on our website. While the newsletter is fading into the night, our website most definitely is not! Make sure to stop by our website or Facebook page every now and then to stay up to date on our latest stories.

The Contender

Join writer Emily Chen-Newton as she unfurls the story of Snowshoe-based sitskier Kinzie Dickman on her hopeful path to represent Team USA in the Paralympic Games.

Lost in Translation

My idea for this piece came upon learning a Japanese word for which there is no direct English translation. Hours later, I settled on this list of words and began digging through my photographs to find the images that visually portray the words.

Highland Profiles: Carol Woody

In the U.S., there are 42.5 million people with physical or cognitive disabilities. Outdoor recreation has the potential to help these individuals improve their quality of life, physical health, social relationships, and self-confidence. Read on to find out how Carol Woody and the Challenged Athletes of West Virginia are leading the charge to get people on the legendary snow and trails at Snowshoe.

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Well, that's all, folks. Thanks again for being an integral part of the Highland Outdoors story. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Dylan Jones

Editor-in-Chief

Highland-Outdoors.com