Origins

A Holiday Wilderness

How do you celebrate the holidays outside? Let me count the ways:

1. Dashing through the snow (and gravel and streets and stairs)
Turns out, you don't have to go to the mountains for a big ski. JP Auclair demonstrates the power of powder (and sometimes lack thereof) in a small town, swerving around buildings and above cars.

2. Joining in some reindeer games
This lone reindeer looks like he's having too much fun. There's the spirit—we all need to get outdoors and run around.

3. Letting Jack Frost nip at your nose...on purpose
If you're the adventurous type, maybe a cold-weather climb is your holiday speed. Cory Richards filmed his record-breaking winter climb in 2011, documenting each challenging moment of ice, wind, and frosty beard.

4. Observing the Festival of Lights, up north
Witnessing the display of Northern Lights in person is a holiday unto itself. Mother Nature is lighting one, two, or maybe all eight of your menorah candles in one fell swoop.

5. Chestnuts roasting on a meticulously-kept-leave-no-trace fire
So the original yule log is not actually outside. But yours can be! Just like the rest of your trips outside, celebrating the holidays should include packing in. And that includes all traces: campfire, s'mores, and holiday cheer. Bring it all home with you.

See if you listen closely, the holiday are already giving you explicit instructions for celebrating outside. And if that doesn't fuel you, a couple pounds of sugar cookies will.

Reporting live from Santa's mountaintop ski lodge,

-KK