YODEL MICRODOSING THE ASULKAN Words and Photos Nicholas Khattar Art Mark Kowalchuk Seb Grondin. RUMORS ABOUND around Revelstoke, BC about pro athletes do-ing massive days in the high alpine while high on LSD. Apparently lysergic acid diethylamide gives them the endurance of Kenyan mara-thoners. These stories are never confirmed, never denied. And although LSD has been around since 1938, indigenous peoples of the world have been using psychedelic substances for thousands of years for reasons related to personal growth. According to an article in the Heffter Review of Psychedelic Research , archeological records spanning 8,000 years show the use of peyote among indigenous tribes in Mexico. 1 I first heard about the concept of “micro-dosing” psychedel-ics while reading a Wired article last year. It referenced a 1966 study by Dr. James Fadiman in which LSD was used to help participants solve complex scientific problems with strong results. Today, how-ever, Dr. Fadiman is interested in the everyday benefits microdosing may offer. And he’s not alone. Fadiman receives hundreds of emails a month from people looking for advice on how to microdose. Like a bad case of syphilis, the practice has spread through Silicon Valley and Wall Street where stress and pressure to perform is high. 2 Why is this relevant? Well, in December 2016, I was invited on a three-day trip to the Asulkan Cabin in Rogers Pass. And I wanted to find out whether microdosing could be beneficial to alpine pursuits. At an elevation of 6,900 feet, tucked away in the Selkirk Mountains of Glacier National Park, BC, the Asulkan Cabin sits at the foot of the Illecillewaet Glacier. The Asulkan Valley offers some of the best hut-accessed terrain in Rogers Pass. Areas like Young’s Peak, the Seven Steps of Paradise, Dome Glacier, Asulkan Glacier, Sapphire Col and the Pterodactyl are all accessible from the Asulkan Cabin, with a lot of it being north-facing, which means cold, dry pow as well as a selection of rowdy descents. From the trailhead, just off the Trans-Canada highway, you follow the Asulkan Brook Trail for four miles to the hut. With only 2,900 feet of elevation gain it is not an overly technical or demanding route. However, I’m not much of a mountaineer. At least not during the first week of December when Revelstoke is deep in the icy clutches of a cold snap that was forecasting minus-4-degrees Fahrenheit temps in the alpine. I’m also pretty lazy and generally out of shape. Therefore, I hate splitboarding at the start of the year. Would microdosing help my mental state? 1. Shultes, Dr. Richard Evan, “Antiquity of the Use of New World Hallucino-gens,” the Heffter Review of Psychedelic Research , Volume 1, 1998 2. Solon, Olivia, “Would you take LSD to give you a boost at work? WIRED takes a trip into the world of microdosing,” August 24, 2016, http://www.wired. co.uk/article/lsd-microdosing-drugs-silicon-valley 106 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
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