Catching Hope

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“Every day on the mountain and every night at the bar, drinking and partying was as much a part of my life as skiing,” remembers Paddy O’Connell. “That is until, of course, they became the only part.”

We’ve heard the stories of addicts who found salvation in the outdoors and the outdoor community, but that’s not the way the narrative arcs for everyone. For Paddy, recovery looked less like slashing pow turns with his ski-bum buddies, and more like a game of catch with his dad on the back lawn of a treatment facility in Minnesota.

You can find more of Paddy’s writing here: Adventure Journal, Freeskier Magazine, Mountain Magazine, The Gear Junkie, Teton Gravity Research, Powder.com, Skiing Magazine, Chatting with Lindsey Vonn

 

Music: If Walls Could Talk by Jacob Bain & Nis Kotto    •    Breaking Down by Bradley Carter    •    Moon Shimmers by John Berry    •    Stop by Vienna Ditto    •    Nidra by Quaro    •    Chasing Trains by Publish the Quest    •    Streams by Jacob Bain

Tracks provided by Free Music Archive and with permission from the artists.