A native of distinctly mountain-less New Rochelle, New York, Eli first experienced the wonders of the outdoors in the Adirondack mountains. After earning his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, he worked in sports media in New York City before following his newfound obsession with skiing out West, where he became the gear editor for Backpacker Magazine. Eli’s time at Backpacker provided a knowledge base for hiking and skiing gear that’s both broad and deep, and eventually allowed him to realize his mountain dreams by moving to Jackson, Wyoming, where he still lives. There, he spends his time trying to piece together under-the-radar backcountry skiing routes and hiking loops—sometimes they’re heinous, other times they’re slightly tolerable—and finding the best lakeside camping sites.