After three decades on the slopes (starting when he was two years old), Michael Bahn has concluded that the world’s greatest skiing is in his adopted hometown of Juneau, Alaska.  As the son of American teachers in Germany, he split his youth between the Alps and the Rockies, skiing and backpacking extensively throughout both ranges.

After high school, he worked as a rental tech at Copper Mountain in Colorado, then detoured from skiing to follow his soon-to-be wife to school in Florida, where he completed a Bachelors of Arts in Literature (and missed a whole ski season for the first time since learning how to walk).  After Florida, he spent two years in Mount Washington Valley in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, instructing at Cranmore and Wildcat.  While there, he honed his appreciation for New England hard-pack and whetted his appetite for backcountry exploration.

In January 2005, after a cross-country road-trip with several detours through various ski resorts, he arrived in Juneau, securing a job as an instructor at Eaglecrest the morning he rolled off the ferry.  He earned his Professional Ski Instructors of America Level II certification at Eaglecrest, worked in the rental shop, and spent countless hours learning every secret stash in and around the best little ski mountain in the world.  His interest in the Alaskan backcountry scene grew into an obsession as he spent five winters exploring the mountains on Douglas Island and the mainland around Juneau.  In the summers, he developed his fly-fishing and sailing skills, joining the crew of the Smoke on the Around Admiralty Race.  He now resides with his wife and two children in Maine, where he is completing his EMT training.  But he returns annually to the Alaskan Coastal Range, which will always be home.