Mountain sports are��saturated with alcohol. Summit beers, lift beers, après ski, post-ride happy hours, whiskey around the campfire—some days it feels like you could drink from beginning to end of your favorite outdoor activity. But as public health officials issue warnings over alcohol and younger Americans report that they drink less than previous generations, it’s worth asking whether our outdoor adventures should include so much booze.

On January 3, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for cancer warnings to be added to alcoholic beverages, citing research that shows there are around 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer-related deaths due to alcohol every year. Drinking has also been to problems with the heart, liver, pancreas, gastrointestinal system, and immune system.

The advisory came at the beginning of Dry January, when many choose to give up alcohol for the month after indulging over the holidays. Even before Murthy’s report, U.S. alcohol sales were trending downward. But the percentage of American adults who drink has held relatively steady for decades. “It’s just so built into U.S. culture,” says Adrienne Webster, an addiction counselor based in Bozeman, Montana. “Alcohol is carcinogenic. It’s a neurotoxin. Those things are just facts. But we’re fed this B.S. that we should be doing it all the time. It’s probably the only substance that when you stop using it, people are like, ‘What? Why?’”

In my early twenties, I usually went skiing with a flask of Fireball or an unholy jungle juice of tequila and preworkout powder in my pocket. On hikes and bike rides, I would drink hard seltzers and beers that appeared from friends packs without much thought, and down a couple more in the parking lot at the end of the day. Then early last year, I started taking a medication that made me feel horribly sick if I had more than one drink in an evening. Suddenly, I had to get much more selective about my drinking habits—and cut back, a lot.

Coincidentally, several of my friends and adventure buddies were also rethinking their relationship with alcohol last year, for various reasons. As I began trying to be more intentional about when and what I was drinking, it was nice to compare notes��with people who were going through the same process. Do I really want to be drunk right now, or is it just easy because everyone else is? If I just want a post-exercise treat, or to keep hanging out with everyone after the activity, could going out for ice cream or french fries be just as satisfying as stopping by a brewery?

I was lucky to have supportive friends, many of whom were in the same boat,��as I navigated cutting back on alcohol. Not everyone does. “I see behind the scenes how many young people are trying to abstain, but nobody wants to talk about it, because there’s still so much stigma associated with it,” Webster says. “It’s still embarrassing.”

For Nick Pearson, the founder of the Colorado-based nonprofit Sober Outdoors, carving out a space in nature free of the stigma around sobriety has been critical for his recovery from alcohol use disorder. He spent years working in sales for outdoor brands and drinking a lot in the process, which led him to see firsthand just how thoroughly alcohol and the industry are enmeshed.

“When I finally got sober and went camping again, it was pretty nerve-wracking going with friends that drink,” Pearson says. “I was like, what am I gonna do while everyone’s sitting around the fire drinking? I wanted to create a space where people could experience the outdoors and not have to worry about alcohol being a part of the picture.”

Pearson quickly found that he wasn’t the only person who wanted a substance-free outdoor community. Roughly 900 people have attended the 40-plus outings Sober Outdoors has hosted since it was founded two years ago, and the group is starting to branch out into states beyond Colorado. That community has helped fortify Pearson’s resolve when he goes out with friends who still partake, and he hopes that the broader outdoor recreation culture will take some cues from the growing��sober contingent.

“My biggest wish is that everyone takes a step back, looks at how substances impact them, and asks themselves, ‘How can we change to make the outdoors more inclusive?’ Because the sober audience is so much bigger than anyone even realizes,” Pearson says. “And Sober Outdoors is the proof in the pudding that you can have a great time without drinking—all these people that are hiking and camping and having a blast, without a beer in their hands the whole time.”

Personally, I’ve found that an ice-cold root beer or coke from the snowbank next to the car after a long ski tour hits just as hard as a regular beer. The hardest part was breaking the habit. Sometimes I’ll still take my favorite cider to savor at the top of a mountain, or split a beverage with a friend in the parking lot to celebrate a particularly stellar day on the slopes. But it’s a choice now, not a reflex.

Even if you feel comfortable with your current consumption habits, Pearson and Webster both have suggestions for ways everyone can help make a culture that’s welcoming and supportive of others’ sobriety: educate yourself, don’t make assumptions, and be inclusive.

“Sometimes people aren’t sure what to do when one of their friends stops drinking,” Webster says. “But just act normal and keep inviting your sober friends to things. They might not want to deal with being around alcohol, but it should be up to them.”

Pearson emphasized that you don’t always know what someone is going through, and statistically speaking, there’s a decent chance someone you know and recreate with has an unhealthy relationship with substance use. The National Institute of Health that 28.9 million, or just over one in ten, teenagers and adults in the U.S. had alcohol use disorder in 2023. When you include all substance use disorders, that number jumps to . “Someone may not tell you they’re trying to get sober, or they’ve got a problem with it, or want to cut back,” said Pearson. “But you need to just take people at their word. If they say, ‘No, I don’t want it,’ don’t push it.”

Occasionally, it’s still awkward or just a bummer when everyone I’m out with is drinking and I can’t. And I have no doubt that it’s much harder to navigate sobriety in mountain culture, in so many ways, for people in recovery from a substance use disorder than it is for someone like me. But for the most part, my newly sober-ish friends and I have all been struck by the degree to which our experiences in the mountains haven’t really changed this year. Your real friends won’t give you a hard time for not drinking, non-alcoholic beers truly are pretty good these days, and often french fries actually are the more enticing post-exercise treat.

I’m not asking you to stop drinking, or even telling you that you shouldn’t drink. But I think anyone who participates in outdoor sports, and anyone who drinks alcohol while they do, could probably stand to reflect on when and why they’re partaking. And we would probably all be better off if we asked ourselves what we’re doing, and what more we could do, to make sober people feel more welcome and included.

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After spending the first day of 2023 hungover on the couch nursing a Liquid I.V. and chomping on saltine crackers dipped in ketchup (because there was no way I could make it to the grocery store) I knew alcohol and I needed a long break. So, like 35 percent of legal aged adults in the U.S., I weakly exclaimed, “I’m doing dry January!” and promptly fell asleep.

But I’ve been sober at social gatherings before and sometimes clutching a can of Coke or glass of water is… lackluster. I want to sip on the same fun cocktails and brews as my friends, minus the alcohol. So I reached out to my fellow ���ϳԹ��� team members and compiled our favorite nonalcoholic beverages.��

Editor’s Picks for Dry January��

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�Ұ�ü���� says its beer is just beer, only without the alcohol. The brewing process still utilizes malted grain, hops and a form of fermentation, and while most of the ingredients are the same, the alcohol is not. �Ұ�ü����’s wine has the right balance of sweetness, tartness and bubbles – not to mention the wine contains zero added sugars.��

“Personally I like to make fizzy drinks with the �Ұ�ü���� Prosecco or Rosé. As far as the beers, I like The Juicy or The Wit!” —���ϳԹ�����photo editor Hannah DeWitt

Average price: $32.40 per eight-pack of Bubbly Rosé

Monday spirits can seamlessly replace the alcohol in your weekend cocktails. Created for all lifestyles—paleo, keto, gluten-free, low-carb—Monday is handcrafted in small batches and made from natural ingredients like spring water, monk fruit extract and cucumber extract. Monday’s gin has a strong juniper flavor with notes of bitter grapefruit and lemon.��

“I found it tasted best when making a cocktail versus as a gin and tonic. I dry shake it vigorously with fresh lemon juice, an egg white, and simple syrup, then add ice and shake until it is cold and frothy for a boozeless gin fizz.” —���ϳԹ�����art director Erin Douglas

Average price: $40 per bottle

Parch stems from ancient botanical infusions across Mexico and Southwestern U.S. The company’s ethos—“What grows together, goes together”—is apparent in its desert ingredients and natural flavors. The Prickly Paloma, for example, features prickly pear cactus fruit, organic blue weber agave, floral tart hibiscus and more. The Spiced Pinarita, on the other hand, is made with spicy mole bitters, cocoa extract and desert botanicals.��

“I’m a big fan of seltzers, so I’ve been looking for something canned and bubbly to substitute my weekend Whiteclaws. Parch is exactly what I needed. Plus, if I’m feeling fancy, I add some frozen strawberries and mint to make an impromptu cocktail.” —���ϳԹ��� assistant editor Mallory Arnold

Average price: $60 per 12-pack

The Negroni for when you’re not… Negroni-ing. That’s what St. Argestis says about its nonalcoholic Negroni. Made with nuanced juniper, citrus and floral notes, this “phony” spirit offers that same bitter bite Negroni drinkers enjoy. Enjoy chilled, over ice with an orange twist or top with prosecco.��

“It tastes like a real Negroni!” —���ϳԹ�����director of digital media and operations Scott Burgess��

Average price: $59.99 per 12-pack

We know you’re never supposed to judge a can by its artwork, but that’s exactly what we did when spotting DRAM CBD Sparkling Water’s colorful, modern cans. Female founded and Colorado based, DRAM drinks are infused with adaptogens and 25 milligrams of CBD, with natural herbs said to offer health-boosting benefits. For example, DRAM’s Beauty Bubbles contains silver ear mushrooms, said to support collagen production. Drinking and de-aging? Yes, please.

“I’m fascinated by adaptogens. Many of the herbs and mushrooms in DRAM drinks are being studied for their effectiveness in helping the body respond to stress, fatigue, and anxiety.” —���ϳԹ��� assistant editor Mallory Arnold

Average price: $49.50 per 12-pack

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