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 linked 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…
