Sky Sjue was born in Hawaii, held captive in Texas by his mother as a child, then introduced to the wonders of Cascadia as an eight-year-old when his father moved to Portland. He learned to ski at Steamboat Springs when he was five and had a season pass to Mt Hood Ski Bowl when he was fourteen. After some years as a hooligan, he began graduate studies at the University of Washington where his love for skiing was rekindled and his interest in alpine climbing was piqued. Some years in Vancouver as a researcher gave him more tolerance for ski traverses while proximity to Squamish taught him just how good climbing can be. Now he resides in northern New Mexico where every day is Christmas (red *and* green chile), with year-round climbing and desert powder when storms deign to visit in the winter.