On behalf of the Board of Directorsof Mountain Pride Media, I am pleased to acknowledge the tenure of JasonWhipple as editor of Out in the Mountains and saddened to notehis departure with this, the March issue. Jason joined our team inJanuary of 2001, having just graduated from the University of Vermont,and quickly took the reins of OITM.
      Each editor leaves his or her mark on thepaper, and Jason is no exception. During Jason's tenure we saw someexciting growth in the maturity of the paper. In the June 2001 issue wesaw the unveiling of a redesign, complete with color on the front page.He shepherded the celebration of OITM's 15th anniversarythroughout the pages of most of his issues. He boldly went where no onehad gone before when he took on the reorganization of the OITM office– definitely a memorable moment in his tenure. Perhaps his greatestachievement, and what the paper requires for success, was theintroduction of so many new voices. To name a few: Jade Wolfe, ChuckFranklin, Pat Robinson, and Sky DeMuro-Miller.
      We were again delighted when Jason, inpartnership with our new art director, Pete Gershon, unveiled perhapsthe freshest and most exciting look in OITM's history with theFebruary 2002 issue.
      All of us wishJason well in his “next chapter.” I'm confident it will be atleast as exciting as his OITM chapter. We are so pleased that wecould be a part of what is sure to be an exciting career.