Happy Friday, Beacon readers! After a week of weather that I can only describe with the ten-dollar words of “crazy” and “abnormal,” I’m definitely excited to see some sunshine and blue skies today (don’t worry, I’m still praying for snow, I promise!).
In the month since I’ve moved here, there’s only been a handful of times the clouds have parted to illuminate the beautiful mountains surrounding the valley, so I was excited when I went to work this morning when I saw a golden glow spotlighting Big Mountain’s snowy peaks.
If you’re in search of some unique mountain views this weekend, head to the Cawdrey Gallery in Whitefish to check out a special gallery featuring work from award-winning high-altitude mountain photographer, Jason Weiss.
Weiss is an international award-winning mountain landscape and adventure photographer based in Telluride, Colorado. As opposed to photographing mountains from down low, Weiss climbs for hours in the darkness to capture compositions of sunrise and alpenglow from the world’s highest summits. He carries all his climbing and camera gear as no drones are used.
Some of the highest peaks Weiss has summited for his pieces include Earth’s highest peak, Mount Everest (29,032 ft.), in 2025, Ama Dablam (22,349 ft.) in Nepal in 2023, and North America’s highest peak, Denali (20,310 ft.) in Alaska in 2024.
Weiss has won numerous awards and best in show recognitions, most recently taking home Best of Show, Telluride Fine Arts Festival in Telluride, Colorado.
His photo, Life on the Edge — which was captured while Weiss was tied to a rope on a cliff above a 1,000-foot drop-off while camping at 20,000 feet on Ama Dablam — was featured in the 2024 Natural Landscape Photography Awards Book. More than 12,00 photographs were submitted to the competition by nearly 1,200 photographers from around the world, and images that placed in the top 1% were chosen for the book.
Weiss’ Cawdrey Gallery exhibition opened on Thursday and will continue through Saturday, Dec. 20, with gallery viewing available from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The exhibition will showcase a selection of Weiss’s most iconic images, including those captured during his adventures in Glacier National Park, as well as from his new collection documenting his ascent and summit of Mount Everest. As an added feature, Weiss will be displaying the Everest climbing suit he wore during his historic climb to the highest peak on Earth.
If you’re looking for plans tonight, you can head to the gallery from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. for a presentation and meet-and-greet with Weiss.
I’m Lauren Frick, here to guide you to the peak of today’s Daily Roundup.
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Known across the globe as “the ultimate-feel good show,” THE CHOIR OF MAN offers up indisputable joy for all ages! Featuring pop, classic rock, folk, Broadway and pub tunes, THE CHOIR OF MAN has something for everyone. A multi-talented cast of nine guys combine hair-raising harmonies, foot-stomping singalongs, world-class tap dance and poetic meditations on the power of community in this riotously enjoyable homage to that gathering place we all love so much: your local pub!
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