My relationship to to the backcountry has always been one of respect for the wild and out-of-bounds beauty that attended country roads and parts of mountains that were off-limits to recreational skiing and snowboarding. The Canadian artist Cloud Opacity has captured that kind of wild reverence with the track “Backcountry”. In it we hear a simple ascending melody played against the whip of digitally processed winds, flowing water and other natural sounding field recordings and synthesized effects. The result is feeling this composition as it rushes past, long enough for a few minute gaze to put you into your place in the shadow of the Backcountry.