Nicole Qualtieri

Bozeman, Mato Grosso, Montana

Writer and Editor at Freelance

Editor in Chief at The New Wild West

This is my silly place.

Articles

Dead in the Water

1 week ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Print Excerpt:The Spring Issue Author:David McIlvaney“Now the river is the unborn, and the sudden fish is just the newborn — whole, entire, complete, individual, and universal.” — Henry BugbeeI last went fishing in February in Mexico, and it’s now the end of summer. To be fair, I’ve spent more days not catching fish than catching them — which is probably why I write about fishing — so a lack of enthusiasm to get out isn’t new. Lately, though, it’s gotten worse.
GearDaddy’s Top 10 Things for Spring

2 weeks ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

As a person who did not come from means, I feel crazy blessed to test quality gear for a living. Since 2018, brands have sent me products to test with the hope that I would one day find room for said products in coverage. Sometimes, brands invite me to test gear with other writers in-person on epic adventures, and in many ways, gear testing brought my writing dream job to life.
The Roundup: Newspapers and New Partnerships

3 weeks ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks,Public lands are currently front and center of the national conversation, as political upheaval places many dedicated federal employees of various natural resource management agencies in the spotlight. I know many of you came to us through our friend Wes Siler’s recent conversation with historian Heather Cox Richardson on the topic. With that in mind, we’d like to introduce ourselves and what we do.
Last Chance Corral

1 month ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks,We’re down to the wire for the inaugural issue of our 32-page quarterly print newspaper. Consider this your LAST CALL to get a copy of the paper mailed to your door. Curious about how we’re combining Substack & print? Here’s everything you need to know. Please read the following instructions to make sure you’re on our mailing list!You have until 11:59 p.m. MST on Wednesday, March 19 to submit mailing addresses for your free copy.
The Spring Calf

1 month ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

I’m driving down Highway 12, heading southwest from Missoula. Summer is settled deep into the curves of the highway and the Lochsa River at its side. The sky is cornflower blue at the edges of the trees, white blue above, sun holding court. This particular stretch of the highway is 134 miles long, looping through ponderosa and cedar pine forests. At one point, you can walk among 2,000-year-old western red cedar so gargantuan you might squint and think you’re looking at redwoods.
On Powder Prozac, Indie Ski Hills, and Dirtbagging

2 months ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Below you’ll find three stories centered on ski culture by Nicole, Kestrel, and Katie, in that order. Two weeks before I graduated from Wheat Ridge High School, Principal Harrison called me to his office. I didn’t think a thing of it. I knew him well, we were pals, and I was involved in enough school activities that the meeting could be about anything. He waved me in to sit. Then, he spread four sheets of paper across the desk in front of him.
The Roundup: Survival through Story

2 months ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks,So many of you are so new here that this is likely your first TW Roundup. Hell yes. On that note, let me — your literary barkeep — welcome you through the dark, dank, swingin’ doors. Picture me slinging your favorite drink 20 yards down the slick, shiny, well-worn lacquer like you’re a regular.
Dear Reader: A Call to Community

2 months ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks. Last May, five of us got together and began working on The Westrn as a collective project to see what might happen. As these things go, we’re whittled down to a focused team of three, and the tightness of the group continues to form a bud. In lieu of a newsletter, I want to share a bit about where we are, why we’re here, and how we’re thinking about the future.
Welcome to The Roundup

2 months ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks. Loose ends fray, thought trains jump the tracks, and — as our favorite part-time cowgirl Gabby Zaldumbide can attest — errant cattle mosey off. This newsletter is our bimonthly way of keeping things together as we shake things up behind the bucking chutes. Think of it as a recollection, a counting of heads, and a creative pitstop. It’s also a way for us to amplify the work of our fellow outdoor writers and shed light on anything we deem important to this growing community.
The Roundup: Unfilled Tags, Game Bags, and Time Lags

2 months ago | thewestrn.com | Nicole Qualtieri

Howdy folks,It’s the season where big effort presses up against the small unexpected; fall always feels this way to me. The long hours of quiet nothings can wear on a soul, especially a soul like mine with an empty freezer. But hunting often turns up moments that you don’t even know to look for, and they color the spaces that feel stretched thin.