Born in Bismarck, North Dakota, Alex Sakariassen grew up frequenting the still waters of central Minnesota and the hardscrabble majesty of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. He chased the trout and snow west to Missoula, Mont., in 2004. After earning a bachelor's degree in journalism and history from the University of Montana, he landed a reporting gig at the alt-weekly Missoula Independent. Alex penned short news pieces and feature stories on Montana policy, politics, the environment and craft beer there for nearly a decade, traveling across the Rocky Mountain West and to Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and the remote mountains of central Haiti in pursuit of stories with a regional hook. In the wake of the Indy's shuttering on Sept. 11, 2018, Alex established himself as a freelance journalist, writer and copy editor serving a diverse array of magazines, online news outlets and private clients.