Last November, Backcountry contributor Jim Harris fractured several vertebrae while practicing with a kite to cross the Southern Patagonia Ice Cap, an accident that left him with a loss of movement in his lower body. Now, VerbCabin, a Tahoe-based multimedia group, is telling Jim’s story of strength, courage and perseverance. The short documentary is due out this fall, and the trailer dropped this week.
Vermont’s Rochester Area Sports Trail Alliance Seeks Funds to Develop Glades
Vermont’s Rochester Area Sports Trail Alliance (RASTA), a pilot chapter of the Catamount Trail Association, has launched a summer fundraising campaign to support their backcountry initiatives throughout the Braintree Mountain Forest. With fundraising help, the organization plans to construct a parking lot, renovate the existing Bell Gates backcountry cabin, build a trailhead kiosk and further develop glades throughout the forest.
Jumbo’s Roadblock: Proposed B.C. Resort’s Environmental Certificate Expires
Late last week, British Columbia’s Environmental Minister Mary Polak made an announcement that will put on hold the development of Jumbo Glacier Resort. The multi-billion-dollar project, located 53 km west of Invereme, B.C. in the East Kootenay Mountains, has been a decades-long source of conflict among developers, First Nations tribes and backcountry skiers.
Winter Wildland Alliance to host Grassroots Advocacy Conference
Next week, Winter Wildlands Alliance will host their sixth Grassroots Advocacy Conference at Golden, Colo.’s American Alpine Club Mountaineering Center. The conference will include discussions regarding the Forest Service’s new Over-Snow Vehicle Rule, the use of maps as advocacy tools and defining a set of ethics for backcountry travelers. The conference begins on Thursday, June 18, and runs through the weekend.
BC BANTER: Black Diamond President Resigns, Avatech Expands, Winter Wildlands’ Conference, Patagonia’s Migrant Worker Standards, Colorado’s Wet Slides and a Scottish Ski Film
BLACK DIAMOND INC. PRESIDENT RESIGNS SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH Zeena Freeman resigned Thursday from her post as president of Black Diamond Inc. Freeman, a former executive at Sony and Gap, was named president in August 2014, we reported, and was expected to replace Peter Metcalf as CEO of Black Diamond at the end of June. […]
ASCUTNEY ASCENSION
In 2010, after more than six decades in operation, central Vermont’s Ascutney Mountain Resort stopped spinning its lifts. The existing infrastructure was left to rot and rust, the trails have grown into a mangled mess of brush, and the closure dealt a serious blow to the area’s economy. Now, a group of impassioned townspeople, skiers and mountain bikers are working to buy back and revitalize their ski hill. And backcountry skiing and riding is part of their plan.
BC Banter: Marolt Bros. Open Ski Shop, Chugach Avy Center Wraps Up Season, Northwest Avy Center Launches Fundrasier, Shuttered Vt. Ski Area’s Future, Polartec’s New Marketing Manager
ASPEN, COLO. Brothers Mike and Steve Marolt have purchased a 2,000-square-foot retail space in Aspen’s Obermeyer Place with plans of opening a hybrid ski-mountaineering shop, research and development facility and demonstration center.
Mountain Account: A third-party rescue in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains
In early December 2013, Aaron Rice, a busboy at Alta’s Rustler Lodge, and friend Joe Campanelli were touring in Grizzly Gulch in Alta, Utah’s backcountry when they noticed an old human-triggered slide across a gully. They stopped to take pictures to submit to the Utah Avalanche Center when they were quickly caught up in a […]
The Fun Factor: Through his guiding company, CaPow!, Marty Schaffer spices up safety education
Marty Schaffer is trying to make mountain safety and avalanche education more fun. A certified ski guide through the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides, the 28-year-old grew up at his family’s Revelstoke backcountry lodge, Blanket Glacier Chalet, began patrolling out of high school and was one of Canada’s youngest avalanche professionals at age 20. Now, along with childhood friends and pro skiers Chris Rubens and Eric Hjorleifson, he’s building his own safety curriculum, teaching teens backcountry skills and offering pro-taught courses through his guiding company, Capow!
A Note From the Editor: To The Extreme
I ’d just arrived from Boston to Chamonix, France to profile the Swedish extreme skier Andreas Fransson when I received an e-mail from his girlfriend, Alejandra Campos. She was excited about my visit, and invited me to their nearby apartment in Taconnaz for his tropical-themed 30th birthday party.
