Avalanche Temporarily Closes Independence Pass LAKE COUNTY, COLO. An avalanche occurred just east of the Independence Pass summit on Tuesday, May 26, according to 9News. The slide, which resulted from a cornice fall, closed the road in both directions and was cleared by the Colorado Department of Transportation. On Thursday afternoon, another slide closed the Pass […]
Photo Gallery: Colorado’s Deepest Month
“Since the beginning of May, parts of Colorado have received over three feet of new snow, especially at higher elevations,” says Front Range-based photographer Casey Day. And, he adds, after a winter filled with hit-or-miss storms, skiers are rejoicing across Colorado and fully embracing mid-winter powder conditions in the backcountry this spring. “Multiday upslope storms rolled in one after the next, providing endless supply of moisture. We always seem to have great conditions in the spring here in Colorado, but it’s been years since we’ve had this much snow this late in the season.” Here’s a gallery from Colorado’s deep May, as seen through Casey Day’s lens.
Mountain Skills: Twelve Things I Learned at Icefall Lodge’s Ski Mountaineering Course
The annual Spring Mountaineering Course is taught at Icefall Lodge by owner Larry Dolecki, a certified IFMGA mountain guide of more than 20 years who built his ski touring lodge near the western border of Banff National Park in 2005. “This should be a great week in the mountains, filled with lots of learning and great lines,” Dolecki wrote in the course intro packet. It certainly was.
BC Banter: Independence Pass Reopens, MSR Recalls Avy Shovels, Mt. Moran Avalanche Claims Two and Alpinist Releases 50th Issue
Independence Pass Reopens ASPEN, COLO. The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) reopened Independence Pass yesterday at noon, as 20 cars waited at the gate for the opening. The Pass, which runs along the Continental Divide and connects Buena Vista and Aspen, is closed every winter and must be bombed in late spring to bring down slides before plowing and […]
Mt. Moran Avalanche Claims Two
An avalanche on Sunday on Mt. Moran, Wyo. claimed its second life late Tuesday night. According to the Jackson Hole New and Guide, Stephen Adamson Jr. died at 10:34 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. Jackson resident Luke Lynch, 39, died in the Sunday avalanche.
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: AMGA Announces New Guidelines, Second Year of Jones Split Clinics at SASS Argentina, Skier Survives Berthoud Pass Avalanche, Alta Man Injured in Human-Triggered Avalanche and Swiss Cover Glaciers to Prevent Melting
AMGA Announces Terrain and Supervision Guidelines Boulder, Colo. In early May, the American Mountain Guides Association’s Review Team met outside Jackson, Wyo. to discuss and update its Terrain and Supervision Guidelines. The 11 AMGA members who comprise the Review Team developed a framework to assure guides work in terrain for which they are trained, and […]
BC Banter: Aspen Alpine Club Sends Aid to Nepal, RASTA Announces Work Days, Skiing Editor-in-chief Joins Backbone Media and Eric Layton Completes AMGA Exam on Splitboard
Marolt brothers, Aspen Alpine Club send aid to Nepal ASPEN, COLO. Brothers Steve and Mike Marolt, who recently opened a ski mountaineering and research facility in Aspen, are fundraising to buy solar chargers for isolated Nepalese villages in wake of the recent earthquake. The Marolts are revitalizing their 501(c)3 organization, Aspen Alpine Club Inc., which was […]
Guiding Split: Layton becomes one of AMGA’s first to complete Ski Guide Exam…on a splitboard
In mid-April, Eric Layton, owner and lead guide for Splitboard Guides International, completed his AMGA exam—on a splitboard. This winter was the first season that snowboarders were able to take the course exam on something other than skis, although snowboards have been allowed in the course for the past several years. “Some people think, ‘Oh, splitboarding is just […]
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.
