Aspen, despite its Gucci shops, is still holding on to its mountain town roots. Part of that effort is thanks to the work of Mayor Steve Skadron, who this year, is introducing Aspen’s first uphill-themed festival. The event, which will take place February 27 and 28 around the town’s popular Power of Four Skimo Race, is designed to spur economic development without any physical construction. “My goal is to foster a business culture, so that Aspen is the nexus for uphill research and development,” Skadron says.
Mountain Skills: Jill Fredston on 20 years of education, safety and snow science
Jill Fredston, 56, is a longtime avalanche forecaster and educator in Alaska who coauthored “Snow Sense” with her husband and fellow avalanche guru, Doug Fesler. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation on 20 years of education, safety and snow science.
BC Banter: Snowboarder Narrowly Avoids Hatcher Pass Slide, Avalanche Centers Release Forecasting Apps, Upcoming Trade Shows
He heard the slope pop, let out a brief squeal and continued. The slope cracked again, and with snow breaking apart under his boots, 30-year-old snowboarder Greg Hugunin—with his helmet cam capturing the moment—made a 45-degree turn to safety.
Reviewed: Peter Kray’s “The God of Skiing”
The God of Skiing is a reverent, ribald, realistic mixture of fact, fiction and fantasy about what some refer to as the sport of skiing but which high priests and devoted acolytes alike know as a way of life. Peter Kray is a beautiful, insightful and devoted writer, and what I can’t resist thinking of as The Book of Kray is among the very best books about the spirit and practice of skiing as a way of life ever written.
Mountain Skills: Bruce Tremper on 20 years of education, safety and snow science
Bruce Tremper, 61, has been director of the Utah Avalanche Center since 1986 and is the author of the seminal book “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain.” Here’s an excerpt from our conversation on 20 years of education, safety and snow science.
Mountain Skills: Brian Lazar on 20 years of education, safety and snow science
Brian Lazar, 40, is the deputy director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center and the former executive director of AIARE. He is based in Boulder, Colorado. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation on 20 years of education, safety and snow science.
BC Banter: Avalanche Accidents from Austria to Colorado, Winter Storm Gorgan Dumps Snow Across U.S.
U.S. Ski Team Athletes Die in Avalanche Soelden, Austria U.S. Ski Team development athletes Ronnie Berlack, 20, of Franconia, N.H., and Bryce Astle, 19, of Sandy, Utah, died in an avalanche on January 6. They were skiing off piste down 3,058-meter Gaislachkogl, in Soelden, Austria, when the slide occurred. The four other skiers in their party […]
Hogback Throwback: Conservation and Skiing at an Abandoned Vermont Mountain
Since 1986, Hogback Ski Area’s abandoned southern-Vermont slopes have become overgrown, making skiing unpleasant, if not impossible. Now an organization is maintaining the area with a dual purpose: habitat conservation and skiability. Hogback Ski Area, located in southern Vermont’s Green Mountains near the town of Marlboro, began operation in 1946 and closed its slopes in […]
Mountain Skills: Manuel Genswein on 20 years of education, safety and snow science
Manuel Genswein, 40, is a native of the Swiss Alps who lives in Meilen and has done snow-safety work in 29 countries. Using an electronic engineering background, he has also developed rescue products and techniques that have been applied around the world. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation on 20 years of education, safety and snow science.
U.S. Ski Team Prospects Ronnie Berlack and Bryce Astle killed in Austrian Avalanche
U.S. Ski Team development athletes Ronnie Berlack and Bryce Astle died in an avalanche near their European training base of Soelden in the Austrian Alps on Monday. Berlack, 20, of Franconia, N.H., and Astle, 19, of Sandy, Utah, were freeskiing off piste with four others when the accident occurred. The Tirol regional avalanche warning service has released new details surrounding the accident.
