Resorts respond to spate of in-bounds avalanches

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

New rules at Crested Butte are aimed at mitigating in-bounds avalanche risks.

Crested Butte establishes new rules for access to extreme terrain

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A spate of in-bounds avalanche accidents and deaths the past few years — involving both ski area workers and recreational skiers — may be starting to spur operational changes, as some ski areas are looking at new ways to manage avalanche risks.

Following a ski patrol death at Jackson Hole last season, ski patrollers at the Wyoming resort will wear floatation devices when doing avalanche control on high hazard routes. And in December, Crested Butte announced new guidelines for access to the Extreme Limits terrain, designed to create more awareness about the risks of skiing and riding in extreme terrain. (more…)

Filed under: avalanches, Colorado, recreation, ski industry, Ski Resorts, skiing and riding | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Skiing: Exuberance in the fall line

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

The kid at A-Basin.

Ski teacher tricks pay off in teaching offspring

By Bob Berwyn

A few days ago, during my first early morning scan of the news on Twitter, I saw a photo of the train station in the Austrian town of Bischofshofen, posted by a fellow who apparently travels extensively around his home country by rail, providing links to information about interesting art and historic exhibitions.

The train station is no big deal — just a few sets of tracks and platforms — but the backdrop, consisting of the massive Dachstein, is sublime and the scene instantly brought back an avalanche of memories. It was here, back in the late 1970s, that I took a rigorous week-long ski instructor training course as a first stepping stone toward what I thought would be a lifelong on-mountain career. It didn’t quite turn out that way. I did teach skiing for several seasons, but discovered along the way that, as a ski instructor, I didn’t really get to ski as much as I thought I would. (more…)

Filed under: skiing and riding, Summit County Colorado | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Weekend headlines and top stories

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

Still some confusion about global warming science ...

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —A lively mix of stories in our most-viewed sidebar today, including a contribution from Matt Krane on visiting with Taos author John Nichols, a winter weather forecast from Grand Junction-based climatologist Joe Ramey and a look at a new Yale study that assesses the state of climate science knowledge of the American public. Click on the headlines below to see what other people are reading at Summit Voice, and don’t forget to use the buttons at the bottom of the post to share the stories on your social networks.

A few more of the weekend headlines …

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Weekend Travel: Tofu, brown rice and deep powder in Taos

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Bob Berwyn

Ryder Kenney takes the plunge off the Juarez cornice on a bluebird day at Taos Ski Valley. PHOTO BY BOB BERWYN.

Road Trip: Taos visit brings back memories of tofu, brown rice and deep powder.


By BOB BERWYN

When I moved to Taos for a three-season stint back in the early 1980s, I was on a quest.

I had just spent a couple of years living at a lighthouse near San Francisco running a youth hostel. It was a great gig, but far from the mountains — too far. As I plotted my escape from the Bay Area, I scoured all the ski literature I could find and narrowed my choices down to Jackson Hole and Taos. I was looking for steep and deep. I was looking for a place with some ski culture. I wanted to be surrounded by people for whom skiing was more than just a diversion or holiday pastime.

I road-tripped to northern New Mexico in my $600 beater van, a puke-green 1975 Ford Econoline that just kept on rolling through the golden aspens of late summer, delivering me safely to the ski valley parking lot just as the summer musicians were packing up their tubas and cellos. Nobody bothered me there, and I blissfully hiked for days in the Wheeler Peak Wilderness Area to get in shape for the season. (more…)

Filed under: Ski Resorts, snow, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

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