Season’s Over; Isn’t It About Time You Get That Puffy Back To Clean? Not only are your season-dirty down jackets, vests, and even sleeping bag dirty and smelly, if you left them that way, they would lose their heat-insulating properties. It is easy to destroy your down gear if you don’t follow some basic rules when washing them at home.[Read More…]
Looking Back, Mystery Glimpse, Spring XC Skiing, Riding With The Cats. It’s hard not to get a bit philosophical at the end of a season. And yes, we know that there are those who are still finding newly fallen snow out there, but we are done. Highlights for us: We re-discovered our interest in ski history, launching the Mystery Glimpse[Read More…]
IKON changed its Mammoth Mountain benefits package. Purchasers of the $599 Ikon Base Pass now have full access with the exception of certain blackout dates. When originally offered, full access (no blackouts) was available only with the $899 Ikon Pass. Purchasers of the $599 Base Pass were entitled to 5 days at Mammoth. Alterra, the resort company offering the IKON[Read More…]
This Well-Dressed Athlete Was The First Of Many. Thanks to the Colorado Ski And Snowboard Museum for sending this picture along. We’re reaching deep here, dear readers, and if you can get this one, we will be really impressed. Who is he and what did he do that gave him a place in ski history? Last Week This is a[Read More…]
Even In Mid-April You Can XC Ski; You Just Have To Find The Snow. As the cross country (XC) ski season winds down, most XC ski areas close because of lack of skiers rather than lack of snow on the trails. The sun comes out, the temperature rises, and the XC skiers quit. Why? Are we infected with winter fatigue?[Read More…]
What’s It Like To Groom Trails At Night? They come out at night and do their job. You can see their lights progressing across the ski slope and occasionally hear their roar. And the next morning, they’ve left this delicious set of corduroy tracks across the ski hill. I’d always wanted to go on-slope with a snowcat groomer. And so,[Read More…]
Season Hangs On, Cross-Country Lessons, Apex Boot Highlights, Bob Beattie, Fun & Games, Mystery Train. Click Here To See Where Snow Fell Day By Day From Oct 5th to March 26th. A glance at the map shows where the season’s snow accumulated and where it didn’t. Clearly, the Far West, Upper Rockies, (and Canadian Rockies not shown), parts of the[Read More…]
Sunday at Snowbasin was the last day of my season. The end-of-season emergence of earth shedding its winter coat is bittersweet. The joy of Winter is being replaced by the joy of Spring. Every year on my last run, I say a prayer of thanks for having completed another season and a prayer of hope for the next. Having reached[Read More…]
Where Are We And What’s Happening? Thanks to the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum for providing this picture from ski history. The CS&SM is in the process of undergoing a $2.4 million renovation. The first of several exhibits, “Climb To Glory”, featuring the story of the 10th Mountain Division is now open. Other exhibits will be open at the end[Read More…]
It had been snowing three days when I arrived at Grand Targhee. By morning the new snow total was 55″. A guy from Denver suggested signing up for Early Tracks. For $89 members of the ski school guide you at 8AM, an hour head start on the public. Next morning, I skied 1 1/2 hours on untracked terrain, guided by[Read More…]
To Make The Switch To Cross-Country, Please Start With A Lesson And These Tips. In the early 1970s, in a visionary but totally wrong-headed move, the fledgling Nordic ski industry declared that, “If you can walk, you can cross-country ski.” It would have been a lot more helpful to say, “If you can walk, you can learn to cross-country ski.[Read More…]
History Suggests That Designing A New Boot Is A Multi-Million Dollar Gamble. Just the molds for a plastic shell boot cost a million dollars, and that doesn’t include engineering costs and other expenses. Then there is the need to make it profitable when annual manufacturing runs are in the thousands, not hundreds of thousands or millions. These and other factors[Read More…]
Beattie, Who Coached The US Team For Nine Seasons, Was A Ski Competition Innovator. Bob Beattie, the coach who put the US Ski Team on the world stage in the 60s, has died on Easter Sunday in Aspen, according to his son, Zeno. For details, click here for the news story from The Aspen Times.
Try This New Game: It’s A Cross Between Where’s Waldo And A Scavenger Hunt. I was skiing at Deer Valley, and I was taking photos. I’m always taking photos. It’s what I do. I never know when I’ll need a certain shot to illustrate a story. The next time I skied Deer Valley, I was with a friend. I showed[Read More…]
St. Bernard, The Doggie’s Namesake, Is An Actual Saint. [Editor Note: This tidbit was submitted by LuAnn Snyder, a freelance writer from Maryland.] Here’s a bit of trivia about the Patron Saint and Protector of Skiers: St. Bernard of Montjoux. Little is known for certain about St. Bernard of Montjoux who was probably born in Italy, c. 996 and died at[Read More…]
