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ResortsSki Season Starts Now
Ski Season Starts Now
UPDATE 11/23/11 Storms, halfpipes, and holiday deals—it’s all happening at ski resorts around North America. Mammoth Mountain in California opened its 22-foot halfpipe today, the first super pipe ready for skiing and riding in North America. Need motivation to get off the couch after all the holiday feasting? Vermont’s Killington Resort got 11 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. That’s equal to 30 centimeters across the border, which how much fresh snow fell at Lake Louise, Ski Banff, and Sunshine Village in Alberta. Anyone out in Utah for the holiday will have plenty of options for skiing, too, with…...
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CultureEarly Season Wake Up Call
Early Season Wake Up Call
Kent Scheler digs a pit to assess snowpack layers in The North Face’s “Know Boundaries” web series on avalanche safety. The rising fever of winter anticipation broke abruptly on November 13 with the death of pro skier Jamie Pierre. The father, husband, and new ambassador for Moonlight Basin in Montana triggered a slab avalanche while snowboarding at Utah’s Snowbird Resort. Pierre suffered fatal trauma after being swept 700 feet over rocky terrain. The ski area had not yet opened for the season. Pierre and a friend wereriding in uncontrolled, backcountry conditions. The Utah Avalanche Center reported 17 other avalanches on…...
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CultureChairlift Food Doesn’t Have to be Miserable Stuff
Chairlift Food Doesn’t Have to be Miserable Stuff
So here’s the deal on chairlift eating, gleaned from my years of reporting on sports nutrition and skiing through lunch. Those sugary gel blocks and gooey energy shots that provide instant power when you’re biking or running at high intensity are of little value when you’re at the ski area. It’s pretty simple really. When the body is at its aerobic limit, most of us just can’t stomach the fats and proteins of real food. And even if we can keep such food down, it doesn’t make much sense to divert energy to the digestive system when we should be…...
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CultureAccess The Goods
Access The Goods
Alaskan skiing pioneer and one-time extreme skier Dean Cummings stopped off in Boulder this week to talk about his heli-skiing operation, H20 Guides, his new film, The Steep Life, his traveling avalanche education program, Be Snow Smart, and his latest venture, a line of skis dubbed Access The Goods or ATG. We caught up with Cummings at a coffee shop—though he doesn’t seem to need caffeine as it is. One moment he’s shuffling coffee cups and press materials to build a working model of an avalanche slope complete with safety zones, the next, he’s running to the car for a…...
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GearQuick Tip: Hot Wax
Quick Tip: Hot Wax
Mountain‘s Marc Peruzzi demonstrates how to give your skis a hot wax. ...
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Gear
Quick Tip: Ski Socks
Quick Tip: Ski Socks
Larry Houchen has more than 25 years experience in bootfitting. For more from Larry on how to size ski boots, click here. You can visit Larry in Boulder, Colorado or at larrybootfitting.com. Editor Marc Peruzzi also has early-season advice: Click here to hear from him on removing burrs from your rock skis....
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CultureA New Plan for the Ski Industry
A New Plan for the Ski Industry
Members of the MRA pick a line on Manitoba Mountain, Alaska. Photo by Tom WinterFounded in 2010, the Mountain Rider’s Alliance is a company focused on building ski areas owned and operated by skiers and riders. That’s not all: Founder Jamie Schectman wants these mountains to produce their own energy, create jobs, and access great terrain. It may sound too good to be true—but Shectman and the MRA are in the process of making it happen at Manitoba Mountain in Alaska. Pick up a copy of Early Winter for more on that project, and keep reading for more from Schectman…...
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CultureLooking Further
Looking Further
Forrest Shearer talks Further in Denver last week. Photo by Johnny GreenhamA preview of the Jeremy Jones snowboarding film Further, slated for release in 2012, brought a crowd to Denver’s Patagonia store last Wednesday night. Snowboarder Forrest Shearer—who also appeared in Deeper, Jones’s first human-powered snowboarding film—introduced the Teton Gravity Research trailer and two webisodes filmed in Japan and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Watch the Further trailer here, and it’s pretty obvious that the boundaries of backcountry adventure will be pushed once more next fall. In Japan, high winds and sketchy weather conditions challenged the TGR crew. In Wyoming, Jimmy…...
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EnvironmentAnother La Niña?
Another La Niña?
This is what La Niña looks like at Squaw Valley. Photo by Keoki FlaggWhen the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released information in early October stating that the water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean were cooler than average, powder fiends across the northern tier of the United States rejoiced. What do the ocean temps in the Pacific have to do with getting fresh tracks on the hill? “La Niña means that water temps in the Central Pacific Ocean are below normal,” says Joel Gratz, a Colorado meteorologist who operates opensnow.com. “This matters because it’s a big area. Water temperatures in…...
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BikeThis Just In: The All-Season Base Layer
This Just In: The All-Season Base Layer
The Claim: New to the U.S., RACE is an Italian brand of technical apparel and accessories. They claim that because their RACE All Season Base Layer Top features a combination of hydrophobic polypropylene and non-static carbon you can use it year-round to help keep your body temperature constant. RACE also makes a bold claim about the fabric’s anti-odor capabilities. The Trial: RACE sent us the top to try out around the time of the first cool-weather bike rides of the fall. I wore it on three consecutive outings with temps mostly in the 50s. I didn’t wash it…...
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Gear
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Gear
Quick Tip: Sizing Ski Boots
Quick Tip: Sizing Ski Boots
Larry Houchen shares his tips on sizing ski boots, and what can happen if your boots are too big. Houchen has 25 years of experience in bootfitting. Visit Larry’s Bootfitting in Boulder, Colorado or his website to learn more....
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ResortsThink Snow, Plan Ahead
Think Snow, Plan Ahead
The scene at Winter Park Wednesday morning after 15 inches of snow fell overnight. The resort opens November 16. Photo by Tana HoffmanWinter might not be on your doorstep quite yet, but now is the best time to plan a ski vacation. Resorts around North America are offering deals that expire by Halloween or Thanksgiving. The bargains can be partly attributed to ripples from a 2010–11 season that saw record snowfall and record skier visits at many resorts. “People want to keep skiing and resorts are responding by offering bargains, deals, and packages that resonate with their guests,” says…...
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CultureCatch Him If You Can
Catch Him If You Can
Chris Davenport in California’s Sierra. Photo by Christian Pondella/Red Bull Content PoolDown days don’t come around often for Chris Davenport. If the ski mountaineer isn’t on the steeps—at home in Colorado, around North America, or in Europe, South America, and Antarctica—then he’s writing and researching books, giving interviews, and making appearances for films and sponsors. Even in October, the brief shoulder season between winter in the Southern and Northern hemispheres, Davenport’s schedule spans multiple continents. Mountain caught up with him at home in Aspen last week while he was driving skis to the local shop to get mounted. …...
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BikeSki Towns Rebrand, Attract Cyclists
Ski Towns Rebrand, Attract Cyclists
Photo by Aaron H. Bible, click to enlarge. See more at ahbmedia.com.Ski towns historically empty when the lifts stop turning for the season. Crowds leave, hotels go vacant—local restaurants and bars even close their doors in the off-season. But that trend is changing. High country communities like Steamboat, Colorado are welcoming cyclists and a bustling summer season with open arms. It makes sense. Mountain towns stay cool during the summer months, a perfect retreat when temperatures soar. Then there are the numbers to consider: According to the National Ski Areas Association, there are roughly 10 million skiers and snowboarders.…...
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CultureSimon Dumont Throws First Pitch at Fenway
Simon Dumont Throws First Pitch at Fenway
Simon Dumon is accustomed to the spotlight, but he’s usually dropping in rather than winding up. Known as one of the best halfpipe skiers in the world, Dumont owns eight X Games medals and a visionary segment (see below) in Grand Bizarre,” this year’s film from Poor Boyz Productions. But last Friday night, Dumont was the center of attention for an entirely different reason: The native of Bethel, Maine, who skis for Sunday River and is a lifelong Red Sox fan, was tapped to throw out the first pitch in Boston’s Fenway Park before the Red Sox took on the…...
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CultureFrom “Bombs Away” to Words on a Page
From “Bombs Away” to Words on a Page
A memoir from Kim Kircher (right) will be available in October. Photos courtesy of Behler Publications Kim Kircher is a ski patroller who throws explosives and calls “Bombs away!” from a helicopter, and an EMT who has saved lives. But it is her skill with the written word that is on display in her first book, The Next 15 Minutes: Strength From the Top of the Mountain, coming in October. The memoir begins at her husband’s diagnosis with bile duct cancer and traces the ordeal of treatment and waiting for a liver transplant. Kircher forges her way through the crisis by…...
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BikeSufferFest: 48 Hours of Neophyte Journalism
SufferFest: 48 Hours of Neophyte Journalism
The starting line at the Caribou Classic on Saturday morning. More photos from the ride below. Photos by Gavin Gibson For most people, Friday is the best workday of the week. A day to leave the office early or spend most of the day skirting around work and talk about the upcoming weekend. For an editorial intern at Mountain magazine, Friday is basically a crapshoot. I arrive to work at 8:15 a.m. groggy from some heavy testing of Breckenridge Distillery’s bourbon. Conclusion? It works. It tastes even better. I begin my morning ritual of sending out emails and making phone…...
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