Hey @Barney - I’m (US) National Ski Patrol (25,000 of us and 22,000 are volunteers like me)- in the midwest but with a few trips to the Rockies each year for fun. Another patroller was telling me just last Friday about a ski-vacation-itinerary near RED in your neck of the woods. Something about hitting a different ski area each day for like a week along the same highway. Any info?
Back country stuff is awesome BTW - I’ve gone in Colorado and Alaska - both with guides that included the full kit - because skiing in the midwest (vertical ice skating) has no need for powder skis and skins. Alaska was a once-in-a-lifetime situation - stranded with work over a weekend in Valdez with heli-ski season just about to begin but no official trips booked yet. So when I called up a place and told them the situation, they let me ride-along while they set their radio relays on various peaks - got in four heli-runs at about an hour each - but at about 25% the cost of a normal day. Black Ops Valdez was the company - good dudes!
The collection of resorts is sometimes called ‘The Powder Highway’
Lots of great skiing/ touring out here. Tricky backcountry season this year with the unstable snow pack in BC. 5 dead already in avi’s. CHM Heli ski had 2 guests killed last week; not great for business I guess. They killed a few people a while back, but when you pretty much ski only in the high alpine above the treeline you roll the dice.
I’m also conscious @KenKnight that the most likely people to be involved in an avalanche are long term back country guys like me. The only, and mean the only thing I can control is my terrain choice. But group dynamics, recent snow fall etc can always lead to the possibility of poor decision making.
Grab a coffee sometime an read quite possibly one of the best articles about how a group of relatively experienced skiers ended up in a huge avalanche. The whole ‘group dynamic’ thing is fascinating and something I keep in the back of my mind touring. One of the few advantages of being older is the confidence to say ‘No I’m not doing that’. Worth a read.
I’m a writer. I write satire and articles at Medium, novels, and skill acquisitions
self-help books at Amazon. (Links in my profile. Just saying.)
I also “play the piano like a guitarist.” Meaning I can play popular songs from chord sheets.
I’m also into straighr razor wet shaving, i juggle, and I’m a speed cuber. I can solve a rubik’s cube in under 30 seconds (although my average is around 40-45 seconds.
Cool. I did straight razors for a few years. Nice shave for sure. Had a nice JNAT, a coticule, and a bunch of kamisori. Makes me want to peek in to Badger & Blade
It was a grillauguration chez MCs last Saturday. Marinated chicen breasts, Korean ribs, roast tomato salsa and quesadillas.
This should go on the food thread, but BBQing is my hobby, in addition to bass and machining/fabricating. And it’s the only one I myself will claim to be good at.
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