Podcasts about grouse mountain

The world is waiting to see if US President Donald Trump will enter the conflict between Israel and Iran. MAGA followers and Republican lawmakers divided about potential U.S. involvement in Israel-Iran conflict. CSIS says hostile state actors may be trying to deceptively hire private investigators to track people in Canada. Officials in Prime Minister Mark Carney's office say the US wanted to water down a G7 statement about Russia's war in Ukraine, then retract the statement. There is still no trace of Lilly and Jack Sullivan, the two young siblings who disappeared in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Young Indigenous drummers from Squamish Nation in British Columbia, go viral with performance for grizzly bears on Grouse Mountain.

Rund zwei Millionen Menschen wohnen in der größten Stadt der Provinz British Columbia. Umgeben von Bergen und Meer lebt Vancouver weniger von den Sehenswürdigkeiten als vielmehr von einer besonderen Atmosphäre, einer Mischung aus Leichtigkeit und Gemütlichkeit. Die multikulturelle Metropole ist zudem ein Paradies für alle Menschen, die gerne multiethnisch essen gehen. Und auch die Toleranz gegenüber verschiedenen sexuellen Orientierungen wird im Stadtkern an vielen Ecken deutlich. All diese Aspekte tragen dazu bei, dass Vancouver Jahr für Jahr zu den lebenswertesten Städten der Welt gehört. Gleichzeitig gehört Vancouver auch zu den teuersten Wohnorten. Mit anderen Worten: Das schöne Fleckchen Erde hat seinen Preis. Vancouver ist zudem eine sportliche Stadt. Das Fahrrad spielt hier eine große Rolle. Immer wieder begegnen einem Radfahrer Downtown oder im Stanley Park, ein 404,9 Hektar großer Stadtpark, der von Wasser umgeben ist. Ohnehin braucht es nicht lange, bis man in der Natur ist. Der Hausberg, der 1200 Meter hohe Grouse Mountain, ist Wander- und Skilaufziel zugleich Und wer noch mehr Natur mag, fährt Richtung Rocky Mountains und Whistler oder nimmt die Fähre nach Vancouver Island - die größte nordamerikanische Pazifikinsel. Hier geht nochmal alles ein Stück gemütlicher zu. In Tofino und Ucluelet wollen Touristen Wale und Bären sehen, wandern oder einfach nur surfen. Unzählige Strände sorgen dafür das Tofino das Surf-Mekka Kanadas ist. Menschen jeden Alters stellen sich in Neoprenanzügen auf ihre Boards, reiten über die Wellen und genießen den Blick in die Weite des Pazifiks. Dennis Burk war in und um Vancouver unterwegs.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Sept. 11. It dropped for free subscribers on Sept. 19. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoMatt Davies, General Manager of Cypress Mountain, British ColumbiaRecorded onAugust 5, 2024About Cypress MountainClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Boyne ResortsLocated in: West Vancouver, British ColumbiaYear founded: 1970Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass: 7 days, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass: 5 days, holiday blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Grouse Mountain (:28), Mt. Seymour (:55) – travel times vary considerably given weather, time of day, and time of yearBase elevation: 2,704 feet/824 meters (base of Raven Ridge quad)Summit elevation: 4,720 feet/1,440 meters (summit of Mt. Strachan)Vertical drop: 2,016 feet/614 meters total | 1,236 feet/377 meters on Black Mountain | 1,720 feet/524 meters on Mt. StrachanSkiable Acres: 600 acresAverage annual snowfall: 245 inches/622 cmTrail count: 53 (13% beginner, 43% intermediate, 44% difficult)Lift count: 7 (2 high-speed quads, 3 fixed-grip quads, 1 double, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Cypress' lift fleet)View historic Cypress Mountain trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himI'm stubbornly obsessed with ski areas that are in places that seem impractical or improbable: above Los Angeles, in Indiana, in a New Jersey mall. Cypress doesn't really fit into this category, but it also sort of does. It makes perfect sense that a ski area would sit north of the 49th Parallel, scraping the same snow train that annually buries the mountains from Mt. Bachelor all the way to Whistler. It seems less likely that a 2,000-vertical-foot ski area would rise just minutes outside of Canada's third-largest city, one known for its moderate climate. But Cypress is exactly that, and offers – along with its neighbors Grouse Mountain and Mt. Seymour – a bite of winter anytime cityfolk want to open the refrigerator door.There's all kinds of weird stuff going on here, actually. Why is this little locals' bump – a good ski area, and a beautiful one, but no one's destination – decorated like a four-star general of skiing? 2010 Winter Olympics host mountain. Gilded member of Alterra's Ikon Pass. A piece of Boyne's continent-wide jigsaw puzzle. It's like you show up at your buddy's one-room hunting cabin and he's like yeah actually I built like a Batcave/wave pool/personal zoo with rideable zebras underneath. And you're like dang Baller who knew?What we talked aboutOffseason projects; snowmaking evolution since Boyne's 2001 acquisition; challenges of getting to 100 percent snowmaking; useful parking lot snow; how a challenging winter became “a pretty incredible experience for the whole team”; last winter: el nino or climate change?; why working for Whistler was so much fun; what happened when Vail Resorts bought Whistler – “I don't think there was a full understanding of the cultural differences between Canadians and Americans”; the differences between Cypress and Whistler; working for Vail versus working for Boyne – “the mantra at Boyne Resorts is that ‘we're a company of ski resorts, not a ski resort company'”; the enormous and potentially enormously transformative Cypress Village development; connecting village to ski area via aerial lift; future  lift upgrades, including potential six-packs; potential night-skiing expansion; paid parking incoming; the Ikon Pass; the 76-day pass guarantee; and Cypress' Olympic legacy.Why now was a good time for this interviewMountain town housing is most often framed as an intractable problem, ingrown and malignant and impossible to reset or rethink or repair. Too hard to do. But it is not hard to do. It is the easiest thing in the world. To provide more housing, municipalities must allow developers to build more housing, and make them do it in a way that is dense and walkable, that is mixed with commerce, that gives people as many ways to move around without a car as possible.This is not some new or brilliant idea. This is simply how humans built villages for about 10,000 years, until the advent of the automobile. Then we started building our spaces for machines instead of for people. This was a mistake, and is the root problem of every mountain town housing crisis in North America. That and the fact that U.S. Americans make no distinction between the hyper-thoughtful new urbanist impulses described here and the sprawling shitpile of random buildings that are largely the backdrop of our national life. The very thing that would inject humanity into the mountains is recast as a corrupting force that would destroy a community's already-compromised-by-bad-design character.Not that it will matter to our impossible American brains, but Canada is about to show us how to do this. Over the next 25 years, a pocket of raw forest hard against Cypress' access road will sprout a city of 3,711 homes that will house thousands of people. It will be a human-scaled, pedestrian-first community, a city neighborhood dropped onto a mountainside. A gondola could connect the complex to Cypress' lifts thousands of feet up the mountain – more cars off the road. It would look like this (the potential aerial lift is not depicted here):Here's how the whole thing would set up against the mountain:And here's what it would be like at ground level:Like wow that actually resembles something that is not toxic to the human soul. But to a certain sort of Mother Earth evangelist, the mere suggestion of any sort of mountainside development is blasphemous. I understand this impulse, but I believe that it is misdirected, a too-late reflex against the subdivision-off-an-exit-ramp Build- A-Bungalow mentality that transformed this country into a car-first sprawlscape. I believe a reset is in order: to preserve large tracts of wilderness, we should intensely develop small pieces of land, and leave the rest alone. This is about to happen near Cypress. We should pay attention.More on Cypress Village:* West Vancouver Approves ‘Transformational' Plan for Cypress Village Development - North Shore News* West Vancouver Approves Cypress Village Development with Homes for Nearly 7,000 People - UrbanizedWhat I got wrong* I said that Cypress had installed the Easy Rider quad in 2021, rather than 2001 (the correct year).* I also said that certain no-ski zones on Vail Mountain's trailmap were labelled as “lynx habitat.” They are actually labelled as “wildlife habitat.” My confusion stemmed from the resort's historical friction with the pro-Lynxers.Why you should ski Cypress MountainYou'll see it anyway on your way north to Whistler: the turnoff to Cypress Bowl Road. Four switchbacks and you're there, to a cut in the mountains surrounded by chairlifts, neon-green Olympic rings standing against the pines.This is not Whistler and no one will try to tell you that it is, including the guy running the place, who put in two decades priming the machine just up the road. But Cypress is not just a waystation either, or a curiosity, or a Wednesday evening punchcard for Vancouver Cubicle Bro. Two thousand vertical feet is a lot of vertical feet. It often snows here by the Dumpster load. Off the summits, spectacular views, panoramic, sweeping, a jigsaw interlocking of the manmade and natural worlds. The terrain is varied, playful, plentiful. And when the snow settles and the trees fill in, a bit of an Incredible Hulk effect kicks on, as this mild-mannered Bruce Banner of a ski area flexes into something bigger and beefier, an unlikely superhero of the Vancouver heights.But Cypress is also not a typical Ikon Pass resort: 600 acres, six chairlifts, not a single condo tucked against the hill. It's a ski area that's just a ski area. It rains a lot. A busy-day hike up from the most distant parking lot can eat an irrevocable part of your soul (new shuttles this year should help that). Snowmaking, by Boyne standards, is limited, (though punchy for B.C.). The lift fleet, also by Boyne standards, feels merely adequate, rather than the am-I-in-Austria-or-Montana explosive awe that hits you at the base of Big Sky.  To describe a ski area as both spectacular and ordinary feels like a contradiction (or, worse, lazy on my part). But Cypress is in fact both of these things. Lodged in a national park, yet part of Vancouver's urban fabric. Brown-dirt trails in February and dang-where'd-I-leave-my-giraffe deep 10 days later. Just another urban ski area, but latched onto a pass with Aspen and Alta, a piece of a company that includes Big Sky and Big Cottonwood and a pair of New England ski areas that dwarf their Brother Cypress. A stop on the way north to Whistler, but much more than that as well.Podcast NotesOn the 2010 Winter OlympicsA summary of Cypress' Olympic timeline, from the mountain's history page:On Whistler BlackcombWe talk quite a bit about Whistler, where Davies worked for two decades. Here's a trailmap so you don't have to go look it up:On animosity between the merger of Whistler and BlackcombI covered this when I hosted Whistler COO Belinda Trembath on the podcast a few months back.On neighborsCypress is one of three ski areas seated just north of Vancouver. The other two are Grouse Mountain and Mt. Seymour, which we allude to briefly in the podcast. Here are some visuals:On Boyne's building bingeI won't itemize everything here, but over the past half decade or so, Boyne has leapt ahead of everyone else in North American in adoption of hyper-modern lift technology. The company operates all five eight-place chairlift in the United States, has built four advanced six-packs, just built a rocketship-speedy tram at Big Sky, has rebuilt and repurposed four high-speed quads within its portfolio, and has upgraded a bucketload of aging fixed-grip chairs. And many more lifts, including two super-advanced gondolas coming to Big Sky, are on their way.On Sunday River's progression carpetsThis is how carpets ought to be stacked – as a staircase from easiest to hardest, letting beginners work up their confidence with short bursts of motion:On side-by-side carpetsBoyne has two of these bad boys, as far as I know – one at Big Sky, and one at Summit at Snoqualmie, both installed last year. Here's the Big Sky lift:On Ikon resorts in B.C. and proximity to CypressWhile British Columbia is well-stocked with Ikon Pass partners – Revelstoke, Red Mountain, Panorama, Sun Peaks – none of them is anywhere near Cypress. The closest, Sun Peaks, is four to five hours under the best conditions. The next closest Ikon Pass partner is The Summit at Snoqualmie, four hours and an international border south – so more than twice the distance as that little place north of Cypress called Whistler. The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 56/100 in 2024, and number 556 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

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Send us a Text Message.Have you ever wondered what it would be like to stand at the very spot where America's wilderness conservation efforts began? Join me, Craig the Natural Medic, as we journey to the breathtaking Leopold Vista in the Gila National Forest. With elevations ranging from 4,500 to nearly 11,000 feet, the stunning landscape sits snugly between the Rockies and the deserts of Mexico. I'll immerse you in the awe-inspiring views of Grouse Mountain, Mogollon Baldy, and Whitewater Baldy, while uncovering the rich history behind the Gila Wilderness—the first designated wilderness area in the lower 48 states, established in 1924, thanks to the tireless efforts of Aldo Leopold.As I share my personal passion for the wilderness, you'll hear about my aspirations to backpack through this expansive terrain and traverse parts of the Continental Divide Trail that meander through the Gila, Aldo Leopold, and Blue Range wildernesses. Spanning over 500,000 acres, the Gila Wilderness stands as a monumental testament to early conservation endeavors. Don't forget to give a thumbs up and subscribe for more nature-filled adventures, and stay tuned for my upcoming plans to hike and explore this remarkable region. Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below—see you on the trail!Support the Show.

Some decisions we make hardy feel like decisions at all, while others feel monumental. Do we have a sense of the small decisions that ultimately are life altering, or is the realization only after it's too late to go back? For David Koch the decision to catch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean ended in the worst way possible.Support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, with benefits starting at the $3 tier!Follow us on Instagram at offthetrailspodcastFollow us on Facebook at Off the Trails PodcastIf you have your own outdoor misadventure (or adventure) story that you'd like us to include in a listener episode, send it to us at offthetrailspodcast@gmail.com  Please take a moment to rate and review our show, and a big thanks if you already have!  Episode Sources:OnMilwaukee, Wall Street Journal, Grouse Mountain, GMToday (1), GMToday (2), Strange Outdoors, CBC, Global Mail  **We do our own research and try our best to cross reference reliable sources to present the most accurate information we can. Please reach out to us if you believe we have mispresented any information during this episode and we will be happy to correct ourselves in a future episode.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on June 10. It dropped for free subscribers on June 17. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoBelinda Trembath, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of Whistler Blackcomb, British ColumbiaRecorded onJune 3, 2024About Whistler BlackcombClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail Resorts (majority owners; Nippon Cable owns a 25 percent stake in Whistler Blackcomb)Located in: Whistler, British ColumbiaYear founded: 1966Pass affiliations:* Epic Pass: unlimited* Epic Local Pass: 10 holiday-restricted days, shared with Vail Mountain and Beaver CreekClosest neighboring ski areas: Grouse Mountain (1:26), Cypress (1:30), Mt. Seymour (1:50) – travel times vary based upon weather conditions, time of day, and time of yearBase elevation: 2,214 feet (675 meters)Summit elevation: 7,497 feet (2,284 meters)Vertical drop: 5,283 feet (1,609 meters)Skiable Acres: 8,171Average annual snowfall: 408 inches (1,036 centimeters)Trail count: 276 (20% easiest, 50% more difficult, 30% most difficult)Lift count: A lot (1 28-passenger gondola, 3 10-passenger gondolas, 1 8-passenger gondola, 1 8-passenger pulse gondola, 8 high-speed quads, 4 six-packs, 1 eight-pack, 3 triples, 2 T-bars, 7 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Whistler Blackcomb's lift fleet) – inventory includes upgrade of Jersey Cream Express from a quad to a six-pack for the 2024-25 ski season.Why I interviewed herHistorical records claim that when Lewis and Clark voyaged west in 1804, they were seeking “the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent, for the purposes of commerce.” But they were actually looking for Whistler Blackcomb.Or at least I think they were. What other reason is there to go west but to seek out these fabulous mountains, rising side by side and a mile* into the sky, where Pacific blow-off splinters into summit blizzards and packed humanity animates the village below?There is nothing else like Whistler in North America. It is our most complete, and our greatest, ski resort. Where else does one encounter this collision of terrain, vertical, panorama, variety, and walkable life, interconnected with audacious aerial lifts and charged by a pilgrim-like massing of skiers from every piece and part of the world? Europe and nowhere else. Except for here.Other North American ski resorts offer some of these things, and some of them offer better versions of them than Whistler. But none of them has all of them, and those that have versions of each fail to combine them all so fluidly. There is no better snow than Alta-Snowbird snow, but there is no substantive walkable village. There is no better lift than Jackson's tram, but the inbounds terrain lacks scale and the town is miles away. There is no better energy than Palisades Tahoe energy, but the Pony Express is still carrying news of its existence out of California.Once you've skied Whistler – or, more precisely, absorbed it and been absorbed by it – every other ski area becomes Not Whistler. The place lingers. You carry it around. Place it into every ski conversation. “Have you been to Whistler?” If not, you try to describe it. But it can't be done. “Just go,” you say, and that's as close as most of us can come to grabbing the raw power of the place.*Or 1.6 Canadian Miles (sometimes referred to as “kilometers”).What we talked aboutWhy skier visits dropped at Whistler-Blackcomb this past winter; the new Fitzsimmons eight-passenger express and what it took to modify a lift that had originally been intended for Park City; why skiers can often walk onto that lift with little to no wait; this summer's Jersey Cream lift upgrade; why Jersey Cream didn't require as many modifications as Fitzsimmons even though it was also meant for Park City; the complexity of installing a mid-mountain lift; why WB had to cancel 2024 summer skiing and what that means for future summer seasons; could we see a gondola serving the glacier instead?; Vail's Australian trio of Mt. Hotham, Perisher, and Falls Creek; Whistler's wild weather; the distinct identities of Blackcomb and Whistler; what WB means to Vail Resorts; WB's Olympic legacy; Whistler's surprisingly low base elevation and what that means for the visitor; WB's relationship with local First Nations; priorities for future lift upgrades and potential changes to the Whistler gondola, Seventh Heaven, Whistler T-bar, Franz's, Garbanzo; discussing proposed additional lifts in Symphony Bowl and elsewhere on Whistler; potential expansion into a fourth portal; potential new or upgraded lifts sketched out in Blackcomb Mountain's masterplan; why WB de-commissioned the Hortsman T-Bar; missing the Wizard-to-Solar-Coaster access that the Blackcomb Gondola replaced; WB's amazing self-managing lift mazes; My Epic App direct-to-lift access is coming to Whistler; employee housing; why Whistler's season pass costs more than an Epic Pass; and Edge cards.   Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewFour new major lifts in three years; the cancellation of summer skiing; “materially lower” skier visits at Whistler this past winter, as reported by Vail Resorts – all good topics, all enough to justify a check-in. Oh and the fact that Whistler Blackcomb is the largest ski area in the Western Hemisphere, the crown jewel in Vail's sprawling portfolio, the single most important ski area on the continent.And why is that? What makes this place so special? The answer lies only partly in its bigness. Whistler is vast. Whistler is thrilling. Whistler is everything you hope a ski area will be when you plan your winter vacation. But most important of all is that Whistler is proof.Proof that such a place can exist in North America. U.S. America is stuck in a development cycle that typically goes like this:* Ski area proposes a new expansion/base area development/chairlift/snowmaking upgrade.* A small group of locals picks up the pitchforks because Think of the Raccoons/this will gut the character of our bucolic community of car-dependent sprawl/this will disrupt one very specific thing that is part of my personal routine that heavens me I just can't give up.* Said group files a lawsuit/formal objection/some other bureaucratic obstacle, halting the project.* Resort justifies the project/adapts it to meet locals' concerns/makes additional concessions in the form of land swaps, operational adjustments, infrastructure placement, and the like.* Group insists upon maximalist stance of Do Nothing.* Resort makes additional adjustments.* Group is Still Mad* Cycle repeats for years* Either nothing ever gets done, or the project is built 10 to 15 years after its reveal and at considerable extra expense in the form of studies, legal fees, rising materials and labor costs, and expensive and elaborate modifications to accommodate one very specific thing, like you can't operate the lift from May 1 to April 20 because that would disrupt the seahorse migration between the North and South Poles.In BC, they do things differently. I've covered this extensively, in podcast conversations with the leaders of Sun Peaks, Red Mountain, and Panorama. The civic and bureaucratic structures are designed to promote and encourage targeted, smart development, leading to ever-expanding ski areas, human-scaled and walkable base area infrastructure, and plenty of slopeside or slope-adjacent accommodations.I won't exhaust that narrative again here. I bring it up only to say this: Whistler has done all of these things at a baffling scale. A large, vibrant, car-free pedestrian village where people live and work. A gargantuan lift across an unbridgeable valley. Constant infrastructure upgrades. Reliable mass transit. These things can be done. Whistler is proof.That BC sits directly atop Washington State, where ski areas have to spend 15 years proving that installing a stop sign won't undermine the 17-year cicada hatching cycle, is instructive. Whistler couldn't exist 80 miles south. Maybe the ski area, but never the village. And why not? Such communities, so concentrated, require a small footprint in comparison to the sprawl of a typical development of single-family homes. Whistler's pedestrian base village occupies an area around a half mile long and less than a quarter mile wide. And yet, because it is a walkable, mixed-use space, it cuts down reliance on driving, enlivens the ski area, and energizes the soul. It is proof that human-built spaces, properly conceived, can create something worthwhile in what, 50 years ago, was raw wilderness, even if they replace a small part of the natural world.A note from Whistler on First NationsTrembath and I discuss Whistler's relationship with First Nations extensively, but her team sent me some follow-up information to clarify their role in the mountain's development:Belinda didn't really have time to dive into a very important piece of the First Nations involvement in the operational side of things:* There was significant engagement with First Nations as a part of developing the masterplans.* Their involvement and support were critical to the approval of the masterplans and to ensuring that all parties and their respective communities will benefit from the next 60 years of operation.* This includes the economic prosperity of First Nations – both the Squamish and Líl̓wat Nations will participate in operational success as partners.* To ensure this, the Province of British Columbia, the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb and the Squamish and Líl̓wat Nations are engaged in agreements on how to work together in the future.* These agreements, known as the Umbrella Agreement, run concurrently with the Master Development Agreements and masterplans, providing a road map for our relationship with First Nations over the next 60 years of operations and development. * Key requirements include Revenue Sharing, Real Estate Development, Employment, Contracting & Recreational Opportunities, Marketing and Tourism and Employee Housing. There is an Implementation Committee, which oversees the execution of the agreement. * This is a landmark agreement and the only one of its kind within the mountain resort industry.What we got wrongI mentioned that “I'd never seen anything like” the lift mazes at Whistler, but that's not quite accurate. Vail Resorts deploys similar setups throughout its western portfolio. What I hadn't seen before is such choreographed and consistent navigation of these mazes by the skiers themselves. To watch a 500-person liftline squeeze itself into one loading ramp with no personnel direction or signage, and to watch nearly every chair lift off fully loaded, is to believe, at least for seven to nine minutes, in humanity as a worthwhile ongoing experiment.I said that Edge Cards were available for up to six days of skiing. They're actually available in two-, five-, or 10-day versions. If you're not familiar with Edge cards, it's because they're only available to residents of Canada and Washington State.Whistler officials clarified the mountain's spring skiing dates, which Trembath said started on May 14. The actual dates were April 15 to May 20.Why you should ski Whistler BlackcombYou know that thing you do where you step outside and you can breathe as though you didn't just remove your space helmet on the surface of Mars? You can do that at Whistler too. The village base elevation is 2,214 feet. For comparison's sake: Salt Lake City's airport sits at 4,227 feet; Denver's is at 5,434. It only goes up from there. The first chairlifts sit at 6,800 feet in Park City; 8,100 at Snowbird; 8,120 at Vail; 8,530 at Alta; 8,750 at Brighton; 9,000 at Winter Park; 9,280 at Keystone; 9,600 at Breckenridge; 9,712 at Copper Mountain; and an incredible 10,780 feet at Arapahoe Basin. Taos sits at 9,200 feet. Telluride at 8,750. Adaptation can be brutal when parachuting in from sea level, or some nominal inland elevation above it, as most of us do. At 8,500 feet, I get winded searching my hotel room for a power outlet, let alone skiing, until my body adjusts to the thinner air. That Whistler requires no such reconfiguration of your atomic structure to do things like blink and speak is one of the more underrated features of the place.Another underrated feature: Whistler Blackcomb is a fantastic family mountain. While Whistler is a flip-doodle factory of Stoke Brahs every bit the equal of Snowbird or Jackson Hole, it is not Snowbird or Jackson Hole. Which is to say, the place offers beginner runs that are more than across-the-fall line cat tracks and 300-vertical-foot beginner pods. While it's not promoted like the celebrated Peak-to-Creek route, a green trail (or sequence of them), runs nearly 5,000 uninterrupted vertical feet from Whistler's summit to the base village. In fact, with the exception of Blackcomb's Glacier Express, every one of the ski area's 16 chairlifts (even the fearsome Peak Express), and five gondolas offers a beginner route that you can ski all the way back to the base. Yes, some of them shuffle into narrow cat tracks for stretches, but mostly these are wide, approachable trails, endless and effortless, built, it seems, for ski-family safaris of the confidence-building sort.Those are maybe the things you're not thinking of. The skiing:Most skiers start with one of the three out-of-base village gondolas, but the new Fitz eight-seater rarely has a line. Start there:That's mostly a transit lift. At the top, head up the Garbanzo quad, where you can start to understand the scale of the thing:You're still not quite to the goods. But to get a sense of the mountain, ski down to Big Red:This will take you to Whistler's main upper-mountain portal, Roundhouse. From Whistler, you can see Blackcomb strafing the sky:From Roundhouse, it's a short ski down to the Peak Express:Depending upon your route down, you may end up back at Big Red. Ride back up to Roundhouse, then meander from Emerald to Harmony to Symphony lifts. For a moment on the way down Symphony, it feels like Euroski:Just about everyone sticks to the narrow groomers:But there are plenty of bumps and trees and wide-open bowls:Nice as this terrain is, the Peak 2 Peak Gondola summons you from all over the mountain:Whoosh. To Blackcomb in an instant, crossing the valley, 1,427 feet to the bottom, and out at Blackcomb's upper-mountain base, Rendezvous. Down to Glacier Express, and up a rolling fantasyland of infinite freeride terrain:And at the top it's like damn.From here, you can transfer to the Showcase T-bar if it's open. If not, climb Spanky's Ladder, and, Kaboom out on the other side:Ride Crystal Ridge or Excelerator back up, and run a lap through bowls and glades:Then ski back down to the village, ride Jersey Cream back to Rendezvous to connect to the spectacular 7th Heaven lift, or ride the gondy back over to Whistler to repeat the whole cycle. And that's just a sampling. I'm no Whistler expert - just go have fun and get lost in the whole thing.Podcast NotesOn the Lost Lifts of Park CityIt's slightly weird and enormously hilarious that the Fitzsimmons eight-seater that Whistler installed last summer and the Jersey Cream sixer that Blackcomb will drop on the mountain this year were originally intended for Park City. As I wrote in 2022:Last September, Vail Resorts announced what was likely the largest set of single-season lift upgrades in the history of the world: $315-plus million on 19 lifts (later increased to 21 lifts) across 14 ski areas. Two of those lifts would land in Park City: a D-line eight-pack would replace the Silverlode six, and a six-pack would replace the Eagle and Eaglet triples. Two more lifts in a town with 62 of them (Park City sits right next door to Deer Valley). Surely this would be another routine project for the world's largest ski area operator.It wasn't. In June, four local residents – Clive Bush, Angela Moschetta, Deborah Rentfrow, and Mark Stemler – successfully appealed the Park City Planning Commission's previous approval of the lift projects.“The upgrades were appealed on the basis that the proposed eight-place and six-place chairs were not consistent with the 1998 development agreement that governs the resort,” SAM wrote at the time. “The planning commission also cited the need for a more thorough review of the resort's comfortable carrying capacity calculations and parking mitigation plan, finding PCM's proposed paid parking plan at the Mountain Village insufficient.”So instead of rising on the mountain, the lifts spent the summer, in pieces, in the parking lot. Vail admitted defeat, at least temporarily. “We are considering our options and next steps based on today's disappointing decision—but one thing is clear—we will not be able to move forward with these two lift upgrades for the 22-23 winter season,” Park City Mountain Resort Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh said in response to the decision.One of the options Vail apparently considered was trucking the lifts to friendlier locales. Last Wednesday, as part of its year-end earnings release, Vail announced that the two lifts would be moved to Whistler and installed in time for the 2023-24 ski season. The eight-pack will replace the 1,129-vertical-foot Fitzsimmons high-speed quad on Whistler, giving the mountain 18 seats (!) out of the village (the lift runs alongside the 10-passenger Whistler Village Gondola). The six-pack will replace the Jersey Cream high-speed quad on Blackcomb, a midmountain lift with a 1,230-foot vertical rise.The whole episode is still one of the dumber things I'm aware of. There are like 80 lifts in Park City and two more (replacements, not all-new lines), apparently would have knocked the planet off its axis and sent us caterwauling into the sun. It's enough to make you un-see all the human goodness in Whistler's magical lift queues. More here.On Fitzsimmons 8's complex lineAmong the challenges of re-engineering the Fitzsimmons 8 for Whistler was the fact that the lift had to pass under the Whistler Village Gondola:Trembath and I talk a little about Fitz's download capability. Team Whistler sent over some additional information following our chat, indicating that the winter download capacity is four riders per chair (part of the original lift design, when it was meant for Park City). Summer download, for bike park operations, is limited to one passenger (a lower capacity than the original design).On Whistler's bike parkI'm not Bike Park Bro, though I could probably be talked into it fairly easily if I didn't already spend half the year wandering around the country in search of novel snowsportskiing operations. I do, however, ride my bike around NYC just about every day from May through October-ish, which in many ways resembles the giant jungle gyms that are downhill mountain bike parks, just with fewer jumps and a higher probability of decapitation by box truck.Anyway Whistler supposedly has the best bike park this side of Neptune, and we talk about it a bit, and so I'll include the trailmap even though I'd have a better chance of translating ancient Aramaic runes etched into a cave wall than I would of explaining exactly what's happening here:On Jersey Cream “not looking like much” on the trailmapBecause Whistler's online trailmap is shrunken to fit the same rectangular container that every ski map fills in the Webosphere, it fails to convey the scale of the operation (the paper version, which you can acquire if you slip a bag of gold bars and a map to the Lost City of Atlantis to a clerk at the guest services desk, is aptly called a “mountain atlas” and better captures the breadth of the place). The Jersey Cream lift and pod, for example, presents on the trailmap as an inconsequential connector lift between the Glacier Express and Rendezous station, where three other lifts convene. But this is a 1,230-vertical-foot, 4,647-foot-long machine that could, were you to hack it from the earth and transport it into the wilderness, be a fairly substantial ski area on its own. For context, 1,200 vertical feet is roughly the rise of Eldora or Monarch, or, for Easterners, Cranmore or Black Mountain.On the Whistler and Blackcomb masterplansUnlike the U.S. American Forest Service, which often fails to post ski area master development plans on their useless 1990s vintage websites, the British Columbia authorities have neatly organized all of their province's masterplans on one webpage. Whistler and Blackcomb mountains each file separate plans, last updated in 2013. That predates Vail Resorts' acquisition by three years, and Trembath and I discuss how closely (or not), these plans align with the company's current thinking around the resort.Whistler Mountain:Blackcomb Mountain:On Vail's Australian ski areasTrembath, at different points, oversaw all three of Vail Resorts' Australian ski areas. Though much of that tenure predated Vail's acquisitions (of Hotham and Falls Creek in 2019), she ran Perisher (purchased in 2015), for a year before leaping to the captain's chair at Whistler. Trembath provides a terrific breakdown of each of the three ski areas, and they look like a lot of fun:Perisher:Falls Creek:Hotham:On Sugar Bowl ParallelsTrembath's story follows a similar trajectory to that of Bridget Legnavsky, whose decades-long career in New Zealand included running a pair of that country's largest ski resorts. She then moved to North America to run a large ski area – in her case, Sugar Bowl near Lake Tahoe's North Shore. She appeared on the podcast in March.On Merlin EntertainmentI was unfamiliar with Merlin Entertainment, the former owner of Falls Creek and Hotham. The company is enormous, and owns Legoland Parks, Madame Tussauds, and dozens of other familiar brands.On Whistler and Blackcomb as formerly separate ski areasLike Park City (formerly Park City and Canyons) and Palisades Tahoe (formerly Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley), Whistler and Blackcomb were once separate ski areas. Here's the stoke version of the mountains' joint history (“You were either a Whistler skier, or you were a Blackcomb skier”):On First Nations' language on lifts and the Gondola Gallery projectAs Whistler builds new lifts, the resort tags the lift terminals with names in English and First Nations languages. From Pique Magazine at the opening of the Fitzsimmons eight-pack last December:Whistler Mountain has a brand-new chairlift ready to ferry keen skiers and snowboarders up to mid-mountain, with the rebuilt Fitzsimmons Express opening to guests early on Dec. 12. …“Importantly, this project could not have happened without the guidance and counsel of the First Nations partners,” said Trembath.“It's so important to us that their culture continues to be represented across these mountains in everything we do.”In keeping with those sentiments, the new Fitzsimmons Express is emblazoned with First Nations names alongside its English name: In the Squamish language, it is known as Sk_wexwnách, for Valley Creek, and in the Lil'wat language, it is known as Tsíqten, which means Fish Spear.New chairlifts are given First Nations names at Whistler Blackcomb as they are installed and opened.Here's Fitzsimmons:And Big Red, a sixer installed two years ago:Whistler also commissioned First Nations artists to wrap two cabins on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola. From Daily Hive:The Peak 2 Peak gondola, which connects Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, is showing off artwork created by First Nations artists, which can be seen by mountain-goers at BC's premiere ski resort.Vail Resorts commissioned local Indigenous artists to redesign two gondola cabins. Levi Nelson of Lil'wat Nation put his stamp on one with “Red,” while Chief Janice George and Buddy Joseph of Squamish Nation have created “Wings of Thunder.” …“Red is a sacred colour within Indigenous culture, representing the lifeblood of the people and our connection to the Earth,” said Nelson, an artist who excels at contemporary Indigenous art. “These shapes come from and are inspired by my ancestors. To be inside the gondola, looking out through an ovoid or through the Ancestral Eye, maybe you can imagine what it's like to experience my territory and see home through my eyes.”“It's more than just the techniques of weaving. It's about ways of being and seeing the world. Passing on information that's meaningful. We've done weavings on murals, buildings, reviving something that was put away all those decades ago now,” said Chief Janice George and Buddy Joseph.“The significance of the Thunderbird being on the gondola is that it brings the energy back on the mountain and watching over all of us.”A pic:On Native American issues in the U.S.I referenced conflicts between U.S. ski resorts and Native Americans, without providing specifics. The Forest Service cited objections from Native American communities, among other factors, in recommending a “no action” alternative to Lutsen Mountains' planned expansion last year. The Washoe tribe has attempted to “reclaim” land that Diamond Peak operates on. The most prominent dispute, however, has been a decades-long standoff between Arizona Snowbowl and indigenous tribes. Per The Guardian in 2022:The Arizona Snowbowl resort, which occupies 777 acres (314 hectares) on the mountain's slope, has attracted skiers during the winter and spring for nearly a century. But its popularity has boomed in recent years thanks to growing populations in Phoenix, a three hour's drive away, and neighbouring Flagstaff. During peak ski season, the resort draws upwards of 3,000 visitors a day.More than a dozen Indigenous nations who hold the mountain sacred have fought Snowbowl's existence since the 1930s. These include the Pueblo of Acoma, Fort McDowell Yavapai; Havasupai; Hopi; Hualapai; Navajo; San Carlos Apache; San Juan Southern Paiute; Tonto Apache; White Mountain Apache; Yavapai Apache, Yavapai Prescott, and Pueblo of Zuni. They say the resort's presence has disrupted the environment and their spiritual connection to the mountain, and that its use of treated sewage effluent to make snow is akin to baptizing a baby with wastewater.Now, a proposed $60m expansion of Snowbowl's facilities has brought simmering tensions to a boil.The US Forest Service, the agency that manages the national forest land on which Snowbowl is built, is weighing a 15-year expansion proposal that would bulk up operations, increase visitation and add new summer recreational facilities such as mountain biking trails, a zip line and outdoor concerts. A coalition of tribes, meanwhile, is resisting in unprecedented ways.The battle is emblematic of a vast cultural divide in the American west over public lands and how they should be managed. On one side are mostly financially well-off white people who recreate in national forests and parks; on the other are Indigenous Americans dispossessed from those lands who are struggling to protect their sacred sites.“Nuva'tukya'ovi is our Mount Sinai. Why can't the forest service understand that?,” asks Preston.On the tight load at the 7th Heaven liftYikes:Honestly it's pretty organized and the wait isn't that long, but this is very popular terrain and the trails could handle a higher-capacity lift (nearly everyone skis the Green Line trail or one of the blue groomers off this lift, leaving hundreds of acres of off-piste untouched; it's pretty glorious).On Wizard and Solar CoasterEvery local I spoke with in Whistler grumped about the Blackcomb Gondola, which replaced the Wizard and Solar Coaster high-speed quads in 2018. While the 10-passenger gondy substantively follows the same lines, it fails to provide the same mid-mountain fast-lap firepower that Solar Coaster once delivered. Both because removing your skis after each lap is a drag, and because many skiers ride the gondola up to Rendezvous, leaving fewer free mid-mountain seats than the empty quad chairs once provided. Here's a before-and-after:On Whistler's season passWhistler's season pass, which is good at Whistler Blackcomb and only Whistler Blackcomb, strangely costs more ($1,047 U.S.) than a full Epic Pass ($1,004 U.S.), which also provides unlimited access to Whistler and Vail's other 41 ski areas. It's weird. Trembath explains.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 42/100 in 2024, and number 542 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

In this episode, we travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. I chatted with Robert Conrad, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in Vancouver, to learn about some great ways to enjoy the night sky. I also share some super fun nighttime activities for those cloudy nights. Visit NightSkyTourist.com/96 for more information about this episode. CHECK OUT THESE LINKS FROM EPISODE 96: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada- Vancouver: https://rasc-vancouver.com/  Vancouver Astronomy Meetup Group: https://www.meetup.com/astronomy-131/  RASC-Vancouver Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rascvancouver/  RASC- Vancouver Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RASCVancouver  Whistler Astronomy Club Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/326912794079774  Light Pollution Map: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/  Native Skywatchers Ojibwe Star Map: https://www.nativeskywatchers.com/resources.html  Stellarium: https://stellarium-web.org/  Clear Outside (cloud forecast & map): https://clearoutside.com/forecast/50.7/-3.52  Lost Souls of Gastown tours: https://forbiddenvancouver.ca/lost-souls-of-gastown-vancouver-tour/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9IayBhBJEiwAVuc3fiEmwiWlrLBVCULeer9k4mARR5hBivOF49k9vwFiC_FbJwMDha0MlhoCMlEQAvD_BwE  Richmond Night Market: https://richmondnightmarket.com/  Stanley Park: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/stanley-park.aspx  Grouse Mountain: https://www.grousemountain.com/  Capilano Suspension Bridge Park: https://www.capbridge.com/  Rate Night Sky Tourist with 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. THANK YOU! FOLLOW NIGHT SKY TOURIST ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NightSkyTourist  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nightskytourist/  SPREAD THE WORD Help us reach more people by subscribing to the podcast, leaving a review, and sharing it with others. GET TO KNOW US MORE Visit NightSkyTourist.com to read our great blog articles, check out our resource page, and sign up for our newsletters. Our monthly newsletter has content that is exclusive for subscribers. SHARE YOUR QUESTION We want to hear your questions. They could even become part of a future Q&A. Record your question in a voice memo on your smartphone and email it to us at Hello@NightSkyTourist.com. COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS Email us at Hello@NightSkyTourist.com.

#102 - Imagine the ground beneath your feet giving way, plunging you into darkness. That's how Dan McQueen's world changed when a brain hemorrhage in 2014 left him grappling for the basic threads of life. Join me as I sit down with Dan in an episode that promises to grip your heart with a story of indomitable courage. Together, we navigate the jagged path of Dan's recovery, where every step, word, and smile became a milestone in his extraordinary journey. His approach to turning rehabilitation into a game shows us the profound power of positivity in the face of pain.Skiing down Grouse Mountain might seem like an everyday activity for some, but for Dan McQueen, it was a summit of triumph, a pinnacle that marked his return to life's passions after a grueling decade-long hiatus. This episode is not just about the celebration of physical milestones; it's a deeper revelation of how setting audacious goals can ignite the human spirit. Dan's emotional reunion with the nurse who saw him at his most vulnerable, now witnessing his victorious descent, punctuates our conversation with a raw, powerful testament to the resilience within us all.Ending on a note that resonates beyond the personal, Dan's transition into motivational speaking magnifies the impact of his narrative. It's a message that echoes through hospitals and into the halls of the Canadian Bureau of Speakers—championing the idea that the lens through which we view our world often holds the key to transforming it. As we wrap up our time together, Dan reminds us that his story, as remarkable as it is, serves as a mirror reflecting the untapped potential that lies dormant within each of us, waiting for the spark of inspiration to ignite.Be sure and check out Dan by visiting his website www.macqueendan.com.  You can also check him out on Instagram @macqueendan.  While you are at it if you have not done so please give me a follow on Instagram @journeywithjakepodcast.Visit LandPirate.com to get your gear that has you, the adventurer, in mind. Use the code "Journey with Jake" to get an additional 15% off at check out.

On episode 344 of SOMEWHERE IN THE SKIES, Ryan returns to bring you the incredible, but tragic story of the Grouse Mountain UFO. On February 12th, 1954, US Air Force Second Lieutenant Lamar Barlow was piloting his F-86 Sabre jet over Grouse Mountain. However, shortly after 12pm, the control tower began receiving “Mayday” calls from Barlow. What happened next would spark an intense investigation and would depend on the witness testimony of a six-year old girl. What exactly was Barlow chasing and what could possibly have caused his untimely demise?Written and co-researched by Marcus Lowth: www.ufoinsight.comVoiceover by David Flora: www.hysteria51.comPatreon: www.patreon.com/somewhereskiesPayPal: Sprague51@hotmail.comWebsite: www.somewhereintheskies.comYouTube Channel: CLICK HEREOrder Ryan's new book: https://a.co/d/4KNQnM4Order Ryan's older book: https://amzn.to/3PmydYCTwitter: @SomewhereSkiesRead Ryan's Articles by CLICKING HEREOpening Theme Song, "Ephemeral Reign" by Per KiilstofteCopyright © 2023 Ryan Sprague. All rights reserved.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/somewhere-in-the-skies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Wisner joins the podcast to discuss Kowtown Gravel, a gravel cycling event that takes place in Kremmling, Colorado. She shares her background in cycling and how she found her way to gravel cycling. Laura talks about her connection to Kremmling and the beautiful gravel roads in the area. She describes the different terrains and challenges that riders can expect on the Kowtown Gravel course. Laura also discusses the spirit of the event and how it is a fundraiser for the community gym in Kremmling. She invites cyclists to come and experience the unique gravel roads and welcoming community of Kowtown Gravel. Key Takeaways: - Kowtown Gravel is a gravel cycling event that takes place in Kremmling, Colorado. - The event offers three course lengths: the Bull (90 miles), the Cow (60 miles), and the Calf (35 miles). - The course features a mix of smooth gravel roads, chunkier sections, and climbs. - Kowtown Gravel is a fundraiser for the community gym floor in Kremmling. - The event welcomes both competitive riders and those who want to enjoy a scenic ride. Kowtown Gravel Website Episode Sponsor: Dynamic Cyclist (code TheGravelRide for 15% off) Support the Podcast Join The Ridership  Automated Transcription, please excuse the typos: [00:00:00] Craig Dalton: Hello, and welcome to the gravel ride podcast, where we go deep on the sport of gravel cycling through in-depth interviews with product designers, event organizers and athletes. Who are pioneering the sport I'm your host, Craig Dalton, a lifelong cyclist who discovered gravel cycling back in 2016 and made all the mistakes you don't need to make. I approach each episode as a beginner down, unlock all the knowledge you need to become a great gravel cyclist. [00:00:26] Craig Dalton (host): This week on the podcast. We welcome Laura Wizner to the show to talk about cow town, gravel Cowtown gravel is a Colorado event happening on July 6th, 2024 in Kremmling, Colorado. Kremmling as a town you might've been through on your way to Steamboat Springs, but it's a town. The race organizers want you to remember as the gravel is fantastic as are the views. Laura's come on to talk to us about all you can expect from Cowtown, gravel, and an interesting story about how she became familiar with crumbling in the first place. I hope you enjoy this episode. Before we jump in, I did need to thank this week. Sponsor, dynamic cyclist. Dynamic cyclist has been producing, cycling, specific stretching and strengthening routines for many years. Now. They've got a vast library of content, both focused on you as a general cyclist, but also many different programs based on specific areas of weakness. It's during this period every year in the winter that I start thinking about how limiting my personal low back problems have made my cycling. So I love to dig into the dynamic cyclist. Low back routine six week program, just focusing on getting those stretches needed, to get deep into everything related to my hip flexors and lower back. It's a great reminder that stretching only takes a short amount of time for having a huge impact. All their videos are no longer than 15 minutes. So none of us has any excuses not to squeeze them into our winter routines to get us prepped for this season. I say that, and I'm not going to lie. I miss a day or two here or there, but it's on my mind, frankly, constantly this idea that stretching is probably one of the most important things I can do to set myself up for success in 2024. So go on over to dynamic cyclists.com. They've got a seven day free trial. So it's easy to see if, if it's something that you would like, they're also offering our listeners a 15% off discount on any of their programs. Which include either monthly or annual billing. So it's pretty flexible. If you're someone who just wants to do some routines in the winter, for example, anyway, head on over to dynamics, cyclists.com. Use the coupon code, the gravel ride, or follow the link in the show notes to get directly over there. With that business behind us, let's jump right into my conversation with Laura. [00:03:01] Craig Dalton: Laura, welcome to the show. [00:03:02] Laura Wisner: I'm so glad that you have me here. Thank you. [00:03:05] Craig Dalton: Where are you sitting today? [00:03:07] Laura Wisner: I am based in Boulder, [00:03:08] Craig Dalton: Colorado. Okay, and I'm excited to get you on to talk about Cowtown Gravel, which is not in Boulder, Colorado. So why don't you just set the stage by telling us where Cowtown Gravel takes place, and why don't you drop the, the month it takes place as well. [00:03:24] Laura Wisner: Okay, so Cowtown Gravel is in Kremling, Colorado. Um, it's going to take place for the second time on July 6, 2024. And Kremling, for those who have been to Steamboat, if you are coming from the Front Range Denver area, and you get a high 70, you go, um, north, we are the crook in the road in between Silverthorne and Steamboat Springs. Um, so Kremling is that, that little town that everybody has to go through, but may not have ever stopped there. [00:04:02] Craig Dalton: Yeah, I think as we discovered offline on my way to steamboat gravel, I definitely went through Kremling. I lived in Boulder, and if you had asked me to point to it on a map prior to this conversation, I wouldn't have been able to do it. But it's clear from my driving through that area, it's absolutely a beautiful part of the state. So we'll get into why and how the event got started. But first, let's just learn a little bit more about you and how you found your way to cycling and gravel cycling specifically. [00:04:31] Laura Wisner: Yeah, well, I mean, old, old school is Anybody who grew up in upper Midwest gravel road when they were kids, because not all roads were, um, paved back then. So, I mean, I started as a kid, just getting on my bike when you're up at our, um, vacation cottage and just take off for hours and hours on a gravel road, you know, no cell phones, parents have no idea where I was, um, no helmet, probably riding in cutoff jeans or something like that. But, um, you know, those are the, the good old days and then as I became an adult and got into, um, riding proper, uh, you know, got into road riding, mountain biking, cyclocross, and, um, the blessing of living in Boulder County is that we have these amazing gravel roads and, you know, people ask, well, why are you riding gravel? And I liken it to, if you live along one of the coasts, You learn to surf because it's right there and you should take advantage of it. So living here in Boulder County, it's crazy not to have a gravel bike or at least, you know, change out your wheels so you can get on our back roads and just go for miles and miles and hours and hours. So [00:05:50] Craig Dalton: yeah, I'm thinking back to which probably my first quote unquote gravel event was Boulder Rue Bay. In the early 90s when I lived in Boulder, and I certainly rode that on 23 C road tires. There's no doubt about it in my mind. Yeah, and [00:06:07] Laura Wisner: with my, my cycling friends and club, you know, we would, you know, even 10 years ago, we, a lot of us were just riding on gravel roads with, you know, road tires, um, and that was okay because they're, they're so smooth around here. And if you got a little chunky, well, I hope you're by handling slower. Up to the challenge, but, you know, this, uh, gravel revolution happened and all of a sudden you have all these options, um, not only in tires, but all of a sudden frames and, you know, it just became this. Um, the celebration of all things gravel. And so now it's just another bike in your quiver. Um, so yeah, we did that too. [00:06:54] Craig Dalton: As gravel started to become popularized and specific bikes started to arrive. Were you someone who found your way to gravel events outside of Boulder County? Yeah, you know, [00:07:05] Laura Wisner: I did the very first, um, seaboat gravel. Um, did that for a couple of years and at that point I was racing cross and so what I would do is use my cross bike and just switch out. Um, the wheels, but, you know, the one by there's some pretty good grades around here. If you head up the mountains straight from Boulder, um, you can go up to Gold Hill or Ward. Um, it's a little hard on a 1 by, you know, that's a pretty good workout in and of itself. And geometry is not quite right, so it. Became a love of mine to the point where, okay. I'm going all in, I'm buying the frame, you know, the specific. Um, gravel bike and got rid of the road frame and. And then got rid of the cross bike and gravel is pretty much it at this [00:08:00] Craig Dalton: point. Nice. And so let's talk about your connection to Kremling, Colorado, and how you became familiar with the area in the first place. [00:08:10] Laura Wisner: Yeah. So Kremling, other being the, other than being the, uh, the bend in the road as you go up the steamboat, it's the, uh, West Grams County area. So people know Winter Park. Winter Park is. East Grand, Kremling is West Grand, and so I've been in Grand County quite a bit, skiing and cycling and things like that, but my husband has a family practice position, and for five years, he was Kremling's town doc, and so we kept our family home base here in Boulder, and he would go up to Kremling midweek, and it's a small community, it's predominantly a ranching community, And he got to know the people and, um, I got to slowly know more of the people and when I would go up to visit him midweek. We would go for gravel rides, and I was just blown away by roads that I didn't know existed. Um, the quality of the gravel was incredible. Um, and I had ridden, you know, boulder roads, I had ridden around steamboats. Um, and, and crumbling is just unsurpassed as far as the quality of its gravel. And the roads that we rode for three hours, and I think one truck passed us. Um, so, um, being part of Cowtown Gravel is just my way of giving back to that community and being able to lend my excitement for what the area has to offer to other folks who love gravel as much as I do. [00:09:51] Craig Dalton: I've gotten many questions about Cowtown Gravel, but I have to take us on a quick detour because I'm curious. I had recently, I'm curious about becoming the town doctor for a community. Is that was your husband sort of offered employment at the city or county level to come and be a physician for that community? And my only point of reference is watching Doc Hollywood recently with my 9 year old son, [00:10:20] Laura Wisner: my husband was a position on the front range for a while and part of the, the bigger system that sometimes is kind of beholden to insurance companies. And he just wanted something different. Um, and in Boulder, a little bit of his frustration was continually patting people on the back thing. You're healthy as a horse, you know, continue that marathon training or, you know, climbing or whatever you're doing. Um, if you wanted something a little bit more challenging, and when you go to a rural community, you get to see a lot more. Um, Kremlin does have an incredible, uh, health system up there. They were the first in Colorado to have a trauma one emergency room, uh, decades ago. And, um, they're, they're top notch, uh, health care up there, but it's hard to find doctors in rural areas. So, um, he, he, his attention was called to this position and he went up there and thought, you know, what? I want to do this, um, and truly the only reason that he came back. To the front range, uh, after five years is because we have a, a kid who's finishing up high school and he wanted to be present for that last year. So, so he made the change, but there is a part of both his and my heart that is still in K Town. [00:11:49] Craig Dalton: Yeah, you had mentioned, obviously part of his journey was getting to know members of the community and de facto with your visits there, you started to get to know. some of the community members and as avid cyclists exploring. It sounds like you found other gravel cyclists who are based out of Cowtown. Can you talk about some of those characters you met? Oh [00:12:10] Laura Wisner: yeah, and, and the biggest character of all is Sean Scholl, who is a co race promoter with, uh, along with Blaine Day. And Sean is Big Shooter of Big Shooter Coffee. And he is this incredibly loud, large character who is just incredible and so full of fun and has a lot of energy. And he, he was a world class athlete. And I would even say still is. Um, so he lives up there and he and Blaine are cycling buddies. And they wanted to create an event. Up in Kremling, welcome the world, come and check it out, check out the back roads. And when I heard through the grapevine that they were going to have this gravel race, I reached out to them and I said, I'm in, I want to help, what can I do? My background is in marketing and so I was able to lend that to them. The organization and so the, the really incredible thing about Blaine and Sean is that they're not trying to create an event that is just, you know, really easy. Come on up and, you know, we'll show you our background roads and we'll just have a great day. They surprised people in our first year with how hot it was. So, the Kremlin gravel, uh, we call it untapped and untamed, which is when you drive into Kremlin, that's the sign as you come into town, welcome to Kremlin, untapped and untamed. And we decided to put that as our gravel moniker. Um, there are roads that you couldn't even tell that's gravel because it almost feels paved. Um, and then you can go a little further in and, you know, get a little bit chunkier, um, a little bit rowdier. Um, and and what these guys are doing is they are creating an experience for, um, all 3 of our porcelain that people are just blown away by. Um, they're blown away by the climbing. They're blown away by, um, sections. Of roads or trails that they didn't even know existed. So we had such good feedback last year that the team had scientists went back to the drawing board. That my ride this year and made it even rowdier. So, really excited to have those people who joined us last year. Come and see what we have in store this year. [00:14:50] Craig Dalton: Yeah, that sounds amazing. So I want to talk a little bit about the gravel. I mean, obviously, if you go a little further up the road, an hour to steamboat, they talk about champagne gravel. You've been describing it a little bit, but it sounds like the team at Cowtown is trying to make sure that both our climbing legs, as well as our technical skills are explored. So what type, you know, if you think about through the course of the, the longer course, Think about the types of terrain and describe some of the different areas, whether it's single track, double track or dirt road that you might find yourself on. [00:15:23] Laura Wisner: Yeah. So, um, right now on calicongravel. com, we have the maps available to folks with the one caveat is that these might change because we're working with the Bureau of Land Management and the PLM. Um, Bill are going to tell us yes or no on some sections. So we put the scenario on that has more paved segments than non paved. I should say. All of our 3 races are predominantly gravel. If the BLM will give us permission, we're going to take off more paved sections and add more gravel for unpaved. So, um, our longest course is called the bull. It's 90 miles and it has 8, 000 feet of climbing. So, as it stands right now, worst case scenario, 76 percent unpaid, which is pretty incredible in and of itself. So, uh, we start right outside of town square. Um, we're going to start the high school, all downtown Kremling. Um, and we're going to start going northeast and if we're starting with paves, it's going to be a pretty fast start. There will be a peloton and, and, um, some people can hang on for dear life and some are just going to, you know, hard charge from the start. From there, we get to a really smooth gravel. It's very similar to Of pavement and you will hardly even tell that it's it's gravel. Um, and it's just a hard pack. It's beautiful. And from there, we go to what we call the whoopie moves and, um, just rolling, um, up and down and that is probably 1 of our chunkier sections, um, you know, a little bit looser, a little bit larger, uh, rock section, but It is something that anybody with, you know, halfway decent bike handling skills is going to be able to accomplish, um, and they're fun. And so we go from there back to a nice hard pack gravel. Um, something that is new this year is we're going up Black Mountain, um, which is about a 1600 foot climb. And both the bull long course and the cow mid length course will go up Black Mountain. Um, and at the top they're going to go down through three miles of private ranch land, which is super cool because, you know, part of the fun of gravel is exploring roads and places you've never been. So this private ranch land is only going to be accessible on race day. So you can't pre ride it. Can't check it out the day before. So that is going to be, um, a really fun first climb and I'll probably set the, the pack apart a bit there. [00:18:30] Craig Dalton: And how about on that, on that descent, is it the type of thing that it's sort of wide open and it's full gas or are there some technical elements to it that you need to be cautious about? Um, [00:18:42] Laura Wisner: it's going to be fine. It's not going to be super technical because we are taking, um. The mid and the long course through it. We wanted to make sure that, you know, we're not, uh, less than anybody going down that. So, um. It's totally rideable, and, and you won't need shocks, and, and you won't need, uh, mountain bike handling skills. But, I mean, those people who are, who want to go fast certainly can let it loose on that. It'll be great. Yeah, [00:19:13] Craig Dalton: yeah, and then it looks like from the course profile that you hit another big climb. Well, [00:19:17] Laura Wisner: here's where the two, uh, courses diverge. So, the bull, will go up again, and they'll go up Grouse Mountain. This was a part of the course from last year that people really enjoyed. Um, so they'll go up, and Grouse Mountain is, um, it's a, it's a paved, not a paved, it's a gravel road for ranchers to access their ranches. So, I mean, it's just a normal road. Once you get up towards the loop, there is going to be a little bit more, um, dirt section versus gravel, um, and. The whole loop has been expanded this year, so people can catch their breath this year. Check out the views, that's our highest point in the race. And, um, it's really beautiful. There's an abandoned cabin up there. There are streams that people often just fill their water bottles with, unfiltered water. Um, and are totally fine. So, we are going back up Grouse Mountain on the long course. Doing a lollipop and then coming back down [00:20:28] Craig Dalton: again. Got it. And I forgot to mention, or ask, what elevation is crumbling to start with? [00:20:34] Laura Wisner: Oh, crumbling is, uh, sorry about that. Crumbling is a little bit lower. I'd have to check that out. [00:20:45] Craig Dalton: Yeah, so a little bit lower than Boulder. So we're, we're not in the stratosphere when we climb up 1600 feet. [00:20:50] Laura Wisner: Um, I'm not going to say it's lower than Boulder, but it's, it's not, um, oh, 73, almost 7400 feet. [00:20:59] Craig Dalton: Okay. So that's no joke for us. Flatlanders. [00:21:02] Laura Wisner: Well, we have to give you some, some elements of the mountains here, but it's not like you're starting up at 11, 000 feet and you're going to feel the altitude a little bit if you're coming from, [00:21:15] Craig Dalton: yeah, that's part of the fun. Okay, so we've gone up and down grass mountain. What, what comes next? [00:21:22] Laura Wisner: Okay, so what we're doing this year is we are reversing course around our reservoir. Williams Fork Reservoir is just beautiful. And last year we started and went around it counterclockwise and so the Peloton was pretty tight through all of that. This portion is paved, um, to get to the, um, Williamsport Reservoir, you just have a little bit on the highway, but then a little climb again, about 500 feet, and then, um, you'll go around the water, um, um, And start heading back towards crumbling. So it's really scenic. Uh, and just really kind of a nice thing to see water, uh, water is a big issue for us here in the West. And so you're going to cross the Colorado on a bridge and then go around and work and see mountains in the background and it's. It's just really spectacular if you can catch your breath and look up once in a while. [00:22:26] Craig Dalton: I forgot to ask this on air, but how do you sort of cast the event in terms of a race versus a ride? And are there, is it a heavily competitive element in the front end? So [00:22:39] Laura Wisner: the spirit of Kowtown Gravel is we wanted to A, welcome people to the Kremling and and have them stop in our earlier than steamboat. Um, Kremling is only an hour and a half, two hours from the front range, depending on where you are. Um, we wanted to invite people to Kremling and check out our gravel. Secondly, it is a fundraiser for the community gym floor. The floor is half pulled out, and the multi generational community just really needs a place to work out that there's, you know, the schools need, um, a place to have the kids sports. The older folk need a place to work out, and so this is a fundraiser for the Middle Park gym, and so we don't have a prize purse at this point. We are trying to raise money. And so we have had some really competitive people come the first year. We had some semi pros and some pros come. And again, this year we are not going to offer a prize purse. Um, because this is a fundraiser, but that said, there were some pretty fast calves who came and raced, but we welcome those who just want to come out for an event and get access to this ranch that they're never going to be able to ride on again. Um, do the short course, which we call the calf course, which is, um, just really a welcoming section of Kremlin gravel. Um, E bikes are welcome on it, families are welcome on it, people who just don't want to commit the time or the distance. This is a 35 mile, just on a 35 mile course. 2200 miles of elevation gain. So, uh, we hope that some, some more pros come out. We're going to, you know, reach out and invite folks. Um, but you're going to, you know, the fun of gravel is you can come race an event or just come out and ride it because you're with, you know, a few hundred of your like minded [00:24:48] Craig Dalton: friends. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You're a great distance away from the front range to kind of come out and experience something unique. And I always love when events are able to negotiate access to land that we wouldn't otherwise get to ride because it just adds a sort of additional special elements to the [00:25:05] Laura Wisner: day. Well, in Special Elements, the, one of the things about Kremling is that it being a ranch community, um, big shooter, Sean, is a fifth generation rancher, and so he goes out and personally talks to the ranchers along the course. And ask them, please don't do your cattle drive a few days before, or this day, because we're going to have a lot of cyclists coming to, um, you know, you imagine a herd of cattle on the road, trying to compete for the road with cyclists. Or if they do their cattle drive a couple of days before, you're going to have a lot of cow pies being flipped up with the gravel. So, it's a unique, um, a unique aspect that Cowtown has. I mean, it really is, uh, true to its name in that aspect. Yeah, [00:25:58] Craig Dalton: that's great. I'm sure that Sean as a local and a cattleman himself is able to get his His peers excited for the option of allowing cyclists to come through town and not get too annoyed that their, their day might be a little bit disrupted by a Peloton at some point. [00:26:16] Laura Wisner: Well, you could get that in an urban setting or anywhere, but, um, the, the community of crumbling was really wonderful. We had. People from the retirement community make breakfast burritos and still those before the race of the fundraiser. Um, we had the high school band come and play at the after party. We had ranchers who were just out on their horses along the course and waving us on and cheering for us and. Um, it's just a really cool, unique [00:26:45] Craig Dalton: event. That's fun. I was going to ask you, like, if someone was interested in coming to the event, are there accommodations in Kremling, or do people typically drive in that day, or are they staying over? You know, [00:26:58] Laura Wisner: it's a mix, because, um, We're about an hour from Winter Park, about an hour from Steamboat, um, less than an hour from Summit County, and so there are a lot of folks in Colorado who have vacation homes, and so they might come up, do the event for the day, and because we're so close to the front range, you know, within two hours, some people might just make it a day event, go up and back. Kremlin does have lodging, we have A little bit of lodging, so if you're going to want a hotel to sleep in a bed, I'll get your lodging early. We do have an RV part. We have, um, camping. There's camping around the reservoir that we're going to ride around so. I would recommend that if people want to come up and we would love to have you, we're going to have a great time afterward. Uh, spend the night before, spend the night after, but make your plans early, especially because it is the 4th of July holiday. Okay. [00:28:02] Craig Dalton: And so what's the experience like once we cross the finish line? What should riders expect at that point? [00:28:09] Laura Wisner: Well, we have expanded our finish line experience this year. Um, and you know, we learn things as every race. Organization does. So this year we're going to have an arch welcoming people in. So it feels like I'm done. Um, we finished at Town Square, which has a brand new pavilion. So there's going to be a lot of shade. Um, we're going to have a band again. We're going to have food for people. There's a beer trailer. Um, kids can run around with their shoes off. It's just a really clean park and people just they hung out. You know, it's the I'll pray experience. You say hello to old friends. You talk to people. You might have met on course and road with for a while. So it was really nice event that it's the kind of thing where people hang out for a few hours and just chat it up and talk about their experience. [00:29:08] Craig Dalton: And prior to prior to this recording, you'd sent me a photo and you told me there was an interesting story. So it's a photo. I'm looking at a wide expanse of beautiful grazing land backdrop of beautiful Colorado mountains. I think that's a mosaic bike, but the writer is wearing what seems to be a bull. Skull on their head. [00:29:33] Laura Wisner: So that writer is Ben Delaney, and he came up in order to check out the course last year and Ben is a cycling journalist journalist who's been around forever. So that was on the top of Grouse Mountain and it took a little stop at the top to look around, take pictures and he points at the ground and says what's that? And of course, Cowtown. It's a cow pelvis bone, and the thing is, is really funny because it just looks like something out of a action hero movie. And so he started wearing it as a mask, wore it as a breastplate, was just hamming it up in front of a camera. But, you know, it's, it's, you know, it's trembling and there's going to be cow bones laying around. So, that, that's the [00:30:21] Craig Dalton: cow pelvis. It's a great, it's a great image and I'll, I'll make sure to put that as part of the part of the episode art so people can check it out. So, what's the best way for people to find out more about cowtown gravel? When are you opening up registration? [00:30:38] Laura Wisner: So, we are opening registration to the public on January 6, 2024. Um, people who sign up for our newsletter get to register a full day early. So we, in our inaugural year last year, we had 350 spots and we sold out and people were begging for a wait list. And so this year, we are going to open up to 700 spots. Um, and we do fully expect to sell out again. So again, go to CowTownGravel. com and put as much information as possible on our website, including a link to register the course maps, descriptions. Um, where do you find lodging? Um, it's all on our website. [00:31:25] Craig Dalton: Great, and definitely give them a follow on Instagram and see some of those great views we've been talking about. It looks like a lot of fun. I definitely love these sort of rural town starts. It's really cool to see another part of Colorado kind of raising their hand and saying, Hey, we've got great riding here too. And it's exciting that Sean and Blaine Kind of took this opportunity to sort of write a gravel love letter to their hometown and invite 700 of their new friends to come join them in 2024. Yeah, [00:31:56] Laura Wisner: we, we promise that it'll be experience that will not soon be forgotten. [00:32:01] Craig Dalton: Awesome. Thanks for the time. [00:32:03] Laura Wisner: Come back out Colorado. We'd [00:32:05] Craig Dalton: love to see you. Yeah, I definitely need another Colorado trip in my life. That's for sure. Thanks for all the [00:32:12] Laura Wisner: time, Laura. All right. Thank you. [00:32:15] Craig Dalton (host): That's going to do it for this week's edition of the gravel ride podcast. Big, thanks to Laura for coming on the show and talking to us about cow town gravel. If you're listening to this in early January. Registration opens up on January 6th. So make sure to head on over to the Cowtown gravel website, which I will link to in the show notes and grab a registration. If this event sounds like your cup of tea. Big, thanks to our friends at dynamic cyclists for sponsoring the show. Remember use the code, the gravel ride for 15% off any of their programs. If you're interested and we're able to support the show, ratings and reviews are hugely appreciated. It really helps in our discoverability. Better yet, send a text message to one of your riding buddies and share the show with them. That's another great way to grow the community. Until next time, I'm wishing you a happy new year and here's to finding some dirt under your wheels.    

Hi!On today's episode of the Little Seal English podcast we talk about Grouse Mountain and Vancouver! I hope you enjoy the podcast and don't forget to check out my socials. Cheers, Ronan Check out my website: www.littlesealenglish.comMake a podcast request: www.littlesealenglish.com/requestsCheck out my Instagram: www.instagram.com/littlesealenglishTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@littlesealenglish Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's episode of the Little Seal English podcast we talk about Grouse Mountain and the Grouse Grind. Grouse Mountain is located just outside of Vancouver city in BC, Canada. I have included some questions and the answers are in the podcast, here are the questions:How far from downtown Vancouver is Grouse?What was one of the first things Ronan noticed when he got out of the Uber?Who coined Grouse mountain?When was the ski club founded?When did the Sky Ride open?How long did it take to get up to the top of Grouse in the past compared to now?How many stairs are on the Grouse grind?How high is the summit of Grouse mountain?How many people complete the Grouse Grind annually?What are the bears names? I hope you enjoy the podcast and don't forget to check out my socials. Cheers, Ronan Check out my website: www.littlesealenglish.com Make a podcast request: www.littlesealenglish.com/requests Check out my Instagram: www.instagram.com/littlesealenglishTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@littlesealenglish Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise......" ​It may not be a GOOD surprise, but it's highly likely that something out of the ordinary will happen once you lock your front door and head out in to nature.  Don't drop your guard, nature is often trying to do us in, and in this episode we hear the story of a place that is really "Nature-lite" as it is a popular Urban hike up a mountain that is not without it's own ghosts.  ​Just because we build trails, give cute names to mountains, lakes and rivers, doesn't mean they can't hurt us.   The wilderness claims thousands of lives every year and does that energy just "disappear"?   We don't think so.   Neither do the people who spoke up about the Grouse Grind and the Ghosts of Grouse Mountain, this story can also be found in "Vancouver's Most Haunted" from Touchwood Editions  

In today's episode, my guest is Pax a senior coach at Restore Human (a personal training studio here in Vancouver) and Vivo barefoot educator.  I wanted to get Pax on the podcast to pick his brain on the human foot and barefoot shoes. He just recently climbed the Grouse Grind - a is a 2.5-kilometre trail up the face of Grouse Mountain, commonly referred to as “Mother Nature's Stairmaster" with his wife in a backpack, in barefoot shoes! He has a very cool philosophy on health and training, let's say - we vibe! WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER How Pax became a coach  Why and how Pax climbed a mountain with his wife in a backpack The importance of movement and training The evolution of the foot (sensory, stable and strong) Features of a healthy foot Why should we care about foot strength Why shoes cause foot problems Why moving more is best for foot health How can we strengthen our feet The theories of barefoot running Featured on the show Warrior School https://warriorschool.co/join-warrior-school/ Restore Human Website https://www.restorehuman.com Restore Human Instagram https://www.instagram.com/restorehuman/ Human Pax  https://www.instagram.com/humanpax/ Vivo Barefoot https://www.vivobarefoot.com/ca/ Discount code  WARRIORSCHOOL15  (Make a profile first before entering the code)

George Pappas was the first Jamie Salter sponsored team rider for Kemper a distinction he earned by placing 8th at the Snwoboarding World Championships in Breckenridge CO. He grew up riding with his brother Chris Pappas, Dave Dowd, Kevin Delaney, and many other legendary pro snowboarders from Colorado and around the world.In December of last year when this was recorded George was piecing together his life after serving 5 years of a 13 year sentence for the attempted murder of his girlfriend at the time. Shortly after arriving in prison George enrolled in everything he could to try and spend as little time in jail as he could and luck (which he reminds me is the meeting of preparation and opportunity) landed him in programs that actually reached him and changed his life forever. Now, as we're nearing a year of George being out of prison, he's reno'd a home he's living in into a recovery house. He's qualified to compete in the in World Skate Games slalom events in Argentina by beating  the 8 time world champion Joe McLaren at the Texas Sizzlera few weeks ago. He's in the process of being granted early release from parole. And he's reconnecting with his son Geoy. Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

BRITISH COLUMBIA THEMENWOCHE Teil III mit Martin Walter von Destination BC über eine der schönsten Städte der Welt - Vancouver. Die Themen: Top Flughafen; Lebenswerte Stadt; Bestes Sushi; Hollywood North; Ausgehviertel Yaletown; Fahrrad nutzen; Stanley Park; Gulf Islands; English Bay Beach; Granville Island farmers market; Sonnenuntergang am Grouse Mountain mit Hängebrücke; Neue Schnellbahn bis nach Richmond; Crown Royal Whisky; Tiefgefrorener Lachs im Handgepäck; Von Frankfurt und München Nonstop nach Vancouver; Einreise wieder einfach Dir stehen folgende Informationsquellen und Kontaktmöglichkeiten zur Verfügung: https://www.fti.de/service/reisehinweise.html https://www.fti.de/blog/reiseberichte-und-tipps/expertentipps/urlaub-corona-einreisebestimmungen/ Schreib uns deine Fragen, Reiseerlebnisse und Reisetipps an gluecksmomente@fti.de

Kris Swierz was a pro snowboarder on the Sims team when the team included Todd Richards, Chris Roach, Terry Kidwell, and Shaun Palmer. Kris competed in halfpipe and eventually landed a solid contract with Liquid Snowboards. He traveled the world with the Ride, Liquid, and 5150 pro team which included more heavies like Brushie, Ranquet, and Rocket Reeves. Kris is now living in Baja Mexico, surfing everyday and running Topia Retreat in Pescadero. When my wife and I took a trip to Mexico in February I made sure to bring a handy recorder to get an interview with Kris Swierz about his life in Snowboarding.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Jamie Lynn is one of the most recognized legends of snowboarding, I mean, the guy's method has it's own Instagram. Jamie Lynn has influenced more pro snowboarders than just about anyone, his pro model on Lib Tech has been going for almost 30 seasons. His pro model boot on Vans in the early 90's was a game changer and he's still on Vans to this day. His Volcom Powder Pajamas are exactly the kind of quirky fun goretex outerwear that showcase what authenticity looks like. Jamie and his partner Dini just had a baby so I'm putting out this older conversation (which I thought I was going to slice into short episodes to pepper throughout the next few seasons) in its entirety right here right now to celebrate! Welcome to the world little baby Lynn.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Tony Welch was Craig's neighbor and close friend. Tony and Craig rode BMX bikes together and stayed friends through Craig's meteoric rise to the top of the snowboard world. This conversation with Tony is a celebration of the one and only Craig Kelly who's life impacted everyone of us who considers them self to be  a snowboarder.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Seth Huot is a professional snowboarder who rode for Volcom, Northwave, Drake, Nixon, and Bear Mountain among others. Seth's signature style landed him in three Mack Dawg films, countless magazine shots, and filming for the original X-Games Real Snow.  Seth transitioned to behind the lens and became the Volcom Snow Global Team Manager, where he still works today.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

The Storm Skiing Podcast is sponsored by Spot and Mountain Gazette - Listen to the podcast for discount codes on subscriptions and merch.To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Organizations can email skiing@substack.com to add multiple users on one account at a per-subscriber enterprise rate.WhoNadia Guerriero, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Beaver Creek, ColoradoRecorded onMarch 25, 2022About Beaver CreekClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsBase elevation: 7,400 feet at Arrowhead Village; 8,100 feet at Beaver Creek VillageSummit elevation: 11,440 feetVertical drop: 3,340 feet (continuous)Skiable acres: 2,082Average annual snowfall: 325 inchesTrail count: 150 (39% advanced, 42% intermediate, 19% beginner)Lift count: 24 (12 high-speed quads, 1 chondola, 2 gondolas, 1 triple, 1 double, 7 conveyors - view Lift Blog’s inventory of Beaver Creek’s lift fleet)Uphill capacity: 48,264 skiers per hourWhy I interviewed herAmerica may or may not have suspected, when Beaver Creek flipped the power on in 1980 with three double chairs and three triples, that we were nearing the end of big-time ski resort construction in the United States. In the previous decade, Keystone (1970), Snowbird (1971), Copper Mountain (1972), Kirkwood (1972), Northstar (1972), Powder Mountain (1972), Telluride (1972), and Big Sky (1973) had all come online. Breckenridge (1961), Crested Butte (1962), Vail (1962), Park City (1963), Schweitzer (1963), Steamboat (1963), Crystal Mountain Washington (1964), Mt. Rose (1964), Purgatory (1965), Diamond Peak (1966), Jackson Hole (1966), Mission Ridge (1966), Snowmass (1967), Sierra-at-Tahoe (1968), and Grand Targhee (1969) had materialized out of the wilderness the decade before. This was a country that thought big and acted big, that crafted the tangible out of the improbable: a high-end ski resort, buffed smooth as an interstate and hemmed in by the faux villages of aspirational America, rising 3,000 feet out of the Colorado wilderness. The resort would be Vail’s answer to Aspen, high-end and straight down, without the drive to the end of the world.But after Deer Valley cranked to life the following year, big-mountain ski area development mostly broke down in the United States. The mammoth Yellowstone Club – all private, exclusively for individuals who consider automobiles to be single-use disposables – didn’t open until 1997. Tamarack, Idaho, was the next entrant, in 2004. The private Wasatch Peaks should open soon, and Mayflower may follow. But for the most part, this is a nation that, for better or worse, has decided to make do with the ski resorts it has.So what? Well, I lay this history out to make a simple point: Beaver Creek is about the best illustration we have of how and where we would build a ski resort if we still built ski resorts, with all our modern technology and understanding. The fall lines are incredible. The lift network sprawls and hums. The little walkable villages excise vehicles at exactly the right points. The place is just magnificent.The aversion to large-scale mountain construction did not, fortunately, temper Beaver Creek’s ambition. That simple half-dozen lifts multiplied to the west until the network overran and absorbed the formerly independent Arrowhead ski area. In 1991, Beaver Creek ran a high-speed quad up Grouse Mountain, one of the best pure black-diamond pods in Colorado. This year, the ski area added McCoy Park, a terrific high-altitude beginner pod, which complements the green-circle paradise off the Red Buffalo Express, already some of the most expansive top-of-the-world beginner terrain in America.Not that Beaver Creek got everything it wanted. A long-imagined 3.8-mile gondola connection to Vail, with a waystation at the long-abandoned Meadow Mountain ski area in Minturn, has been stalled for years. A lift up from Eagle-Vail would also be nice (and would eliminate a lot of traffic). But this isn’t the Alps, and the notion of lifts-as-transit is a tough sell to U.S. Americans, even in a valley already served by 55 of them (Vail Mountain has 31 lifts on top of Beaver Creek’s 24). They’d rather just drive around in the snow.Whatever. It’s a pretty fine complex just the way it is. And it’s one with a big, bold, ever-changing present. Beaver Creek is, along with Whistler and Vail Mountain, one of Vail Resorts’ three flagships, a standard-setter and an aspirational end-point for all those Epic Pass buyers around Milwaukee and Minneapolis and Detroit and Cleveland. This one has been on my list since the day I launched The Storm, and I was happy to finally lock it down.What we talked aboutWhy Beaver Creek is closing a bit later than usual this season; Guerriero’s early career as an agent for snowsports athletes, including Picabo Street and Johnny Moseley; night skiing at Eldora; working at pre-Vail Northstar; reactions to Vail buying Northstar; taking the lead at Beaver Creek; the differences between running a ski resort in Colorado versus Tahoe; what it means to get 600-plus inches of snow in a season; what elevates Beaver Creek to alpha status along with Vail Mountain and Whistler among Vail’s 40 resorts; going deep on the evolution and opening of McCoy Park, Beaver Creek’s top-of-the-mountain gladed beginner oasis; why the mountain converted McCoy to downhill terrain when it already had the excellent Red Buffalo pod on the summit of Beaver Creek Mountain; once again, I go on and on about green-circle glades; thoughts on the mountain’s lift fleet and where we could see upgrades next; why Beaver Creek doesn’t tend to see monster liftlines and the weird un-business of the ski area in general; the status of the long-discussed Vail Mountain-to-Beaver Creek gondola; thoughts on the rolling disaster that is Colorado’s Interstate 70; how Arrowhead, once an independent ski area, became part of Beaver Creek; the surprising sprawl and variety of Beaver Creek; potential future terrain expansions; the mountain’s high-end and rapidly evolving on-mountain food scene; cookies!; watching the evolution of the Epic Pass from the inside; whether Vail would ever build another ski area from scratch; Vail’s deliberate efforts to create leadership opportunities for women within its network; the mountain-town housing crisis; thoughts on Vail’s massive employee and housing investment; and Guerriero’s efforts to address the mountain-town mental health crisis.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewTwo words: McCoy Park. I recall skiing past this oddly wide-open and empty bowl, perched atop the mountain like some snowy pit-mine, years ago and wondering what was going on in there. The trailmap explained. For a long time, it was a Nordic and snowshoeing center. But this year, Beaver Creek finally finished a long-planned project to drop a new beginner center into the bowl. Two lifts and a clutch of blues and greens, some ungroomed, a contained adventure center for the graduated-from-the-carpet set that’s craving top-of-the-mountain adventure without the whooshing crowds or oops-I-just-skied-into-a-mogul-field regrets. Reviews have been solid. There’s one more thing: Vail has quietly built a very deep roster of women mountain leaders. Four of the company’s five Colorado resorts, and eight of its 40*, are led by women. Women hold approximately 45 percent of Vail’s corporate leadership roles, and half of its 10 board of directors members are women. Also, according to a Vail spokeswoman, CEO Kirsten Lynch is the only female CEO among travel and leisure companies listed on the 2021 Fortune 100 list.These gender-diversity efforts are, Vail Resorts’ Director of Corporate Communications Jamie Alvarez told me, “intentional and explicit. The ski industry has traditionally been male-dominated, particularly in senior leadership roles. As a company, Vail Resorts has prioritized creating an environment that encourages and enables growth opportunities for women at all levels of the company. This isn’t just in corporate, but also throughout our operations. We are proud of our industry-leading accomplishments and are committed to continuing to accelerate women at our company and in our industry.”They should be.*The eight current women heads of Vail Resorts are: Jody Churich at Breckenridge, Nadia Guerriero at Beaver Creek, Beth Howard at Vail, Tara Schoedinger at Crested Butte, Dierdra Walsh at Northstar, Belinda Trembath at Perisher, Sue Donnelly at Crotched, and Robin Kisiel at Whitetail. Vail recently promoted Mount Snow GM Tracy Bartels to VP of mountain planning, projects, and maintenance, overseeing maintenance and mountain-planning efforts across the portfolio.Questions I wish I’d askedI’ve always found it interesting that Alterra chose to leave Deer Valley off the unlimited tier of the Ikon Pass, while Vail granted unlimited Beaver Creek access on its comparatively cheap Epic Pass (Deer Valley’s season pass is $2,675). Both ski areas have similar philosophies around grooming, on-mountain food, and delivering a high-end experience. My guess is that this model works at Beaver Creek because it’s just a little bit harder to get to, while you can fall off your patio in Salt Lake City and end up at the top of Deer Valley’s Empire Express. Since Alterra just limited Deer Valley access even more, yanking it off the Ikon Base Pass, I’m guessing they’re fairly committed to that model, but it’s still an interesting contrast that I’d like to explore more at some point.What I got wrongNadia and I discussed one of the more tedious meta-critiques of Vail, which is that the company makes all its resorts the same. I don’t agree with this narrative, but the example I gave on the podcast was, to be honest, pretty lame, as I couched my counterpoint in a discussion of how Beaver Creek and Northstar differ operations-wise. Which, of course. No one is comparing Kirkwood to Mad River, Ohio from a snowfall and terrain point of view. What I should have done instead is to ask Guerriero what makes each resort culturally distinct. That’s on me.I also made the assertion that skiers could drop into McCoy Park from the top of the Bachelor Gulch lift, which is untrue. The three lifts with McCoy access (aside from the two lifts within the bowl intself) are Strawberry Express, Larkspur Express, and Upper Beaver Creek Express. I made a bad assumption based on the trailmap.Why you should ski Beaver CreekLiving in New York, I find myself in a lot of casual conversation with skiers pointed west for a week at Vail. I don’t know why (actually I do know why), but New Yorkers are drawn to the place like cows to grass. Like hipsters to $9 coffee drinks. Like U.S. Americans to 18-wheel-drive pickups. Like… well, they really like Vail, OK? And every time someone tells me about their long-planned trip to Vail, I ask them how many days they plan on spending at Beaver Creek, and (just about) every time, their answer is the same:Zero.This, to me, is flabbergasting. A Storm reader, Chris Stebbins, articulated this phenomenon in an email to me recently:“Beaver Creek is the single biggest mystery in skidom in my humble opinion. On Epic. On I-70.  Just 12 minutes past Vail. 15 high-speed lifts strung across six pods, suiting every ability. A huge bed base, with a mountain ‘village.’ And I’m making 15-minute laps on Centennial. On a perfect blue-bird day. After 16 inches of snow. On a Saturday. During Presidents’ Week.”I don’t get it either, Chris. But there it is. I’ve been having similar experiences at Beaver Creek for almost 20 years. Enormous powder days, lapping Birds of Prey and Grouse Mountain, no liftlines all day. Maybe here and there on Centennial. Once or twice on Larkspur or Rose Bowl. The entirety of the Arrowhead and Bachelor Gulch side deserted, always, like some leftover idyll intact and functional after an apocalyptic incineration of mankind. Once, on Redtail, or maybe it was Harrier, I crested the drop-off at mid-day to catch the growling hulks of half a dozen Snowcats drifting out of my siteline. Ahead of me a corduroy carpet, woven and royal, the union of all that is best in nature and best in technology. And no one to fight for it. I stood there perched over the Rockies just staring. Like I’m in a museum and contemplating something improbably manmade and ancient. Glorious. And 18 years later I still think about those turns, the large arcing sort born of absolute confidence in the moment, those Rossi hourglass twin-tips bought at an Ann Arbor ski shop and buried, for an ecstatic instant, in the test-lab best-case-scenario of their design.Look, I love Vail Mountain as much as anyone. It’s titanic and frenetic and pitch-perfect for hero turns on one of the most unintimidating big mountains in North America. I could spend the rest of my life skiing there and only there and be like, “OK well if it has to be one place I’m just relieved it’s not Ski Ward.” But the dismissive attitude toward 2,082-acre Beaver Creek, with its 3,340-foot vertical drop and zippidy-doo lift fleet and endless sprawling trail network, is amazing. The terrain, especially on Grouse, is steep and fall-line beautiful. My last trip to Beaver Creek – a midwinter pow-day Sunday where I never so much as shared a chair with another skier – was a dozen runs off Grouse, eight of those in the tangled wilds of Royal Elk Glades.All of which is a long way of suggesting that you work at least one Beaver Creek day into your next Vail run. It may be right down the road from Vail and an Epic Pass headliner, but Beaver Creek feels like it’s on another planet, or at least lodged within another decade.Oh yeah, and the cookies. Just trust me on this one. Go there.A pictorial history of Beaver Creek’s developmentBeaver Creek opened with six chairlifts, all on the main mountain, in 1980. By the next season, a triple ran up Strawberry Park. McCoy Park is a named section of the ski area more than four decades before it would enter the downhill system:The Larkspur triple came online in 1983. Two years later, McCoy Park is defined on the trailmap as a Nordic center:In 1991, Grouse Mountain opened:In 1997, Beaver Creek as we know it today came together, with lift connections from Rose Bowl all the way to Arrowhead, which was once an independent ski area. Beaver Creek purchased the small mountain in 1993 and eventually connected it to the rest of the resort via the Bachelor Gulch terrain expansion. Here’s what the mountain looked like in 1998:The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 31/100 in 2022. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer. You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Jeff Davis is a legendary pro snowboarder from Utah who's signature move, The Crippler, is still being used in snowboarding halfpipe contests today. Jeff was a stand out talent in a deep pool of Utah pros and eventually had a signature board model with Nitro. After a major car crash and recovery, Jeff found himself helping the contest scene by reforming judging, being among the first wave of competitive snowboarders to judge along side other greats like Jeffrey Fulton. Jeff has remained passionately dedicated to snowboarding and still snowboards more than most people.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

E-Stone is a co-host of The Bombhole Podcast. He spent 20 years as a senior photographer for Snowboarder Magazine. Ethan and his Dad started Technine Bindings in the early 90's and owned it the whole way through to making boards and outerwear. This is a fun conversation recorded in the Bombhole studio in Salt Lake City Utah. Make sure to go to www.e-stonephoto.com and support a rad guy by buying some prints to liven up your living space.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Jeremy Jones is an absolute legend out of Utah who's snowboarding landed him in Mack Dawg movies, on the Forum 8, on the Burton Pro team, and in pretty much every snowboard magazine on the planet. Jeremy was one of the first pros to make a career outside of competitions by focusing on filming video parts. He pushed the progression of street riding, winning a silver at X Games Real Snow in 2015. It was a real pleasure to sit down with the one and only Jeremy Jones.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Jeremy Jensen is a legendary pioneer in powsurfing and the owner of Grassroots Powdersurfing out of Logan Utah. His three decades as a sponsored snowboarder helped him create product and footage bringing powsurfing into the mainstream. Jeremy's passion for powsurfing shines in his footage which is widely held to be the best in the world. I met him at my Airbnb shortly after landing in Salt Lake City.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Quinn Sandvold is one of the most influential pro riders of the 1990's. He helped usher in the era of fat pants and wide stances and the no bullshit attitude that persists to this day.  Quinn worked with Nitro and Wave Rave designing the next generation of boards and outerwear. He pushed the limits of riding fakie often doing fully backward runs at contest alongside other legendary competitors like Craig Kelly, Shaun Palmer, Mike Jacoby, Brushi, Duckboy, Noah Brandon, Todd Richards, and the like.  I recorded with Quinn at his home in Boulder where he had some of the iconic boards I'd seen him riding in the magazines and movies.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Sam Bertolino is a snowboarder from Long Island who worked at the Burton store in Vail before joining Burton's Rocky Mountain Rep Team and eventually scoring a dream job at Burton's headquarters in Burlington Vermont. Not afraid to speak up about the problem of not representing marginalized groups in product development and marketing material at Burton, Sam found herself emailing important people at work about these issues. After years of speaking up, Sam sent the email that is most likely credited with Burton letting Terje go. This is an episode with strongly divisive content. Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Todd Franzen was a pro snowboarder in the early 90's starting when he won the Jr. Nationals at age 15. Todd travelled the world snowboarding andd was featured in Transworld Snowboarding and Snowboarder Magazines as well as videos and other media. Todd has survived cancer twice and shares his experiences on his youtube channel Todd Franzen Internalarchitect. He also runs an non-profit strapinforlife.org  raising money to bring families and couples dealing with cancer to the mountains.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Trent Bush and his brother Troy have had their hand in designing outerwear for just about every generation of snowboarding. Based out of Colorado Trent continues to help direct the Colorado Snow Sport Museum with priceless artifacts including personal board from the collections of legends like Tom Sims, Craig Kelly, Ernie DeLost, and Quin Sandvold. Trent started his career at Wave Rave in Boulder just down the street from where he's got his office for a new company, Artilect, which specializes in technical first layer and outerwear.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

You can find ghosts everywhere if you know where to look! Jason and I set out across Vancouver and pluck two stories directly from Vancouver's Most Haunted on this episode.  We're going to talk about the Georgia Cannery National Park in Steveston, BC with workers that don't seem to want to quit. Then we head across the Greater Vancouver Area over to The Grouse Grind that starts at the foot of Grouse Mountain and heads straight up.  I wonder who is still waiting for us on the path?  Find out on this episode of Ghosts 'N Bears! 

Annie Boulanger is one of Whistler's all time greatest pro snowboarders. She's got a pro model on Salomon, an honour bestowed on her because she rips harder than just about anyone. Annie knew she was going to move to Whistler from the young age of 15. She's directed her career with a determined precision and it shows in her contest winnings and video parts.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Tracey Canaday is one of the two brothers who founded Never Summer Snowboards in  Colorado. Tracey was the sales manager who pioneered a specialty shop based philosophy focused on keeping Never Summer profitable by balancing supply and demand. Several Never Summer employees have had long careers with the company which speaks to the Canaday brother's ability to run a snowboard manufacturing facility in the United States. Tracey's credits his team with much of the success of Never Summer but I'm sure he's a big part of their continued prosperity.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Dave Dowd is a professional snowboarder from the 80's through to the 2000s who still snowboards a lot today at his home in Colorado. Dave made it through the neon era with tons of coverage in magazines and early movies before racing Boardercross at the X-Games for the better part of a decade. He went on to coach such notables as Nate Holland essentially coaching himself out of a job. The breakfast his wife cooked was incredible and sitting for an hour in his beautiful backyard talking about snowboarding was a rad way to spend a morning,Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Chad Otterstrom is a 27 veteran of professional snowboarding. If you follow Chad on instagram you know he's still snowboarding as much as any pro out there. He rode for Silence, M3, Forum, Rossignol, and Academy Snowboards where he's a part owner today. Living in Breck allows him access to snow almost year round. I visited his home in early December before significant snow had fallen but we still got up early and hiked in the sun and sessioned a classic picnic table. Chad is the ultimate snowboarder's snowboarder.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Kevin Kinnear is a boardsports historian, a dedicated surfer, and the founding editor of Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. His experience working for surfing and skateboarding magazines secured the future of snowboarding by creating beautiful magazines that drew in the second wave of snowboarding enthusiasts (myself included). Kevin has a keen eye for style and integrity which translated into a beautiful reader's experience with the early Transworld Snowboarding issues.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Ernie DeLost caught the snowboarding bug in the 70's and immediately started improving on Bob Weber's early plastic board design. I saw one of the original Snowtec plastic boards at the overstock for the Vail Ski And Snowboard Museum and it was rad! Ernie is the real deal and has been innovating snowboard technology longer than pretty much anyone else. He took me on a tour of his factory and sat down for an interview in San Diego California early in December.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Keir Dillon is one of my favourite humans. We tried to record at his place in San Diego almost two years ago but the recorder crapped out and I vowed to come back. Keir was a halfpipe wizard and podiumed or won World Cup, X Games, and US Opens. His story took some twists and turns over the years since and we talk about his foray into the business world with several other pro snowboarders and their company Frends. Enjoy this conversation with the Legend, Keir DillonSupport the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Jamie Salter is one of the founders of Ride Snowboards along with Tim Pogue and Jason Ford. He is one of the key money guys of early snowboarding, rubbing shoulders with the founders of Burton, Sims, Kemper (Jamie's involvement in the early days of Kemper is huge!), Barfoot, Mervin, Nitro, and many more. In 1995 Ride Snowboards made headlines by going public, Jamie tells the story behind the hype and lets us in to a world of financial decisions that lead him to own a lot of companies. Today Jamie Salter's company ABG owns brands like Reabok, Above The Rim, Aeropostale, Airwalk, Elvis, Forever 21, IZOD, Juicy Couture, Nine West, Sports Illustrated, Tapout, Vision Street Wear, and Volcom.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Marie France Roy is featured in a movie by Patagonia about her traverse from the Bugaboos to Rogers Pass. I caught up with her after the World Premiere in Vancouver.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Donna Carpenter met Jake Carpenter in 1979 and the two began working together on Burton Snowboards, Jake's get rich quick scheme. By the mid 80's Donna was in charge of European sales and the Euro's on the pro team. Donna took the position as Burton's CFO in 1989. Throughout the years Donna and Jake had 3 kids and grew Burton into a B corporation aligned with profits and purpose. This interview took place in Donna's office in Burlington Vermont, a city transformed by the Carpenter's decision to build snowboards there. Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Mikey Ciccarelli is an Ontario transplant living in Whistler. He started competing in halfpipe at 8 years old. He started competing in slopestyle and won the Junior Olympics and a World Cup Slopestyle contest when he turned 18 ( the year his father passed). Mikey went on to compete in X-Games before deciding to film in the Whistler backcountry with some of the world's best. After scoring a couple of shots in Burton's One World movie he decided to go full time filming with Kingsnow which led to an IF3 Backcountry part of the year award. Mikey joined me at Boardroom's Whistler chalet for this interview about his life in snowboarding.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

Matt Belzile is a Quebec transplant living the Whistler dream. His longtime affiliation with K2 Snowboards has landed him in countless snowboarding films over the years. Matt's snowboarding parts are loaded with world class backcountry freestyle.Recently becoming a Dad, Matt and his small family are operating out of Squamish BC. His pleasant demeanor and laser focus have brought him success in many factors of life as you'll hear in the show.Support the show (https://paypal.me/fnradfoundation)

In episode 62, Maritime History covers the bathrooms and bathing options of the historic Atlantic liners compared to today's modern ships, plus a great round up of the latest cruise news.This podcast is only possible thanks to our supporters, simply buying a coffee keeps us on air. It is just like shouting your mate a coffee, and we consider our listeners close mates.  https://bit.ly/2T2FYGXMSG Grandiosa restarts cruises in BarcelonaCruise NewsP&O AU & Princess extend AU cruise pause P&O Australia has cancelled its cruise holidays through 17 Dec, and Princess through 19 Dec, with both brands citing ongoing uncertainty around a pathway to resumption in the country.RCI delays final payment dateRoyal Caribbean International has suspended the final payment due date for its Australian cruises.The cruise line took similar action with Alaska cruises earlier this year, continuing to push back the final payment date until cruises got the go-ahead.However, with Australian Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt earlier this month extending the human biosecurity emergency period until 17 Sep, it is unclear how RCI's move will affect its scheduled summer season.Azamara pulls out of Australia for 2021Azamara Cruises is the latest international operator to suspend its upcoming Australasian summer season, this morning confirming the “difficult decision to replace many sailings between Sep 2021-May 2022 due to the ongoing complexities of cruise operations in Latin America and Australia”.The move has seen the cancellation of 13 Azamara Journey voyages, including operations in Australia and New Zealand, as well as Japan and Asia. Azamara has also cancelled Azamara Pursuit voyages until Jan.P&O Cruises welcomed first guests in 15 months as Britannia sets sailThe first guests in 15 months were welcomed by P&O Cruises, Sunday June 27, 2021, as Britannia departed Southampton for a four night summer sailing around the UK coast to where the sun shines brightest.P&O Cruises ships anchored locally, Ventura, Arcadia and Aurora, and those of sister brand Cunard, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, celebrated the occasion with a horn-sounding departure salute as Britannia left the Port of Southampton at 6pm and sailed down the Solent.Britannia will sail a series of three, four and seven night UK coastal cruises until September 25, 2021 when western Mediterranean itineraries will commence prior to her winter Caribbean season.Iona's maiden voyage will be on August 7, 2021 and she will then sail weekly seven night scenic coastal cruises, before beginning Atlantic coast holidaysCaptain Kate welcomes guests back to Celebrity EdgeOn 26 June Celebrity Edge set sail on a new-luxury experience that will – once again – feed peoples' love of travel.” as the exquisite Celebrity Edge prepared to sail from Ft. Lauderdale at 6.00pm ET, becoming the first cruise ship to sail from a U.S. port in more than a year.What seems only fitting, now, 15 months after being at the helm of history for the first all-female bridge and officer team sailing in March 2020 and the last sailing before the industry was put on pause, Captain Kate McCue, the first and still only American female to captain a major cruise ship, now leads the fleet – and the industry – back into operation from Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades. The ship set sails for Mexico and the Bahamas.Crystal Expedition Cruises Christens Crystal EndeavorCrystal Expedition Cruises officially welcomed its new 20,200 GRT luxury expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor to the Crystal fleet as the ship was christened by Godmother Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in Stralsund, Germany.Inaugural Voyages, Iceland, the Arctic Circle and EuropeAs the first and only true luxury expedition yacht to restart cruising in the Arctic and Northern Europe, Crystal Endeavor will set sail beginning July 17 with five 10-night immersive voyages circumnavigating Iceland's most dramatically beautiful and fascinating locales. The Luxury Iceland Expedition voyages will sail round-trip from the ship's homeport of Reykjavík, affording travellers convenient air options, just six hours from New York City, three hours from London and with frequent non-stop flights from many major cities in the U.S. and Europe and will be followed by the 10-night Journey of Vikings: Iceland & Norway from Reykjavík to Tromsø departing September 5, 2021.Princess Announces 2023 Cruises & Cruisetours to EuropePrincess Cruises today revealed the best of cruising throughout Europe in 2023, with popular itineraries sailing from the Mediterranean and British Isles to Scandinavia and Russia, Iceland and Norway. All 177 departures go on sale to Elite Guests only on July 16, 2021 and to the General Public on July 17, 2021.With 67 unique itineraries, ranging in length from seven to 33 days, cruisers have an array of choices to select their bucket-list Europe cruise to fit their lifestyle, budget and travel dreams. Five MedallionClass ships – Enchanted Princess, Sky Princess, Regal Princess, Emerald Princess and Island Princess – will sail to 116 destinations in 32 countries, offering guests the opportunity to visit 53 UNESCO World Heritage SitesThe 2023 Europe season runs from March to December. Deployment highlights include:Enchanted Princess sails her first Mediterranean season on a series of 14-day voyages departing from either Barcelona, Rome (Civitavecchia) or Athens (Piraeus), for those with more time, Princess will offer the ultimate, 21-day exploration of the region.Regal Princess returns to the Baltic sailing 11-day Scandinavia & Russia cruises roundtrip from Copenhagen, featuring an overnight in St. Petersburg on every sailing.Sky Princess comes back for a second season sailing roundtrip from London (Southampton) on a variety of voyages from seven- to 14-days featuring Iceland and Norway, the Canary Islands and a 24-day adventure to Canada & New England.Emerald Princess departs on 12-day British Isles sailings with options including Liverpool, Portland (for Stonehenge) or to the very tip of Scotland to the Orkney Islands, all departing roundtrip from London (Southampton). Guests also have the unique opportunity to experience the awe-inspiring Edinburgh Military Tattoo from Glasgow (Greenock) on the July 31 and August 12, 2023 departures.Island Princess offers many voyages throughout Europe, including above the Arctic Circle in search of the Northern Lights from London (Southampton) and to the Mediterranean and Israel on 14-day cruises sailing from Rome (Civitavecchia).Sky Princess and Island Princess spend the Summer Solstice at the top of the world when the sun never sets on 14-day or 16-day Land of the Midnight Sun & Summer Solstice voyages.All five ships sail spring and fall Transatlantic voyages for the ultimate ocean crossing between Ft. Lauderdale and Barcelona, Copenhagen, London (Southampton), New York or Rome (Civitavecchia).Princess will visit 53 UNESCO World Heritage Sites including:White City of Tel-Aviv from Ashdod in IsraelThe Acropolis from Athens, GreeceCathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville from Cadiz, SpainThe Kronborg Castle from Copenhagen, DenmarkGorham's Cave Complex from GibraltarThe Ancient City of Ephesus from Kusadasi, TurkeyMount Etna from Messina, ItalyThe City of Lübeck from Hamburg, GermanyPrincess will offer 24 “More Ashore” late night and overnight calls in port, guests can make the most of their time exploring and experiencing the local sites and cultures. Princess is also offering five distinct cruise tours:Opportunities to sightsee in the cosmopolitan city of Madrid are available on the Highlights of Spain cruisetourDiscover the birthplace of the Renaissance on the Classic Italy cruisetourThe Imperial Treasures cruisetour is available for those who want to take in the art and architecture of Prague, Vienna and BudapestGuests can marvel at the sweeping landscapes on the Ring of Kerry cruisetourOur new Best of Greece cruisetour includes a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Mycenae, Meteora and DelphiRSSC Offers bonus land programme Regent is providing travellers the opportunity to extend their cruise with its latest offer, Ultimate Alaska, elevating the immersive Regent destination experience to new heights with a FREE three-night land programme.The pre- or post-cruise land programme has been expertly crafted to showcase the most iconic and hidden gems that the Canadian city of Vancouver has to offer. Spanning four days and three nights, Vancouver Adventures is FREE on 17, seven-night itineraries cruising between Vancouver and Seward, Alaska, from May to September 2022. A 13-night sailing from San Francisco, California to Vancouver and a 12-night sailing from Vancouver to Los Angeles, California are also available as part of the offer. All cruises are on board the elegant Seven Seas Mariner®.Ultimate Alaska also offers 50% reduced deposits and applies to new reservations made between 1 July – 31 August 2021.FREE 3-Night Land Programme HighlightsWith all voyages either arriving or departing from Vancouver, Ultimate Alaska offers guests incredible immersion of this vibrant city with a FREE 3-night land programme pre- or post- cruise, Vancouver Adventures.This remarkable land programme includes the opportunity to discover the historical yet chic neighbourhood of Gastown, featuring the soaring Capilano Suspension Bridge where guests can literally walk above the trees, as well as allowing travellers to reconnect with nature at the city's stunning Queen Elizabeth Park.Additional highlights include indulgent discoveries for shoppers and foodies alike at the arty Granville Island and the harbour-front Stanley Park, where guests can hire a bike and cycle through an old-growth forest. Travellers will also ascend Grouse Mountain on the Skyride – an aerial tramway system – where they will enjoy astonishing views of the city and can visit a bear refuge.Seabourn expands Seabourn Source Mobile AppSeabourn have expanded their “Seabourn Source” Mobile App, giving guests more instant information to enhance their travel experience. The mobile app is accessible to all guests on a complimentary basis and available to download prior to a sailing.Seabourn Source will be a vital tool for guests aboard to manage their stay, with up to-the-minute access of daily details of their voyage via smart phone, tablet or laptop – being an efficient, convenient and enjoyable tool for guests to utilise.Within the app, some updates are especially convenient which will include access to digital dining menu's throughout the venues of every Seabourn ship, as well as allowing digital boarding passes access to assist in the pier embarkation experience. Online guest registration, book and browse shore excursions as well as accessing the internet are all features guests can experience.The app is complimentary to download whether at home or onboard, and is available on both the Apple App Store, and Google Play StorePONANT's 2022 and 2023 Tropical Expeditions explore a kaleidoscope of enticingly remote destinationsPonant has released an extensive range of tropical small ship luxury expeditions, including some brand new itineraries, all aimed at revealing a diverse range of cultures, wildlife and landscapes, with many unique locations designated UNESCO World Heritage status.67 exceptional itineraries, exploring remote coastlines and islands with an emphasis on cultural discoveries and encounters with local populations. On board Le Soléal, two 7 night departures during May 2022 explore rarely visited Japanese Subtropical Islands including the Ryukyu Islands and Okinawa Archipelago and the magnificent Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park where wild beaches mix with traditional villages and lush jungle, mangroves, rivers and waterfalls. From Kikaijima's beautiful beaches and turquoise waters, onwards to pristine Zamami, in the Kerama Islands, known worldwide for its distinctive “Kerama blue” waters, while the remote island of Yonagunijima, the easternmost of the Ryukyu Islands, offers a striking contrast: cliffs, windswept meadows, wild horses……Or, perhaps, commence with the spice-scented bazaars of a Zanzibar and the Jewels of the Indian Ocean voyage. Pristine powder white beaches greet you as you explore untouched atolls in the Seychelles, including Cosmoledo Atoll, regarded as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean. Here enjoy exceptional dives in its aquarium-like lagoon exploring the rich marine life. Stunning La Digue and Desroches are also featured stops along with the sublime Assumption Island. Adventures by day build an appetite for the French inspired cuisine and casually chic lifestyle on board your modern luxury expedition ship, Le Jacques Cartier. Two 12 night expeditions available during February and March 2023.Trust PONANT to add a twist of exotic to its regular Kimberley season of expeditions by adding a new 14 night itinerary that departs Broome 5 September 2022 onboard Le Lapérouse. This Wild Landscapes of the Kimberley & South-East Asia itinerary features the impressive highlights of Australia's own Kimberley including the Hunter River, King George Falls and Montgomery Reef, plus Dili in East Timor, the Alor islands in Indonesia and an opportunity to see Komodo dragons, before disembarking in beautiful Bali.Are you ready to join an 11 night cultural odyssey Revealing the Mysteries of Melanesia where, to a great extent, time in paradise has stood still? One departure only in November 2022 will be enriched by travelling with a National Geographic expert and photographer – all the better to prepare you for time ashore visiting traditional villages on Vanikoro, sailing into the flooded caldera of Ureparapara or viewing the awe-inspiring volcanic activity at Hades-like Mt Yasur. Snorkelling and diving are on the agenda in order to discover the rich maritime world beneath.MSC Resumes cruising from Barcelona The port of Barcelona reopened on the weekend for international cruises when MSC Grandiosa became the first ship to embark Spanish guests and holidaymakers from other Schengen countries.The 7-night cruise holiday calls at the Italian ports of Genoa, Civitavecchia for Rome, Naples and Palermo, plus Valetta, MaltaMore ports will reopen in the coming weeks across Europe and MSC Cruises' phased restart of operations is continuing as planned with the Company offering a choice of six different ships and itineraries this summer across the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.MSC Seaview will start Baltic Sea cruises beginning 3 July from her homeport of Kiel in Germany with 7-night sailings to Sweden and Estonia and MSC Seaside on 4 July will mark the official reopening of Marseille, France to cruising.MSC Meraviglia from 2 August will resume Caribbean cruises from Miami and will be joined in the region from 18 September when MSC Divina restarts sailing from Port Canaveral near Orlando in Florida.MSC Seashore will come into service in August with voyages in the West Mediterranean before the Company's newest flagship transfers in November to Miami for a season in the Caribbean.MSC begins construction of MSC EuribiaThe first steel was cut 28 June, 2021 at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint Nazaire, France marking the official start of construction of MSC Cruises' most environmentally advanced ship to-date, and her name was also revealed. Set to come into service in June 2023, MSC Euribia will become the 22nd vessel in the MSC Cruises' fleet and the second to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), the cleanest marine fuel available at scale today. As every ship that joins MSC Cruises' fleet, she will be equipped with some of the latest and most advanced technologies and solutions to minimise her environmental impact. The beginning of construction of MSC Euribia effectively marks another milestone in the Company's commitment to environmental sustainability.The start of her construction was marked by a traditional steel cutting ceremony in Saint Nazaire bringing the ship owner and shipyard together. As maritime custom dictates, MSC Cruises' Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago joined Chantiers de l'Atlantique's General Manager Laurent Castaing to launch the cutting of the first steel for the new ship and, with it, the next step in MSC Cruises' journey towards zero-impact operations.MSC Euribia named after Ancient Greek goddess of mastery of the seasShip's cutting of the first steel ceremony marks next step in MSC Cruises' ongoing journey towards zero-impact operationsMSC Euribia to become second ship in the MSC Cruises' fleet powered by LNG to achieve substantial emissions reductionsShip set to come into service in 2023 and become 22nd vessel in the MSC Cruises fleet Ethical Cruise T-Shirts Now available branded podcast t-shirts, cruise-tees and Christmas gifts or design your own in the studio. All using organic cotton, printed using green energy and plastic-free packaging! https://bit.ly/32G7RdhJoin the show:If you have a cruise tip, burning question or want to record a cruise review get in touch with us via the website https://thebigcruisepodcast.com/join-the-show/  Guests: Chris Frame: https://bit.ly/3a4aBCg    Chris's Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ChrisCunard  Peter Kollar: https://www.cruising.org.au/Home  Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2XvD7tF  Castbox: https://bit.ly/2xkGBEI  Google Podcasts: https://bit.ly/2RuY04u  I heart Radio:  https://ihr.fm/3mVIEUASpotify: https://spoti.fi/3caCwl8  Stitcher: https://bit.ly/2JWE8Tz  Pocket casts: https://bit.ly/2JY4J2M  Tune in: https://bit.ly/2V0Jrrs  Podcast Addict: https://bit.ly/2BF6LnE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Silvercore Podcast, Travis speaks with Brian Niska of Skeena Spey Riverside Wilderness Lodge in Terrace, BC. Brian is a fishing guide, certified fishing instructor and designated master castor and designer of the Metal Detector series of Pieroway rods.   If you have a story that would be of value to the Silvercore audience, or know someone who does, email us at podcast@silvercore.ca.  We would love to hear from you!   Topics discussed in this episode:   Intro [00:00:00 - 00:01:22]  Brian's passion for fishing & experiences as a kid [00:01:22 - 00:02:24] Master Castor Instructor Certification & guiding in Chile [00:02:24 - 00:06:35] Fly fishing, trolling & spey casting [00:06:35 - 00:08:56] Getting into spey fishing & equipment [00:08:56 - 00:12:39] Different types of people that fly fish [00:12:39 - 00:19:00] Pieroway Rods, other gear & trademarking the letter ‘X' [00:19:00 - 00:27:09] Brian's influence on spey casting & best fly fisheries in the world [00:27:09 - 00:29:37] Brians passion for fishing & building a business our of his passion of fishing [00:29:37 - 00:35:40] Fishing seasons around BC [00:35:40 - 00:37:56] Spey casting for pink salmon on the Fraser [00:37:56 - 00:39:08] Fishing Etiquette [00:39:08 - 00:46:52] Outro [00:46:52 - 00:47:23]    Explore these Resources In this episode, we mentioned the following resources which may be beneficial to you:   Silvercore [00:00:10] [00:00:21] [00:00:24] [00:00:31] [00:01:14] [00:32:01] [00:52:43] Brian Niska [00:00:53] Skeena River [00:00:54] [00:01:10] [00:17:32] [00:24:12] [00:32:23] [00:36:59] [00:37:12] [00:37:20] [00:41:22] [00:42:39] [00:45:32] [00:46:34] Spey Fishing [00:00:44] [00:07:06] [00:09:06] [00:35:42] [00:36:03] [00:36:29] Skeena Spey Riverside Wilderness Lodge [00:00:54] Metal Detector series [00:01:04] [00:22:49] [00:25:20] Pieroway Rods [00:01:05] [00:19:02] [00:19:07] [00:19:08] [00:25:28] [00:26:10] [00:26:18] DeBoville Slough [00:02:07] Pitt River [00:02:12] FFF Fly Casting Instructor Certification [00:02:32] [00:03:28] Grouse Mountain [00:03:02] Pete Caverhill [00:03:23] Kingdome [00:04:28] [00:04:33] [00:04:34] [00:06:05] Hexagraph Fly Rods [00:04:45] [00:05:02] [00:05:12] [00:05:17] Bruce and Walker [00:05:03] Walt Powell [00:05:07] Harry Briscoe [00:05:15] Mike & Denise Maxwell [00:05:56] [00:05:57] Bonaparte Lake [00:06:40] [00:12:43] Pennask Lake [00:07:22] Bow River [00:19:53] [00:26:19] X-Series [00:25:26] Sage Fly Fishing [00:25:29] Renegade series [00:25:58] Jerry French [00:25:59] Skagit Guides [00:26:02] Copper River [00:29:00] Nicklaus North [00:29:58] Squamish system [00:36:01] Fraser Valley Tributaries [00:36:11] Vedder River [00:36:15] [00:41:08] Kitimat River [00:36:51] [00:36:52] Bulkley River [00:37:17] [00:37:28] Mamquam River [00:38:34]   Follow us: Podcast YouTube Newsletter Instagram Facebook Follow our Host Instagram: @ Bader.Trav   Learn More about Silvercore Silvercore Club Online Training  Other Training & Services  Merchandise CORE Training Management Resources (TMR)  Blog Page

Time to talk about a brewing story around the sale of Grouse Mountain … and rumours of wrong-doing between those who purchased the landmark local ski hill.    Guest: Ian Young Vancouver Correspondent, South China Morning Post

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Last week we told you about the concerns from environmental stewards regarding emaciated grizzly bears in the Knight Inlet.  Photos of a sow and two cubs taken by Port McNeill wildlife photographer and tour guide Rolf Hicker raised alarms from residents, who said the bears were likely suffering due to an abysmal Pacific salmon return this year. CKNW contributor Claire Allen spoke with Ernest Alfred, a representative form Swanson Occupation, which is an organization that's working to have open-net pens removed from the waters. Alfred and others made news earlier this month when they decided to feed the bears 500 pink salmon that were donated from the A-Tlegay Fisheries Society on Vancouver Island.  Dr. Ken Macquisten is a wildlife veterinarian and managing director for the Grouse Mountain wildlife refuge. He was shocked when he saw the photos, and he, too, would like to get some answers…  Guest: Dr. Ken Macquisten Wildlife veterinarian  managing director for the Grouse Mountain wildlife refuge

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In this episode: We'll get some travel insurance advice during hurricane season from Allianz Global Assistance. Plus we'll speak with travel writer & host of MyCompassTV Ilona Kauremszky about her christening cruise aboard the Avalon Envision and we'll visit Grouse Mountain in Vancouver.  Support the show: https://www.theinformedtraveler.org/