Podcasts about Mammoth Mountain

Feeling overwhelmed and underprepared can create self-limiting thoughts, low-performance, unmet expectations, higher stress, dissatisfaction, and even disillusionment. During this conversation from the fall with the Class of 2024-25 mentors and mentees, we dove into how to strengthen your own mental toughness and mindset to draw out higher performance from others. Looking for more? Read "Mastering Your Mindset" in the May 2025 issue of SAM. Mentors: Ross Boisvert, President and General Manager, McIntyre Ski Area, Manchester, N.H.  Shannon Buhler, Vice President and General Manager, Keystone Resort, Colo. Rich Burkley, CEO, Lake Louise Ski Resort & Summer Gondola, Lake Louise, Alberta Ken Rider, General Manager, Brundage Mountain, Idaho Mentees: Josiah Akin, Maintenance and Rental Manager, Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, Ore. Christie Barbour, Lift Operations Manager, Whistler Blackcomb, BC Rob Hallowell, Innovative Environments Manager, Boreal Mountain Resort, Woodward Tahoe, Soda Springs, Calif. Ella Klott, Sales Manager, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo. Sarah Nutt, Assistant Patrol Director, Sunday River Resort, Maine Loryn Roberson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Loveland Ski Area, Colo. Tim Shannon, Director of Skier Services, The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain, Vt. Jenny Weaver, Health and Safety Manager, Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain, Calif. Jeremy Wildgoose, Director of Lodging, Schweitzer, Idaho Kyle Wilson, Snow Sports Director, Nordic Mountain, Wis. Rachel Wyckoff, Marketing Director, Shawnee Mountain, Pa. Expert Voices: Paul Thallner, Founder, High Peaks Group Stu Singer, CEO and Founder, WellPerformance Thank you to our premiere sponsor, MountainGuard, for their support of this program. 

On this episode of the California Now Podcast, host Soterios Johnson welcomes actor and comedian Josh Meyers, cohost of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers— a podcast he does with his brother, late-night talk show host Seth Meyers. In this engaging conversation, Meyers shares the inspiration behind the podcast, its memorable guests (from Bill Gates to Tiffany Haddish), and why childhood vacations provide such great storytelling material. “It's a great equalizer,” he notes. “They all were kids once, and they all took trips with their families.” Meyers talks about his Los Angeles neighborhood Franklin Village, name-dropping a few go-to local spots. He also shares his love for solo ski trips to Mammoth Mountain. “When it gets to the winter, I can't stop myself from going up to Mammoth. I love it so much,” he gushes. He also maps out a dream California road trip from L.A. to Palm Springs to Idyllwild, highlights under-the-radar gems like Los Olivos and Sea Ranch, and shares a particularly indulgent memory: a legendary lunch at the French Laundry in Yountville. In Family Trips fashion, the episode closes with a rapid-fire round of questions, where Meyers chooses his ideal trip setting—“you had me at mountains”—and declares the ultimate Golden State driving soundtrack.

Hi Everyone!  We are back from vacation so word to the skippers, the first 30 minutes is gossip and catching up.  But if you skip you will miss all the hot news on running out of gas in Big Bend National Park and Juliette's display of bravery during a turbulent flight across the US! This week we look at Haley Joel Osment, famous as a child actor for his role in "The Sixth Sense" ("I see dead people") and a surprising amount of work as an adult actor.  He claims to have escaped the curse of the child actors, but reports of drunk and disorderly behavior, cocaine possession, and American Airlines front desk staff calling the police on him at Las Vegas International Airport might give one reason to doubt his claims of not being another tragic child actor.  Pretty much only Jodi Foster, Drew Barrymore, and the girl who played "Blossom" in the 80s (has a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA) are known to have escaped the curse of the child actor. Haley was up at Mammoth Mountain in early April 2025 and was daytime drunk trying to get onto the ski lift without skis or a snowboard.  The police arrived and arrested him.  Haley let them know what he thought about them and how sorry they were going to be for wrongfully arresting him!  He hurled a slur used against jewish people at one of the cops and also called the same cop a Nazi.  The bodycam footage was released and so was the public apology, which we are here, finally back, to rate and review for you!

Join The Ben and Skin Show, where hosts Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray dive into the unexpected adventures of the former child star. From his iconic roles in The Sixth Sense and Walker, Texas Ranger to his recent scandal at a ski resort, this episode is packed with humor, shock, and insightful commentary.The hosts kick off with a hilarious recount of Haley Joel Osment's arrest at Mammoth Mountain, where he attempted to board a ski lift with his helmet on backwards and without skis or a snowboard. The episode also touches on other shocking news, such as the arrest of The New Pornographers' drummer on child porn charges.

Drop us a message with any questions you may have :)

MUSICThere's no question thatthe story of Van Halen would make for an entertaining bio-pic, but EddieVan Halen's first wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, has no interest.  Someone posted an AI-generated image of what it mightlook like, and it features Eminem, Mac Miller, Paul Wall,and Russ and MGK caught wind of it, and he said there was avery important omission  Who saw thiscoming?  Fyre Fest 2 has been postponed indefinitely. According to anemail sent to ticket-holders on Wednesday saying the festival has been“postponed and a new date will be announced.” In the meantime, ticket-holderswill apparently be issued refunds. “Once the new date is announced, at thattime, you can repurchase if it works for your schedule,” the email notes.  TVSerena Williams said her Crip walk at the Super Bowlhalftime show was “absolutely not" intended as shade toward ex Drake​.         Nate Bargatze has beenselected to host the 2025 Emmy Awards.   One of Dan Aykroyd's originalconeheads from "Saturday Night Live" is hitting theauction block. Aside from “some dry bits along where the appliance was gluedand blended to the actor's face above his eyes,”  MOVING ON INTO MOVIENEWS:Haley JoelOsment was arrested earlier this month at the Mammoth Mountain resort inCalifornia. Mikey Madison wasoffered a role in the new and untitled “Star Wars” movie directed by Deadpool& Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy, and she ended uppassing.  AmandA Bynes is thelatest Hollywood star to join OnlyFans — but she won't be posting any“sleazy content.” MISC:X (formerly Twitter)users have been able to send private messages on the platform via DirectMessages but according to Mashable, Direct Messages will be changed toXChat. Elon Musk is known to have 14 kids with four differentwomen but he may have more! According to the "Wall StreetJournal", Elon has a habit of asking women to let him impregnatethem.   AND FINALLYWhat TV show remained 10/10 throughout its entire run?  AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

MUSIC There's no question that the story of Van Halen would make for an entertaining bio-pic, but Eddie Van Halen's first wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, has no interest.   Someone posted an AI-generated image of what it might look like, and it features Eminem, Mac Miller, Paul Wall, and Russ and MGK caught wind of it, and he said there was a very important omission   Who saw this coming?  Fyre Fest 2 has been postponed indefinitely. According to an email sent to ticket-holders on Wednesday saying the festival has been “postponed and a new date will be announced.” In the meantime, ticket-holders will apparently be issued refunds. “Once the new date is announced, at that time, you can repurchase if it works for your schedule,” the email notes.   TV Serena Williams said her Crip walk at the Super Bowl halftime show was “absolutely not" intended as shade toward ex Drake​.           Nate Bargatze has been selected to host the 2025 Emmy Awards.    One of Dan Aykroyd's original coneheads from "Saturday Night Live" is hitting the auction block. Aside from “some dry bits along where the appliance was glued and blended to the actor's face above his eyes,”   MOVING ON INTO MOVIE NEWS: Haley Joel Osment was arrested earlier this month at the Mammoth Mountain resort in California. Mikey Madison was offered a role in the new and untitled “Star Wars” movie directed by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy, and she ended up passing.  AmandA Bynes is the latest Hollywood star to join OnlyFans — but she won't be posting any “sleazy content.”   MISC: X (formerly Twitter) users have been able to send private messages on the platform via Direct Messages but according to Mashable, Direct Messages will be changed to XChat.   Elon Musk is known to have 14 kids with four different women but he may have more! According to the "Wall Street Journal", Elon has a habit of asking women to let him impregnate them.    AND FINALLY What TV show remained 10/10 throughout its entire run?   AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On In Other News with Ethan, the Bonnaroo 2025 lineup is finally here—Luke Combs makes history as its first country headliner, alongside Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, and Hozier. But from music highs to festival flops, Fyre Festival II has officially been postponed… indefinitely. We also dive into the death of actress Michelle Trachtenberg, space controversy with Gayle King's Blue Origin flight, and Haley Joel Osment's wild arrest at Mammoth Mountain.

On this episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about the Surf City El Salvador Pro, Jordy Smith, Tom Schaar video drop, fantasy surfing, Al Cleland Jr., DMT, DMSO, Nicholas Cage in The Surfer, Nora X Caity collab, The Australian Boardriders Battle, GWM Aussie Treble, The Uninvited, Todd's heel bruise hell, Chicken Jockey Madness, Twin Peaks, Nerd News, tons of questions answered, and so much more. Presented by: New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain  Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic    Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Todd dragged his carcass off the mountain and takes the wheel from Monday M.A.S.S. HQ while Chris is in-and-out of siesta time down in El Salvador for the WSL Championship Tour event, for the full story on what's been happening there, check the WSL YouTube page and watch all the post shows and whatnot, they leave no stone unturned. Oh, and Todd talks to our friend Paul Zitzer about Tampa Pro 2025 which sounded awesome! Chris answers a few questions. This is not our best work, but at least we came to work.  Presented by: New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about MEO Rip Curl Pro, Yago Dora, Brazilian stormy, Noa Deane new flick HORSE, Josh Kerr qualifies for the CS, California Action Retailer and Venture Expo, Todd wins Homesick and comes home with the most stoke ever, we got skateboards, stickers, tons of questions, lots of nerd of news, and so much more. Presented by: Portal @portal.exp New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain    Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals  Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

We're off this week but don't want to leave you hanging, so we're sending the rocket ship back to where it all began: Mammoth Mountain with our first BFF recruit, Dylan Mulvaney. Use this week to catch up on the One of Us back catalogue, and while you're at it, why not leave us an episode review? You can let us know where you want us to steer the rocket ship next. We'll be back next week with an all new adventure! Dylan's on TikTok and Instagram @dylanmulvaney. Make sure to check out her new memoir Paper Doll: Notes from a Late Bloomer! One of Us is hosted and produced by Chris Renfro and Fin Argus. It's executive produced by Myrriah Gossett and Erica Getto for Good Get. Myrriah Gossett is our sound designer, and our theme music is produced by Fin Argus and Brendan Chamberlain-Simon. Our show art was drawn by Fin Argus, and photographed by Mike and Matt McCarty. You can follow One Of Us on Instagram and TikTok at @oneofus.pod. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd battle through their usual technical difficulties to cobble together a pretty sweet show. The boys talk a lot about Natural Selection, MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, Swamp Fest, rest in peace to Australian surf legend Shane Herring, show and tell with Kelly Slater's new Outerknown trunks, STAB Highway East Coast, Julian Wilson's World Tour chances, Dane Reynolds broke his foot, more chairlifts falling from the sky, Nora Vasconcellos and Grant Brittain breakfast, save Embarcadero, and not much more.   Presented by: New Greens @newgreens Portal @portal.exp  Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain  Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic    Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals  Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this star-studded super-episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk to Pedro Barros about doing one of the biggest airs ever done, we talk to Austin Sweetin live from Revelstoke après-practice session for Natural Selection, and our correspondent Jon Veder captured a quick chat with last year's Natural selection winner, Mikey Ciccarelli on the gondola just days before he attempts to defend his title! The boys also talk about The MEO Rip Curl Pro Portugal, ask the question is Volcom done for good, Oahu's new Center Of Radical Education, Simple Session Estonia was insane, Yuto now on Red Bull, Bobby Puleo's Epicly Later'd is a Must Watch, EDGLRD skateboards with Harmony Korine and Sean Pablo is trippy, Adult Film star Angela White goes VX, an opulent Snow League breakdown, lots of questions answered, and so much more.  Presented by: New Greens @newgreens Portal @portal.exp   Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain   Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic  (big online sale) Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about Camp Shred, big surf sponsorship happenings, Sun Bum's dream team, The Dingo R.I.P., Natural Selection DUEL's, surf forecasting about to suck more, firings and NOAA, AVOS therapy footwear, FACT Brand boot/shoes, Kelly Slater's 16.5 million dollar house, surfer's net worth, surf state champions, Jeff Grosso's love letters to skateboarding still hits, skate videos that defined the 2000s, Blair Conklin rules, Herman Stene vid is epic, Skateboarding Hall of Fame 2025 class of inductees, drunk dad pisses on snowboarder's car, The Oscars, a bunch of questions answered, and so much more. Presented by:  Portal @portal.exp New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain  Sun Bum @sunbum  Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals  Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about the Tudor Nazare Big Wave Challenge, Natural Selection Surf, Red Bull Heavy Metal Boston, Pipe has been firing and eating surfers, we have exclusive phone call interviews with Natural Selection Producer, Liam Griffin, as well as a conversation riding up Peak Chair in Whistler BC with Natural Selection Dual Competitor Brin Alexander and our Monday M.A.S.S. correspondent in Canada, John Veder. The boys also talk about East Coast snow events, Snow League, Camp Shred, AVOS Therapeutic footwear by Shawn Hale, new Globe kicks for Todd, some of your questions will be answered (the rest will be fielded next week). This is a good episode, you will like it.  Presented by: Portal @portal.exp New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain   Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom CAMP SHRED IS COMING! MARCH 1 and 2 at San Elijo Campgrounds in Cardiff By The Sea, CA. Camp Shred The World's Largest Surf Demo San Elijo Campgrounds, Cardiff By The Sea, California March 1-2   Sat March 1, 2025 8:00am - 5:00pm Event Open 8:00am - 4:00pm Surf Demo Open 11:30am - 5:00pm Beer Garden 12:00pm - 2:00pm DJ Chris Cantore 2:00pm - 2:30 KOOK  3:00pm - 3:45 SUNBENDR (NOMINATED FOR A AD MUSIC AWARD) 4:00pm - 5:00 Strawberry Fuzz Sun March 2, 2025 8:00am - 4:00pm Event Open 8:00am - 3:00pm Surf Demo Open 11:30am - 4:00pm Beer Garden 11:00am - 12:30 Donuts and a DJ Set With Chris Coté  12:30pm - 1:00 Juvenile Seagulls 1:30pm - 2:15 Monarch  2:30pm - 3:30 Isaiah Mitchell's Jimi Hendrix Experience featuring Nico Pompeo, and Brian Cantrell.

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and to support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.As of episode 198, you can now watch The Storm Skiing Podcast on YouTube. Please click over to follow the channel. The podcast will continue to stream on all audio platforms. WhoEric Clark, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mammoth and June Mountains, CaliforniaRecorded onJanuary 29, 2025Why I interviewed himMammoth is ridiculous, improbable, outrageous. An impossible combination of unmixable things. SoCal vibes 8,000 feet in the sky and 250 miles north of the megalopolis. Rustic old-California alpine clapboard-and-Yan patina smeared with D-Line speed and Ikon energy. But nothing more implausible than this: 300 days of sunshine and 350 inches of snow in an average year. Some winters more: 715 inches two seasons ago, 618 in the 2016-17 campaign, 669 in 2010-11. Those are base-area totals. Nearly 900 inches stacked onto Mammoth's summit during the 2022-23 ski season. The ski area opened on Nov. 5 and closed on Aug. 6, a 275-day campaign.Below the paid subscriber jump: why Mammoth stands out even among giants, June's J1 lift predates the evolution of plant life, Alterra's investment machine, and more.That's nature, audacious and brash. Clouds tossed off the Pacific smashing into the continental crest. But it took a soul, hardy and ungovernable, to make Mammoth Mountain into a ski area for the masses. Dave McCoy, perhaps the greatest of the great generation of American ski resort founders, strung up and stapled together and tamed this wintertime kingdom over seven decades. Ropetows then T-bars then chairlifts all over. One of the finest lift systems anywhere. Chairs 1 through 25 stitching together a trail network sculpted and bulldozed and blasted from the monolithic mountain. A handcrafted playground animated as something wild, fierce, prehuman in its savage ever-down. McCoy, who lived to 104, is celebrated as a businessman, a visionary, and a human, but he was also, quietly, an artist.Mammoth is not the largest ski area in America (ranking number nine), California (third behind Palisades and Heavenly), Alterra's portfolio (third behind Palisades and Steamboat), or the U.S. Ikon Pass roster (fifth after Palisades, Big Sky, Bachelor, and Steamboat). But it may be America's most beloved big ski resort, frantic and fascinating, an essential big-mountain gateway for 39 million Californians, an Ikon Pass icon and the spiritual home of Alterra Mountain Company. It's impossible to imagine American skiing without Mammoth, just as it's impossible to imagine baseball without the Yankees or Africa without elephants. To our national ski identity, Mammoth is an essential thing, like a heart to a human body, a part without which the whole function falls apart.About MammothClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Alterra Mountain Company, which also owns:Located in: Mammoth Lakes, CaliforniaYear founded: 1953Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass: unlimited, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass: unlimited, holiday blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: June Mountain – around half an hour if the roads are clear; to underscore the severity of the Sierra Nevada, China Peak sits just 28 miles southwest of Mammoth, but is a seven-hour, 450-mile drive away – in good weather.Base elevation: 7,953 feetSummit elevation: 11,053 feetVertical drop: 3,100 feetSkiable acres: 3,500Average annual snowfall: 350 inchesTrail count: 178 (13% easiest, 28% slightly difficult, 19% difficult, 25% very difficult, 15% extremely difficult)Lift count: 25 (1 15-passenger gondola, 1 two-stage, eight-passenger gondola, 4 high-speed six-packs, 8 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 6 triples, 3 doubles, 1 Poma – view Lift Blog's inventory of Mammoth's lift fleet) – the ski area also runs some number of non-public carpetsAbout JuneClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Alterra Mountain Company (see complete roster above)Located in: June Lake, CaliforniaYear founded: 1963Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass: unlimited, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass: unlimited, holiday blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Mammoth Mountain – around half an hour if the roads are clearBase elevation: 7,545 feetSummit elevation: 10,090 feetVertical drop: 2,590 feetSkiable acres: 1,500 acresAverage annual snowfall: 250 inchesTrail count: 41Lift count: 6 (2 high-speed quads, 4 doubles – view Lift Blog's inventory of June Mountain's lift fleet)What we talked aboutMammoth's new lift 1; D-Line six-packs; deciding which lift to replace on a mountain with dozens of them; how the new lifts 1 and 16 redistributed skier traffic around Mammoth; adios Yan detachables; the history behind Mammoth's lift numbers; why upgrades to lifts 3 and 6 made more sense than replacements; the best lift system in America, and how to keep this massive fleet from falling apart; how Dave McCoy found and built Mammoth; retaining rowdy West Coast founder's energy when a mountain goes Colorado corporate; old-time Colorado skiing; Mammoth Lakes in the short-term rental era; potential future Mammoth lift upgrades; a potentially transformative future for the Eagle lift and Village gondola; why Mammoth has no public carpets; Mammoth expansion potential; Mammoth's baller parks culture, and what it takes to build and maintain their massive features; the potential of June Mountain; connecting to June's base with snowmaking; why a J1 replacement has taken so long; kids under 12 ski free at June; Ikon Pass access; changes incoming to Ikon Pass blackouts; the new markets that Ikon is driving toward Mammoth; improved flight service for Mammoth skiers; and Mammoth ski patrol.What I got wrong* I guessed that Mammoth likely paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $15 million for “Canyon and Broadway.” I meant that the new six-pack D-line lifts likely cost $15 million each.* I mentioned that Jackson Hole installed a new high-speed quad last year – I was referring to the Sublette chair.* I said that Steamboat's Wild Blue Gondola was “close to three miles long” – the full ride is 3.16 miles. Technically, the first and second stages of the gondola are separate machines, but riders experience them as one.Why now was a good time for this interviewTalk to enough employees of Alterra Mountain Company and a pattern emerges: an outsized number of high-level execs – the people building the mountain portfolio and the Ikon Pass and punching Vail in the face while doing it – came to the mothership, in some way or another, through Mammoth Mountain.Why is that? Such things can be a coincidence, but this didn't feel like it. Rusty Gregory, Alterra's CEO from 2018 to '23, entered that pilot's seat as a Mammoth lifer, and it was possible that he'd simply tagged in his benchmates. But Alterra and the Ikon Pass were functioning too smoothly to be the products of nepotism. This California ski factory seemed to be stamping out effective big-ideas people like an Italian plant cranking out Ferraris.Something about Mammoth just works. And that's remarkable, considering no one but McCoy thought that the place would work at all as a functional enterprise. A series of contemporary dumbasses told him that Mammoth was “too windy, too snowy, too high, too avalanche-prone, and too isolated” to work as a commercial ski area, according to The Snow Mag. That McCoy made Mammoth one of the most successful ski areas anywhere is less proof that the peanut gallery was wrong than that it took extraordinary will and inventiveness to accomplish the feat.And when a guy runs a ski area for 52 years, that ski area becomes a manifestation of his character. The people who succeed in working there absorb these same traits, whether of dysfunction or excellence. And Mammoth has long been defined by excellence.So, how to retain this? How does a ski area stitched so tightly to its founder's swashbuckling character fully transition to corporate-owned megapass headliner without devolving into an over-groomed volume machine for Los Angeles weekenders? How does a mountain that's still spinning 10 Yan fixed-grip chairs – the oldest dating to 1969 – modernize while D-Line sixers are running eight figures per install? And how does a set-footprint mountain lodged in remote wilderness continue to attract enough skiers to stay relevant, while making sure they all have a place to stay and ski once they get there?And then there's June. Like Pico curled up beside Killington, June, lost in Mammoth's podium flex, is a tiger dressed up like a housecat. At 1,500 acres, June is larger than Arapahoe Basin, Aspen Highlands, or Taos. It's 2,590-foot-vertical drop is roughly equal to that of Alta, Alyeska, or Copper (though June's bottom 1,000-ish vertical feet are often closed due to lack of lower-elevation snow). And while the terrain is not fierce, it's respectable, with hundreds of acres of those wide-open California glades to roll through.And yet skiers seem to have forgotten about the place. So, it can appear, has Alterra, which still shuffles skiers out of the base on a 1960 Riblet double chair that is the oldest operating aerial lift in the State of California. The mountain deserves better, and so do Ikon Pass holders, who can fairly expect that the machinery transporting them and their gold-plated pass uphill not predate the founding of the republic. That Alterra has transformed Deer Valley, Steamboat, and Palisades Tahoe with hundreds of millions of dollars of megalifts and terrain expansions over the past five years only makes the lingering presence of June's claptrap workhorse all the more puzzling.So in Mammoth and June we package both sides of the great contradiction of corporate ski area ownership: that whoever ends up with the mountain is simultaneously responsible for both its future and its past. Mammoth, fast and busy and modern, must retain the spirit of its restless founder. June, ornamented in quaint museum-piece machinery while charging $189 for a peak-day lift ticket, must justify its Ikon Pass membership by doing something other than saying “Yeah I'm here with Mammoth.” Has one changed too much, and the other not enough? Or can Alterra hit the Alta Goldilocks of fast lifts and big passes with throwback bonhomie undented?Why you should ski Mammoth and JuneIf you live in Southern California, go ahead and skip this section, because of course you've already skied Mammoth a thousand times, and so has everyone you know, and it will shock you to learn that there is anyone, anywhere, who has never skied this human wildlife park.But for anyone who's not in Southern California, Mammoth is remote and inconvenient. It is among the least-accessible big mountains in the country. It lacks the interstate adjacency of Tahoe, the Wasatch, and Colorado; the modernized airports funneling skiers into Big Sky and Jackson and Sun Valley (though this is changing); the cultural cachet that overcomes backwater addresses for Aspen and Telluride. Going to Mammoth, for anyone who can't point north on 395, just doesn't seem worth the hassle.It is worth the hassle. The raw statistical profile validates this. Big vert, big acreage, big snows, and big lift networks always justify the journey, even if Mammoth's remoteness fails to translate to emptiness in the way it does at, say, Taos or Revelstoke. But there is something to being Not Tahoe, a Sierra Nevada monster throwing off its own gravity rather than orbiting a mother lake with a dozen equals. Lacking the proximity to leave some things to more capable competitors, the way Tahoe resorts cede parks to Boreal or Northstar, or radness to Palisades and Kirkwood, Mammoth is compelled to offer an EveryBro mix of parks and cliffs and groomers and trees and bumps. It's a motley, magnificent scene, singular and electric, the sort of place that makes all realms beyond feel like a mirage.Mammoth does have one satellite, of course, and June Mountain fills the mothership's families-with-kids gap. Unlike Mammoth, June lets you use the carpet without an instructor. Kids 12 and under ski free. June is less crowded, less vodka-Red Bull, less California. And while the dated lifts can puzzle the Ikon tote-bagger who's last seven trips were through the detachable kingdoms of Utah and Colorado, there is a certain thrill to riding a chairlift that tugged its first passengers uphill during the Eisenhower administration.Podcast NotesOn Mammoth's masterplanOn Alterra pumping “a ton of money into its mountains”Tripling the size of Deer Valley. A massive terrain expansion and transformative infill gondola at Steamboat. The fusing of Palisades Tahoe's two sides to create America's second-largest interconnected ski area. New six-packs at Big Bear, Mammoth, Winter Park, and Solitude. Alterra is not messing around, as the Vail-Slayer continues to add mountains, add partners, and transform its portfolio of once-tired giants into dazzling modern megaresorts with billions in investment.On D-Line lifts “floating over the horizon”I mean just look at these things (Loon's Kancamagus eight on opening day, December 10, 2021 – video by Stuart Winchester):On severe accidents on Yan detachablesIn 2023, I wrote about Yan's detachable lift hellstorm:Cohee referenced a conversation he'd had with “Yan Kunczynski,” saying that, “obviously he had his issues.” If it's not obvious to the listener, here's what he was talking about: Kuncyznski founded Yan chairlifts in 1965. They were sound lifts, and the company built hundreds, many of which are still in operation today. However. Yan's high-speed lifts turned out to be death traps. Two people died in a 1985 accident at Keystone. A 9-year-old died in a 1993 accident at Sierra-at-Tahoe (then known as Sierra Ski Ranch). Two more died at Whistler in 1995. This is why all three detachable quads at Sierra-at-Tahoe date to 1996 – the mountain ripped out all three Yan machines following the accident, even though the oldest dated only to 1989.Several Yan high-speed detachables still run, but they have been heavily modified and retrofit. Superstar Express at Killington, for example, was “retrofitted with new Poma grips and sheaves as well as terminal modifications in 1994,” according to Lift Blog. In total, 15 ski areas, including Sun Valley, Schweitzer, Mount Snow, Mammoth, and Palisades Tahoe spent millions upgrading or replacing Yan detachable quads. The company ceased operations in 2001.Since that writing, many of those Yan detachables have met the scrapyard:* Killington will replace Superstar Express with a Doppelmayr six-pack this summer.* Sun Valley removed two of their Yan detachables – Greyhawk and Challenger – in 2023, and replaced them with a single Doppelmayr high-speed six-pack.* Sun Valley then replaced the Seattle Ridge Yan high-speed quad with a Doppelmayr six-pack in 2024.* Mammoth has replaced both of its Yan high-speed quads – Canyon and Broadway – with Doppelmayr D-line six-packs.* Though I didn't mention Sunday River above, it's worth noting that the mountain ripped out its Barker Yan detachable quad in 2023 for a D-Line Doppelmayr bubble sixer.I'm not sure how many of these Yan-detach jalopies remain. Sun Valley still runs four; June, two; and Schweitzer, Mount Snow, and Killington one apiece. There are probably others.On Mammoth's aging lift fleetMammoth's lift system is widely considered one of the best designed anywhere, and I have no doubt that it's well cared for. Still, it is a garage filled with as many classic cars as sparkling-off-the-assembly-line Aston Martins. Seventeen of the mountain's 24 aerial lifts were constructed before the turn of the century; 10 of those are Yan fixed- grips, the oldest dating to 1969. Per Lift Blog:On Rusty's tribute to Dave McCoyFormer Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory delivered an incredible encomium to Mammoth founder Dave McCoy on this podcast four years ago [18:08]:The audio here is jacked up in 45 different ways. I suppose I can admit now that this was because whatever broke-ass microphone I was using at the time sounded as though it had filtered my audio through a dying air-conditioner. So I had to re-record my questions (I could make out the audio well enough to just repeat what I had said during our actual chat), making the conversation sound like something I had created by going on Open AI and typing “create a podcast where it sounds like I interviewed Rusty Gregory.” Now I probably would have just asked to re-record it, but at the time I just felt lucky to get the interview and so I stapled together this bootleg track that sounds like something Eminem would have sold from the trunk of his Chevy Celebrity in 1994.More good McCoy stuff here and in the videos below:On Mammoth buying Bear and Snow SummitRusty also broke down Mammoth's acquisition of Bear Mountain and Snow Summit in that pod, at the 29:18 mark.On Mammoth super parksWhen I was a kid watching the Road Runner dominate Wile E. Coyote in zip-fall-splat canyon hijinks, I assumed it was the fanciful product of some lunatic's imagination. But now I understand that the whole serial was just an animation of Mammoth Superparks:I mean can you tell the difference?I'm admittedly impressed with the coyote's standing turnaround technique with the roller skis.On Pico beside KillingtonThe Pico-Killington dilemma echoes that of June-Mammoth, in which an otherwise good mountain looks like a less-good mountain because it sits next door to a really great mountain. As I wrote in 2023:Pico is funny. If it were anywhere else other than exactly next door to the largest ski area in New England, Pico might be a major ski area. Its 468 acres would make it the largest ski area in New Hampshire. A 2,000-foot vertical drop is impressive anywhere. The mountain has two high-speed lifts. And, by the way, knockout terrain. There is only one place in the Killington complex where you can run 2,000 vertical feet of steep terrain: Pico.On the old funitel at JuneCompounding the weirdness of J1's continued existence is the fact that, from 1986 to '96, a 20-passenger funitels ran on a parallel line:Clark explains why June removed this lift in the podcast.On kids under 12 skiing free at JuneThis is pretty amazing – per June's website:The free June Mountain Kids Season Pass gives your children under 12 unlimited access to June Mountain all season long. This replaces day tickets for kids, which are no longer offered. Everyone in your family must have a season pass or lift ticket. Your child's free season pass must be reserved in advance, and picked up in-person at the June Mountain Ticket Office. If your child has a birthday in our system that states they are older than 12 years of age, we will require proof of age to sell you a 12 and under season pass.I clarified with June officials that adults are not required to buy a season pass or lift ticket in order for their children to qualify for the free season pass.While it is unlikely that I will make it to June this winter, I signed my 8-year-old son up for a free season pass just to see how easy it was. It took about 12 seconds (he was already in Alterra's system, saving some time).On Alterra's whiplash Ikon Pass accessAlterra has consistently adjusted Ikon Pass access to meter volume and appease its partner mountains:On Mammoth's mammoth snowfallsMammoth's annual snowfalls tend to mirror the boom-bust cycles of Tahoe, with big winters burying the Statue of Liberty (715 inches at the base over the 2022-23 winter), and others underperforming the Catskills (94 inches in the winter of 1976-77). Here are the mountain's official year-by-year and month-by-month tallies. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Have you ever been so sure of something—only to realize later that you should have listened to the warnings?

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about Kelly Slater Birthday party, Lexus Pipe Pro breakdown, is a snowboard trip to Italy cheaper than a trip to Aspen, Camp Shred is coming, Todd's take on the death of the snowboard industry, Surf Abu Dhabi Pro preview, Iceland's best wave about to be destroyed,  Skate Shop Day, Evan Smith on I-Path, Mt. Baker Banked Slalom, Kings And Queens Of Corbet's, Mammoth getting snow, lots of questions answered and so much more.  Presented by: New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain   Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours     Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom CAMP SHRED IS COMING! MARCH 1 and 2 at San Elijo Campgrounds in Cardiff By The Sea, CA.

When change seems to be all we do, how do we manage it to our advantage? Listen in to a conversation from the fall with the Class of 2024-25 mentors and mentees. Looking for more? Read "Change Management" from the January 2025 issue of SAM.  Mentors: Kim Jones, Vice President and General Counsel, WinSport Olympic Park, Calgary, Alberta Karl Kapucinski, Chief Executive Officer, California Mountain Resort Company JR Murray, Chief Planning Officer, Mountain Capital Partners Karyn Thorr, Chief Operating Officer, Crystal Mountain, Mich. Brent Tregaskis, President & General Manager, Eldora Mountain Resort, Colo. Mike Unruh, Senior Vice President of Mountain Operations, Boyne Resorts Mentees: Josiah Akin, Maintenance and Rental Manager, Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, Ore. Christie Barbour, Lift Operations Manager, Whistler Blackcomb, BC Rob Hallowell, Innovative Environments Manager, Boreal Mountain Resort, Woodward Tahoe, Soda Springs, Calif. Ella Klott, Sales Manager, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyo. Sarah Nutt, Assistant Patrol Director, Sunday River Resort, Maine Loryn Roberson, Director of Marketing and Communications, Loveland Ski Area, Colo. Tim Shannon, Director of Skier Services, The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain, Vt. Jenny Weaver, Health and Safety Manager, Mammoth Mountain and June Mountain, Calif. Jeremy Wildgoose, Director of Lodging, Schweitzer, Idaho Kyle Wilson, Snow Sports Director, Nordic Mountain, Wis. Rachel Wyckoff, Marketing Director, Shawnee Mountain, Pa. Expert Voice: Paul Thallner, Founder, High Peaks Group Thank you to our premiere sponsor, MountainGuard, for their support of this program. 

On this week's episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about chairlifts falling from the sky, the Lexus Pipe Pro, Italo going off, Shion Crawford's massive backside 540, Nora Vasconcellos “Let It Kill You” on Vice is awesome, Camp Shred, YouTube is where the best surfing is happening, KOBOCAM, Tosh Tudor and Kobe Hughes Sun Bum edit, Finn McGill ripping, PSL, Todd's dislike for the word “league”, Landon McNamara interview, Albee Layer video, Everybody Skates “Gonzatas” boards are super cool, Zane Timpson book and Documentary in the works, Cory Juneau Mic'd up “First Person” on The PLATFRM, Red Bull Heavy Metal, Todd's take on the snow scene in Minnesota, cost cutting costing lives, the Grammys are pretty stupid, all your questions answered and so much more.  Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain   Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom CAMP SHRED IS COMING! MARCH 1 and 2 at San Elijo Campgrounds in Cardiff By The Sea, CA.

On this week's epic episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd get an exclusive phone call from Red Gerard , we talk about X-Games, Scotty James is a Monday M.A.S.S. fan, it's snowing in Mammoth, AI judge was a bust, Lexus Pipe Pro is coming in hit, John John Florence is weirdly a wildcard, Craig Anderson on How Surfer's Get Paid is great, Surfival Surf League is deadly, Gifted Hater skewers Bert Kreishner and friends, KRTV video part is super good, Roman Pabich and Dion Agius put out Sponsor Me Tapes, Blackout Try on Thrasher rips, all your questions are answered, and so much more. Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain   Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's epic episode of the World's Greatest Action Sports Podcast, Chris and Todd talk about AI judging at X-Games, Mint Tour of Japan, WSL Rookie Of The Year injury, John John Florence, surf fins, STAB Highway Oz and East Coast, Scotty James, world Jr Champions, falling off chair lifts, farting on dogs, Oblivion Los Angeles Board Raffle, Koa Rothman and Team Japan win Backdoor Shootout, Zuck surfing 20-foot-wave (sort of), Caity Simmers “Blouse” by Toasted Media RIPS,  Rivvia Projects picks up Ryan Callinan, dolphin smashes Australian grom, Yeti Summer Adventure Tour on Thrasher is amazing, The Lazo Party skater girls are back doing damage, Bone Bindings, Atlas Swiss Army snowboard, Chocolate Skateboards screen printing kit, last ever Vans Pool Party at The Combi Bowl, all your questions answered and so much more! Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's SPECIAL episode, Chris and Todd record the pod live in front of a studio audience, and deliver to you via satellite from Asagikawa, Japan, on their Monday M.A.S.S. X Mint Tour Week! The duo talk about snowboarding in Japan, Gabriel Medina's injury, John John Florence, Al Cleland Jr, the WSL World Jr Championships, Natural Selection surf and snow, Hike Hynson, Cry Is Free Pepper Spray, Todd's scratcher idea, Jenkem pogo video, Red Bull Heavy Metal, Hawk Vs. Wolf life, Hogs On The Horizon, lots of questions from the world and some from our guests, and so much more. Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about the Backdoor Shootout, Bethany Hamilton, Vail Mountain blowing it, the big stock drop, Kelly Slater book by Todd Glaser, Natural Selection surf, quiver killers are not cool, Tiago nailed the SLS Trick of the Year, Greyson Fletcher rules, Epicly Later'd with Ben Kadow, This Old Ledge with Ted Barrow, John Shanahan frozen pool power slide to lipslide is nuts, Jenkem Superlative Awards 2024, Consolidated Skateboards 1992-2024, Bombhole Beatdown, K2's Jumbo Easy, all your questions answered, and so much more.  Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic   Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about STAB Surfer Of The Year, John John Florence, Caity Simmers, Kai Lenny going switch Jaws, Alessandro “Alo” Slebir may have just surfed a 108 foot wave Maverick's, Warsaw Shoes show and tell, Fisher got a hair transplant, Tony Hawk about to drop a mega auction with some one-of-a-kind historic items, Hawk Vs Wolf With Rodney Mullen And Andy Anderson, Encinitas City Hall Drop article coming soon, Dern Bros show is epic, more bears seen cruising the snowboard park, kid trades skateboard to save a feral cat, X-Games street style pro, top five snowboard safety tips you should know, Natural Selection Surf (Chris wasn't invited), all your questions answered, Squid Game, Mr. Beast show, and so much more.   Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris is joined by special guest host, Roman Coté to talk about The Eddie, the mega-swell, Parkour, Nora getting a van tattoo, the Etnies SLB reissue, Landon McNamara, Mason Ho, Chris' STAB SOTY list, Bali is blown, Keramas under threat, random world records, starting skateboarding as an adult, sticker packs coming soon, Monday MASS Mugs available now, and so much more in this quick, but impactful Holiday Episode.     Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about the Vans Pipe Masters broadcast controversy, the giant waves coming to Hawaii, the massive swell hitting California, Rene Rinnekangas' incredible new video, reviews for Chris' new YouTube edit, John John's video is okay as well, a surfing injury caused United Health Care assassin Luigi Mangione's deep dive in to madness, This Old Ledge is back, Jamie Foy is Thrasher Magazine's Skater Of The Year, AKA SOTY, The SLB 23 Sal Barbier X Etnies reissue kicks look great, Nyjah and Raysaa are SLS World Champions, bindings can make or break your setup, guy falls off chairlift, please put the safety bar down when riding the chairlift, Miles Fallon will now be ripping a Lambo, bear bowls over a bro at Heavenly ski resort, lots of great questions asked, plenty of nonsense, the stick of the year, and so much more.   Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about the Vans Pipe Masters, being a contest dad, the Sneedside comp, Nick Marshall is the most underrated surfer in California, Nyjah Huston turns 30, Cholocate Skateboards celebrates 30 years with an eBay sale, R.I.P. Skyler The Surfing Dog, WSL Challengers Series Schedule out now, The Pe'ahi Challenge is on, Todd's going to Tahoe, it's nearly impossible to get away with murder these days, Todd's relationship with skateboarding, the boys want to get hypnotized, all your questions answered, and so much more. Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

In the wake of a Thanksgiving bomb cyclone that walloped Northern California with rain and snow, the boys celebrate reaching 50 episodes with superfan #1, Scott Kessler. In addition to recapping their personal favorite episodes and the most listened to ones, the three amigos chat about chasing pow in Mammoth and Lakes Basin, telemark skiing versus splitboarding versus pow surfing, Scott's days as a chain installer on Interstate 80 and building his business, Truckee Overhead Door, his European mountain bike vacations and opening up about the loss of his first wife, Kathy Kessler, in the 2002 British Columbia avalanche that also took the life of Craig Kelly and five others. Also, are the BOA lacing system, fat bikes and Cody Townsend's 50+ project Dope or Derp?2:45 – December 1 is the first day of meteorological winter.3:30 – Recording once again in the Truckee Overhead Door facility in Hirschdale with Scott Kessler. 4:40 – The packers versus the shovelers – who will win winter this year?6:30 – Recapping the first 50 episodes and suggesting some of our favorites. 8:00 – Core lord callout at the gas station in Sierraville and the old days of telemark racing.9:30 – What new sport should Trail Whisperer pick up, splitboarding or telemarking?16:00 – Recapping the series of bomb cyclone storms just before Thanksgiving. 19:00 – PowBot chases the pow down to Mammoth Mountain and meets Zak Mills.21:30 – Scott bought his first van when he had a chaining permit, chaining up cars on Interstate 80 during the winter. 29:00 – Starting Truckee Overhead Door, a garage door company in Truckee/Lake Tahoe. 34:00 – Dope or Derp? BOA. Cody Townsend's 50+ project. Fat Biking.55:15 – Reviewing the first 50 episodes. Most popular and our personal favorites. Todd Woodward, Daron Rahlves, Episode 1, Emily Kachorek, 10 Shredmandents, Chris McNamara, Harrison Biehl, Eric Blehm, Duncan Meyers, Alenka Vrecek, Nate Greenberg, Nick Bliss, Avalanches and the Frog Lake Huts, Marco Osborne, Make Downieville Gold Again, Christina Thayer. 1:21:20 – Scott's European mountain biking adventures in Italy and Switzerland the Alps and the Pyrenees. Aosta Valley Freeride – one of the best guiding companies, Massimo, Blake and Anna.1:34:30 – Scott opens up about the loss of his first wife, Kathy Kessler in 2002, after being involved in the British Columbia avalanche that also took the life of Craig Kelly and five others. 1:46:30 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd attempt and fail to do a live charity auction (although someone got a sweet deal on a new Morrow board), they also talk about Chris' new collab with JT and Dark Arts, Noa Deane, Mikey Wright, Harry Bryant, Wade Carroll have launched Ritual Vision, Spy debuts new snow helmet, JOB and Mike Stewart share a beast at Pipeline, Oakley drops new surf helmet, Haleiwa comp goes sicko mode, Dane Reynolds opens new Chapter 11 Surf Shop in Ventura, Momiji skate part is incredible, Elijah Bearle guns for SOTY, study shows skateboarding great for mental health, Chris likes lists, Great Britain's Mia Brookes rules, brand new stickers, new HBO Yacht Rock Doc is epic, and more. Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum   Spy Optic @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom  

 On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about Pipe Masters Beef, Ski Only resorts, show and tell with the Slater Designs Slater and Dan Mann designed FRK, it's Thrasher SOTY season, Jamie Foy is the frontrunner, Bill Murray and Kelly Slater go golfing in Oceanside, Pacifico Surf Open Cerritos went off, Taro Watanabe is amazing, John John movie on STAB premium, will switchstance surfing ever matter,  Surfline cam talk, surf etiquette 101, Mick Fanning buying in to The Palm Valley Gold Coast Resort, Kai Mackenzie surfs again only months after getting his leg bitten off by a shark, Arto Saari episode of ‘Let It Kill You' is incredible, Zero Skateboards turned Adam Arunski pro, The New Polar Skate Co. Video "I Don't Even Know How To F****ing Airwalk" has a great title, a bunch of you tell us what you're thankful for, and so much more … this is a great episode. We're thankful for all of you who watch and listen.   Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk about Chris' most embarrassing surf contest story ever, how snowboarders make babies, Tony Hawk recreates first skateboard photo, opening day at Mammoth Mountain, a little show and tell with K2 Taro Tamai Boots, Santa Cruz Godzilla boards, Todd's New GoPro, Old Bones Insoles, we get Zeke and Skip on the phone to talk “Milk'd” and the new Arizona Wave Pool, Hong Kong bans surfing, Chris reviews wetsuits and surfboards,  New Balance “Intervals” video is incredible, the Bronson X Monster Death Race happening and it was super gnarly, blood, skin, hair, and feces most likely still in the ditch. Also, Todd talks about his recent shop tour, Hayley Wilson is pro for Real, TransWorld SKATEboarding breaks down the best InstaGram follows in skating as well as the best skate spots and parks in the USA, Jenkem and Louie Barletta talk mental health, all your questions answered and more! Presented by: Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

  Get ready for the latest updates in the Eastern Sierra! From the Bishop Broncos’ exciting CIF quarter-finals matchup to the opening of Mammoth Mountain's ski season, we’ve got you …

On this week's episode, Chris and Todd talk from afar. Todd is on tour of the northwest and then the northeast, Portland, Boston, and more. Chris is at Monday M.A.S.S. HQ on Veteran's Day cobbling together a brief but impactful episode, maybe. Some of the topics covered include, Mammoth Mountain opening in 4 days, lots of snow resorts ready to rock, ISA Para Surfing World Champs crowned, a Pipe Master who's dad had his toes cut off by the “Toe Cutter Gang”, sad news fro Lakai, Baja and Puerto getting a couple of QS 1000s, Eat-Pray-Slam, 30th Annual Tampa Am went crazy, Numero drops two banger boxed sets, and a little bit more.   Presented by: Sun Bum @sunbum Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Spy Optics @spyoptic Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals Hansen Surfboards @hansensurf New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping @vesylapp Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

“Our first instinct was just sheer disbelief. We were trying to tell ourselves that it couldn't be real. It couldn't be happening. But it was.”—The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist by Jenny Ashford and Tom Ross In this episode, Richard dives into The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist by Jenny Ashford and Tom Ross—a book that's part childhood memoir, part full-throttle paranormal nightmare, and less than 150 pages. But don't let its length fool you, it may be the most important poltergeist story ever written. Tom Ross, who's around Richard's age, recounts the terrifying winter vacation where his family faced supernatural phenomena that just wouldn't stop. Imagine the worst, most upsetting family trip of your life and multiply it by…a poltergeist. Richard first read this book in 2017, holed up in a condo in Mammoth during a ski vacation he'd rather forget. Fear has been a strange, and near constant companion, in Richard's life. Yet, as he has discovered, confronting fear head-on can lead to unexpected revelations and personal growth. In this episode, he reflects on his own complicated relationship with fear, exploring how it can be both a barrier, a catalyst for change, and sometimes something you don't have to take on. Join Richard as he faces down the paranormal once more, revisiting a story about fear, transformation, and how the darkness finds us all eventually, even if we're not looking. Buckle up, it's about to get weirder. Subscribe now wherever you listen to podcasts for the next episode. Learn more about the stories, books, music, and more featured in this episode at https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/ 

Is that true love in the air? Or are we just at high altitude? Chris and Fin are off to meet one of their dearest friends, Dylan Mulvaney, in hopes of recruiting her for their Best Friend Force. And this week's destination? Well, it's clothing optional...One of Us is hosted and produced by Chris Renfro and Fin Argus. It's executive produced by Myrriah Gossett for Gossett Productions and Erica Getto for Kinehora Productions. Myrriah Gossett is our sound designer, and our theme music is produced by Fin Argus and Brendan Chamberlain-Simon. Show art by Fin Argus.You can follow One of Us on Instagram and TikTok @oneofus.pod.Follow Dylan on Instagram and TikTok @dylanmulvaney! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris and Todd talk via satellite but it sounds like we're talking through a tin can and a string. Anyway, a show is a show and the show must go on! This is a special episode because Chris is in Tahiti, at the end of the road at a spot called TCHEE-OH-HU-PO-OH, for the Shiseido Tahiti Pro Presented by Outerknown, so you get the whole breakdown from the inside out. Also, the boys talk about some skate news, a little bit of snow news, Baby Reindeer, Joe Turpel gives us Ad Block lessons, and thankfully Todd remembered that we had to shout out Ryji Masuda who dropped a quick five piece featuring some of the sickest skate-style surf airs we've ever seen. Stab High is gonna be rad.  We answer some questions, too … this is a decent travel episode.   The Monday M.A.S.S. Podcast is Presented By:   Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea By Spy Optics @spyoptic Sun Bum @sunbum Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris and Todd about Tahiti, the Challenger Series, Erin Brooks, Caity Simmers, Maps To Nowhere, Drug Cartels, Tony Hawk, Pond Skin fails, snowboard jumps with handrail landings, Surf City El Salvador ISA World Junior Surfing Championship, GWM Sydney Surf Pro, STAB High Japan, surfers murdered in Baja, Chris and Todd are going to be in a movie, snow events still happening, X Games Ventura is gonna cost you, mountains closing, trams re-opening, surf drama, and all sorts of stuff. Oh, and all your questions answered as well. This is a great episode, tell a friend.   Presented By:  Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea Bubs Naturals @bubsnatruals New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom

Host Victoria Guido connects with Francis Lacoste, a seasoned VPE and CTO coach. He details his unexpected journey from an aspiring cinema professional to a key player in the tech industry after honing his remote-first work culture skills. He delves into his move toward coaching, emphasizing his commitment to developing engineering management talent and his dedication to building strong engineering cultures and leadership within organizations. Francis discusses the psychological aspects of leadership, such as the importance of psychological safety and the role of trust in organizational effectiveness. He also reflects on the nuances of transitioning from hands-on technical work to strategic leadership roles, emphasizing the critical soft skills necessary for effective leadership. Follow Francis Lacoste on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/francislacoste/). Visit his website: thevpe.coach (https://thevpe.coach/). Follow thoughtbot on X (https://twitter.com/thoughtbot) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/150727/). Transcript: VICTORIA: This is the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, where we explore the design, development, and business of great products. I'm your host, Victoria Guido. And with me today is Francis Lacoste, VPE and CTO coach. Francis, thank you for joining me. FRANCIS: My pleasure, Victoria. Thanks for having me. VICTORIA: Thank you. Well, it's a beautiful spring day today. And just to get us started and warmed up a little bit, I wonder if you could tell me about what is your favorite winter activity? FRANCIS: Cross-country skiing without doubt. I did a lot of alpine skiing when I was a kid. Could still do it, but really I found alpine, just skiing through parks and the calm of winter, is a very relaxing activity. And I use that as basically my workout. There's a park nearby the school of one of my kids. So, I drop him at school, then go do a few laps in the park near the river. It's beautiful. Unfortunately, this was a winter without almost any snow. So, I could only do four outings this year, which I need to do other workouts because that's not enough. VICTORIA: Wow. That's really cool. How long have you been cross-country skiing then? FRANCIS: I started doing that as a kid, but regularly only in the past, I'd say, four or five years. I bought some skis. Before that, I would only rent. So, that allowed me to do it more regularly. VICTORIA: That's interesting. I am cross-country ski curious because I've tried regular skiing the last couple of years, and I've found that it's way too fast for me personally [laughter]. So, I'm not sure. I think I might like it. FRANCIS: Yeah. I mean, cross-country skiing is more like jogging in a way because it's very cardio, unlike Alpine skiing, downhill skiing, where if you don't work hard, you can go very fast. You know, if you want to go slow, it's actually...you have to put in a lot of effort in downhill skiing, but cross-country skiing it's kind of like jogging. You're gliding on the snow and getting some momentum. I mean, if it's not flat, then it becomes a little bit more fiddly, but I do mostly flat courses because if you have, like, some slope, then it requires other technique, and it's actually harder to control than Alpine skiing. VICTORIA: Ooh. Well, I was going to say it sounds like my type of thing until the last part you said there [laughter]. I was like, oh, that's the part that I'm scared of. Well, I don't know, I don't get a chance to go skiing too often down here in San Diego, but I should go up to, like, Mammoth Mountain and things like that more often. But we got a ton of snow this year, so you'll have to come West and visit us sometime. FRANCIS: [laughs] VICTORIA: Well, wonderful. Well, Francis, tell me a little bit about your background and what led you to your coaching career here. FRANCIS: I've been working in software forever, basically. Fun fact: I wanted to go into cinema, and that's what I studied at university, but kept ending up in programming job basically, or programming endeavors. And this was, like, the beginning of the commercial internet, end of the '90s, and was very much into free software and open source, and that's how I got started as a software engineer. And eventually ended up at Canonical, which is still is; they celebrated their 20 years this year; the company that founded Ubuntu, the Linux distribution, which was very popular and still is to a large extent. That's where I kind of left, transitioned into software management, engineering management over there. I didn't know at all what I was getting into. I was on parental leave at the time, and my boss left a message to say, "Hey, we're thinking of creating teams, and we think you'd be a good fit for one of the team lead. Let me know what you think." And I said, "Yes," really, not knowing that this was a totally different job. Fortunately, I got good mentors and found out I enjoyed that. And then, after Canonical, I moved to Heroku, which I joined to help build a remote culture there because, at that point, the company was hiring more and more remote. And Canonical was a remote-first company. I mean, I've been working remotely for 25 years, almost, at this point. So, kind of had a good experience there, and at Heroku, really that, I kind of discovered coaching. I joined as a director, and then a few years in, there was a reorg. I ended up again with a single team to manage, which was, okay, I can do that. That's fine. Fortunately, I mean, by coincidence or luck, there was a guy on the team who wanted to become an engineering manager. He was already running most of the ceremonies of the team. And I said, "Oh, great [laughs]. What I love about being a director is growing engineering managers. So, I'm going to mentor you and help you de facto run the team, do the things that you're not in a position to do yet but eventually will transition that," which left me with a lot of time. My VP was supportive of this, and we had a lot of new first-time engineering managers at the time, so we didn't have a lot of people who had experience as engineering managers. So, I offered to mentor and coach internally. A lot of people took me up on that offer. So, I ended up doing that and eventually ended up with, like, running a large org again, but continuing doing that part. And this was the part that I kind of enjoyed the most [laughs] in my role, in a way. So, I think it was 2019. So, five years ago, I was running seven teams. It was the largest department, engineering department at Heroku. Things were fine, you know. But when I was stopping for summer vacation or winter vacation, I realized that the day before going back to work, I was kind of not looking forward to it. That was kind of a sign. And it was very subtle because, like, a week later, everything was fine again, you know, loved the people and the company and what we were doing. But there was something, like, deep down, I was not, like, fulfilled by the role. I did some soul searching and then realized, okay, what I really like is not running the organization but more, like, the mentoring, the nurturing of the culture. I was also doing a training at the time, working with groups, group facilitation, and so, like, working more, like, with advising leadership teams, that sort of thing. I went to my VP and told him, "Look, I realize this is not fulfilling for me. Don't freak out. I'm not quitting [laughs] yet, you know. I can do this for a year again. But if there is...then my next role is going to be consulting around engineering culture. But if there's a role, you know, where an organization is large, more aligned with this, I'd be happy to continue working at Heroku and Salesforce," because Heroku was part of Salesforce ever since I joined. So, he and the SVP were kind of thrilled by that idea. So, I became Chief of Staff for Heroku and start working with the whole engineering exec team. And that was great for six months. And then Salesforce did a big reorg, and I ended up...all the exec left, and Heroku engineering was kind of split apart and refactored into the normal Salesforce engineering. Fortunately for me, the EVP I had a relationship with him, and he knew what I was doing. And he took my role and said, like, "We like what you did with Heroku culture. Can you help us do that across all of platform?" So, I ended up doing culture work for one of the largest departments at Salesforce. At the time, it was 1,500 people. It was very scary in a way, in the sense that I knew this was the next step, you know, after Heroku, but I went from 150 engineers to 150. There were more engineering managers in platform than there were engineers at Heroku. So it was kind of, okay, I need to rethink my strategy and stuff like that. And then, that lasted until last year, and then there were the layoffs at Salesforce, and culture is one of the first thing that is usually cut. So, I got cut, which was fine because I kind of knew, okay, my next step after Salesforce was consulting around engineering culture. So, that's when I launched my business and decided to focus on coaching because that's what I had continued doing in the meantime and was finding the most fulfilling. VICTORIA: That's really interesting. Thank you for sharing all of that context. I have a lot of questions to follow up, but to recap a little bit, it sounds like you started as a software developer. You worked your way up to engineering management and then focused on coaching other leaders throughout your career. And now you're doing that as part of your own business. So, you founded your own company to just do that, which sounds super interesting. FRANCIS: Exactly. Yes. So, my focus is on I coach VP of engineering and CTOs at scaling startup. Like I said, I started coaching engineering managers at Heroku, and a lot of them eventually became directors. And at a large organization like Salesforce, after director, the next steps up there are a few opportunities in a way. So, you need to be at the right place at the right time, but otherwise, there's not just a lot of opportunities. And meanwhile, they get hit every week by recruiters on LinkedIn say, "Hey, come join our startup as VP of engineering," or CTO and things like that. A lot of them actually jumped ship to such role, and I continue coaching them in that capacity. And that was really just rewarding seeing the impact that these people have. So, last year when I started, I had a question around, okay, what is my offer? I want great engineering culture, but what is the offer? Then, looking at what I did, it's kind of, oh, well, this work I've done with all of these folks, this was always pleasurable and fulfilling to me. And coaching is a known offering, so there's probably something there. So, this was kind of what's kind of the business aspect of it. And the mission aspect is that...and I do other things than coaching. I do workshops and things like that. But my experience is that unless the executive, you know, the founder, the top leaders are not committed and bought in in creating a great culture and personally working on themselves, because that's required, you can bring, like, workshops to the team. You can...great process in place. You can do a lot of great things, which has an impact, but then it's not built on solid ground in a way because at the first reorg or the first, like, change [inaudible 10:31], then all of this work becomes very shaky ground. So, to me, it was kind of, oh yes, I need to start with coaching the CTOs and VPs, and that will ensure that there's actually potential for a great culture there. VICTORIA: That's really interesting. So, yeah, the coaching part is the key part and, like, the culture is number one. So, if you were talking to a new CTO, what kind of questions would you ask them to kind of gauge where they're at with their engineering culture? FRANCIS: The first question I always ask is, well, do you have, like, principles or values around that? And it's surprising. I come from Salesforce, which is a value-driven company, and there's a lot of startups that [inaudible 11:11]. It's kind of the playbook, you know, defining your company values. But still, there's a lot of people who've done it or who've not done it or done it, but it's kind of more like an exercise, and it's not, like, integrated. So, really, this is where usually I start when we're looking at culture is kind of what are your values, and are these values enacted, you know, manifested in your organization? Are they part of the day-to-day decision-making, the hiring process, the performance evaluation? And not just that, you know, also, when you're designing something internally, we're putting in place, like, a code review process. Well, how is that related to our values or not? And this is something I was fortunate because Salesforce it's a huge corporation, but still, they're serious about values there. And it is used, and they are living their values, not perfectly, I mean, it's still humans, and it's still a business. But these day-to-day decision-making values are definitely taken care of, and it's not just words on the wall. VICTORIA: Yeah. I think the second part of what you said there is the hardest part, not just what are your values, but how do you use those values in your everyday decision-making? FRANCIS: Yes. Mid-Roll Ad: As life moves online, bricks-and-mortar businesses are having to adapt to survive. With over 18 years of experience building reliable web products and services, thoughtbot is the technology partner you can trust. We provide the technical expertise to enable your business to adapt and thrive in a changing environment. We start by understanding what's important to your customers to help you transition to intuitive digital services your customers will trust. We take the time to understand what makes your business great and work fast yet thoroughly to build, test, and validate ideas, helping you discover new customers. Take your business online with design‑driven digital acceleration. Find out more at tbot.io/acceleration or click the link in the show notes for this episode. VICTORIA: I'm interested in what it takes to be a CTO and go from that startup mentality into starting to think about how you're going to scale this organization. Because what I see a lot of times a CTO in an early-stage startup is the main developer also [chuckles] and has built the whole app. So, how do you think about that? What kinds of things do you start to delve into after the values, and how a CTO can transition into that role, into the scaling and leading larger teams? FRANCIS: Yeah, no, you're totally spot on here, Victoria, because CTO is one of these...somebody asked me once why the VPE coach and not the CTO coach. And, to me, it was, well, actually, because CTO is one of these multi-dimensional variable scope word, which means a very different thing. And often, at a startup, the CTO is basically the founding engineer. He is the person writing the code, building the product. And that's good. But as you grow, then the role change, and many of my clients are technical co-founders who actually want to scale with the org and not become, like, a chief architect, even though many of them will still keep the CTO title. And then, they will hire a VPE to actually build the organization and do what the role of the CTO is from my perspective. The CTO role, if we define it, it's really you're part of the exec team, and the exec team whose responsibility is to align technology to the business objective. So, can we use technology or build a product to actually deliver our product objective? So, it's kind of a strategic role, and at some point, you don't necessarily run the day-to-day of the org. But at a transition point, you need to focus on the org management and the org building. So, I often say, one, my ideal clients are these technical co-founders who want to switch from a product builder identity to a product development organization builder identity. That's the transition point. And then, it requires all the leadership skills somebody who leads an org needs, which are, like, being able to...empathy being one of the most important one, you know, being able to understand people, to inspire them, everything like that [chuckles]. VICTORIA: Yeah. All the easy stuff, right [chuckles]? FRANCIS: Yes [chuckles]. Yeah. It's called the soft skills [laughs], but we all know that it's not because they're easy [laughs]. VICTORIA: Right. Yeah, they're hard. FRANCIS: It's actually more because they are nebulous, which is very hard for somebody who's technically minded, you know, people; it's not like there's an on and an off, and logic gate is not what this is about. VICTORIA: Yeah. And, mentally, it must be challenging for someone who has poured their heart and soul, and time, and energy into this product to then turn around and say, "Okay, I'm going to let a bunch of other people get in there and start doing stuff [laughs]. FRANCIS: Yes. VICTORIA: And take it over. And, like, I'll just be involved from..." like, you know, when you say executive position, what does that mean? Is it, like, budget and strategy? And, you know, sometimes it's really hard to be effective in those conversations, and it really becomes about educating other people in your organization more than anything else. FRANCIS: Yeah, I mean, a lot of it is about budget and that sort of thing. To me, it's more like boring, and it's not the most critical part. I mean, your role as a leader is really to set the context for the people to execute them, you know, so that they have, like, the clarity of direction but not the control of the execution. You need to let go of control. You need to move much more on the influence side than the controlling side, especially the larger the org gets. You probably have managed folks. You need to lose the idea that you're in charge and you're making the decisions because otherwise, you get frustrated very fast. VICTORIA: Yeah. How would you refer to that? Is that like the inner game, like a mental game you have to shift into? FRANCIS: Yeah, I mean, to me, the inner game is all about the self-awareness, emotional intelligence, developing these capacities, which enables you to be a more effective leader. It's not just about being an effective leader. It's also about feeling good about your role and who you are in this context, you know, and that's the inner game. What happens externally, how you act, is a reflection of these inner capacities in a way. VICTORIA: That makes sense. And if you want to create a culture of psychological safety, you may want to start within yourself, right? FRANCIS: Yes. I mean, psychological safety it's one of the essential dimension of team performance. There's the Aristotle study that was done at Google, which they analyzed Agile teams and, okay, what is the most important factor in team performance? And what they came out with is, oh, it's this thing called psychological safety. Psychological safety as a name, as a concept was kind of coined by Amy C. Edmondson. I'm not fond of the term because I think it leads to some. I mean, it's a technical term, but because psychological safety and safety has a lot of, like, day-to-day meaning, it skews a little bit what it is. I much prefer...this is the same thing what Patrick Lencioni was calling out as the first dysfunction of a team, you know, the lack of trust. And it was defining trust as vulnerability-based trust, which goes with the technical definition of psychological safety, which is the perception that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. So, it's kind of, A, here I'm not sure how this is going to go. This is risky a bit. I'm being vulnerable. But I perceive that the team...I trust that the team will receive that respectfully in a way. And that connection to the inner game is...as a manager, if you want to create psychological safety, you need to lead by example, which means you need to show that you can be vulnerable, you know, that you trust the team that they're not going to hang you to dry if you show a weakness or say, "Hey, I don't know here," or things like that. And this is very hard as leaders because we want to instill confidence and things like that. But that often comes with, like, masking our vulnerabilities, and that's actually detrimental in fostering psychological safety. VICTORIA: Yeah, we actually did a facilitated exercise on psychological safety at thoughtbot last year. And I brought up an idea I'd had where I wanted to see if I could say something obviously wrong on my team calls [laughter] and see if they would correct me. Like, are they going to correct me? Do they feel safe enough to, like, give me that correction? Like, you know. And I can say that my team does feel comfortable [laughs]. They crack me a lot [laughs]. FRANCIS: Awesome. VICTORIA: But that's great. You hire people who hopefully have, you know, expertise and security that might be greater and deeper or more recent, and yours that you have to do that. So, that's really interesting. Talking about all the reports, it reminds me as well as, like, the DevOps research, DORA report, where they say that security as well, like, the biggest indicator for a high-security organization is trust as well. So, it's really interesting to think about, like, how you as a CTO create that culture and create that culture of, like, trust, and compassion, and empathy, and vulnerability, and that will lead to performance, which may seem counterintuitive to some people. FRANCIS: Yeah. So, I'm kind of a model collector. I'm someone who loves different models. They're all good, you know, and that's the problem [laughs]. All models are good, but none of them actually exhaust reality. In one model, in a way, it's kind of simplification of The Five Dysfunctions Model and others. But there's two dimensions that are really important for team performance. So, the first one is kind of the, to me, this is kind of the ground, the horizontal layer. It's kind of how people relate to each other, so psychological safety. And then the vertical dimension is the clarity of the North Star and the mission. We all can relate to each other as human beings and trust each other, but we're here to do some work. And what is this work about? What is unifying us that we're here and not someplace else? And that's kind of the clarity of what we're trying to achieve, the North Star or the mission. And those two create the space for high performance because if you just have psychological safety but there is no clear mission and accountability to that mission...once you know clearly what we're here to do, we can hold each other accountable to delivering on it. And if you're the only person holding accountability as the leader, then you're far from high performance. Really, you get high performance when everyone is in it together. That's given by the clarity of what is it we're trying to achieve. And if that's not there, you have, like, a great group of people, but there's no direction. And if you have only direction and, you know, a mission, then you can get, like, in a very authoritarian thing, which, I mean, everybody's aligned to do something, but everybody is kind of afraid and not showing up fully. And you're not getting the full engagement of everyone, so there's a lot of heat and friction that's being lost. VICTORIA: Yeah. And you mentioned accountability. And I'm curious, what does that look like in your experience, like, holding each other accountable? What kind of ways can leaders do that? FRANCIS: To me, the most interesting question is how can leaders foster shared accountability on the team, mutual accountability? And how it looks like...and I'm a big fan of...it's kind of the virtuous cycle between team agreements and retrospective, you know, in agile, another word that can mean many things. But this idea of continuous improvement after every sprint or regularly the team gets together and reflects on what went well. What could we improve? Those sorts of things. This is kind of the collective space of where the teams exist as a team, you know, really kind of where there's something very important in the retrospective where we're showing up as a team and reflecting on the team. And what I like to do is use that moment to not only, like, how do we reflect about the first layer of, okay, we missed that feature or that sort of thing but also reflect on the norms of the team, which can be written down ideally, you know? And this is a team agreement part. And the output of the retrospective is modification or experiment around "Oh, we could try this or this other way of working." But the idea of team agreements is this is how we are holding each other accountable, too. And how it manifests in practice is you know you have, like, mutual accountability when it's not only the manager that is reminding people of, hey, this is our norm, you know? So, for instance, I don't know, example could be trivial, but still, you know, we said we need two reviews to commit code, and then, like, somebody didn't do it or something like that. The manager could go and say, "Hey, you forgot about this agreement." But really, where you want to be is that it's other people on the team say, "Hey, Joe, why didn't you ask me for a review here? You know, I could have been that second review you needed," or things like that. And that really means that everyone is kind of bought in on the norms. So, that, to me, what is mutual accountability about is when it feels confident enough to challenge each other and remind themselves accountable to the team norms. VICTORIA: Right. And facilitating that development of the team norms together, too, right? FRANCIS: Yes. VICTORIA: Wonderful. Do you have any questions for me? FRANCIS: So, I'm interested to hear about your story this time where you got called out [laughs]. You said okay...I love the test you did, you know. I'm going to say something here that I know is wrong and see if people feel confident enough to...so, how did you achieve that, you know? VICTORIA: Lucky for me, I don't have to test it because it just happens naturally [laughs]. So, in my role of managing director, I have to talk to clients, come up with estimates for the work, when will the work start, who is the right person for the team. And so, sometimes, you know, I'll put the proposal together, and I'll hear my team members say like, "Why are we doing it like this [laughs]? Do it this way instead. Like, I think this person's a better fit." And, you know, when I see them engaging in the proposal and not just saying, "Yeah, it looks good," that means that we're doing a good job, and they're actually reading it, and processing it, and thinking about the client's requirements and yeah, giving me real feedback. That's what I want, so that's what I like to see. And, you know, when I do my one on ones with my team members, at least every three months, I try to do a retrospective style where I ask, "In my role, what should I continue doing that's helping you? What should I start doing, and then what should I stop?" I do it in that order specifically, so we start with the nice stuff [laughs]. But yeah, and then I make sure that when I give that feedback back to my team members, I say like, "Make sure you feel like you can speak up and share and hear your voice. Like, it's maybe more of a start than a stop or a continue. Just try to, like, get your feedback in there. I want to hear from you. I want to make sure you feel comfortable giving feedback to me also." FRANCIS: Right. So, that's kind of demonstrating listening and enacting a feedback culture because you are asking for feedback and listening to it, and that fosters trust, you know, vulnerability-based trust. So, anything else you did that helped create that psychological safety on your team? VICTORIA: It's really important how you react to things in meetings, like in retrospectives, especially if, like, you're trying to...like, in my role a lot, I'm trying to represent the business and talk to my team about what's the strategy and what we're trying to do. Like, if someone asks you a question like, "Well, why are we doing it right that way? Like, I think that's, like, what [laughs], you know, like, what are you guys even thinking? That seems random." I think the emotional work, like you mentioned, like, taking a breath myself and, like, calming down. Because, like, part of me could get really annoyed and be like, "Well, we've been talking about this for three months, guys [chuckles], you know, like, this isn't new information." But then, you know, thinking about it, like, you know, taking the time to calm your own emotions and put yourself in their shoes and think about, well, how much time have they really had to, like, look at any of this stuff? And, like, maybe they need it in a different format, or in a different way, or, like, written up somewhere else and not just, like, briefly covered in a call. So, opening yourself up to alternatives and staying curious about, well, what is this feeling behind? Like, what's really needed to clear? So, it's, again, coming back to listening and acting on it. So, maybe that's part of it. So, to create more psychological safety on the team is that part about managing your own emotions and not overreacting if somebody doesn't like your idea is a really important part of it. FRANCIS: Yes, so true. You said something very interesting there, which is how you react to things. And this is true, you know, you want to be graceful in your reaction and not react from a place of frustration or anger. There's the saying that psychological safety is fragile, you know, trust can be lost easily and easy to lose. And I think this is actually, while there is some truth to it, it's actually just partially true. From my perspective, when you have psychological safety, basically, there's an anti-fragile aspect to it in the sense that you self-heal. But to self-heal, you need to recognize the breakage and heal. So, I see the occasions where we want to be reacting gracefully listening to feedback. And then, somebody asks a question, like, say, "Why are we doing this?" You know, and then, well, because [laughs] and you answer, "Yes, well, because we've been talking for three months about this, you know, get to the page." If you stop there, yes, this is detrimental. I mean, people will say, "Oh, this was weird, and I'll think twice next time before asking that question." But if you are committed to psychological safety, you realize that, or somebody might make you realize that. And then, you can repair saying, "Hey. Hey, sorry. I messed up here. This is really not in line with our value of listening to feedback. I'm sorry. I'm under..." and that's the healing part, and that actually strengthen psychological safety more than it was. I mean, this is the idea of antifragility, you know, a bone breaks, and when it rebuilds, it rebuilds stronger because you've shown vulnerability and kind of, okay, yes, when they make a mistake, I can see that they are able to correct in the moment. And that's the safety part that I don't like, you know, the common day word meaning of safety that I feel is misleading is that it makes the thing...it seems very fragile. People walk on eggs. You know, we have this sentiment that, oh, I should be cautious about what I'm saying and things like that, where, actually, if you have a psychological safety culture, you can be a little bit more spontaneous and candid. And if you mess up, well, there's enough safety that you can repair and recover from there. VICTORIA: Yeah, I actually, I mean, I did say that in the moment. And the way I recovered was that I said, "You know, I didn't want it to come across as an admonishment, like, why haven't you been listening? But more about back to our values, how can I make you all more bought into our goals from the beginning and make sure that you're connected and we're on the same page? Because it felt a little disconnected for me [laughs]," right? But yeah, no, I like that you put it that way. Like it's also about how you repair. And I think that's true as well. When I think about whether or not you're safe with someone, it's also like, are you safe enough to tell me when I made a mistake? And the way you're going to feel safe is if someone tells you that they make a mistake, they're going to apologize, and repair, and figure out how to do better next time. FRANCIS: Yeah, totally. VICTORIA: And then, I think about how much my, like, leadership learning fits into my, like, regular personal life [laughs] also, right? Yeah, that's wonderful. If you could go back in time to maybe when you were that engineer about to take your engineering management position, what advice would you give yourself if you could? FRANCIS: Hey, you do realize this is a totally different path. You're going to need to develop different skills that you add to. That was fine, you know because I kind of navigated that very seamlessly in many ways. But what I didn't highlight is that there was a transition, actually. And I think this is where the advice would come in. So, I was an engineer, so thinking with systems and system thinking. And I realized very rapidly this is a different role. I'm not programming code anymore, you know. And what I told myself was I'm programming the system in which code is being written. And I think that's a good working metaphor or thinking for a while. And that's where the advice would come in. It's kind of, A, this is not, like, an engineering system. This is about humans. So, in a way, I would kind of nudge myself toward developing the soft skills much more rapidly because I think it took me a while to really grok that, hey, I need to understand how to relate individually and personally to people and not just to ideas, roles, and process. Because you can have, like, an engineering perspective on management but that's lacking in empathy and...mainly the empathy [laughs]. So, do pay attention to empathy. I think that would be the fifth advice [laughs]. VICTORIA: Isn't that great advice for all of us all the time, right [laughs]? FRANCIS: Yes. VICTORIA: I love that. Yeah, wonderful. FRANCIS: I'm always happy to connect with people. You can find me on LinkedIn, Francis Lacoste. I think we don't talk to each other enough in these digital times. And so, we all network a lot, you know, on Slack and LinkedIn. And one day, I was connecting with someone on LinkedIn, and the guy offered me...said, "Hey, happy to connect. Are you interested in doing, like, a short call just to get acquainted?" And I said, "Oh, that's actually a good idea." I talked with the guy and decided to do the same thing myself. So, I'm always happy to have a conversation with folks. So, I invite you to try it out, you know, there's a lot of people out there, interesting people, and have interesting conversations. VICTORIA: I love that so much. That's really nice. And people can do that to me, too. You can always...people talk to me, come talk to me on my podcast [laughs]. Thank you so much for being with us here today, Francis. I really enjoyed our conversation. You can subscribe to the show and find notes along with a complete transcript for this episode at giantrobots.fm. If you have questions or comments, email us at hosts@giantrobots.fm. And you can find me on thoughtbotmastodonsocial@vguido. This podcast is brought to you by thoughtbot and produced and edited by Mandy Moore. Thanks for listening. See you next time. AD: Did you know thoughtbot has a referral program? If you introduce us to someone looking for a design or development partner, we will compensate you if they decide to work with us. More info on our website at: tbot.io/referral. Or you can email us at: referrals@thoughtbot.com with any questions.

This week on The Bedtime Pod, we're back from hiatus!!! Syd tells Noah she'd rather let a pervert watch her pee than stay in a hotel for too long ever again and our couple gets their asses handed to them by an Italian dog trainer. 

On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris talks to robot Todd via satellite from the peak of Palisade's Mountain! And guess what, it may have even worked! Chris and Todd talk about a bunch of cool snow events happening, they talk about the Challenger Series event at Snapper Rocks right now that is absolutely going off, also, Kelly Slater getting a surf coach, Limousine skateboards, Nelly Morville makes the Quartersnacks top 10, skin cancer awareness, Dana Point Film Festival, Woodward scholarships from Lizzie Armanto, Sophie McCulloch broke her back at The Box, Red Bull Landing Gear looks sick, Tahiti wildcards announced, 2025 CT wildcards announced, so much stuff is happening!   Presented By:   Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Dana Point Film Festival @danapointfilmfestival May 2-5

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on April 18. It dropped for free subscribers on April 25. 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:WhoPete Korfiatis, General Manager of Bluewood, WashingtonRecorded onApril 4, 2024About BluewoodClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Local investorsLocated in: Dayton, WashingtonYear founded: 1980Pass affiliations:* Indy Pass and Indy+ Pass: 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Cottonwood Butte, Idaho, 3 hours eastBase elevation: 4,545 feetSummit elevation: 5,670 feetVertical drop: 1,125 feetSkiable Acres: 355Average annual snowfall: 300 inchesTrail count: 24 (30% difficult, 45% intermediate, 25% easy)Lift count: 4 (2 triples, 2 carpets – view Lift Blog's inventory of Bluewood's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himSomeday, if it's not too late, I'm going to track down the old-timers who snowshoed into the wilderness and figured this all out. The American West is filled with crazy little snow pockets, lesser-known mountain ranges spiraling off the vast plateaus. Much of this land falls under the purview of the United States Forest Service. In the decades immediately before and after World War II, the agency established most of our large western ski areas within its 193 million-acre kingdom. That's a lot of land – approximately the size of Texas – and it's not all snowy. Where there is snow, there's not always roads, nor even the realistic possibility of plowing one through. Where there are roads, there aren't always good exposures or fall lines for skiing.So our ski areas ended up where they are because, mostly, those are the best places nature gave us for skiing. Obviously it snows like hell in the Wasatch and the Tetons and the Sierra Nevadas. Anyone with a covered wagon could have told you that. But the Forest Service's map of its leased ski areas is dotted with strange little outposts popping out of what most of us assume to be The Flats:What to make of Brian Head, floating alone in southern Utah? Or Mt. Lemmon, rising over Tucson? Or Ski Apache and Cloudcroft, sunk near the bottom of New Mexico? Or the ski areas bunched and floating over Los Angeles? Or Antelope Butte, hanging out in the Wyoming Bighorns?Somewhere, in some government filing cabinet 34 floors deep in a Washington, D.C. bunker, are hand-annotated topo maps and notebooks left behind by the bureaucrat-explorers who determined that these map dots were the very best for snowsportskiing. And somewhere, buried where I'll probably never find it, is the story of Bluewood.It's one of our more improbable ski centers. Not because it shouldn't be there, but because most of us can't imagine how it could be. Most Washington and Oregon ski areas line up along the Cascades, stacked south to north along the states' western thirds. The snow smashes into these peaks and then stops. Anyone who's driven east over the passes has encountered the Big Brown Endless on the other side. It's surreal, how fast the high alpine falls away.But as Interstate 90 arcs northeast through this rolling country and toward Spokane, it routes most travelers away from the fecund Umatilla National Forest, one of those unexpected islands of peaks and green floating above our American deserts. Here, in this wilderness just to the west of Walla Walla but far from just about everything else, 300 inches of snow stack up in an average winter. And this is where you will find Bluewood.The Umatilla sprawls over two states and 1.4 million acres, and is home to three ski areas (Anthony Lakes and inactive Spouts Springs, both in Oregon, are the other two). Three map dots in the wilderness, random-looking from above, all the final product of years in the field, of hardy folks pushing ever-deeper into the woods to find The Spot. This is the story of one of them.What we talked aboutGrowing up Wenatchee; “the mountains are an addiction”; THE MACHINE at Mammoth; Back-In-The-Day Syndrome; Mammoth's outsized influence on Alterra Mountain Company; how the Ikon Pass strangely benefited Mammoth; the accidental GM; off the grid; Bluewood and southeast Washington's unique little weather pattern; “everybody that knows Bluewood comes for the trees”; why the Forest Service is selling a bunch of Bluewood's trees; massive expansion potential; when your snowline is 50 feet above your base area and you have no snowmaking; the winter with no snow; Skyline Basin and dreams that never happened; ambitious lift-upgrade plans; summer and “trying to eliminate the six-month revenue drought”; “if you take the North American lifts right now, they're only coming out because they're pieces of crap”; potential future chairlifts; Bluewood's owners and their long-term vision; mountaintop lodging potential; whether night skiing could ever happen; power by biomass; the Indy Pass; Southeast Washington ski culture; free buddy tickets with your season pass; Bluewood's season pass reciprocal program; why Bluewood's lift ticket prices are so low; and the absolute killer expense for small ski areas.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewOne of the more useful habits I've developed is attending offseason media events and consumer ski shows, where ski area managers and marketers tend to congregate. The regional gatherings, where mountain booths are stacked side by side like boxes in a cereal aisle, are particularly useful, allowing me to connect with reps from a dozen or more resorts in an hour. Such was the setup at the Snowvana “stoke event” in Portland, Oregon last November, which I attended both to host a panel of ski area general managers and to lay deeper roots in the rabid Pacific Northwest.Two podcasts emerged directly from connections I made that day: my February conversation with Red Mountain CEO Howard Katkov, and this one, with Korfiatis.So that's the easy answer: a lot of these podcasts happen simply because I was finally able to connect with whomever runs the mountain. But there's a certain amount of serendipity at work as well: Bluewood, right now, is on the move.This is a ski area that is slowly emerging from the obscurity I caged it into above. It has big-picture owners, an energetic general manager, a growing nearby population, and megapass membership. True, it also has no snowmaking and outdated, slow chairlifts. But the big, established ski centers to its west are overwhelmed, exhausted, and, with a few exceptions, probably un-expandable. Bluewood could be a big-deal alternative to this mess if they can do what Korfiatis says they want to do.There are a lot of millions standing between vision and reality here. But sometimes crazy s**t happens. And if it goes down at Bluewood, I want to make sure we're sitting right there watching it happen.What I got wrongI said that Mammoth was an independent mountain when Korfiatis arrived there in 2000. This is incorrect. Intrawest owned a majority stake in Mammoth from 1997 to 2006.Why you should ski BluewoodUsually, when casual skiers ask me where they ought to vacation, their wishlist includes someplace that's relatively easy to get to, where they can stay slopeside, where the snow will probably be good [whenever their kids' spring break is], and that is a member of [whatever version of the Epic or Ikon pass they purchased]. I give them a list of places that would not be a surprising list of places to anyone reading this newsletter, always with this qualifier: expect company.I like big destination ski areas. Obviously. I can navigate or navigate around the crowds. And I understand that 24-chairlifts-and-a-sushi-bar is exactly what your contemporary megapass patron is seeking. But if someone were to flip the question around and ask me which ski area characteristics were likely to give them the best ski experience, I'd have a very different answer for them.I'd tell them to seek out a place that's hard to get to, where you find a motel 40 miles away and drive up in the morning. Make it a weekday morning, as far from school breaks as possible. And the further you get from Epkon branding, the farther you'll be from anything resembling a liftline. That's the idea with Bluewood.“Yeah but it's only 1,100 vertical feet.”Yeah but trust me that's plenty when most of your runs are off-piste and you can ski all day without stopping except to ride the lift.“But no one's ever heard of it and they won't be impressed with my Instastory.”You'll live.“But it's not on my Ultimo-Plus Pass.”Lift tickets are like $50. Or $66 on weekends. And it's on the Indy Pass.“But it's such a long drive.”No it isn't. It's just a little bit farther than the busier places that you usually go to. But it's not exactly in Kazakhstan.“Now you're just making things up.”Often, but not that.Podcast NotesOn Bluewood's masterplanHere's the basic map:And the lift inventory wishlist:On Mission Ridge and WenatcheeKorfiatis grew up in Wenatchee, which sits below Mission Ridge. That mountain, coincidentally, is the subject of an already-recorded and soon-to-be-released podcast, but here's the trailmap for this surprisingly large mountain in case you're not familiar with it:On Mission Ridge's expansionAgain, I go deep on this with Mission CEO Josh Jorgensen on our upcoming pod, but here's a look at the ski area's big proposed expansion, which Korfiatis and I discuss a bit on the show:And here's an overhead view:On “The Legend of Dave McCoy”The Dave McCoy that Korfiatis refers to in the pod is the founder of Mammoth Mountain, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 104. Here's a primer/tribute video:Rusty Gregory, who ran Mammoth for decades, talked us through McCoy's legacy in a 2021 Storm Skiing Podcast appearance (18:08):On Kim Clark, Bluewood's last GMIn September 2021, Bluewood GM Kim Clark died suddenly on the mountain of a heart attack. From SAM:Longtime industry leader and Bluewood, Wash., general manager Kim Clark died of an apparent heart attack while working on the mountain Tuesday. He was 65. Clark had been the Bluewood GM since 2014.In a statement sharing the news of Clark's death, Bluewood said, “significant rescue efforts were unsuccessful. Kim passed away doing what he loved, with people he loved, on the mountain he loved.”Clark was an influential leader during his career in the mountain resort industry, much of which was spent at resorts in the Pacific Northwest. He is remembered by his peers as a mentor, a teacher, and a leader with a passion for the industry who cared deeply for the teams he led and the resorts he helped to improve.Prior to becoming GM at Bluewood, Clark led Mt. Ashland, Ore., as its general manager from 2005 to 2014.On the Tri-Cities of WashingtonImagine this: I'm 18 years old and some dude on the lift at Copper Mountain asks me where I'm from. I say “Michigan” and he says “where” and I say, “the Tri-Cities area” and he says “what on earth is that?” And I say “Oh you've never heard of the Tri-Cities?” as though he'd just told me he'd never heard of Paris. And he's like “no, have you ever heard of the Quad Cities?” Which apparently are four cities bunched along the Iowa-Illinois border around Interstate 80 and the Mississippi River.It was my first real-time lesson in hyper-regionalism and how oft-repeated information becomes so ingrained that we assume everyone must share it, like the moon or the wind. The Tri-Cities of Michigan are Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland. But no one who doesn't live there knows this or cares, and so after that chairlift conversation, I started saying that I was from “two hours north of Detroit,” which pretty much every American understands.Anyway imagine my surprise to learn that America had room for a second Tri-Cities, this one in Washington. I asked the robots to tell me about it and this is what they said:The Tri-Cities are three closely linked cities (Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland)[2][3] at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers in the Columbia Basin of Eastern Washington. The cities border one another, making the Tri-Cities seem like one uninterrupted mid-sized city. The three cities function as the center of the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, which consists of Benton and Franklin counties.[4] The Tri-Cities urban area consists of the city of West Richland, the census-designated places (CDP) of West Pasco, Washington and Finley, as well as the CDP of Burbank, despite the latter being located in Walla Walla County.The official 2016 estimate of the Tri-Cities MSA population is 283,869, a more than 12% increase from 2010. 2016 U.S. MSA estimates show the Tri-Cities population as over 300,000. The combined population of the three principal cities themselves was 220,959 at the 2020 census. As of April 1, 2021, the Washington State Office of Financial Management, Forecasting Division estimates the cities as having a combined population of 224,640.[5]And actually, it turns out that there are tri-cities all over the country. So what the hell do I know? When I moved east to New York in 2002, it took me about five years to figure out what the “Tri-State Area” was. For a long time I thought it must be New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. But it is New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, from which many people commute into NYC daily to work.On Scot Schmidt For those of you who don't know who “that guy” Scot Schmidt is:On the Greyhawk lift at Sun ValleyKorfiatis refers to the “Greyhawk lift” at Sun Valley as an example of a retiring high-speed quad that is unlikely to have a useful second life. He was referring to this lift, which from 1988 until last year ran parallel to the monster Challenger lift:Last summer, Sun Valley replaced both lifts with one Challenger six-pack with a mid-station, and built a new high-speed quad called Flying Squirrel (which replaced a shorter double chair of the same name that met death-by-fire in 2014):On the number of Washington ski areasWashington, while home to several legendary ski areas, does not have nearly as many as its growing, active population needs. Of the state's 17 active ski areas, five operate only surface lifts, and I'm not even certain whether one of them – Badger Mountain – operated this past ski season. Sitzmark also failed to spin its lift. There are really only nine volume-capable ski areas in the state: 49 Degrees North, Crystal, Mission Ridge, Baker, Mt. Spokane, Stevens Pass, Summit, Alpental, and White Pass. Here's an inventory:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing all year long. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 32/100 in 2024, and number 532 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Boasting some of the biggest vertical relief in North America and some of the best skiing anywhere in the world, California's Eastern Sierra Nevada hits its zenith in spring with warm weather for camping at the foot of massive snow-covered peaks. For the last 25 years, Nate Greenberg has been documenting all the best lines to ski, and his book, Backcountry Skiing California's Eastern Sierra (along with co-author Dan Mingori), is the “bible” of the region. In addition to co-authoring the book, Nate is also a GIS expert, working for Mono for two decades, now the chief of staff for Inyo County. He's also the co-founder of the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. We chat with Nate about a variety of topics related to the Eastern Sierra and what makes it so special, as well as the controversial launch of the OnX Backcountry app featuring ski lines from the book, which some fear will blow up all the secret spots. Nate also opens up about a harrowing avalanche incident in the Bardini Chutes that nearly took his life. Purchase the book at your local outdoor retailer or online at Wolverinepublishing.com and donate to ESAC at esavalanche.org.1:00 – Pow Bot and Trail Whisperer recording from the Toyota Sunrader on the shores of Convict Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada after skiing Mount Morrison.7:00 – Nate Greenberg – CIO for Inyo County, 20 year employee of Mono County, GIS expert, Co-Author of Backcountry Skiing California's Eastern Sierra.11:00 – Talking about avalanches, the OnX Backcountry app and the concept of gatekeeping18:40 – The story behind the convicts who Convict Lake was named after. 21:00 – The unique gift of skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada. 22:25 – Nate grew up in Orange, California and skied and climbed in Mammoth as a kid.27:00 – Nate's background in GIS, and built Mono County's GIS infrastructure. 30:30 – All about Backcountry Skiing California's Eastern Sierra by Nate Greenberg and Dan Mingori40:00 – Has Nate's perspective on skiing big lines changed in recent years with having a family and a real job?43:00 – The challenges of finding a good skiing partner. 46:20 – Founding the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center (ESAC) with Walter Rosenthal, who passed in the fumarole accident at Mammoth Mountain in 2006.57:00 – Nate's story about getting caught in an avalanche in Bardini Chute and being seriously injured.1:13:15 – Going from the book to an app on your phone – the launching of a partnership with OnX Backcountry featuring skiable lines in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, and the controversy of gatekeeping. 1:26:30 – How do you protect “secret spots” from the masses with an app like OnX, and how does it compare to the impacts of social media accounts and influencers?1:39:00 – Incorporating an ethos of how to appropriately experience the outdoors, the importance of mentorship and education and having respect for the rules of backcountry skiing.1:47:00 – Nate's Mentors: Don Sharaf, Ian McCammon, Christian Pondella.1:50:00 – What is it that Nate loves the most about skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada?1:54:14 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?1:56:45 – Support the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, make a donation.

On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris and Todd talk about Earth Day, finances, Gifted Hater, heartbreak and heavy shredding along with highlights and crylights at the Margret River Pro, 420 Bike Jam, Surfing's Red Wedding, 2% comes out swinging, another world record tallest wave, cat abuse, surfing cats, snowboard season still going, Braden Hoban wins SLS, Chris' Samsung Skate Doc, “foldable propulsion stick”, Sydney Sweeney kite surfs, Absinthe Films digital box set is sick, latest Last Resort With STAN is the best, TV season is coming, Fallout rips, Deadpool x Wolverine coming, all your questions answered and so much more.   Presented By:   Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Dana Point Film Festival @danapointfilmfestival May 2-5

On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris and Todd go head to head in a game of SKATE NERD hosted by Blair Alley of TransWorld SKATEboarding, the boys talk Margret River Pro, the mid-season cut, new surf sponsorship stuff, Laura Enever at Shipsterns, Palm Springs Surf Club is back on, Ryan Sheckler joins the Olympic commentary squad, Valentino Guseli and rook D'Hont break high air snow world records, outdoor snowboarding coming to Des Moines, Iowa, and more. Oh yeah, this episode sounds like total crap because of construction happening literally inches away from our microphones, good luck getting through this piece of shit podcast. Good questions at the end tho.   Presented By:   Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy  Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea New Greens @newgreens Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain  Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Dana Point Film Festival @danapointfilmfestival May 2-5

Embark on an exhilarating journey with Sophia as she conquers her greatest fear on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain!

On this episode of the world's greatest action sports podcast, Chris and Todd talk about the eclipse, Tampa Pro, Yuto, Bells, 2% clothing, current WSL CT standings, the Western Australia Margaret River Pro, Natural Selection, STAB's How Surfers Get Paid, The sexualization of women's surfing, The Jack's Pro, Nathan Florence now rides for Florence X Machine, Dane Reynolds and Friends “Do a Great Job of Doing Nothing”, Silver Surfer movie, TBS Kasso skate game show, Tony Hawk teaches Maya Rudolph how to skate, Todd kinda nails the Skate Nerd quiz, Ken Block Day, Torment Magazine has released their riders of the year, tons of questions answered, and so much more!   Presented By:   Sun Bum @sunbum Spy Optics @spyoptic Opus Footwear @opusfootwear Bachan's Japanese BBQ Sauce @trybachans MachuPicchu Energy @machupicchu.energy Mammoth Mountain @mammothmountain Bubs Naturals @bubsnaturals  Hansen Surfboards @hansensurfboards Pannikin Coffee And Tea @pannikincoffeeandtea New Greens @newgreens Pedal Electric @pedal.electric Vesyl Shipping Vesyl.com  Mint Tours @minttours Die Cut Stickers @diecutstickersdotcom Dana Point Film Festival @danapointfilmfestival

There are many famous duos in the sports world: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, Wayne Gretsky and Mark Messier, Venus Williams & Serena Williams, and in the snowboard world, perhaps the greatest duo of all time: JP Walker and Jeremy Jones. In this special duos episode, we dive into JP and Jeremy's past, present and future. We talk about the Forum 8, all of their legendary video parts, and everything in between. They also shed some light on their darkest moments and provide an insightful perspective on how they have handled hardships and used them as tools for growth. So sit down, buckle up, and tune in to this week's episode of The Bomb Hole!Follow JP Walker & Jeremy JonesJP WalkerJeremy JonesFollow Chris & SILKChris GrenierSILKFor all things Bomb HoleWebsite | https://thebombhole.com/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/thebombhole/YouTube: @TheBombHoleThis episode is sponsored byBubs NaturalsMaster Plan CommunicationsWoodward Park CityMammoth MountainCBDayzSmithGoProBlackstrapIkonSpecial thank you to our Patreon Members for making our show possible! Ask us questions and suggest topics for guests and Group Chat when you become a member. Learn more and sign up: https://www.patreon.com/thebombholeChapters:00:00 Intro1:19 How They Met7:44 Kingpin Chronicles14:03 Dance24:45 Early Forum Products34:34 Ads (MCP & Bubs)36:41 Early Forum Products (Cont'd)39:44 Back-Country Back Then44:21 Run Through A Wall Trivia51:54 Mueller Park & Rail Gardens58:56 Early Contests1:07:09 Ad (GoPro)1:08:25 Street Spot Aesthetics1:18:15 Fan Worship & The Forum 81:29:05 Chasing The Dragon1:34:25 Ads (Blackstrap & Ikon)1:36:17 Patron Questions / A Strong Bond1:47:58 Shakedown1:57:30 NTVP Presented by Woodward Park City2:01:56 Ads (CBdayz & Mammoth Mountain)2:05:10 War Stories & Crew Beef2:32:16 Nixon Jib Fest2:38:25 Gambling2:43:09 Worlds Getting Turned Upside Down & Snowboard Philosophy3:21:14 Emotional Growth3:42:38 Hot Takes3:48:44 Return of Forum4:01:15 OutroCopyright Bomb Hole Media Inc. 2024

Once battling on snowboarding's center stage, Scotty Lago fought tooth and nail to stay in competition with some of snowboarding's heaviest of hitters. He's dueled against Shaun White in the half-pipe. He's rode gnarly back-country lines with Travis Rice and Nicholas Müller. He's filmed A-grade video parts and even made his was onto Jimmy Kimmel. Beside's starting his own board company, Lago Boards, he's turned himself from "retired" snowboarder into full time out-doorsman. If you want to find out why and how Scotty Lago refused to go on Dr. Phil, check out this week's episode of The Bomb Hole!Follow Scotty LagoInstagram | https://www.instagram.com/scottylago/YouTube | @officialscottylago Follow Lago SnowboardsWebsite | https://www.lagosnowboards.com/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/lagosnowboards/Follow Chris, Jeremy & SILKChris Grenier: https://www.instagram.com/grendiesel/Jeremy Jones: https://www.instagram.com/jeremy___jones/SILK: https://www.instagram.com/silk.daze/Show Notes:Flow BindingsAndrew Mutty"White Air" Movie TrailerGrenade Entertainment's "The Boned Age"Red Bull's "That's It, That's All"Red Bull's "The Art of Flight"Kevin Pearce's "The Crash Reel" TrailerEast Street Archives' Homesick EventFor all things Bomb HoleWebsite | https://thebombhole.com/Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/thebombhole/YouTube: @TheBombHole TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebombholeListen on Apple Podcast | https://apple.co/3UEm0l5Listen on Spotify | https://sptfy.com/BombHoleSpotifyThis episode is sponsored byWoodward Park City: https://www.woodwardparkcity.com/Mammoth Mountain: https://www.mammothmountain.comCBDayz: https://cbdayz.comSmith: https://www.smithoptics.comGoPro: https://gopro.com/en/us/LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/bombholeSki-Doo: https://ski-doo.brp.com/us/en/Blackstrap: https://bsbrand.comSpecial thank you to our Patreon Members for making our show possible! Ask us questions and suggest topics for guests and Group Chat when you become a member. Learn more and sign up here: https://www.patreon.com/thebombholeChapters:00:00 Intro2:08 Did Scotty Rob A Bank?13:26 New Hampshire Roots20:30 Run Through A Wall Trivia26:14 The Big Break34:23 Ad (Ski-Doo)36:02 Riding For Flow47:47 Early Career54:37 Ads (CBDayz & Mammoth)57:51 Contest Talk / Jaw Wired Shut1:05:55 Filming1:15:02 Pipe Run Philosophy1:23:48 The Olympics / Battling Shaun White1:44:26 NTVP Presented by Woodward1:49:21 Ads (Blackstrap & LMNT)1:51:27 Lago Boards1:57:30 Hunting2:17:32 Ad (GoPro)2:18:47 Hunting (Cont'd)2:22:08 Hot Takes2:35:06 Set Ups / What's Next / Thank YousCopyright Bomb Hole Media Inc. 2024