Podcasts about North Country

(Jun 20, 2025) Plattsburgh officials are again calling on the federal government to address failing infrastructure at the former Air Force Base; Glens Falls' mayoral race will be decided on the June 24 primaries; NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says President Trump should pursue diplomacy, not war, in the Israel and Iran conflict; Assemblyman Robert Smullen says he's considering a run for NY-21 if Elise Stefanik runs for Governor; Indian Lake will be celebrating monarch butterflies this weekend; and, a preview of the EP of ‘The North Country's Premier Post-Outlaw Country Band.'

With this week's main episode coming out two days early, special guest Katie Brayben joins Alex Wood for a Friday chitchat. The two-time Olivier Award-winner will be returning to the role of Elizabeth in the hit Bob Dylan musical Girl from The North Country, now playing once more at the Old Vic in London. Other topics include Brayben's time in Tammy Faye, the state of new musicals and the problems performers face with social media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(Jun 18, 2025) The state has found a developer for a new solar project at the Benson Mines site in the Adirondack Park; a North Country organization is planning a tour of the region's Underground Railroad sites this weekend in honor of Juneteenth; and Kitty O'Neil from the Cornell Cooperative Extension stops by to talk about how humid and wet weather from earlier this spring is impacting North Country farmers.

(Jun 18, 2025) Well before June 19, 1865, when the last slaves were notified they were free, the North Country was a crucial step for slaves seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad. With the federal celebration of Juneteenth tomorrow, we look at our region's role in the quest for liberty for all. Also: The state has found a developer for a new solar project at the Benson Mines site near Star Lake.

(Jun 17, 2025) Ten years ago, two dangerous convicts made a daring escape from the state prison in Dannemora. What the three-week manhunt that followed was like for everyday North Country residents. Also: Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited Saranac Lake's hospital to push back against cuts to Medicaid in Republicans' budget bill.

(Jun 16, 2025) Thousands of people across the North Country took to the streets to protest President Donald Trump's administration Saturday. We hear from the "No Kings" rally in Canton. Also: Trump's budget and policy bill that's making its way through Congress could impact those who depend on Planned Parenthood for health care.

(Jun 12, 2025) Federal immigration raids across the North Country and the nation are fueling the debate over whether local police should cooperate. The possible deportation of two people accused of stealing groceries in an upstate New York suburb is the latest example that's led to bills from both sides in Albany. Also: A bill that would wean New York off fossil fuels is getting rebranded to help get it passed.

(Jun 11, 2025) After the Dannemora prison escape, the state's inspector general investigated the incident and published a report on what went wrong and how the prison system needed to change. We talk with today's inspector general ten years after the manhunt that captivated the North Country. Also: Democrats in Albany are backing ten bills that would increase oversight in New York's prisons following two beating deaths at the hands of corrections officers.

(Jun 6, 2025) Ten years ago today, the North Country woke up to the news that two dangerous criminals had escaped from the maximum security prison in Dannemora. NPR's Brian Mann talks about what it was like to cover the Dannemora manhunt when he worked for NCPR.

Love the show? Have any thoughts? Click here to let us know!This week, we're heading to the rugged wilds of the Granite State — New Hampshire! Lauren kicks things off with the eerie legend of the Woods Devils, elusive, Bigfoot-like creatures said to haunt the dense forests of the North Country. Then, Kenzie unravels the tale of Ocean Born Mary, a woman with a haunting origin — born on the high seas during a pirate siege. From shadowy creatures to pirate bargains, join us as we explore some of New Hampshire's most chilling legends!--Follow us on Social Media and find out how to support A Scary State by clicking on our Link Tree: https://instabio.cc/4050223uxWQAl--Have a scary tale or listener story of your own? Send us an email to ascarystatepodcast@gmail.com! We can't wait to read it!--Thinking of starting a podcast? Thinking about using Buzzsprout for that? Well use our link to let Buzzsprout know we sent you and get a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan!https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1722892--Works cited!https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dq_0tJvFgEFuU1ZpZQ3E_LcuLc-RrTML8fSt9ILWb6k/edit?usp=sharing --Intro and outro music thanks to Kevin MacLeod. You can visit his site here: http://incompetech.com/. Which is where we found our music!

So I can't spend all my time talking food. There has to be wine - and trivia. So I host The Bruce Newbury Show on WVMT AM/FM radio in Burlington VT on Saturday afternoons. We are heard all over Vermont, the North Country and even Greater Montreal. And it is great fun with some of the nicest people who call in. On a rainy Saturday we had a great time and may have actually solved some of the world's problems. Enjoy and join me live Saturdays 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM Eastern.

The lady in the airplane seat next to me was from Norway. And I knew she had experienced something I needed to know about - winter months with very long nights and summer months with very long days. With our Native American team planning some major summer outreach among Native young people in Alaska at that point, I was especially interested in what our days would be like up there. My neighbor from Norway made the answer very clear - they'd be endless! She said that even after all the years living there, she could never sleep much in those northern days where there is virtually no dark. I thought, "O-o-o, it should be a lot of fun getting our team to sleep at night, when there is no night." But then I was curious to know about those December days when we have only about nine hours or so of daylight. She told me about a time when it was, in her words, "almost always dark" where she lives. It's hard for me to imagine weeks where you basically never see the light of the sun. It's not hard for me to imagine the way my Norwegian neighbor said many people feel during that time - really depressed. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When It's Dark All the Time." A long, depressing darkness. You don't have to live in the North Country to know what darkness like that feels like. I mean you can feel it in your heart. It may have been winter inside your soul for a long time - maybe concealed from others. You've got this smile, this really busy life, but it's still dark inside most of the time. Maybe it's the guilt of past mistakes you've made that has brought on the long winter. Or just this nagging sense of worthlessness that goes way back, or a chronic despair over the pain of your past or maybe the meaninglessness of the present, or it could be the darkness might be summed up in one increasingly, desperate word - loneliness. But whatever the cause, this heaviness inside, this relentless darkness has been there long enough. The end of a long, long night can begin with a hope-filled promise made by Jesus Christ - who has never made a promise He did not keep. It's our word for today from the Word of God in John 8:12, "Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'" Jesus promises that if you belong to Him, if you stay close to Him, He will lead you out of the darkness that no one else has been able to dispel. And that's the beginning of the end of your long, dark winter in your soul. But only Jesus can replace your darkness with what He called "the light of life." Why? Because our problem really isn't the darkness. Near the North Pole in winter, the problem is that the sun doesn't shine there. Our problem isn't ultimately the darkness of our loneliness or our despair. It's the absence of the Light! We were created to live in the light of a love-relationship with our Creator, which we have lost by running our lives our way instead of His way. In God's words, "Your sins have separated you from your God." (Isaiah 59:2) That separation could only be healed by the death penalty for your sin being erased. And that's what was going on when Jesus Christ was bleeding and dying on a cross. He was voluntarily paying for your sin, which is the ultimate cause of the darkness in your soul. And the forgiveness, the peace, and the light that He died to give you becomes yours when you tell Him you're trusting Him to be your Savior from your sin. If you do that, Jesus will shed His light on every dark stretch you ever walk, including the darkest stretch of all, when one day you walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Why don't you open your heart to Jesus today right where you are? It's been dark long enough. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." If you really want to know that you've begun this relationship, that's why our website is there. Check it out today! It's ANewStory.com. This wonderful promise of God will be all about you. It says, "God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves" (Colossians 1:13).

Sean Kosednar sat down with Matt Swanson from North Country Business Solutions at the AWG Innovation Showcase. The two talked about how North Country can help AWG members better integrate their data. 

(Jun 2, 2025) If you have a physical disability or use a wheelchair, you know how difficult traversing public places in the North Country can be. Saranac Lake has commissioned a study that's looking at ways to make the village's municipal parks more accessible. Also: New York is cracking down on the 'buy now, pay later' industry with new rules to protect consumers.

(May 30, 2025) We're kicking off our series about volunteerism in the North Country with a story about how volunteers in Schroon Lake power one essential community institution - their local library. Also: Democrats in New York continue to criticize the House-passed bill that slashes funding for social services. They say tens of thousands of people in the state could lose their health care.

(May 29, 2025) The Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority has rejected all the construction bids for its child care center, which has been in development since 2021; we remember Dana Fast, a Holocaust survivor who lived in the Adirondacks until her death earlier this month; and in today's North Country at Work story, we speak with the only tattoo artist in Lake Placid.

(May 28, 2025) President Trump wants to cut funding for rural airports, like those in the North Country, by 50%; new initiatives in Clinton County want to make it easier to develop more housing; and NCPR book reviewer Betsy Kepes reviews a book from an Adirondack naturalist.

(May 28, 2025) As part of his goal to reduce federal spending, President Donald Trump wants to cut funding for rural airports in half. What would that mean for the North Country, where all five regional airports are federally subsidized? Also: Clinton County is trying to make building new housing easier, in hopes of alleviating the region's housing shortage. We'll explain how.

(May 27, 2025) New York food banks say more people are looking for food assistance, and that cuts to SNAP, included in the recently passed House budget, would make things a lot worse; two North Country students will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which kicks off today; and astronomer Aileen O'Donoghue is in the studio to share what's going on in this month's morning and evening sky. 

(May 27, 2025) Two North Country students will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which kicks off today. They don't see themselves as rivals, but they're both hoping to go deep into the national tournament. Also: New York food banks say more people are looking for food assistance, and that cuts to SNAP, included in the recently passed House budget, would make things a lot worse.

Mardi soir dans RTL2 Pop-Rock Station", Marjorie Hache ouvre l'émission avec Ghost et leur titre "Lachryma", avant un détour par Alice Cooper et l'anniversaire de la sortie de "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan". On y entend "Girl from the North Country", emblématique du virage folk de Dylan. La soirée alterne nouveautés et classiques avec "Bottom Of A Bottle" de Julien Baker & Torres, "Foundations" de Kate Nash, puis "In Daylight", nouvel extrait hypnotique de "Mad", l'album de la semaine signé Sparks. On découvre aussi The Waterboys, Viagra Boys et une reprise étonnante de "Solsbury Hill" de Peter Gabriel par Lou Reed. La deuxième heure met à l'honneur Gorillaz, Fleetwood Mac, Mitski, Jimi Hendrix, puis Herman Dune et son titre "Odysseús", inspiré de son exil temporaire à Montréal. Pour conclure : Tori Amos, Arctic Monkeys et "Help Yourself" de Death In Vegas. Ghost - Lachryma Alice Cooper - School's Out Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Girl From The North Country The Beach Boys - Kokomo Julien Baker & Torres - Bottom Of A Bottle The Kingsmen - Louie Louie Kate Nash - Foundations Sparks - In Daylight AC/DC - Let Me Put My Love Into You The Waterboys - The Tourist (Feat. Barny Fletcher & Sugarfoot) Mano Negra - Soledad Viagra Boys - The Bog Body Lou Reed - Solsbury Hill Mitski - Washing Machine Heart Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood Oracle Sisters - Marseille Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower Eagles Of Death Metal - I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News) Fleetwood Mac - Silver Springs (Live) Anthrax & Public Enemy - Bring The Noise Pain - Party In My Head Herman Dune - Odysseus The Doors - People Are Strange Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know Death In Vegas - Help Yourself Distribué par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

(May 23, 2025) Racing season kicks off tonight at the Mohawk International Raceway. Every summer, people and whole families bring race cars from all over the North Country, Quebec, and beyond to compete on the dirt track in Akwesasne. Also: This summer, two more Adirondack lakes will be treated with an herbicide to kill an invasive plant.

The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast is a reader-supported publication (and my full-time job). To receive new posts and to support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.WhoChris Cushing, Principal of Mountain Planning at SE GroupRecorded onApril 3, 2025About SE GroupFrom the company's website:WE AREMountain planners, landscape architects, environmental analysts, and community and recreation planners. From master planning to conceptual design and permitting, we are your trusted partner in creating exceptional experiences and places.WE BELIEVEThat human and ecological wellbeing forms the foundation for thriving communities.WE EXISTTo enrich people's lives through the power of outdoor recreation.If that doesn't mean anything to you, then this will:Why I interviewed himNature versus nurture: God throws together the recipe, we bake the casserole. A way to explain humans. Sure he's six foot nine, but his mom dropped him into the intensive knitting program at Montessori school 232, so he can't play basketball for s**t. Or identical twins, separated at birth. One grows up as Sir Rutherford Ignacious Beaumont XIV and invents time travel. The other grows up as Buford and is the number seven at Okey-Doke's Quick Oil Change & Cannabis Emporium. The guts matter a lot, but so does the food.This is true of ski areas as well. An earthquake here, a glacier there, maybe a volcanic eruption, and, presto: a non-flat part of the earth on which we may potentially ski. The rest is up to us.It helps if nature was thoughtful enough to add slopes of varying but consistent pitch, a suitable rise from top to bottom, a consistent supply of snow, a flat area at the base, and some sort of natural conduit through which to move people and vehicles. But none of that is strictly necessary. Us humans (nurture), can punch green trails across solid-black fall lines (Jackson Hole), bulldoze a bigger hill (Caberfae), create snow where the clouds decline to (Wintergreen, 2022-23), plant the resort base at the summit (Blue Knob), or send skiers by boat (Eaglecrest).Someone makes all that happen. In North America, that someone is often SE Group, or their competitor, Ecosign. SE Group helps ski areas evolve into even better ski areas. That means helping to plan terrain expansions, lift replacements, snowmaking upgrades, transit connections, parking enhancements, and whatever built environment is under the ski area's control. SE Group is often the machine behind those Forest Service ski area master development plans that I so often spotlight. For example, Vail Mountain:When I talk about Alta consolidating seven slow lifts into four fast lifts; or Little Switzerland carving their mini-kingdom into beginner, parkbrah, and racer domains; or Mount Bachelor boosting its power supply to run more efficiently, this is the sort of thing that SE plots out (I'm not certain if they were involved in any or all of those projects).Analyzing this deliberate crafting of a natural bump into a human playground is the core of what The Storm is. I love, skiing, sure, but specifically lift-served skiing. I'm sure it's great to commune with the raccoons or whatever it is you people do when you discuss “skinning” and “AT setups.” But nature left a few things out. Such as: ski patrol, evacuation sleds, avalanche control, toilet paper, water fountains, firepits, and a place to charge my phone. Oh and chairlifts. And directional signs with trail ratings. And a snack bar.Skiing is torn between competing and contradictory narratives: the misanthropic, which hates crowds and most skiers not deemed sufficiently hardcore; the naturalistic, which mistakes ski resorts with the bucolic experience that is only possible in the backcountry; the preservationist, with its museum-ish aspirations to glasswall the obsolete; the hyperactive, insisting on all fast lifts and groomed runs; the fatalists, who assume inevitable death-of-concept in a warming world.None of these quite gets it. Ski areas are centers of joy and memory and bonhomie and possibility. But they are also (mostly), businesses. They are also parks, designed to appeal to as many skiers as possible. They are centers of organized risk, softened to minimize catastrophic outcomes. They must enlist machine aid to complement natural snowfall and move skiers up those meddlesome but necessary hills. Ski areas are nature, softened and smoothed and labelled by their civilized stewards, until the land is not exactly a representation of either man or God, but a strange and wonderful hybrid of both.What we talked aboutOld-school Cottonwoods vibe; “the Ikon Pass has just changed the industry so dramatically”; how to become a mountain planner for a living; what the mountain-planning vocation looked like in the mid-1980s; the detachable lift arrives; how to consolidate lifts without sacrificing skier experience; when is a lift not OK?; a surface lift resurgence?; how sanctioned glades changed ski areas; the evolution of terrain parks away from mega-features; the importance of terrain parks to small ski areas; reworking trails to reduce skier collisions; the curse of the traverse; making Jackson more approachable; on terrain balance; how megapasses are redistributing skier visits; how to expand a ski area without making traffic worse; ski areas that could evolve into major destinations; and ski area as public park or piece of art.What I got wrong* I blanked on the name of the famous double chair at A-Basin. It is Pallavicini.* I called Crystal Mountain's two-seater served terrain “North Country or whatever” – it is actually called “Northway.”* I said that Deer Valley would become the fourth- or fifth-largest ski resort in the nation once its expansion was finished. It will become the sixth-largest, at 4,926 acres, when the next expansion phase opens for winter 2025-26, and will become the fourth-largest, at 5,726 acres, at full build out.* I estimated Kendall Mountain's current lift-served ski footprint at 200 vertical feet; it is 240 feet.Why now was a good time for this interviewWe have a tendency, particularly in outdoor circles, to lionize the natural and shame the human. Development policy in the United States leans heavily toward “don't,” even in areas already designated for intensive recreation. We mustn't, plea activists: expand the Palisades Tahoe base village; build a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon; expand ski terrain contiguous with already-existing ski terrain at Grand Targhee.I understand these impulses, but I believe they are misguided. Intensive but thoughtful, human-scaled development directly within and adjacent to already-disturbed lands is the best way to limit the larger-scale, long-term manmade footprint that chews up vast natural tracts. That is: build 1,000 beds in what is now a bleak parking lot at Palisades Tahoe, and you limit the need for homes to be carved out of surrounding forests, and for hundreds of cars to daytrip into the ski area. Done right, you even create a walkable community of the sort that America conspicuously lacks.To push back against, and gradually change, the Culture of No fueling America's mountain town livability crises, we need exhibits of these sorts of projects actually working. More Whistlers (built from scratch in the 1980s to balance tourism and community) and fewer Aspens (grandfathered into ski town status with a classic street and building grid, but compromised by profiteers before we knew any better). This is the sort of work SE is doing: how do we build a better interface between civilization and nature, so that the former complements, rather than spoils, the latter?All of which is a little tangential to this particular podcast conversation, which focuses mostly on the ski areas themselves. But America's ski centers, established largely in the middle of the last century, are aging with the towns around them. Just about everything, from lifts to lodges to roads to pipes, has reached replacement age. Replacement is a burden, but also an opportunity to create a better version of something. Our ski areas will not only have faster lifts and newer snowguns – they will have fewer lifts and fewer guns that carry more people and make more snow, just as our built footprint, thoughtfully designed, can provide more homes for more people on less space and deliver more skiers with fewer vehicles.In a way, this podcast is almost a canonical Storm conversation. It should, perhaps, have been episode one, as every conversation since has dealt with some version of this question: how do humans sculpt a little piece of nature into a snowy park that we visit for fun? That is not an easy or obvious question to answer, which is why SE Group exists. Much as I admire our rough-and-tumble Dave McCoy-type founders, that improvisational style is trickier to execute in our highly regulated, activist present.And so we rely on artist-architects of the SE sort, who inject the natural with the human without draining what is essential from either. Done well, this crafted experience feels wild. Done poorly – as so much of our legacy built environment has been – and you generate resistance to future development, even if that future development is better. But no one falls in love with a blueprint. Experiencing a ski area as whatever it is you think a ski area should be is something you have to feel. And though there is a sort of magic animating places like Alta and Taos and Mammoth and Mad River Glen and Mount Bohemia, some ineffable thing that bleeds from the earth, these ski areas are also outcomes of a human-driven process, a determination to craft the best version of skiing that could exist for mass human consumption on that shred of the planet.Podcast NotesOn MittersillMittersill, now part of Cannon Mountain, was once a separate ski area. It petered out in the mid-‘80s, then became a sort of Cannon backcountry zone circa 2009. The Mittersill double arrived in 2010, followed by a T-bar in 2016.On chairlift consolidationI mention several ski areas that replaced a bunch of lifts with fewer lifts:The HighlandsIn 2023, Boyne-owned The Highlands wiped out three ancient Riblet triples and replaced them with this glorious bubble six-pack:Here's a before-and-after:Vernon Valley-Great Gorge/Mountain CreekI've called Intrawest's transformation of Vernon Valley-Great Gorge into Mountain Creek “perhaps the largest single-season overhaul of a ski area in the history of lift-served skiing.” Maybe someone can prove me wrong, but just look at this place circa 1989:It looked substantively the same in 1998, when, in a single summer, Intrawest tore out 18 lifts – 15 double chairs, two platters, and a T-bar, plus God knows how many ropetows – and replaced them with two high-speed quads, two fixed-grip quads, and a bucket-style Cabriolet lift that every normal ski area uses as a parking lot transit machine:I discussed this incredible transformation with current Hermitage Club GM Bill Benneyan, who worked at Mountain Creek in 1998, back in 2020:I misspoke on the podcast, saying that Intrawest had pulled out “something like a dozen lifts” and replaced them with “three or four” in 1998.KimberleyBack in the time before social media, Kimberley, British Columbia ran four frontside chairlifts: a high-speed quad, a triple, a double, and a T-bar:Beginning in 2001, the ski area slowly removed everything except the quad. Which was fine until an arsonist set fire to Kimberley's North Star Express in 2021, meaning skiers had no lift-served option to the backside terrain:I discussed this whole strange sequence of events with Andy Cohen, longtime GM of sister resort Fernie, on the podcast last year:On Revelstoke's original masterplanIt is astonishing that Revelstoke serves 3,121 acres with just five lifts: a gondola, two high-speed quads, a fixed quad, and a carpet. Most Midwest ski areas spin three times more lifts for three percent of the terrain.On Priest Creek and Sundown at SteamboatSteamboat, like many ski areas, once ran two parallel fixed-grip lifts on substantively the same line, with the Priest Creek double and the Sundown triple. The Sundown Express quad arrived in 1992, but Steamboat left Priest Creek standing for occasional overflow until 2021. Here's Steamboat circa 1990:Priest Creek is gone, but that entire 1990 lift footprint is nearly unrecognizable. Huge as Steamboat is, every arriving skier squeezes in through a single portal. One of Alterra's first priorities was to completely re-imagine the base area: sliding the existing gondola looker's right; installing an additional 10-person, two-stage gondola right beside it; and moving the carpets and learning center to mid-mountain:On upgrades at A-BasinWe discuss several upgrades at A-Basin, including Lenawee, Beavers, and Pallavicini. Here's the trailmap for context:On moguls on Kachina Peak at TaosYeah I'd say this lift draws some traffic:On the T-bar at Waterville ValleyWaterville Valley opened in 1966. Fifty-two years later, mountain officials finally acknowledged that chairlifts do not work on the mountain's top 400 vertical feet. All it took was a forced 1,585-foot shortening of the resort's base-to-summit high-speed quad just eight years after its 1988 installation and the legacy double chair's continued challenges in wind to say, “yeah maybe we'll just spend 90 percent less to install a lift that's actually appropriate for this terrain.” That was the High Country T-bar, which arrived in 2018. It is insane to look at ‘90s maps of Waterville pre- and post-chop job:On Hyland Hills, MinnesotaWhat an insanely amazing place this is:On Sunrise ParkFrom 1983 to 2017, Sunrise Park, Arizona was home to the most amazing triple chair, a 7,982-foot-long Yan with 352 carriers. Cyclone, as it was known, fell apart at some point and the resort neglected to fix or replace it. A couple of years ago, they re-opened the terrain to lift-served skiing with a low-cost alternative: stringing a ropetow from a green run off the Geronimo lift to where Cyclone used to land.On Woodward Park City and BorealPowdr has really differentiated itself with its Woodward terrain parks, which exist at amazing scale at Copper and Bachelor. The company has essentially turned two of its smaller ski areas – Boreal and Woodward Park City – entirely over to terrain parks.On Killington's tunnelsYou have to zoom in, but you can see them on the looker's right side of the trailmap: Bunny Buster at Great Northern, Great Bear at Great Northern, and Chute at Great Northern.On Jackson Hole traversesJackson is steep. Engineers hacked it so kids like mine could ride there:On expansions at Beaver Creek, Keystone, AspenRecent Colorado expansions have tended to create vast zones tailored to certain levels of skiers:Beaver Creek's McCoy Park is an incredible top-of-the-mountain green zone:Keystone's Bergman Bowl planted a high-speed six-pack to serve 550 acres of high-altitude intermediate terrain:And Aspen – already one of the most challenging mountains in the country – added Hero's – a fierce black-diamond zone off the summit:On Wilbere at SnowbirdWilbere is an example of a chairlift that kept the same name, even as Snowbird upgraded it from a double to a quad and significantly moved the load station and line:On ski terrain growth in AmericaYes, a bunch of ski areas have disappeared since the 1980s, but the raw amount of ski terrain has been increasing steadily over the decades:On White Pine, WyomingCushing referred to White Pine as a “dinky little ski area” with lots of potential. Here's a look at the thousand-footer, which billionaire Joe Ricketts purchased last year:On Deer Valley's expansionYeah, Deer Valley is blowing up:On Schweitzer's growthSchweitzer's transformation has been dramatic: in 1988, the Idaho panhandle resort occupied a large footprint that was served mostly by double chairs:Today: a modern ski area, with four detach quads, a sixer, and two newer triples – only one old chairlift remains:On BC transformationsA number of British Columbia ski areas have transformed from nubbins to majors over the past 30 years:Sun Peaks, then known as Tod Mountain, in 1993Sun Peaks today:Fernie in 1996, pre-upward expansion:Fernie today:Revelstoke, then known as Mount Mackenzie, in 1996:Modern Revy:Kicking Horse, then known as “Whitetooth” in 1994:Kicking Horse today:On Tamarack's expansion potentialTamarack sits mostly on Idaho state land, and would like to expand onto adjacent U.S. Forest Service land. Resort President Scott Turlington discussed these plans in depth with me on the pod a few years back:The mountain's plans have changed since, with a smaller lift footprint:On Central Park as a manmade placeNew York City's fabulous Central Park is another chunk of earth that may strike a visitor as natural, but is in fact a manmade work of art crafted from the wilderness. Per the Central Park Conservancy, which, via a public-private partnership with the city, provides the majority of funds, labor, and logistical support to maintain the sprawling complex:A popular misconception about Central Park is that its 843 acres are the last remaining natural land in Manhattan. While it is a green sanctuary inside a dense, hectic metropolis, this urban park is entirely human-made. It may look like it's naturally occurring, but the flora, landforms, water, and other features of Central Park have not always existed.Every acre of the Park was meticulously designed and built as part of a larger composition—one that its designers conceived as a "single work of art." Together, they created the Park through the practice that would come to be known as "landscape architecture."The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

(May 22, 2025) The Plattsburgh city council installed a new police chief last week. But some residents are concerned about workplace misconduct allegations against him that still haven't been fully resolved. Also: Voters in most North Country school districts approved their school budgets Tuesday, including Watertown's spending plan that contains a controversial provision that upset the area's pre-K providers.

On this episode of That's Rad, a podcast presented by the Littleton Food Co-op, we're kicking off summer with a big scoop of Gifford's Famous Ice Cream. Or, should we say *THE* big scoop, as Gifford's CEO Lindsay Skilling sits down for an interview. Skilling is a fifth-generation ice cream maker in the Gifford family, overseeing day-to-day operations and growth of the company, along with her siblings and cousin. She and Anastasia talk about what it was like “growing up Gifford,” what makes the Maine-based company and product so special, and why it has won the hearts of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Portland Sea Dogs, and New Englanders alike. They also take a look back at Gifford's devastating 2023 factory fire, and discuss the state of recovery today. Listeners will be left with a message about the importance of family, doing work you care about, and to never take a scoop of ice cream for granted. Warning: cravings for Gifford's Famous Ice Cream will occur, proceed with caution. The Littleton Food Co-op is a proud retailer and supporter of Gifford's Famous Ice Cream and hundreds of other New England food brands. As the first and only consumer-owned food co-op in northern New Hampshire, Littleton Co-op exists to serve the needs of its members and the greater North Country community. While everyone is welcome to join the membership base of over 11,000 folks committed to promoting healthy choices for people and planet, membership is not required to shop at the store. Visit us in cozy Littleton, New Hampshire or online at littletoncoop.com. See ya at the Co-op!

(May 20, 2025) State and local leaders are warning that Medicaid cuts included in Trump's policy bill will have outsized impacts on the North Country; Gov. Hohcul is visiting the Seneca Nation in western New York today to apologize for the state's role in an former Indian school; and Kitty O'Neil gives us an update on what's happening on the North Country's farms this spring.

(May 20, 2025) New York state and local leaders are warning that Medicaid cuts included in Trump's policy bill will have outsized impacts on the North Country. Republicans, including Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, say they're not cuts at all. Also: The major wind power project in the ocean off of Long Island is back on after President Trump reversed course.

(May 15, 2025) The editor-in-chief of one of the North Country's daily newspapers retired last week after forty years in local journalism. Joe LoTemplio says he's grateful for his sources and Plattsburgh Press-Republican colleagues. Also: As Republicans in Congress move forward with President Trump's tax and budget bill, some New York GOP lawmakers are holding out over tax reductions known as SALT.

(May 14, 2025) President Trump's federal funding cuts are having impacts across the North Country, from arts to education to mental health. We talk with orgs that are having to adjust their programs and deal with uncertainty. Also: Some state lawmakers want Albany to better protect food safety as federal agencies are losing funding and staff.

(May 12, 2025) Business owners in Lake George are worried the young foreign workers they rely on every summer may get caught up in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Why J-1 visa holders may get held up this summer. Also: Speaking with reporters in Ticonderoga Friday, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik voiced support for President Donald Trump's tariff approach, but said she wanted full funding for rural airports in the North Country.

(May 9, 2025) Senator Schumer is sounding the alarm about the impact of the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts in the region; NCPR is starting a new series about volunteerism in the North Country; the Crown Point Bird Banding station is celebrating its 50th season of documenting the spring migration; State Police say no charges will be filed following an investigation into members of the Watertown City Council; Fort Ticonderoga kicks off its celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution today; and, organizers are holding their annual celebration of John Brown's birthday at his historic home in Lake Placid.

(May 9, 2025) Volunteerism is down across the country, yet volunteers still play crucial roles in North Country communities. As we launch a series spotlighting the region's volunteers, we hear about some of the people our listeners told us to profile. Also: Federal cuts in President Trump's so-called "skinny budget" could eliminate popular North Country programs, including rural air service and heating assistance.

(May 8, 2025) Dozens of prisons were built in Upstate NY during the boom decades ago, but now the prison bust is impacting rural economies; in today's North Country at Work story, we talk to a couple trying to make a difference amid the Adirondacks' housing shortage by investing in long-term rentals; and the Strand Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh will hold its second artisan market of the year this Saturday.

Mickey-Jo was recently invited to see THE BRIGHTENING AIR at the Old Vic Theatre in London, the new play from Conor McPherson (The Weir, Girl from the North Country).The play, which feels in many ways inspired by Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, is set in 1980s Ireland and depicts an uncomfortable family reunion during which discussions of faith and the mundanity of life give way to startling revelations.Check out this full review for Mickey-Jo's thoughts on the characters, themes, and McPherson's dual role as playwright and director...•00:00 | introduction01:36 | overview / characters10:26 | themes / development16:26 | writing / performances• get in person / live stream tickets to see MickeyJoTheatre LIVE at the Phoenix Arts Club:https://phoenixartsclub.com/events/mickeyjotheatre-live/About Mickey-Jo:As one of the leading voices in theatre criticism on a social platform, Mickey-Jo is pioneering a new medium for a dwindling field. His YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MickeyJoTheatre⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is the largest worldwide in terms of dedicated theatre criticism, where he also share features, news and interviews as well as lifestyle content for over 80,000 subscribers. Since establishing himself as a theatre critic he has been able to work internationally. With a viewership that is largely split between the US and the UK he has been fortunate enough to be able to work with PR, Marketing, and Social Media representatives for shows in New York, London, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Toronto, Sao Pãolo, and Paris. He has also twice received accreditation from the world renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe. His reviews and features have also been published by WhatsOnStage, for whom he was a panelist to help curate nominees for their 2023 and 2024 Awards as well as BroadwayWorldUK, Musicals Magazine and LondonTheatre.co.uk. He has been invited to speak to private tour groups, at the BEAM 2023 new musical theatre conference at Oxford Playhouse, and on a panel of critics at an event for young people considering a career in the arts courtesy of Go Live Theatre Projects. Instagram/TikTok/X: @MickeyJoTheatre

(May 2, 2025) Lake trout disappeared from Lake Champlain by 1900, the victims of pollution, overfishing, and the invasive sea lamprey. Biologists have engineered a remarkable comeback, and now the fish are thriving on their own and stocking efforts are winding down. Also: Fort Drum generates almost $2 billion for the North Country economy, making it the largest single-site employer in the region.

Xander makes his third appearance on CooperTalk. He started off playing minor roles in 1981, with appearances in Remington Steele, Miami Vice, Moonlighting and countless other series. Much later, he also appeared on The X-Files, CSI, ER and Law & Order. As for the big screen, he counts Sid & Nancy, North Country, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Gattaca, The Rock, Air Force One, Spawn, Amistad, and Timecode as some of his credentials. In 2001, he bagged a recurring spot as George Mason, head of the Counter Terrorist Unit on the hit series 24. His character was killed off in season 2. In 2009, he was cast on the NBC sci-fi series Day One, which follows apartment residents who survive an unknown worldwide catastrophe. From 2010 to 2012, he starred on The CW's Nikita as the villain Percy. In the following years, he was seen on Being Human, Longmire, Louder than Words, Salem, The Mentalist, Justified, 12 Monkeys, Aquarius and numerous other shows. Most recently he played Gregory in The Walking Dead, co-starred in LAbrynth with Johnny Depp and Forrest Whitaker, and stars in No Address. 

(May 1, 2025) Folks in the Southern Adirondack community of Gloversville are picking up the pieces after a massive fire burned several buildings downtown Tuesday night; the reservation system for hikers at the Adirondack Mountain Reserve begins today and runs through the end of October; and the trio Constantinople is bringing the magical sounds of the Persian setar and the Senegalese kora to the North Country this Sunday.

(Apr 30, 2025) As bears emerge from hibernation, we speak with a big game biologist for the DEC about bear safety and what makes the species so mysterious; North Country at Work visits a cannabis farm in Essex to talk to the owners about their first growing season; and Kitty O'Neil from the Cornell Cooperative Extension returns for a conversation about how North Country farms are faring this spring.

(Apr 25, 2025) NPR's Brian Mann sends a postcard from a Champlain Valley farm in the midst of lambing season; Glens Falls basketball star Jimmer Fredette announced his retirement from the sport this week; and in celebration of National Poetry Month, we listen to two poems submitted by North Country poets.

(Apr 24, 2025)

(Apr 17, 2025) Officials say Clinton Community College's impending move to SUNY Plattsburgh's campus is a game-changer after fiscal and accreditation challenges; a new program in Essex County aims to help tackle the housing crisis in the Adirondacks by giving people money to build new, long-term housing on their property; and in today's North Country at Work story, we talk to a couple from Tupper Lake who revived and rebooted a shuttered restaurant and turned it into a community success story.

(Apr 16, 2025) SUNY Plattsburgh officials say they're working to support an international student whose visa has been revoked; our Albany reporters break down how the state plans to address a severe staffing shortage in New York's prison system; and we learn about a new group in the Adirondacks that wants to connect young professionals so they can build lives in the North Country.

(Apr 14, 2025) The state budget is two weeks late. Gov. Hochul says she's willing to wait to get a change she says will help prosecutors better charge criminals in court. Also: Two of the North Country's state lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that would allow fired COs to return to work.

(Apr 11, 2025) We get a preview of tomorrow's North Country Sustainability Day and Green Living Fair at SUNY Canton, which will offer practical ways do live greener with workshops, talks on green jobs, and a big electric and hybrid vehicle car show; today's North Country at Work story takes us back in time to a childhood spent in a small-town diner in Croghan; and NCPR digital host Caitlin Kelly talks about the new Photo of the Day exhibit at the View Arts Center in Old Forge, which opens this weekend.

(Apr 10, 2025) We look at what President Donald Trump's plan to eliminate the federal Department of Education could mean for North Country school districts; Canton's sustainability committee is looking for volunteers for its first-ever Repair Fair; and North Words host Mitch Teich speaks with Aurora Pfaff about her book "Aviation in the Adirondacks," which tracks the history of flight in the North Country.

(Apr 10, 2025) President Donald Trump has said in no uncertain terms that he wants to eliminate the federal Department of Education. Our education reporter Amy Feiereisel looks at what that could mean for North Country school districts. Also: State education officials are pushing back on the Trump administration's demand for an end to DEI programming in public schools.

(Apr 9, 2025) Gov. Hochul says the family from a Jefferson County dairy farm who were detained and sent to Texas went through a "living hell;" organizations in the North Country say lay-offs at the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services could affect their funding and state-level staff who support them; and a listener shares a poem about friendship during National Poetry Month.

(Apr 9, 2025) Former Governor Andrew Cuomo is trying to return to politics by entering the New York City mayoral race. While supporters say he did a lot for the state, critics say he didn't take it well when they openly disagreed with him. Also: Trump cuts to a federal agency that supports libraries and museums could trickle down to those institutions in the North Country.

(Apr 4, 2025) Border Czar Tom Homan shed some light and raised  questions about the detention of seven people on a dairy farm in Jefferson County last week; DEC Forest Rangers and Adirondackers gathered this week to honor Trans Day of Visibility and remember ranger Robbi Mecus; Researchers at SUNY Canton are experimenting with new materials that could make houses more resistant to natural disasters; Congresswoman Stefanik is praising Trump's tariffs as important for an ‘America-first economy'; a Boston-based jazz musician is returning home to the North Country this Saturday night; and, another wintry mix weekend in the Adirondacks!

The state of Minnesota is asking more than 50,000 employees to return to the office for 50 percent of the time beginning in June. The governor wants more in-person collaboration. We hear from a union leader who disputes the move and its timing. A Minneapolis charter school is facing two lawsuits questioning the school administration's conduct after two teachers were accused of sexual abuse. We get the latest on a leadership change. Plus, a sloppy spring storm could be on the way. MPR Chief Meteorologist Paul Huttner has an update. And we go out to lunch with basketball legend Lindsay Whalen! She is back with the Lynx as an assistant coach after taking an 18-month break from basketball.Today's Minnesota Music Minute is “Late Bloom” by Zippy Laske and the Song of the Day is “Girl from the North Country” performed by Timothee Chalamet and Monica Barbaro.