Podcasts about snowking

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2024 74:19

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Oct. 31. It dropped for free subscribers on Nov. 7. To receive future episodes 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:WhoGeordie Gillett, Managing Director and General Manager of Grand Targhee, WyomingRecorded onSeptember 30, 2024About Grand TargheeClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Gillett FamilyLocated in: Alta, WyomingYear founded: 1969Pass affiliations: Mountain Collective: 2 days, no blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Jackson Hole (1:11), Snow King (1:22), Kelly Canyon (1:34) – travel times vary considerably given time of day, time of year, and weather conditions.Base elevation: 7,650 feet (bottom of Sacajawea Lift)Summit elevation: 9,862 feet at top of Fred's Mountain; hike to 9,920 feet on Mary's NippleVertical drop: 2,212 feet (lift-served); 2,270 feet (hike-to)Skiable Acres: 2,602 acresAverage annual snowfall: 500 inchesTrail count: 95 (10% beginner, 70% intermediate, 15% advanced, 5% expert)Lift count: 6 (1 six-pack, 2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Grand Targhee's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himHere are some true facts about Grand Targhee:* Targhee is the 19th-largest ski area in the United States, with 2,602 lift-served acres.* That makes Targhee larger than Jackson Hole, Snowbird, Copper, or Sun Valley.* Targhee is the third-largest U.S. ski area (behind Whitefish and Powder Mountain) that is not a member of the Epic or Ikon passes.* Targhee is the fourth-largest independently owned and operated ski area in America, behind Whitefish, Powder Mountain, and Alta.* Targhee is the fifth-largest U.S. ski area outside of Colorado, California, and Utah (following Big Sky, Bachelor, Whitefish, and Schweitzer).And yet. Who do you know who has skied Grand Targhee who has not skied everywhere? Targhee is not exactly unknown, but it's a little lost in skiing's Bermuda Triangle of Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, and Big Sky, a sunken ship loaded with treasure for whoever's willing to dive a little deeper.Most ski resort rankings will plant Alta-Snowbird or Whistler or Aspen or Vail at the top. Understandably so – these are all great ski areas. But I appreciate this take on Targhee from skibum.net, a site that hasn't been updated in a couple of years, but is nonetheless an excellent encyclopedia of U.S. skiing (boldface added by me for emphasis):You can start easy, then get as wild and remote as you dare. Roughly 20% of the lift-served terrain (Fred's Mountain) is groomed. The snowcat area (Peaked Mountain) is completely ungroomed, completely powder, totally incredible [Peaked is lift-served as of 2022]. Comparisons to Jackson Hole are inevitable, as GT & JH share the same mountain range. Targhee is on the west side, and receives oodles more snow…and therefore more weather. Not all of it good; a local nickname is Grand Foggy. The locals ski Targhee 9 days out of 10, then shift to Jackson Hole when the forecast is less than promising. (Jackson Hole, on the east side, receives less snow and virtually none of the fog). On days when the weather is good, Targhee beats Jackson for snow quality and shorter liftlines. Some claim Targhee wins on scenery as well. It's just a much different, less crowded, less commercialized resort, with outstanding skiing. Some will argue the quality of Utah powder…and they're right, but there are fewer skiers at Targhee, so it stays longer. Some of the runs at Targhee are steep, but not as steep as the couloirs at Jackson Hole. Much more of an intermediate mountain; has a very “open” feel on virtually all of the trails. And when the powder is good, there is none better than Grand Targhee. #1 ski area in the USA when the weather is right. Hotshots, golfcondoskiers and young skiers looking for “action” (I'm over 40, so I don't remember exactly what that entails) are just about the only people who won't call Grand Targhee their all-time favorite. For the pure skier, this resort is number one.Which may lead you to ask: OK Tough Guy then why did it take you five years to talk about this mountain on your podcast? Well I get that question about once a month, and I don't really have a good answer other than that there are a lot of ski areas and I can only talk about one at a time. But here you go. And from the way this one went, I don't think it will be my last conversation with the good folks at Grand old Targhee.What we talked aboutContinued refinement of the Colter lift and Peaked Mountain expansion; upgrading cats; “we do put skiing first here”; there's a reason that finance people “aren't the only ones in the room making decisions for ski areas”; how the Peaked expansion changed Targhee; the Teton Pass highway collapse; building, and then dismantling, Booth Creek; how ignoring an answering machine message led to the purchase of Targhee; first impressions of Targhee: “How is this not the most popular ski resort in America?”; imagining Booth Creek in an Epkonic alt reality; Targhee's commitment to independence; could Targhee ever acquire another mountain?; the insane price that the Gilletts paid for Targhee; the first time you see the Rockies; massive expansion potential; corn; fixed-grip versus detach; Targhee's high percentage of intermediate terrain and whether that matters; being next-door neighbors with “the most aspirational brand in skiing”; the hardest part of expanding a ski area; potential infill lifts; the ski run Gillett would like to eliminate and why; why we're unlikely to see a lift to the true summit; and why Targhee joined Mountain Collective but hasn't joined the Ikon Pass (and whether the mountain ever would).Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewA few things make Targhee extra relevant to our current ski moment:* Targhee is the only U.S. ski area aside from Sugar Bowl to join the Mountain Collective pass while staying off of Ikon.* In 2022, Targhee (sort of) quietly opened one of the largest lift-served North American ski expansions in the past decade, the 600-acre Peaked Mountain pod, served by the six-pack Colter lift.* The majority of large U.S. ski areas positioned on Forest Service land are bashful about their masterplans, which are publicly available documents that most resort officials wish we didn't know about. That's because these plans outline potential future expansions and upgrades that resorts would rather not prematurely acknowledge, lest they piss off the Chipmunk Police. So often when I'm like “Hey tell us about this 500-acre bowl-skiing expansion off the backside,” I get an answer that's something like, “well we look forward to working with our partners at the Forest Service to maybe consider doing that around the year 3000 after we complete our long-term study of mayfly migration routes.” But Geordie is just like, “Hell yes we want to blow the resort out in every direction like yesterday” (not an exact quote). And I freaking love the energy there.* Most large Western ski areas fall into one of two categories: big, modern, and busy (Vail, Big Sky, Palisades, Snowbird), or big, somewhat antiquated, and unknown (Discovery, Lost Trail, Silver). But Targhee has split the difference, being big, modern, and lesser-known, that rare oasis that gives you modern infrastructure (like fast lifts), without modern crowds (most of the time). It's kind of strange and kind of glorious, and probably too awesome to stay true forever, so I wanted to get there before the Brobot Bus unloaded.* Even 500-inches-in-an-average-winter Targhee has a small snowmaking system. Isn't that interesting?What I got wrong* I said that $20 million “might buy you a couple houses on the slopes at Jackson Hole.” It kind of depends on how you define “on the slopes,” and whether or not you can live without enough acreage for your private hippo zoo. If not, $24.5 million will get you this (I'm not positive that this one is zoned for immediate hippo occupation).* I said that 70 percent of Targhee's terrain was intermediate; Geordie indicated that that statistic had likely changed with the addition of the Peaked Mountain expansion. I'm working with Targhee to get updated numbers.Why you should ski Grand TargheeThe disconnect between people who write about skiing and what most people actually ski leads to outsized coverage of niche corners of this already niche activity. What percentage of skiers think that skiing uphill is fun? Can accomplish a mid-air backflip? Have ever leapt off a cliff more than four feet high? Commute via helicopter to the summit of their favorite Alaskan powder lines? The answer on all counts is probably a statistically insignificant number. But 99 percent of contemporary ski media focuses on exactly such marginal activities.In some ways I understand this. Most basketball media devote their attention to the NBA, not the playground knuckleheads at some cracked-concrete, bent-rim Harlem streetball court. It makes sense to look at the best and say wow. No one wants to watch intermediate skiers skiing intermediate terrain. But the magnifying glass hovering over the gnar sometimes clouds consumer choice. An average skier, infected by cliffity-hucking YouTubes and social media Man Bro boasting, thinks they want Corbet's and KT-22 and The Cirque at Snowbird. Which OK if you zigzag across the fall line yeah you can get down just about anything. But what most skiers need is Grand Targhee, big and approachable, mostly skiable by mostly anyone, with lots of good and light snow and a low chance of descent-by-tomahawk.Targhee's stats page puts the mountain's share of intermediate terrain at 70 percent, likely the highest of any major North American ski area (Northstar, another big-time intermediate-oriented mountain, claims 60 percent blue runs). I suspect this contributes to the resort's relatively low profile among destination skiers. Broseph Jones and his Brobot buddies examine the statistical breakdown of major resorts and are like “Yo cuz we want some Jackson trammage because we roll hard see.” Even though Targhee is bigger and gets more snow (both true) and offers a more realistic experience for the Brosephs.That's not to say that you shouldn't ski Jackson Hole. Everyone should. But steeps all day are mentally and physically draining. It's nice most of the time to not be parkouring down an elevator shaft. So go to Targhee too. And you can whoo-hoo through the deep empty trees and say “dang Brah this is hella rad Brah.” And it is.Podcast NotesOn the Peaked Mountain expansionThe Peaked Mountain terrain has been marked on Targhee's trailmap for years, but up until 2022, it was accessible mostly via snowcat:In 2022, the resort dropped a six-pack back there, better defined the trail network, and brought Peaked into the lift-served terrain package:On Grand Targhee's masterplanHere's the overview of Targhee's Forest Service master development plan. You can see potential expansions below Blackfoot (left in the image below), looker's right of Peaked/Colter (upper right), and below Sacajawea (lower right):Here's a better look at the so-called South Bowl proposal, which would add a big terrain pod contiguous with the recent Peaked expansion:Here's the MDP's inventory of proposed lifts. These things often change, and the “Peaked DC-4” listed below actualized as the Colter high-speed sixer:Targhee's snowmaking system is limited, but long-term aspirations show potential snowmaking stretching toward the top of the Dreamcatcher lift:On opposition to all of this potential expansionThere are groups of people masquerading as environmental commandos who I suspect oppose everything just to oppose it. Like oh a bobcat pooped next to that tree so we need to fence the area off from human activity for the next thousand years. But Targhee sits within a vast and amazing wilderness, the majority of which is and should be protected forever. But humans need space too, and developing a few hundred acres directly adjacent to already-developed ski terrain is the most sustainable and responsible way to do this. It's not like Targhee is saying “hey we're going to build a zipline connecting the resort to the Grand Teton.” But nothing in U.S. America can be achieved without a minimum of 45 lawsuits (it's in the Constitution), so these histrionic bozos will continue to exist.On Net Promoter Score and RRCI'm going to hurt myself if I try to overexplain this, so I'll just point toward RRC's Net Promoter Score overview page and the company's blog archive highlighting various reports. RRC sits quietly behind the ski industry but wields tremendous influence, assembling the annual Kotke end-of-season statistical report, which offers the most comprehensive annual overview of the state of U.S. skiing.On the reason I couldn't go to Grand Targhee last yearSo I was all set up to hit Targhee for a day last year and then I woke up in the middle of the night thinking “Gee I feel like I'm gonna die soon” and so I did not go skiing that day. Here's the full story if you are curious how I ended up not dying.On the Peaked terrain expansion being the hypothetical largest ski area in New HampshireI'll admit that East-West ski area size comparisons are fundamentally flawed. Eastern mountains not named Killington, Smugglers' Notch, and Sugarloaf tend to measure skiable terrain by acreage of cut trails and maintained glades (Sugarbush, one of the largest ski areas in the East by pure footprint, doesn't even count the latter). Western mountains generally count everything within their boundary. Fair enough – trying to ski most natural-growth eastern woods is like trying to ski down the stands of a packed football stadium. You're going to hit something. Western trees tend to be higher altitude, older-growth, less cluttered with undergrowth, and, um, more snow-covered. Meaning it's not unfair to include even unmarked sectors of the ski area as part of the ski area.Which is a long way of saying that numbers are hard, and that relying on ski area stats pages for accurate ski area comparisons isn't going to get you into NASA's astronaut training academy. Here's a side-by-side of 464-acre Bretton Woods – New Hampshire's largest ski area – and Targhee's 600-acre Peaked Mountain expansion, both at the same scale in Google Maps. Clearly Bretton Woods covers more area, but the majority of those trees are too dense to ski:And here's an inventory of all New Hampshire ski areas, if you're curious:On the Teton Pass highway collapseYeah so this was wild:On Booth CreekGrand Targhee was once part of the Booth Creek ski conglomerate, which now exists only as the overlord for Sierra-at-Tahoe. Here's a little history:On the ski areas at Snoqualmie Pass being “insane”We talk a bit about the “insane” terrain at Summit at Snoqualmie, a quirky ski resort now owned by Boyne. The mountain was Frankensteined together out of four legacy ski areas, three of which share a ridge and are interconnected. And then there's Alpental, marooned across the interstate, much taller and infinitely rowdier than its ho-hum brothers. Alpy, as a brand and as a badass, is criminally unknown outside of its immediate market, despite being on the Ikon Pass since 2018. But, as Gillett notes, it is one of the roughest, toughest mountains going:On Targhee's sinkholePer Jackson Hole News and Guide in September of last year:About two weeks ago, a day or so after torrential rain, and a few days after a downhill mountain biking race concluded on the Blondie trail, Targhee ski patrollers noticed that something was amiss. Only feet away from the muddy meander that mountain bikers had zipped down, a mound of earth had disappeared.In its place, there was a hole of unknown, but concerning, size.Subsequent investigations — largely, throwing rocks into the hole while the resort waits for more technical tools — indicate that the sinkhole is at least 8 feet wide and about 40 feet deep, if not more. There are layers of ice caking the walls a few feet down, and the abyss is smack dab in the middle of the resort's prized ski run.Falling into a sinkhole would be a ridiculous way to go. Like getting crushed by a falling piano or flattened under a steamroller. Imagine your last thought on earth is “Bro are you freaking kidding me with this s**t?”On the overlap between Mountain Collective and IkonMountain Collective and Ikon share a remarkable 26 partner ski areas. Only Targhee, Sugar Bowl, Marmot Basin, Bromont, Le Massif du Charlevoix, and newly added Megève have joined Mountain Collective while holding out on Ikon.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 70/100 in 2024, and number 570 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

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HVAC Uncensored Talks With The Snow King of HVAC

Hvac Uncensored

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2024 81:05

In this episode of the HVAC Uncensored Podcast, Gil talks with Logan Hopper, one of the HVAC Visionaries on Instagram. All so known as SnowkingofHVAC. Logan is living in Colorado being an HVAC Service Tech. Like I said last week, I love what these young guys are doing and the attention they are bringing to the trade. I hope that sharing there story and seeing how the trade has positively impacted his life that it inspires other younger men and women to enter the trade. He isn't just sharing videos of work but doing things the right way taking the extra time to set yourself apart from the average techs doing the bare miniuium. If you're not already following Logan aka SnowKingofHVAC on Instagram or following the HVAC Visionaries, you should do that asap. Hope you enjoy the episode. Remeber stay safe out there and do the little things to set yourself apart. =====Don't Forget To Follow The Podcast On Social Media To Stay Up To Date======= The easiest way to find all links go to https://www.hvacuncensored.com or go to https://www.poplme.co/hvacuncensored *****Please Show Some Love To The Amazing Show Sponsors/Partners******* YELLOW JACKET https://www.yellowjacket.com COMPANYCAM https://www.companycam.com/hvacuncensored GET A FREE 14-DAY TRIAL THEN 50% OFF YOUR FIRST 2 MONTHS HVAC TACTICAL https://www.hvactactical.com USE DISCOUNT CODE (HVACUNCENSORED) & SAVE 20% ON YOUR ORDER HOUSECALL PRO https://www.housecallpro.com/hvac-uncensored/ VETO PRO PAC https://www.vetopropac.com/ HOMEPROS https://www.readhomepros.com CAMEL CITY MILL https://www.camelcitymill.com USE DISCOUNT CODE (UNCENSORED10) & SAVE 10% ON YOUR ORDER LOKAL https://www.lokalhq.com FIND ALL HVAC UNCENSORED MERCH AT https://www.hvacuncensored.com/

March 22 | Time for Snow King hill climb, ski season wrapping up, Idaho ballot initiatives

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2024 4:09

Listen every weekday for a local newscast featuring town, county, state and regional headlines. It's the daily dose of news you need on Wyoming, Idaho and the Mountain West — all in four minutes or less.

Yokohama Tire’s Tricia Wall, Indy Car Aerodynamicist, Nitro Rally Cross in the Snow, King of the Hammers Off-Road

High Octane Hustle

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2024 39:31

Hosted by Fast Lane Jane Thurmond and Design Muse Theresa Contreras Yokohama Tire's Motorsports Manager Tricia Wall joins us to share her journey from engineering and aerodynamics in the Indy car world and skiing. To Nitro Rally Cross ice racing, King of the Hammers off-roading with Yokohama Tire. Follow Yokohama Tire @yokohomatire and Tricia Wall @trishwall77. https://youtu.be/Z_NKIp2ilWk Produced by Auto Revolution Auto Revolution produces automotive TV Shows, Podcasts, Promotional Videos, and more. Watch at www.autorevolution.tv and follow @autorevolution Recorded at Autotopia LA The premier automobile storage & concierge facility in Los Angeles. Collector car storage. Vintage car storage. Luxury car storage. Exotic car storage. Visit Autotopia LA at www.autotopiala.com Baja Forged Timeless design. Race inspired. BAJA proven! We love looking good driving on and off road. Baja Forged offers products to be capable when we need them. So we built Baja Forged. Visit Baja Forged at www.bajaforged.com ENVZN For more information on the 2018 GMC Denali Duramax truck Giveaway, visit www.envznsupplyco.com.

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The founders of Iksplor share start up stories from Jackson Hole

Ski Moms Fun Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 43:31

Become a Premium Subscriber and Support the Ski Moms for $3/monthIn this episode we meet with sisters, Kailey and Karissa, the founders of Iksplor. Karissa is the CEO, Kailey is the Chief Marketing Officer. Iksplor is a Jackson Hole based, sustainably sourced, ski base layer clothing company. All their clothing is made from ethically sourced extra fine merino wool that makes outdoor adventures easier, longer and cozier! Iksplor makes clothing for the whole family from infant to adults. They share their early childhood memories of skiing with their grandfather and parents starting at ages 2 & 3 years old. The sisters grew up in Colorado, skiing mainly on the weekends at Vail.We learn about the inspiration that led Kailey and Karissa to start Iksplor and why they decided to focus on ski base layers. They think that base layers make or break your ski day or outdoor adventure, we could not agree more. It was really interesting to learn about how the sisters landed on merino wool, what is so special about it and how to properly care for your wool base layers. Iksplor has a wide variety of products including socks, hats and their newest first to market nursing base layer top. We also talk about how they divide and conquer the many roles they have to play to keep Iksplor running smoothly - ranging from sales and marketing to product design. Karissa and Kailey share all sorts of great insider tips on Jackson Hole and Snow King - from where to eat with kids to their favorite bakery and coffee shop. Keep up with the Latest from IksplorWebsite: https://iksplor.comInstagram: Save 20% off your Skida orders https://skida.com/discount/SKIMOMS20Skida is committed to local production, limited edition products, and a fresh perspective.Each season Skida delights old and new brand fans with whimsical prints for everyone in the family (including dogs!). Practical and pretty, layering on Skida pieces for your winter adventures feels like bringing along a friend. Hearty, yummy and perfect for wintery nights in. This digital cookbook brings the very best easy and delicious recipes for you and your family. All recipes were developed by ski moms. 36 tried and true ski mom recipes. Shop the Ski Moms Cookbook here.Support the showKeep up with the Latest from the Ski Moms!Website: www.skimomsfun.comSki Moms Discount Page: https://skimomsfun.com/discountsSki Moms Ski Rental HomesJoin the 10,000+ Ski Moms Facebook GroupInstagram: https://instagram.com/skimomsfun Send us an email and let us know what guests and topics you'd like to hear next! Sarah@skimomsfun.comNicole@skimomsfun.com

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Ski Moms Fun Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 41:55

Subscriber-only episodeIn this episode we meet with sisters, Kailey and Karissa, the founders of Iksplor. Karissa is the CEO, Kailey is the Chief Marketing Officer. Iksplor is a Jackson Hole based, sustainably sourced, ski base layer clothing company. All their clothing is made from ethically sourced extra fine merino wool that makes outdoor adventures easier, longer and cozier! Iksplor makes clothing for the whole family from infant to adults. They share their early childhood memories of skiing with their grandfather and parents starting at ages 2 & 3 years old. The sisters grew up in Colorado, skiing mainly on the weekends at Vail.We learn about the inspiration that led Kailey and Karissa to start Iksplor and why they decided to focus on ski base layers. They think that base layers make or break your ski day or outdoor adventure, we could not agree more. It was really interesting to learn about how the sisters landed on merino wool, what is so special about it and how to properly care for your wool base layers. Iksplor has a wide variety of products including socks, hats and their newest first to market nursing base layer top. We also talk about how they divide and conquer the many roles they have to play to keep Iksplor running smoothly - ranging from sales and marketing to product design. Karissa and Kailey share all sorts of great insider tips on Jackson Hole and Snow King - from where to eat with kids to their favorite bakery and coffee shop. Keep up with the Latest from IksplorWebsite: https://iksplor.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsgoiksplorKeep up with the Latest from the Ski Moms!Website: www.skimomsfun.comSki Moms Discount Page: https://skimomsfun.com/discountsSki Moms Ski Rental HomesJoin the 10,000+ Ski Moms Facebook GroupInstagram: https://instagram.com/skimomsfun Send us an email and let us know what guests and topics you'd like to hear next! Sarah@skimomsfun.comNicole@skimomsfun.com

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Podcast #161: Teton Pass, Montana Owner Charles Hlavac

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 16, 2024 103:10

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 9. It dropped for free subscribers on Feb. 16. 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:WhoCharles Hlavac, Owner of Teton Pass, MontanaRecorded onJanuary 29, 2024About Teton PassClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Charles HlavacLocated in: Choteau, MontanaYear founded: 1967Pass affiliations: NoneClosest neighboring ski areas: Great Divide (2:44), Showdown (3:03)Base elevation: 6,200 feetSummit elevation: 7,200 feet (at the top of the double chair)Vertical drop: 1,000 feetSkiable Acres: 400 acresAverage annual snowfall: 300 inchesLift count: 3 (1 double, 1 platter, 1 carpet – view Lift Blog's inventory of Teton Pass' lift fleet)View historic Teton Pass trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himThere was a time, before the Bubble-Wrap Era, when American bureaucracy believed that the nation's most beautiful places ought to be made available to citizens. Not just to gawk at from a distance, but to interact with in a way that strikes awe in the soul and roots the place in their psyche.That's why so many of our great western ski areas sit on public land. Taos and Heavenly and Mt. Baldy and Alta and Crystal Mountain and Lookout Pass. These places, many of them inaccessible before the advent of the modern highway system, were selected not only because they were snow magnets optimally pitched for skiing, but because they were beautiful.And that's how we got Teton Pass, Montana, up a Forest Service road at the end of nowhere, hovering over the Rocky Mountain front. Because just look at the place:Who knew it was there then? Who knows it now? A bald peak screaming “ski me” to a howling wilderness for 50 million years until the Forest Service printed some words on a piece of paper that said someone was allowed to put a chairlift there.As bold and prescient as the Forest Service was in gifting us ski areas, they didn't nail them all. Yes, Aspen and Vail and Snowbird and Palisades Tahoe and Stevens Pass, fortuitously positioned along modern highways or growing cities, evolved into icons. But some of these spectacular natural ski sites languished. Mt. Waterman has faltered without snowmaking or competent ownership. Antelope Butte and Sleeping Giant were built in the middle of nowhere and stayed there. Spout Springs is too small to draw skiers across the PNW vastness. Of the four, only Antelope Butte has spun lifts this winter.Remoteness has been the curse of Teton Pass, a fact compounded by a nasty 11-mile gravel access road. The closest town is Choteau, population 1,719, an hour down the mountain. Great Falls, population 60,000, is only around two hours away, but that city is closer to Showdown, a larger ski area with more vertical drop, three chairlifts, and a parking lot seated directly off a paved federal highway. Teton Pass, gorgeously positioned as a natural wonder, got a crummy draw as a sustainable business.Which doesn't mean it can't work. Unlike the Forest Service ski areas at Cedar Pass or Kratka Ridge in California, Teton Pass hasn't gone fallow. The lifts still spin. Skiers still ski there. Not many – approximately 7,000 last season, which would be a light day for any Summit County ski facility. This year, it will surely be even fewer, as Hlavic announced 10 days after we recorded this podcast that a lack of snow, among other factors, would force him to call it a season after just four operating days. But Hlavic is young and optimistic and stubborn and aware that he is trying to walk straight up a wall. In our conversation, you can hear his belief in this wild and improbable place, his conviction that there is a business model for Teton Pass that can succeed in spite of the rough access road and the lack of an electrical grid connection and the small and scattered local population.The notion of intensive recreational land use is out of favor. When we lose a Teton Pass, the Forest Service doesn't replace it with another ski area in a better location. We just get more wilderness. I am not against wild places and sanctuaries from human scything. But if Teton Pass were not a ski area, almost no one would ever see it, would ever experience this singular peak pasted against the sky. It's a place worth preserving, and I'm glad there's someone crazy enough to try. What we talked aboutWhen your ski area can't open until Jan. 19; the tight-knit Montana Ski Areas Association; staffing up in the middle of nowhere; a brief history of a troubled remote ski area; the sneaky math of purchasing a ski area; the “incredibly painful” process of obtaining a new Forest Service operating permit after the ownership transfer; restarting the machine after several years idle; how Montana regulates chairlifts without a state tramway board; challenges of operating off the grid; getting by on 7,000 skier visits; potential for Teton Pass' dramatic upper-mountain terrain; re-imagining the lift fleet; the beautiful logic of surface lifts; collecting lifts in the parking lot and dreaming about where they could go; why Teton Pass' last expansion doesn't quite work; where Teton Pass' next chairlifts could sit; the trouble with mid-stations; the potential to install snowmaking; the most confusing ski area name in America, and why it's unlikely to change anytime soon; a problematic monster access road; why Teton Pass hasn't joined the Indy Pass; and mid-week mountain rentals.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewThis may have actually been the worst possible time in the past several years to conduct this interview, as the ski area is already closed for the winter, leaving inspired listeners with no realistic method of converting their interest into immediate support. And that's too bad. Unfortunately, I tend to schedule these interviews months in advance (we locked this date in on July 24). Yes, I could've rescheduled, but I try to avoid doing that. So we went ahead.I'm still glad we did, though I wish I'd been able to turn this around faster (it wouldn't have mattered, Teton Pass' four operating days all occurred pre-recording). But there's a gritty honesty to this conversation, taking place, as it does, in the embers of a dying season. Running a ski area is hard. People write to me all the time, fired up with dreams of running their own mountain, maybe even re-assembling one from the scrap heap. I would advise them to listen to this episode for a reality-check.I would also ask anyone convinced of the idea that Vail and Alterra are killing skiing to reconsider that narrative in the context of Teton Pass. Skiing needs massive, sustained investment to prepare for and to weather climate change. It also needs capable marketing entities to convince people living in Texas and Florida that, yes, skiing is still happening in spite of a non-ski media obsessed with twisting every rain shower into a winter-is-disappearing doomsday epic.That doesn't mean that I think Vail should (or would), buy Teton Pass, or that there's no room for independent ski area operators in our 505-resort ecosystem. What I am saying is that unless you bring a messianic sense of purpose, a handyman's grab-bag of odd and eclectic skills, the patience of a rock, and, hopefully, one or more independent income streams, the notion of running an independent ski area is a lot more romantic than the reality.What I got wrongI said that “Teton Pass' previous owner” had commissioned SE Group for a feasibility study. A local community volunteer group actually commissioned that project, as Hlavac clarifies.Also, in discussing Hlavic's purchase of the ski area, I cited some sales figures that I'd sourced from contemporary news reports. From a Sept. 11, 2019 report in the Choteau Acantha:Wood listed the ski area for sale, originally asking $3 million for the resort, operated on a 402-acre forest special-use permit. The resort includes three lifts, a lodge with a restaurant and liquor license, a ski gear rental shop and several outbuildings. Wood later dropped his asking price to $375,000.Then, from SAM on Sept. 17, 2019:Former Teton Pass Ski Resort general manager Charles Hlavac has purchased the resort from Nick Wood for $375,000 after it had been on the market for two years. Wood, a New Zealand native, bought the ski area back in 2010. He and his partners invested in substantial upgrades, including three new lifts, a lodge renovation, and improvements to maintenance facilities. The resort's electrical generator failed in 2016-17, though, and Wood closed the hill in December 2017, citing financial setbacks.While the original asking price for Teton Pass was $3 million, Wood dropped the price down to $375,000. Hlavac, who served as the GM for the resort under Wood's ownership, confirmed on Sept. 6 that he had purchased the 402-acre ski area, located on Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest land, through a contract-for-deed with Wood's company.Hlavic disputes the accuracy of these figures in our conversation.Why you should ski Teton PassThere's liberty in distance, freedom in imagining a different version of a thing. For so many of us, skiing is Saturdays, skiing is holidays, skiing is Breckenridge, skiing is a powder day in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Traffic is just part of it. Liftlines are just part of it. Eating on the cafeteria floor is just part of it. Groomers scraped off by 9:45 is just part of it. It's all just part of it, but skiing is skiing because skiing is dynamic and fun and thrilling and there's a cost to everything, Man, and the cost to skiing is dealing with all that other b******t.But none of this is true. Skiing does not have to include compromises of the soul. You can trade these for compromises of convenience. And by this I mean that you can find a way to ski and a place to ski when and where others can't and won't ski. If you drive to the ass-end of Montana to ski, you are going to find a singular ski experience, because most people are not willing to do this. Not to ski a thousand-footer served by a double chair that's older than Crocodile Rock. Not to spend $55 rather than drive down the per-visit cost of their precious Ikon Pass by racking up that 16th day at Schweitzer.Among my best ski days in the past five winters have been a midweek powder day at 600-vertical-foot McCauley, New York; an empty bluebird weekday at Mt. Baldy, hanging out above Los Angeles; and a day spent ambling the unassumingly labyrinthian terrain of Whitecap Mountains, Wisconsin. Teton Pass is a place of this same roguish nature, out there past everything, but like absolutely nothing else in skiing.Podcast NotesOn closing early for the seasonHere is Hlavac's Feb. 8 letter, addressed to “friends and patrons,” announcing his decision to close for the season (click through to read):On Sleeping GiantAnd here's a similar letter that Sleeping Giant, Wyoming owner Nick Piazza sent to his passholders on Jan. 12:We are disappointed to announce that this latest winter storm mostly missed us. Unfortunately, we are no closer to being able to open the mountain than we were 2-3 weeks ago. We have reached a point where the loss of seasonal staff would make it difficult to open the mountain, even if we got snow tomorrow. For these reasons, we feel that the responsible thing to do is to pull the plug on this season.With a heavy heart we are announcing that Sleeping Giant will not be opening for the 23/24 winter season.We would like to thank everyone for their support and patience as we battled this terrible weather year. We will be refunding all season pass holders their money at the end of January. This will happen automatically, and the funds will be returned to the payment method used when purchasing your season pass.***For those that would like to roll over their season pass to the 24/25 Winter Season, we will announce instructions early next week.***We have heard from some of our Season Pass Partner Mountains who have shared that they will be honoring our season pass perks, for those of you choosing to rollover your pass to 24/25. Snow King, 3 Free Day Lift Tickets with either a season pass or their receipt; Ski Cooper, 3 Free Day lift tickets; Bogus Basin, 3 Free Day lift tickets; and Soldier Mountain, 3 Free Day lift tickets.Additionally, please note that if you received any complimentary passes for the 23/24 season, they automatically carry over to next season. The same applies for passes that were part of any promotion, charity give away, or raffle.Should you have any questions about season passes please email GM@skisg.com.While we are extremely disappointed to have to make this announcement, we will go lick our wounds, and - I am confident - come back stronger.Our team will still be working at Sleeping Giant and I think everyone is ready to use this down time to get to work on several long-standing projects that we could not get to when operating. Moreover, we are in discussions with our friends at the USFS and Techno Alpine to get paperwork done so we can jump on improvements to our snow making system in the spring.I would like to thank the whole Sleeping Giant team for the hard work they have put in over the last three months. You had some really unlucky breaks, but you stuck together and found ways to hold things together to the very end. To our outdoor team, you did more in the last 9 months than has been done at SG in a generation. Powered mainly with red bull and grit. Thank you!It's never pleasant to have to admit a big public defeat, but as we say in Ukrainian only people that do nothing enjoy infallibility. We did a lot of great things this year and fought like hell to get open.After we get season pass refunds processed, we plan to sit down and explore options to keep some of the mountain's basic services open and groomed, so snowshoers and those that wish can still enjoy Sleeping Giant's beauty and resources.We hope this will include a spring ski day for season pass holders that rollover into next year, but there are several legal hurdles that we need to overcome to make that a possibility. Stay tuned. Sincerely,NickOn Montana ski areasWe discuss Montana's scattered collection of ski areas. Here's a complete list:On “some of the recent things that have happened in the state” with chairlifts in MontanaWhile most chairlift mishaps go unreported, everyone noticed when a moving Riblet double chair loaded with a father and son disintegrated at Montana Snowbowl in March. From the Missoulian:Nathan McLeod keeps having flashbacks of watching helplessly as his 4-year-old son, Sawyer, slipped through his hands and fell off a mangled, malfunctioning chairlift after it smashed into a tower and broke last Sunday at Montana Snowbowl, the ski hill just north of Missoula.“This is a parent's worst nightmare,” McLeod recalled. “I'm just watching him fall and he's looking at me. There's nothing I can do and he's screaming. I just have this mental image of his whole body slipping out of my arms and it's terrible.”McLeod, a Missoula resident, was riding the Snow Park chairlift, which was purchased used from a Colorado ski resort and installed in 2019. The chairlift accesses beginner and intermediate terrain, and McLeod was riding on the outside seat of the lift so that his young son could be helped up on the inside by the lift attendant, who was the only person working at the bottom of the lift. McLeod's other 6-year-old son, Cassidy, was riding a chair ahead with a snowboarder. McLeod recalled the lift operator had a little trouble loading his older son, so the chair was swinging. Then he and his younger son got loaded.“We're going and I'm watching Cassidy's chair in front of me and it's just, like, huge, violent swings and in my mind, I don't know what to do about that, because I'm a chair behind him,” McLeod recalled. “I'm worried he's gonna hit that next tower. And it's like 40 feet off the ground at that point. As that's going through my head, all of a sudden, our chair smashes into the tower, the first one, as it starts going up.”He described the impact as “super strong.”“And just like that, I reach for my son and he just slips from my arms,” McLeod said.He estimates the boy fell 12-15 feet to the snow below, which at least one other witness agreed with.“I'm yelling like ‘someone help us' and the lift stops a few seconds later,” he said. “But at the same time, as Sawyer is falling, the lift chair just breaks apart and it just flips backwards. Like the backrest just falls off the back and so I'm like clinging on to the center bar while the chair is swinging. My son is screaming and I don't know what to do. I'm like, ‘Do I jump right now?''”The full article is worth a read. It's absurd. McLeod describes the Snowbowl staff as callous and dismissive. The Forest Service later ordered the ski area to repair that lift and others before opening for the season. The ski area complied.On Marx and Lenin at Big SkyHlavic compares Teton Pass' upper-mountain avalanche chutes to Marx and Lenin at Big Sky. These are two well-known runs off Lone Peak (pictured below). Lenin is where a 1996 Christmas Day avalanche that I recently discussed with Big Sky GM Troy Nedved took place.On the evolution of Bridger BowlHlavic compares Teton Pass to vintage Bridger Bowl, before that ski area had the know-how and resources to tame the upper-mountain steeps. Here's Bridger in 1973:And here it is today. It's still pretty wild – skiers have to wear an avy beacon just to ski the Schlasman's chair, but the upper mountain is accessible and well-managed:On Holiday Mountain and TitusI compared Hlavic's situation to that of Mike Taylor at Holiday Mountain and Bruce Monette Jr. at Titus Mountain, both in New York. Like Hlavic, both have numerous other businesses that allowed them to run the ski area at a loss until they could modernize operations. I wrote about Taylor's efforts last year, and hosted Monette on the podcast in 2021.On Hyland HillsHlavic talks about growing up skiing at Hyland Hills, Minnesota. What a crazy little place this is, eight lifts, including some of the fastest ropetows in the world, lined up along a 175-vertical-foot ridge in a city park.Man those ropetows:On Teton Pass, WyomingThe Teton Pass with which most people are familiar is a high-altitude twister of a highway that runs between Wyoming and Idaho. It's a popular and congested backcountry skiing spot. When I drove over the pass en route from Jackson Hole to Big Sky in December, the hills were tracked out and bumped up like a ski resort.On Rocky Mountain HighHlavic notes that former Teton Pass owners had changed the ski area's name to “Rocky Mountain High” for several years. Here's a circa 1997 trailmap with that branding:It's unclear when the name reverted to “Teton Pass.”The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 10/100 in 2024, and number 510 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Oct. 3 | Airport shuttle coming to Jackson — temporarily, anti-trans activists at UW, Snow King ave. closure

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2023 4:29

Sept. 6 | Teton Canyon Road delays, school bus driver shortage, Snow King planetarium

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2023 2:10

Podcast #142: Great Divide General Manager and Co-Owner Travis Crawford

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 19, 2023 84:42

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Aug. 16. It dropped for free subscribers on Aug. 19. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe for free below:WhoTravis Crawford, Co-Owner and General Manager of Great Divide, MontanaRecorded onJuly 17, 2023About Great DivideClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Betsy Moran, Shane Moran, Travis Crawford, Rose CrawfordLocated in: Marysville, MontanaYear founded: 1941Pass affiliations: NoneReciprocal partners: 3 days each at Whitefish, Snow King, Mt. Spokane, Bogus Basin, Mount Bohemia, Powderhorn CO, Ski Cooper, SunlightClosest neighboring ski areas: Discovery (2:13), Bridger Bowl (2:19), Montana Snowbowl (2:30)Base elevation: 5,750 feet (at bottom of Wild West)Summit elevation: 7,250 feet (at top of Belmont chair)Vertical drop: 1,500 feetSkiable Acres: 1,500Average annual snowfall: 150 inchesTrail count: 127 (17% expert, 30% advanced, 47% intermediate, 7% beginner)Lift count: 6 (5 doubles, 1 ropetow)Why I interviewed himShould we all have a town bump like Great Divide. At the base: sundecks, steps wound between wooden buildings, bunched lifts rising from the parking lot. Centerpole Riblet doubles, those glorious machines. Up the mountain, a vastness. No fuss. Little grooming. Treed meadows hanging off traverses, flouncing down the incline. Up and over ridges. Narrow cuts through the trees. The kind of place, like Snowbird or Palisades, where runs meld together across broad faces. But without the extreme steepness of those alphas. But enough, pitched just so, a captivating kingdom begging for exploration.There's a homey appeal to a ropetow bump or a Midwestern 300-footer. Like a small-town gas station or a grocer or, as we call convenience stores in Michigan, a “party store.” Hey Fella, we see you there. Welcome. You're part of it. Thanks for it. See ya next time. That's why these places build skiers faster than ants raise pyramids of dirt in your driveway. That sort of casual inclusion invites immersion.It can be tricky to even imagine how such back-slapping could translate to any ski area so large that you can't see the whole thing from the parking lot. Actually achieving it is damn near impossible. Step into the frantic base at Park City or Steamboat or Big Sky or Snowbird and you immediately feel lost in the scale of it, surrounded by tens of millions of dollars worth of high-speed lifts telling you to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. Downhome has a tough time snagging shotgun on a vehicle made to transport 20,000 skiers per day.Great Divide occupies a rare and special place in American skiing: big terrain, tight community. That town-bump energy distilled, preserved, guarded, a launchpad to the rambling terrain above. Montana, of course, is filled with such places: Bridger Bowl and Lost Trail and Maverick and Discovery and Montana Snowbowl and Red Lodge and Turner. Ski areas with the vert and acreage to be monsters, but with the humble lifts and base buildings that communicate the real-life fact of a snowy town square.It is impossible not to love this place. Detach Bro may grumble about the fleet of Riblet doubles. Powder Bro will remind you that Great Divide's 150 annual inches of snowfall is barely a passable week in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Corduroy Bro will wish for more top-to-bottom groomers. But unless your soul has been wrenched from your body by one too many cable news benders, the totality of this place will resonate with you, and leave you full long after you've driven back down the mountain.What we talked aboutWhy Great Divide's skier visits keep going up every year; Great Divide's first-to-open, last-to-close tradition; the art of summertime slope maintenance; how Great Divide manages on just 150 inches per year; the methodical evolution of the ski area; buying the ski area you grew up at; what it means to be a community ski area; the pressure of carrying on a legacy; raising your kids on the mountain; the ownership group that Crawford purchased the ski area with in 2020; the Covid shutdowns and the aftermath; #Goals; modifying centerpole Riblets for MTB operations; Great Divide has two full Riblet lifts sitting in its boneyard – where should they go?; potential expansion; why Great Divide never built the Rawhide Gulch lift that appeared as future construction on old trailmaps; operating a ski area on Bureau of Land Management land and how that differs from operating on U.S. Forest Service land; potential Belmont lift upgrades; how an upgrade to the Wild West lift will allow it to spin faster; a potential new transfer lift; considering a carpet for the beginner area; the history of the unique Rawhide lift; yes, you can outfit centerpole Riblets with safety bars; retrofitting the rest of Great Divide's lift fleet with bars; why the mountain's official trail count has shrunk over the years; the ravages of the pine beetle; fire mitigation; don't ski into that mineshaft; snowmaking and water issues; potential parking additions; a potential new baselodge; Great Divide's $350 early-bird season pass deal and whether they will be able to hold that price; Great Divide's extensive reciprocal lift ticket deals; and the Indy Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewIn January 2020, Crawford, along with his wife Rose and Betsy and Shane Moran, bought Great Divide from its longtime owners, Kevin and Nyla Taylor. Less than two months later, the world collapsed. Or so it seemed in the moment. And now they owned a ski area, which I guess at the moment probably felt like owning the wagon factory next door to the Model T plant.Three years later, Great Divide just set a record for skier visits for the second consecutive season. The place is working. The Taylors' legacy is secure. Over 35 years, they'd transformed the mountain from a T-bar joint run by a local ski club to the 48th-largest ski area in America. They'd entrusted their life's work to an ownership group that included their daughter, Betsy. Great Divide had survived Covid. Now what?As much as the Taylors achieved, Great Divide is still incredibly raw. The potential to add lifts and terrain is vast. The mountain could use a bigger baselodge, more parking, better snowmaking. Crawford and I discuss all of this. He has ideas. Many will happen. Actualizing each project is a matter of capital, permitting, planning, timing: a new Belmont lift, deeper water rights, an expansion off Rawhide Gulch. Great Divide will not stand still.The question, of course, is how the ski area evolves without shedding its community ethos, its approachability and neighborly gleam. That balance, so hard to attain, is so easy to lose. But Crawford is well-positioned to achieve it. He lives, with his wife and two young kids, on the mountain. His 8-year-old son, he tells us, wakes up on Saturday morning, walks down to the lodge, gears up, and bombs the mountain alone all day long. Spoiling that atmosphere of howdy-get-along would be like tilling up your lawn and planting weeds. He just won't do it.What I got wrongEmbarrassingly, I kept calling the Taylors the “Naylors.” I don't know why. My apologies to Kevin and Nyla Taylor.I kept pronouncing “Helena,” as “Heh-Lain-Ah,” which is how I'd pronounced it since I was like zero years old. But talking to Crawford and other locals made me realize that the correct pronunciation is, “Heh-Leh-Nah.” But everyplace has its micro-regional place-name pronunciations that are impenetrable to outsiders. Have fun with “Muskegon,” “Swartz Creek,” “Frankenmuth,” “Clio,” “Pinconning,” “Roscommon,” “Mackinac,” and “Epoufette” if you're not from Michigan.Why you should ski Great DivideLet's start here: a full-day adult lift ticket for the 2022-23 ski season was $64. That's four cents an acre. Not a bad conversion rate, and worthwhile even if you already have a multi-mountain pass or two tucked in your jacket pocket. And the joint is incredibly easy to get to (well, once you get to the middle of Montana), seated just eight miles off Interstate 15. So situated, Great Divide is a terrific decompression zone as you travel between Whitefish and Big Sky.But go out of your way to get here if you must. The terrain is incredibly fun. Great Divide is not an extreme mountain or an especially snowy mountain, but it is an interesting one, with an appealing balance of semi-technical lines, glades, groomers, and de-stumped meadows that you can bomb with little concern for sharks.Epic and Ikon Pass sales continue to climb. And no wonder why – these are astonishing bargains, punchcards to deep resort rosters that can satisfy any type of skier. This breadth and ease of access is good for skiing. But the passes' popularity likely drives ever-more skiers to a relatively stable number of resorts, fundamentally transforming the experience of skiing the big-mountain West. But there are hacks, a sub-circuit of ski areas that are marketed primarily to locals but deliver terrain and vert that is comparable to – and far emptier than – the better-known ski areas headlining the big passes. Great Divide is one of them. Go get it.Podcast NotesOn Montana's large and underrated ski areasMontana is the fourth-largest U.S. state by area, after Alaska, Texas, and California, but it's home to just 18 alpine ski areas. They may be among the most underrated collection of ski areas in America, however: 12 cover 950 or more acres, and several clock an average annual snowfall of 300 inches or more.On the old proposed Rawhide Gulch liftCrawford and I briefly discuss a proposed-but-never-built lift that would have run up Rawhide Gulch – you can see that on the left hand side of this circa 1993 trailmap, between Jackpot and 4th of July:On the peak that Winter Park will develop I referred to a peak that lay within Winter Park's Forest Service permit area and was slated for development under the ski area's most-recent masterplan. That's Vasquez Ridge, which I broke down in this article last year.On the safety bar on Great Divide's centerpole Riblets The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 69/100 in 2023, and number 455 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

June 20 | Snow King road closure, big tick year in Wyoming

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Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2023 1:38

49. Pedal Strike: Short-haul Behind Snow King

The Fine Line

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2023 48:04

On July 13, 2022, three friends went out for a mountain bike ride on a trail they'd done too many times to count: the classic Ferrins-West Game-Cache Creek loop just outside of Jackson, Wyo. But the ride gets cut short when one of the riders has a violent crash, leaving him with severe injuries and a complicated rescue. In this episode of The Fine Line, the incident demonstrates how even the most experienced riders sometimes have accidents, even in their own backyard, and the hoops that TCSAR and other agencies must jump through to get someone out of the backcountry safely. Interviews and writing by Matt Hansen. Editing and sound by Melinda Binks. The interviews were conducted in the studios of KHOL 89.1 FM. The theme song is by Anne and Pete Sibley, with additional music provided by Ben Winship. The Fine Line is produced by Backcountry Zero, and sponsored by Stio and by Roadhouse Brewing Co.

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Podcast #129: SkiBig3 (Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise, Mt. Norquay) President Pete Woods

National Parks Traveler Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2023 90:15

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on May 26. It dropped for free subscribers on May 29. 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 for free below:WhoPete Woods, President of SkiBig3, the umbrella organization for Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Mt. Norquay, AlbertaRecorded onMay 4, 2023About SkiBig3SkiBig3 “works in conjunction with all three ski resorts within Banff National Park to allow you access to everything this winter destination has to offer,” according to the organization's LinkedIn page. Each ski area – Banff Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Mt. Norquay – is independently owned and operated.Banff SunshineClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Ralph, Sergei, and John ScurfieldLocated in: Sunshine Village, AlbertaYear founded: Sometime in the 1930sPass affiliations: Ikon Pass: 5 or 7 combined days with Lake Louise and Mt. Norquay; Mountain Collective: 2 daysClosest neighboring ski areas: Norquay (23 minutes), Sunshine (41 minutes), Nakiska (1 hour) - travel times vary considerably depending upon weather and time of day.Base elevation: 5,440 feetSummit elevation: 8,954 feetVertical drop: 3,514 feetSkiable Acres: 3,358Average annual snowfall: 360 inchesTrail count: 137 (25% advanced/expert, 55% intermediate, 20% beginner)Lift count: 12 (1 gondola, 7 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 2 carpets - view Lift Blog's inventory of Sunshine's lift fleet)Sunshine chops its trailmap into three pieces on its website. This is slightly confusing for anyone who isn't familiar with the ski area and doesn't understand how the puzzle pieces fit together. I've included those three maps below, but they'll make more sense in the context of this 2010 trailmap:Sunshine's current maps:Lake LouiseClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Charlie Locke (he first owned the ski area from 1981 to 2003, then sold it to Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, and re-bought it from them in 2008)Located in: Lake Louise, AlbertaYear founded: 1954Pass affiliations: Ikon Pass: 5 or 7 combined days with Banff Sunshine and Mt. Norquay; Mountain Collective: 2 daysClosest neighboring ski areas: Sunshine (41 minutes), Norquay (44 minutes), Nakiska (1 hour, 22 minutes) - travel times vary considerably depending upon weather and time of day.Base elevation: 5,400 feetSummit elevation: 8,650 feetVertical drop: 3,250 feetSkiable Acres: 4,200Average annual snowfall: 179 inchesTrail count: 164 (30% advanced/expert, 45% intermediate, 25% beginner)Lift count: 11 (1 gondola, 1 six-pack, 3 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 3 carpets - view Lift Blog's inventory of Lake Louise's lift fleet)Mt. NorquayClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Adam and Janet WaterousLocated in: Improvement District No. 9, AlbertaYear founded: 1926Pass affiliations: Ikon Pass: 5 or 7 combined days with Banff Sunshine and Lake LouiseClosest neighboring ski areas: Sunshine (23 minutes), Lake Louise (43 minutes), Nakiska (54 minutes) - travel times vary considerably depending upon weather and time of day.Base elevation: 5,350 feetSummit elevation: 6,998 feetVertical drop: 1,650 feetSkiable Acres: 190Average annual snowfall: 120 inchesTrail count: 60 (44% advanced/expert, 25% intermediate, 31% beginner)Lift count: 6 (1 high-speed quad, 2 fixed-grip quads, 1 double, 2 carpets - view Lift Blog's inventory of Mt. Norquay's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himThere are places that make sense, and places that just don't. Lakes and grocery stores and movie theaters and sand dunes and pizza places and interstate highways. As a U.S. American, these things always squared with my worldview. Then I stepped out of the car in New York City at age 19 and I'm like what the actual f**k is happening here? A vertical human swarm in a sprawling sideways nation. Or to take another example: cornfields and baitshops and gas stations and forests. As a Midwesterner I could understand those things. But then Lord of the Rings dropped and I was like what planet did they shoot this on and then I was like OK I guess that's New Zealand.Arriving in Banff is like that. Most visitors travel there via Calgary. Nothing against Calgary, but I'm not sure it's a place that most of us go to on purpose. Skiers drop into the airport, leave the city, drive west. Flat forever. Then, suddenly, you are among mountains. Not just mountains, but the most amazing mountains you've ever seen, striated goliaths heaving skyward like something animate and immensely powerful, spokes of a great subterranean machine primed to punch through the earth like invaders from Cybertron.Here, so surrounded, you arrive in Banff National Park. Within its boundaries: two towns, three ski areas. The towns are tight, walkable, lively, attractive. None of the hill-climbing megamansion claptrap that clutters the fringes of so many U.S. ski towns. Just a pair of glorious grand hotels airlifted, it seems, from the Alps. Two of the ski areas are Summit County scale, with lift plants and trail footprints to match Breck or Keystone or Copper. The third is a quirky locals' bump with mogul fields studded like cash crops up the incline. All framed by those wild mountains.It feels sort of European and sort of fantasyland Rockies and sort of like nothing else on Earth. It is, at the very least, like nothing else in North America. The texture here is rich. Banff's most commonly cited attribute is its beauty. The most consistent point against is relatively low snowfalls compared to, say, SkiBig3's Powder Highway neighbors or Whistler. But there is so much in between those gorgeous views and that modest snowfall that makes these three mountains one of the continent's great ski destinations.Like the towns themselves. In many ways, this is Canadian Aspen, with its multiple mountains knitted via shuttlebus, rich cuisine, walkable mountain villages. In other ways, it is what Aspen could have been. You have to work in Banff National Park to live there – that's the law. The richness that adds to the community is incalculable. Imagine a Colorado so built? No second homes, no runaway short-term rental market. The ripple effects on traffic, on cost, on mood and energy are tangible and obvious. This is a place that works.It's not the only place that works, of course. And many of Banff's bedrock operating principles would not be culturally transferable to the south. Including, perhaps, the spirit of bonhomie that unites three independently owned, competing ski areas under a single promotional umbrella called SkiBig3. Remember when Vail yanked its Colorado resorts out of Colorado Ski Country USA because the company didn't want its dues to support competitors' marketing? What's happening in Banff is the opposite of that. It's unique and it's cool and it's instructive, and it was worth a deep look to see exactly what's going on up there.What we talked aboutThe surprising international markets that Banff draws from; a welcome back to skiing's melting pot; the tradition of the long season at Lake Louise and Sunshine; putting the ski areas' relatively low average snowfall totals (compared to, say, Revelstoke), in context; which of the three mountains to visit based upon conditions; Banff's immature uphill scene and massive potential; growing up in Boulder and ratpack skiing Summit County; the angst of the front-desk hotel clerk; the strange dynamic between ski resorts and their local airports; selling Purgatory to out-of-state tourists; the quirks of living and working in Telluride; the vastly different ski cultures in the two Colorados; the existential challenge of Copper Mountain; the power of Woodward; first reaction to Banff: “how can this even exist?”; defining SkiBig3 and who owns each of its three partner ski areas; how mass transit fills in for ski-in-ski-out lodging; Banff's unique “need to reside” clause that enables workers of all levels to live right in town; the park's incredible bus system; the proposed Norquay gondola up from town; a potential train from Calgary airport to Banff; Norquay's wild North American pulse double chair; the history of Banff's spectacular Fairmont hotels; the history of SkiBig3 and why the coalition has worked; competing with the Powder Highway; how Sunshine gets by with a single snowgun; why Sunshine gets double the snowfall of Lake Louise; why none of the three ski areas has ever hosted Olympic events, even when Calgary was the host city; decoding Parks Canada's lease requirements that ski areas gift their assets to the agency or remove them at the end of their contracts; masterplans; why SkiBig3 was an early adopter of the Ikon Pass and why it's stuck around; why the three ski areas offer combined days on Ikon; why Norquay isn't part of Mountain Collective; why the Mountain Collective has been so resilient after the debut of Ikon; whether the Mountain Collective could add more Northeast ski areas; and why the ski areas have yet to transition to RFID cards.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewIt has always been inevitable that The Storm would enter Canada. Just as it was always inevitable, back in 2019 and '20, that it would outgrow New England. This template, I've realized, is adaptable to almost any ski market. Everywhere there is a ski area, there are skiers talking about it. And there is someone running it. And these two groups do not always understand each other. The mission of The Storm is to unite these them on a common platform.There is a difference, of course, between scaling in a sustainable way and scaling for the sake of doing so. I've been very deliberate about The Storm's growth so far. I started in the Northeast – New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania – because it was my local market and I understood it well. I stayed there – mostly – for two years before aggressively moving West in 2021. I learned to ski as a teenager in the Midwest, and I'd been skiing the West annually for decades, so none of this was new turf for me. Still, I had a lot to learn, and over the past two years, I have secured contacts and hosted a series of podcast interviews that gave me a far more nuanced understanding of every ski corner of the country.Canada was the obvious next move. Culturally, the nations' ski areas are very similar, with a western focus on off-piste powder-bombing and an eastern affinity for grooming. The trail markings, lift systems, and primacy of the automobile-as-access-point are consistent across the continent. And every U.S.-based megapass has integrated a substantial Canadian footprint as a selling point. International border aside, major U.S. and Canadian ski areas are as knotted together as those in Utah and Montana and Colorado.So, where to begin? I wanted to start big. The Storm launched in 2019 with a podcast featuring Killington, the largest ski area in the East. Western podcast coverage began with Taos and Aspen. So Canada starts here, in one of its most glorious locales. Next stop: Sun Peaks, the second-largest ski area in the country. I recorded that one a few days ago. I'd had a Whistler podcast booked too, but their top executive moved to Aspen, so we called it off.So, here we are, in Canada. Now what? Again, I'm going to move slowly. While America and Canada are culturally similar in many ways, they are enormously different in others. The ski regions here are many, vast, and nuanced. It's going to take me a while to get to Quebec, which is home to something like 90 ski areas and a sizeable (for me), language barrier. The country is huge, and while I've traveled to and across Canada dozens of times, I'm not taking for granted that presence equals understanding.I'll probably stop at Canada. That's not to say that I won't occasionally dip into other ski regions, both as a visitor and as a journalist. I've scheduled an interview with the general manager of Valle Nevado, Chile for July. But I don't think I'm capable of expanding this enterprise into other continents without diluting my coverage at home. Canada is purely additive. The region complements everything I already cover in the United States, especially multi-mountain passes. The world's other ski regions are so vastly different and complex that it wouldn't be like just adding more ski areas – it would be like adding coverage of sailing or surfing, completely different things that would only confuse the main plotline.Questions I wish I'd askedYou may wonder why we don't explore specifics of the ski areas as deeply as I normally do, particularly with all three being in possession of significant and well-articulated masterplans. It's important, here, to understand what SkiBig3 is: an umbrella organization that promotes the mountains as a whole. I can pursue more meaningful conversations on granular plans with each operator at a later time.What I got wrong* I intimated that Vail, Aspen, and Telluride were “10 times bigger” than Purgatory. This is grossly incorrect. Purgatory checks in at 1,635 acres, while Vail Mountain measures 5,317 acres, Telluride is 2,000, and Aspen Mountain is just 673 (though it will grow substantially with the Pandora's expansion this coming winter). If you combine Aspen Mountain with Aspen Highlands (1,010 acres), Buttermilk (435 acres), and Snowmass (3,342 acres), they add up to 5,460 – nowhere near 10 times the size of Purgatory. What I meant was that those three ski entities – Aspen, Vail, and Telluride – had far greater name recognition than Purgatory, which is tucked off the I-70 mainline in Southwest Colorado (as is Telluride).* On the other end of that spectrum, I vastly over-estimated the size of Norquay, saying it was 1/10th the size of Sunshine and Lake Louise. At 190 acres, Norquay is 5.7 percent the size of Sunshine (3,358 acres), and just 4.5 percent the size of Lake Louise (4,200 acres).* I said that Mountain Collective “keeps losing partners.” This is true, but it is a fact that must be considered within the context of this complementary note: Mountain Collective currently has one of the largest rosters in its 12-season history (the coalition is down one partner after Thredbo left this year). The pass has continued to grow in spite of the losses of Telluride, Mammoth, Palisades Tahoe, Sugarbush, Stowe, Whistler, and others over the years.Why you should ski Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Mt. NorquayEarlier I compared the three Banff ski areas to Summit County. That's not really fair. Because Summit County has one thing that Sunshine, Lake Louise, and Norquay don't really have to deal with: gigantic, relentless crowds.For two years, U.S. Americans were shut out of Canada. Now we're not. If you've been filling your winters with Ikon Pass trips around Salt Lake, I-70, and Tahoe, you might be wondering what the hell happened to skiing. Man it's so busy now, all the freaking time. I hear you Bro. Go north. It's this weird kind of hack. Like discount America (that exchange rate, Brah). Like time-machine America. Back to that late-‘90s/early-2000s interregnum, when the lifts were all built out and the reigns had been loosened on skiing off-piste, but the big passes hadn't shown up with the entire state of Texas just yet.I exaggerate a little. You can find liftlines in Canada if you do all the predictable things at all the predictable times. And the Ikon Pass and its destination checklist has blown the cover for lots of formerly clandestine places. But these are big mountains with long seasons. Woods tells me on the podcast that the locals' favorite time at the SkiBig3 areas is April. The terrain is mostly all still live but the outsiders stop showing up. If you want to crowd-dodge your way north, you have a six-month season to figure it out.As for the skiing itself, it's as big and varied as anything on the continent. Lake Louise is sprawling and many-sided, with fast lifts flying all over the place and plenty more inbound. Sunshine is big and exposed, and the gondola is the only way up to the ski area, lending the place a patina of wild adventure. Both will give you as much off-piste as you can handle. Norquay is kind of like Pico or June Mountain of Snow King – a very good ski area that's overlooked by its proximity to a far larger and more famous ski area. Don't skip it: the place is a riot, with some of the longest sustained bump runs you'll find anywhere.Together, the three ski areas add up to 7,748 acres. Whistler is 8,171. So, samesies, basically. If you're looking for a place to spend a week of skiing and you're tired of the stampede, here you go.Podcast NotesOn Banff's UNESCO World Heritage sites designationI note in the introduction that Banff National Park is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The designation actually applies more broadly, to a group of parks dubbed “Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks.” This includes, according to UNESCO's website, “the contiguous national parks of Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, and Yoho, as well as the Mount Robson, Mount Assiniboine and Hamber provincial parks…” You can view an interactive map of all UNESCO World Heritage sites here.On Intrawest owning Copper MountainIt can be tempting to consider our current multi-mountain pass allegiances to be inevitable and permanent. So much so that I often stir each mountain's ownership histories up in the flow of conversation. This is what happened when I gave Powder Corp., the current owner of Copper Mountain, credit for installing the Woodward concept on that mountain. Woods pointed out that it was Intrawest, precursor to Alterra, that actually owned Copper at the time of Woodward's debut, and that they had also considered planting the concept at another of their properties: Whistler. Here's a list of all of Intrawest's ski areas, and where they ended up. It's fun to imagine a world in which they'd stayed together:On SkiBig3 Resort masterplansEach of the three resorts has master development plans on file with Parks Canada:Lake LouiseHere is a link to the full 2019 masterplan, and a summary image of proposed upgrades - note that the Lower Juniper and Summit chairlifts have already been installed, and Upper Juniper and Sunny Side are scheduled for a 2024 installation. The Summit Platter is no longer in service:SunshineSunshine's latest full masterplan dates to 2018. The resort proposed amendments last year, and those are still under review by Parks Canada. Here's an overview of proposed major lift upgrades:Mt. NorquaySometimes tracking down these masterplan documents can be like trying to locate Amelia Earhart's plane. I know it's out there somewhere, but good luck finding it. The best I can do on Norquay is this link to their Vision 100 site, which lays out plans to replace the North American chair with a gondola, as shown below:On Marilyn Monroe on the North American chairSo apparently this happened:On the North American chairI wrote about this chairlift a couple weeks back:I've ridden a lot of chairlifts. I don't know how many, but it's hundreds. By far the strangest of these is the North American chair at Mt. Norquay. Once a regular fixed-grip double, the ski area converted it into a pulse lift with chairs running in groups of four. The operators manually slow the entire line as the chairs enter the top and bottom stations (I'm assuming the line is set so that chairs reach the base and summit at the same time). This chair serves some bomber terrain, a vast mogul field with dipsy-do double fall-lines and the greatest views in the world.It's a strange one, for sure:The Storm Skiing explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 46/100 in 2023, and number 432 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

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National Parks Traveler Podcast | Jackson Hole Sustainable Destination Management Plan

Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2023 47:24

National parks are not alone in grappling with crowds. Many gateway communities surrounding our national parks are notable for their own amazing offerings -- natural beauty with tranquil spots for solitude and reflection…and nice venues for dining, listening to live music and pursuing year-round outdoor recreational and leisure activities. But when the management of visitation in these areas is unchecked, and the very resources that make these places highly desirable destinations are strained, can anything really be done? The community of Jackson, Wyoming, hopes so. Recognizing that residents, business owners and visitors all share in the responsibility of preserving the area's unique character and allure, stakeholders throughout Teton County have put together a comprehensive sustainable destination management plan. The goal is to protect the beauty of the area, preserve a healthy environment and, at the same time, enhance visitor experience, business growth and quality of life for residents. This week the Traveler's Lynn Riddick talks with Crista Valentino of the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board to find out what's in the plan and how it will help.

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Podcast #126: Heavenly & Vail's Tahoe Region VP & COO Tom Fortune

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Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2023 87:10

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on May 2. It dropped for free subscribers on May 5. 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 for free below:WhoTom Fortune, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Heavenly and Vail's Tahoe Region (Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood)Recorded onApril 25 , 2023About Heavenly and Vail's Tahoe RegionHeavenlyClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Stateline, Nevada and South Lake Tahoe, CaliforniaYear founded: 1955Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass, Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Sierra-at-Tahoe (30 minutes), Diamond Peak (45 minutes), Kirkwood (51 minutes), Mt. Rose (1 hour), Northstar (1 hour), Sky Tavern (1 hour, 5 minutes) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 6,565 feet at California Lodge; the Heavenly Gondola leaves from Heavenly Village at 6,255 feet – when snowpack allows, you can ski all the way to the village, though this is technically backcountry terrainSummit elevation: 10,040 feet at the top of Sky ExpressVertical drop: 3,475 feet from the summit to California Lodge; 3,785 feet from the summit to Heavenly VillageSkiable Acres: 4,800Average annual snowfall: 360 inches (570 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 97Lift count: 26 lifts (1 50-passenger tram, 1 eight-passenger gondola, 2 six-packs, 8 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 5 triples, 2 doubles, 2 ropetows, 4 carpets)NorthstarClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Truckee, CaliforniaYear founded: 1972Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass; unlimited with holiday and Saturday blackouts on Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Tahoe Donner (24 minutes), Boreal (25 minutes), Donner Ski Ranch (27 minutes), Palisades Tahoe (27 minutes), Diamond Peak (27 minutes), Soda Springs (29 minutes), Kingvale (32 minutes), Sugar Bowl (33 minutes), Mt. Rose (34 minutes), Homewood (35 minutes), Sky Tavern (39 minutes), Heavenly (1 hour) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 6,330 feetSummit elevation: 8,610 feetVertical drop: 2,280 feetSkiable Acres: 3,170Average annual snowfall: 350 inches (665 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 106Lift count: 19 (1 six-passenger gondola, 1 pulse gondola, 1 chondola with 6-pack chairs & 8-passenger cabins, 1 six-pack, 6 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 2 triples, 1 platter, 5 magic carpets)KirkwoodClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Vail ResortsLocated in: Kirkwood, CaliforniaYear founded: 1972Pass affiliations: Unlimited access on Epic Pass, Kirkwood Pass; Unlimited access with holiday blackouts on Epic Local Pass, Tahoe Local Pass; unlimited with holiday and Saturday blackouts on Tahoe Value PassClosest neighboring ski areas: Sierra-at-Tahoe (48 minutes), Heavenly (48 minutes) - travel times vary dramatically given weather conditions and time of day.Base elevation: 7,800 feetSummit elevation: 9,800 feetVertical drop: 2,000 feetSkiable Acres: 2,300Average annual snowfall: 354 inches (708 inches for 2022-23 ski season as of May 2)Trail count: 94Lift count: 13 (2 high-speed quads, 1 fixed-grip quad, 6 triples, 1 double, 1 T-bar, 2 carpets)Why I interviewed himFor decades, Heavenly was the largest ski area that touched the state of California. By a lot. Four drive-to base areas serving 4,800 acres across two states. Mammoth? Ha! Its name misleads – 3,500 acres, barely bigger than Keystone. To grasp Heavenly's scale, look again at the new North Bowl lift on the trailmap above. A blip, one red line lost among dozens. Lodged near the base like the beginner lifts we're all used to ignoring. But that little lift rises almost 1,300 vertical feet over nearly a mile. That's close to the skiable drop of Sugar Bowl (1,500 feet), itself a major Tahoe ski area. Imagine laying Sugar Bowl's 1,650 acres over the Heavenly trailmap, then add Sierra-at-Tahoe (2,000 acres) and Mt. Rose (1,200). Now you're even.Last year, Palisades Tahoe wrecked the party, stringing a gondola between Alpine Meadows and the resort formerly known as Squaw Valley. They were technically one resort before, but I'm not an adherent of the these-two-ski-areas-are-one-ski-area-because-we-say-so school of marketing. But now the two sides really are united, crafting a 6,000-acre super-resort that demotes Heavenly to second-largest in Tahoe.Does it really matter? Heavenly is one of the more impressive hunks of interconnected mountain that you'll ever ski in America. Glance northwest and the lake booms away forever into the horizon. Peer east and there, within reach as your skis touch a 20-foot snowbase, is a tumbling brown forever, the edge of the great American desert that stretches hundreds of miles through Nevada, Utah, and Colorado.When Vail Resorts raised its periscope above Colorado for the first time two decades ago, Heavenly fell in its sites. The worthy fifth man, an all-star forward to complement the Colorado quad of Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breck. That's not an easy role to fill. It had to be a mountain that was enormous, evolved, transcendent. Someplace that could act as both a draw for variety-seeking Eagle County faithful and an ambassador for the Vail brand as benevolent caretaker. Heavenly, a sort of Vail Mountain West – with its mostly intermediate pitch, multiple faces, and collection of high-speed lifts cranking out of every gully – was perfect, the most logical extra-Colorado manifestation of big-mountain skiing made digestible for the masses.That's still what Heavenly is, mostly: a ski resort for everyone. You can get in trouble, sure, in Mott or Killebrew or by underestimating the spiral down Gunbarrel. But this is an intermediate mountain, a cruisers' mountain. Even the traverses – and there are many – are enjoyable. Those views, man. Set the cruise control and wander forever. For a skier who doesn't care to be the best skier in the world but who wants to experience some of the best skiing in the world, this is the place.What we talked aboutRecords smashing all over the floor around Tahoe; why there won't be more season extensions; Heavenly's spring-skiing footprint; managing weather-related delays and shutdowns in a social-media age; it's been a long long winter in Tahoe; growing up skiing the Pacific Northwest; Stevens Pass in the ‘70s; remember when Stevens Pass and Schweitzer had the same owner?; why leaving the thing you love most can be the best thing sometimes; overlooked Idaho; pausing at Snow King; fitting rowdy Kirkwood into the Vail Resorts puzzle; the enormous complexity of Heavenly; what it means to operate in two states; a special assignment at Stevens Pass; stabilizing a resort in chaos; why Heavenly was an early snowmaking adopter; Hugh and Bill Killebrew; on the ground during the Caldor Fire; snowmaking systems as fire-fighting sprinkler systems; fire drills; Sierra-at-Tahoe's lost season and how Heavenly and Kirkwood helped; wind holds and why they seem to be becoming more frequent; “it can be calm down in the base area and blowing 100 up top”; potential future alternatives to Sky Express as a second lift-served route back to Nevada from California; a lift-upgrade wishlist for Heavenly; how Mott Canyon lift could evolve; potential tram replacement lifts; the immediate impact of the new North Bowl express quad; how Northstar, Kirkwood, and Heavenly work together as a unit; paid parking incoming; and the Epic Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewThe first half of my life was dominated by one immutable looming fact: the year 2000 would arrive. That's how we all referenced it, every time: “the year 2000.” As though it were not just another year but the president of all years. The turning of a millennium. For the first time in a thousand years. It sounded so fantastical, so improbable, so futuristic. As though aliens had set an invasion date and we all knew it but we just didn't know if they would vaporize us or gift us their live-forever beer recipe. Y2K hysteria added a layer of intrigue and mild thrill. Whatever else happened with your life, wherever you ended up, whoever you turned out to be, this was a party you absolutely could not miss.This winter in Tahoe was like that. If you had any means of getting there, you had to go. Utah too. But everything is more dramatic in Tahoe. The snows piled Smurf Village-like on rooftops. The incredible blizzards raking across the Sierras. The days-long mountain closures. It was a rare winter, a cold winter, a relentless winter, a record-smashing winter for nearly every ski area ringing the 72-mile lake.Tahoe may never see a winter like this again in our lifetimes. So how are they dealing with it? They know what to do with snow in Tahoe. But we all know what to do with water until our basement floods. Sometimes a thing you need is a thing you can get too much of.In March I flew to California, circled the lake, skied with the people running the mountains. Exhaustion, tinted with resignation, reigned. Ski season always sprawls at the top of the Sierras, but this winter – with its relentless atmospheric rivers, the snows high and low, the piles growing back each night like smashed anthills in the driveway – amplified as it went, like an action movie with no comedic breaks or diner-meal interludes. How were they doing now, as April wound down and the snows faded and corn grew on the mountainside? And at the end of what's been a long three years in Tahoe, with Covid shutdowns leading into a Covid surge leading into wildfires leading into the biggest snows anyone alive has ever seen? There's hardship in all that, but pride, too, in thriving in spite of it.What I got wrongI said that the Kehr's Riblet double was “one of the oldest lifts in the country.” That's not accurate. It was built in 1964 – very old for a machine, but not even the oldest lift at the resort. That honor goes to Seventh Heaven, a 1960 Riblet double rising to the summit. And that's not even the oldest Riblet double in the State of Washington: White Pass still runs Chair 2, built in 1958; and Vista Cruiser has been spinning at Mt. Spokane since 1956.Questions I wish I'd askedFortune briefly discussed the paid-parking plans landing at Heavenly, Northstar, and Kirkwood next winter. Limited as these are to weekend and holiday mornings, the plans will no doubt spark feral rage in a certain group of skiers who want to pretend like it's still 1987 and Tahoe has not changed in an unsustainable way. The traffic. The people. The ripple effects of all these things. I would have liked to have gotten into the motivations behind this change a bit more with Fortune, to really underscore how this very modest change is but one way to address a huge and stubborn problem that's not going anywhere. Why you should ski Heavenly, Northstar, and KirkwoodFrom a distance, Tahoe can be hard to sort. Sixteen ski areas strung around the lake, nine of them with vertical drops of 1,500 feet or more:How to choose? One easy answer: follow your pass. If you already have an Epic Pass, you have a pre-loaded Tahoe sampler. Steep and funky Kirkwood. Big and meandering Heavenly. Gentle Northstar. The Brobots will try steering you away from Northstar (which they've glossed “Flatstar”) or Heavenly (too many traverses). Ignore them. Both are terrific ski areas, with endless glades that are about exactly pitched for the average tree skier. Kirkwood is the gnarliest, no question, but Northstar (which is also a knockout parks mountain, and heavily wind-protected for storm days), and Heavenly (which, despite the traverses, delivers some incredible stretches of sustained vertical), will still give you a better ski day than 95 percent of the ski areas in America on any given winter date.It's easy to try to do too much in Tahoe. I certainly did. Heavenly especially deserves – and rewards – multiple days of exploration. This is partly due to the size of each mountain, but also because conditions vary so wildly day-to-day. I skied in a windy near-whiteout at Kirkwood on Sunday, hit refrozen crust that exiled me to Northstar groomers on Tuesday, and lucked into a divine four-inch refresh at Heavenly on Wednesday, gifting us long meanders through the woods. Absolutely hit multiple resorts on your visit, but don't rush it too much – you can always go back.Podcast NotesOn Schweitzer and Stevens Pass' joint ownerFortune and I discuss an outfit called Harbor Resorts, which at one time owned both Stevens Pass and Schweitzer. I'd never heard of this company, so I dug a little. An Aug. 19, 1997 article in The Seattle Times indicates that the company also once owned a majority share in Mission Ridge and something called the “Arrowleaf resort development.” They sold Mission in 2003, and the company split in two in 2005. Harbor then sold Stevens to CNL Lifestyle Properties in 2011, where it operated under Karl Kapuscinski, the current owner, with Invision Capital, of Mountain High, Dodge Ridge, and China Peak. CNL then sold the resort to the Och-Ziff hedge fund in 2016, before Vail bought Stevens in 2018 (say what you'd like about Vail Resorts, but at least we have relative certainty that they are invested as a long-term owner, and the days of private-equity ping pong are over). Schweitzer remains under McCaw Investment Group, which emerged out of that 2005 split of Harbor.As for Arrowleaf, that refers to the doomed Early Winters ski area development in Washington. Aspen, before it decided to just be Aspen, tried being Vail, or what Vail ended up being. The company's adventures abroad included owning Breckenridge from 1970 to 1987 or 1988, developing Blackcomb, and the attempted building of Early Winters, which would have included up to 16 lifts serving nearly 4,000 acres in the Methow Valley. Aspen, outfoxed by a group of citizen-activists who are still shaking their pom-poms about it nearly four decades later, eventually sold the land. Subsequent developers also failed, and today the land that would have held, according to The New York Times, 200 hotel rooms, 550 condos, 440 single-family homes, shops, and restaurants is the site of exactly five single-family homes. If you want to understand why ski resort development is so hard, this 2016 article from the local Methow Valley News explains it pretty succinctly (emphasis mine):“The first realization was that we would be empowered by understanding the rules of the game.” Coon said. Soon after it was formed, MVCC “scraped together a few dollars to hire a consultant,” who showed them that Aspen Corp. would have to obtain many permits for the ski resort, but MVCC would only have to prevail on defeating one.Administrative and legal challenges delayed the project for 25 years, “ultimately paving the way to victory,” with the water rights issue as the final obstacle to resort development, Coon said.The existing Washington ski resorts, meanwhile, remain overburdened and under-built, with few places to stay anywhere near the bump. Three cheers for traffic and car-first transportation infrastructure, I guess. Here's a rough look at what Early Winters could have been:On Stevens Pass in late 2021 and early 2022Fortune spent 20 years, starting in the late 1970s, working at Stevens Pass. Last year, he returned on a special assignment. As explained by Gregory Scruggs in The Seattle Times:[Fortune] arrived on Jan. 14 when the ski area was at a low point. After a delayed start to the season, snow hammered the Cascades during the holiday week. Severely understaffed, Stevens Pass struggled to open most of its chairlifts for six weeks, including those serving the popular backside terrain.Vail Resorts, which bought Stevens Pass in 2018, had sold a record number of its season pass product, the Epic Pass, in the run-up to the 2021-22 winter, leaving thousands of Washington residents claiming that they had prepaid for a product they couldn't use. A Change.org petition titled “Hold Vail Resorts Accountable” generated over 45,000 signatures. Over 400 state residents filed complaints against Vail Resorts with the state Attorney General's office. In early January, Vail Daily reported that Vail's stock price was underperforming by 25%, with analysts attributing the drop in part to an avalanche of consumer ire about mismanagement at resorts across the country, including Stevens Pass.On Jan. 12, Vail Resorts fired then-general manager Tom Pettigrew and announced that Fortune would temporarily relocate from his role as general manager at Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California, to right the ship at Stevens Pass. Vail, which owns 40 ski areas across 15 states and three countries, has a vast pool of ski industry talent from which to draw. In elevating Fortune, whose history with the mountain goes back five decades, the company seems to have acknowledged what longtime skiers and snowboarders at Stevens Pass have been saying for several seasons: local institutional knowledge matters.Fortune is back at Heavenly, of course. Ellen Galbraith is the resort's current general manager – she is scheduled to join me on The Storm Skiing Podcast in June.On Hugh and Bill KillebrewFortune and I touched on the legacy of Hugh Killebrew and his son, Bill. This Tahoe Daily Tribune article sums up this legacy, along with the tragic circumstances that put the younger Killebrew in charge of the resort:By October of 1964, attorney Hugh Killebrew owned more than 60 percent of the resort. … Killebrew was a visionary who wanted to expand the resort into Nevada. Chair Four [Sky] allowed it to happen.In the fall of 1967, [Austin] Angell was part of a group that worked through storms and strung cable for two new lifts in Nevada. Then on New Year's Day, 1968, Boulder and Dipper chairs started running. Angell's efforts helped turn Heavenly Valley into America's largest ski area. …On Aug. 27, 1977 … Hugh Killebrew and three other resort employees were killed in a plane crash near Echo Summit.Killebrew's son, Bill Killebrew, a then-recent business school graduate of the University of California, was one of the first civilians on the scene. He saw the wreckage off Highway 50 and immediately recognized his dad's plane. …At 23, Bill Killebrew assumed control of the resort. A former youth ski racer with the Heavenly Blue Angels, he learned a lot from his dad. But the resort was experiencing two consecutive drought years and was millions of dollars in debt.Bill Killebrew began focusing on snowmaking capabilities. Tibbetts and others tinkered with different systems and, by the early 1980s, Heavenly Valley had 65 percent snowmaking coverage.With a stroke of good luck and several wet winters, Bill Killebrew had the resort out of debt in 1987, 10 years after bankruptcy was a possibility. It was now time to sell.Killebrew sold to a Japanese outfit called Kamori Kanko Company, who then sold it to American Skiing Company in 1997, who then sold it to likely forever owner Vail in 2002.When he joined me on The Storm Skiing Podcast in 2021, Tim Cohee, current GM of China Peak, called Bill Killebrew “the smartest person I've ever known” and “overall probably the smartest guy ever in the American ski industry.” Cohee called him “basically a savant, who happened to, by accident, end up in the ski business through his dad's tragic death in 1977.” You can listen to that at 26:30 here.On Sierra-at-Tahoe and the Caldor FireMost of the 16 Tahoe-area ski areas sit along or above the lake's North Shore. Only three sit south. Vail owns Heavenly and Kirkwood. The third is Sierra-at-Tahoe. You may be tempted to dismiss this as a locals' bump, but look again at the chart above – this is a serious ski area, with 2,000 acres of skiable terrain on a 2,212-foot vertical drop. It's basically the same size as Kirkwood.The 2021 Caldor Fire threatened all three resorts. Heavenly and Kirkwood escaped with superficial damage, but Sierra got crushed. A blog post from the ski area's website summarizes the damage:The 3000-degree fire ripped through our beloved trees crawling through the canopies and the forest floor affecting 1,600 of our 2,000 acres, damaging lift towers, haul ropes, disintegrating terrain park features and four brand new snowcats and practically melted the Upper Shop — a maintenance building which housed many of our crews' tools and personal belongings, some that had been passed down through generations.The resort lost the entire 2021-22 ski season and enormous swaths of trees. Here's the pre-fire trailmap:And post-fire:Ski areas all over the region helped with whatever they could. One of Vail Resorts' biggest contributions was filling in for Sierra's Straight As program, issuing Tahoe Local Epic Passes good at all three ski areas to eligible South Shore students.On wind holdsFortune discussed why wind holds are such an issue at Heavenly, and why they seem to be happening more frequently, with the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this year.On the pastI'll leave you with this 1972 Heavenly trailmap, which labels Mott and Killebrew Canyons as “closed area - dangerous steep canyons”:Or maybe I'll just leave you with more pictures of Heavenly:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 40/100 in 2023, and number 426 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

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Finding Your Voice with Sara Cravens - Ep 38

In Your Ellement

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 6, 2023 29:31

There is significant pressure in our teen years to make a decision on what we want to do for the rest of our lives. From doing all the right things in the right order, to choosing the right college or career path, the weight of these decisions can be overwhelming.The reality is that this burden is make us feel like we have to make all of these decisions perfectly. The paths we choose lead us to continued new paths our entire lives. This story holds true for Sara Cravens, who when she was in high school, didn't even know that voice acting was an occupation. Sara's path unexpectedly led her to becoming a voice actress, and for the last twenty years has worked in a career she loves while being her most authentic self.---Sara Cravens has voiced 1000s of commercials for cars, banks, grub, beverages, tech and a heckuva lot more.You can hear her on Big City Greens on Disney as Skids, TripTank on Comedy Central voicing several characters including Cinderella, Harriet Wolf in Monster High, Emma Stone's voicematch in The Croods and Reese Witherspoon's voicematch in The Good Lie. She is Princess Maribel in Disney's feature The Snow King. And, anime crowds love her as Sachiko in Erased and Child Emperor in One Punch Man and Ghost in the Shell 2045. Sara won Best Supporting Actress in an Anime Movie for her work as Miyako Ishida in A Silent Voice.Sara loves yoga, country music, building stuff in her backyard with power tools, and makes the best from-scratch buttermilk biscuits you've ever tasted. For real. You don't even know.saracravens.comInstagramTwitter---In Your Ellement is a teen-hosted podcast covering conversations with teen allies. Sixteen-year-old host and TEDx speaker, Abby Jones, chats with some of the most inspiring educators, creators, and changemakers reflecting on their teen years, what makes them feel the most “in their element” on the daily, and things they wish they had known as a teenager.------> Check out our website!

March 9 | A rare disease outbreak among pronghorn in Western Wyoming; athletes flying in for a big air festival at Snow King

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2023 2:10

Episode 226 – Competing with Yourself featuring Dina Mishev

The Jackson Hole Connection

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2023 37:41 Transcription Available

Dina Mishev is a journalist, world traveler, editor, skier, extraordinary athlete, and a Guinness World Records holder. In this episode, Dina shares her story of moving to Jackson Hole to pursue her passion for skiing and her slight obsession with Harrison Ford. She talks about her decision to leave the path to law school and pursue writing. Dina discusses her world record and how training at Snow King helped achieve it. The conversation also touches on Dina's stubbornness, her love for hiking off-beat trails in the Tetons, learning to slow down, tracking snow leopards, traveling to a solar eclipse, and her battle with breast cancer. Dina also opens up about how her diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis has affected her outlook on life, and how it continues to drive her to do more. Learn more about Dina at DinaMishev.comThis week's episode is supported in part by Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling announcing this year's Christmas tree drop-off. Live Christmas trees can be dropped-off at the Teton County Fairgrounds, for residents only, or at the Trash Transfer Station at no cost until January 31 st . All trees must be delivered undecorated and absolutely no tinsel please, as they will be composted. Thank you for keeping these materials out of the landfill. For more information visit tetoncountywy.gov/recycle.Support also comes from The Jackson Hole Marketplace. The Deli at Jackson Hole Marketplace offers ready-made soups, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and hot lunch specials. More at JHMarketplace.comWant to be a guest on The Jackson Hole Connection? Email us at connect@thejacksonholeconnection.com. Marketing and editing support by Michael Moeri (michaelmoeri.com)

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Podcast #113: Mt. Spokane General Manager Jim van Löben Sels

Between The Sheets, Literally

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2023 86:39

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Jan. 13. It dropped for free subscribers on Jan. 16. To receive future pods as soon as they're live and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoJim van Löben Sels, General Manager of Mt. Spokane, WashingtonRecorded onJanuary 9, 2023About Mt. SpokaneClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Mt. Spokane 2000, a nonprofit groupPass affiliations: Freedom Pass – 3 days each at these 20 ski areasReciprocal partners: 3 days each at Mt. Ashland, Mount Bohemia, Great Divide, Loup Loup, Lee Canyon, Snow King, White Pass, Ski CooperLocated in: Mt. Spokane State Park, WashingtonYear opened: 1938Closest neighboring ski areas: 49 Degrees North (1 hour, 45 minutes), Silver Mountain (1 hour, 45 minutes), Schweitzer (2 hours, 10 minutes) – travel times may vary considerably in winterBase elevation: 3,818 feetSummit elevation: 5,889 feetVertical drop: 2,071 feetSkiable Acres: 1,704Average annual snowfall: 300 inchesTrail count: 52 (15% advanced/expert, 62% intermediate, 23% beginner)Lift count: 7 (1 triple, 5 doubles, 1 carpet)Why I interviewed himPerception is a funny thing. In my Michigan-anchored teenage ski days any bump rolling more than one chairlift uphill seemed impossibly complex and interesting. Caberfae (200 acres), Crystal (103), Shanty Creek (80), and Nub's Nob (248 acres today, much smaller at the time) hit as vast and interesting worlds. That set my bar low. It's stayed there. Living now within two and a half hours of a dozen thousand-plus-footers feels extraordinary. In less than an instant I can be there, lost in it. Teleportation by minivan.Go west and they think different. By the millions skiers pound up I-70 through an Eisenhower Tunnel framed by Loveland, to ski over the pass. Breck, Keystone, Copper, A-Basin, Vail, Beaver Creek – all amazing. But Loveland covers 1,800 acres standing on 2,210 vertical feet – how many Colorado tourists have never touched the place? How many locals?It seems skiers often confuse size with infrastructure. Loveland has one high-speed chairlift. Beaver Creek has 13. But the ski area's footprint is only 282 acres larger than Loveland's. Are fast lift rides worth an extra 50 miles of interstate evacuation drills? It seems that, for many people, they are.We could repeat that template all over the West. But Washington is the focus today. And Mt. Spokane. At 1,704 acres, it's larger than White Pass (1,402 acres), Stevens Pass (1,125), or Mt. Baker (1,000), and just a touch smaller than Summit at Snoqualmie (1,996). But outside of Spokane (metro population, approximately 600,000), who skis it? Pretty much no one.Why is that? Maybe it's the lift fleet, anchored by five centerpole Riblet doubles built between 1956(!) and 1977. Maybe it's the ski area's absence from the larger megapasses. Maybe it's proximity to 2,900-acre Schweitzer and its four high-speed lifts. Probably it's a little bit of each those things.Which is fine. People can ski wherever they want. But what is this place, lodged in the wilderness just an hour north of Washington's second-largest city? And why hadn't I heard of it until I made it my job to hear about everyplace? And how is Lift 1 spinning into its 67th winter? There just wasn't a lot of information out there about Mt. Spokane. And part of The Storm's mission is to seek these places out and figure out what the hell is going on. And so here you go.What we talked aboutFully staffed and ready to roll in 2023; night skiing; what happened when Mt. Spokane shifted from a five-day operating week to a seven-day one; a winding career path that involved sheep shearing, Ski Patrol at Bear Valley, running a winery, and ultimately taking over Mt. Spokane; the family ski routine; entering the ski industry in the maw of Covid; life is like Lombard Street; Spokane's long-term year-round business potential; who owns and runs Mt. Spokane; why and how the ski area switched from a private ownership model to a not-for-profit model; looking to other nonprofit ski areas for inspiration; a plan to replace Spokane's ancient lift fleet and why they will likely stick with fixed-grip chairlifts; the Skytrac-Riblet hybrid solution; sourcing parts for a 67-year-old chairlift; how much of Lift 1 is still original parts; which lift the mountain will replace first, what it will replace it with, and when; the virtues of Skytrac lifts; parking; the Day-1-on-the-job problem that changed how Jim runs the mountain; why Northwood lift was down for part of January; what it took to bring the Northwood expansion online and how it changed the mountain; whether future expansions are possible; Nordic opportunities; working with Washington State Parks, upon whose land the ski area sits, and how that compares to the U.S. Forest Service; whether Mt. Spokane could ever introduce snowmaking; how eastern Washington snow differs from what falls on the west side of the state; glading is harder than you think; where we could see more glades on the mountain; the evolution of Spokane's beginner terrain; why Mt. Spokane tore out its tubing lanes; expanding parking; which buildings could be updated or replaced and when; whether we could ever see lodging at the mountain; why the mountain sets its top lift ticket price at $75; why Mt. Spokane joined Freedom Pass; exploring the mountain's reciprocal pass partnerships and whether that network will continue to grow; and the possibility of joining the Indy Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewIn August, Troy Hawks, the marketing mastermind at Sunlight and the administrator of the Freedom Pass, emailed to tell me that Mt. Spokane was joining the Freedom Pass. I asked him to connect me with the ski area's marketing team for some context on why they joined (which I included in this story). Then I asked if Jim would like to join me on the podcast. And he did.That's the straight answer. But Mt. Spokane fits this very interesting profile that matches that of many ski areas across the country: a nonprofit community hill with dated infrastructure and proximity to larger resorts that's been pushed to the brink not of insolvency but doors-bursting capacity despite successive waves of macro-challenges, including Covid and EpKon Mania. Weren't these places supposed to be toast? As a proxy for the health of independents nationwide, Mt. Spokane seemed like as good a place as any to check in.There's another interesting problem here: what are you going to do with a Riblet double built in 1956? The thing is gorgeous, tapering low and elegant up the hillside, a machine with stories to tell. But machines don't last forever, and new ones cost more than some whole ski areas. Mt. Spokane also has no snowmaking and dated lodges and too little parking. Will it modernize? If so, how? Does it need to? What is that blend of funk and shine that will ensure a mountain's future without costing its soul?In this way, too, Mt. Spokane echoes the story of contemporary independent American skiing: how, and how much, to update the bump? Jim, many will be happy to learn, has no ambitions of transforming Mt. Spokane into Schweitzer Jr. But he does have a vision and a plan, a way to make the mountain a little less 1950s and a little more 2020s. And he lays it all out in a matter-of-fact way that anyone who loves skiing will appreciate.Questions I wish I'd askedI'm so confused by Mt. Spokane's trailmap. Older versions show the Hidden Treasure area flanking the main face:While new versions portray Hidden Treasure as a distinct peak. Again:Meanwhile, Google Maps doesn't really line up with what I'm seeing above:While I love the aesthetic of Mt. Spokane's trailmap, it seems wildly out of scale and oddly cut off at the bottom of Hidden Treasure. The meanings of the various arrows and the flow of the mountain aren't entirely clear to me either.Really, this is more a problem of experience and immersion than anything I can learn through a knowledge transfer. A smart professor made this point in journalism school: go there. I really should be skiing these places before I do these interviews, and for a long time, I wouldn't record a podcast about a ski area I hadn't visited. But I realized, a year and a half in, that that would be impractical if I wanted to keep banging these things out, particularly as I reached farther into the western hinterlands. Sometimes I have to do the best I can with whatever's out there, and what's out there can be confusing as hell. So I guess I just need to go ski it to figure it out.What I got wrong* I intimated that Gunstock was a nonprofit ski area, but that is not the case. The mountain contributes revenue to its owner, Belknap County, each season.* I stated that Mt. Spokane didn't have any beginner surface lifts. In fact, it has a carpet lift.* Jim and I discussed whether Vista Cruiser was the longest contiguously operating chairlift in the United States. It's not – Hemlock has been serving Boyne Mountain, Michigan, since 1948. It's a double that was converted from a single that originally served Sun Valley as America's first chairlift in the 1930s. Still, Vista Cruiser may be the most intact 1950s vintage lift in America. I really don't know, and these things can be very hard to verify what with all the forgotten upgrades over the years, but it really doesn't matter: a 67-year-old chairlift is a hell of an impressive thing in any context.* While discussing reciprocal agreements, I said, rather hilariously, that Mt. Ashland was “right there in Oregon.” The ski area is, in fact, an 11-hour drive from Mt. Spokane. I was vaguely aware of how dumb this was as I said it, but you must remember that I grew up in the Midwest, meaning an 11-hour drive is like going out to the mailbox.Why you should ski Mt. SpokaneLet's start here:How many 2,000-vertical-foot mountains post those kind of rack rates? A few, but fewer each year. And if you happen to have a season pass to any other Freedom Pass ski area, you can cash in one of your Mt. Spokane lift tickets as you're floating through.As for the skiing itself, I can only speculate. It looks like typical PNW wide-open: wide runs, big treed meadows, bowls, glades all over. Three hundred inches per winter to open it all up. I mean there's really not much else that's necessary on my have-a-good-time checklist.Podcast Notes* Jim mentioned that Schweitzer was working on adding parking. More details on their plan to plug 1,400 more spaces into the mountain here.* I was shocked when Jim said that Mt. Spokane's $75 lift tickets ($59 midweek) were the second-most expensive in the region after Schweitzer's, which run $110 for a full-day adult pass. But he's correct: 49 Degrees North runs $72 on weekends and holidays and $49 midweek. Silver Mountain is $71 on weekends (but $65 midweek). And Lookout Pass is $66 on weekends and $55 midweek. I guess the memo about $250 lift tickets hasn't made its way up I-90 just yet.* The best way to support Mt. Spokane, which is a nonprofit ski area, is to go buy a lift ticket. But you can also donate here.* Here's a bit more Mt. Spokane history.* And some stoke Brah:The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 4/100 in 2023, and number 390 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

110 - Snow King Catches His Snowflake: A Three Kings Novel [A.E. Valdez]

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2022 22:26

Amazon link: Snow King Catches His Snowflake: A Three Kings Novel - Kindle edition by Valdez, A.E.. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thebibliophilebookcase/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebibliophilebookcase/support

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Podcast #105: Sundance Mountain President and General Manager Chad Linebaugh

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2022 71:54

To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Nov. 17. It dropped for free subscribers on Nov. 20. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoChad Linebaugh, President and General Manager of Sundance Mountain, UtahRecorded onNovember 7, 2022About SundanceClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital PartnersPass affiliations: Power PassReciprocal pass partners:* 3 days at each Mountain Capital Partners ski area: Arizona Snowbowl, Purgatory, Hesperus, Brian Head, Nordic Valley, Sipapu, Pajarito, Willamette Pass* 3 days each at Snow King, Ski Cooper* 1 unguided day at SilvertonLocated in: Sundance, UtahClosest neighboring ski areas: Park City (47 minutes), Deer Valley (50 minutes), Woodward Park City (50 minutes), Utah Olympic Park (51 minutes), Solitude (57 minutes), Brighton (1 hour), Snowbird (1 hour, 7 minutes), Alta (1 hour, 10 minutes) – travel times may vary considerably in winter.Base elevation: 6,100 feetSummit elevation: 8,250 feetVertical drop: 2,150 feetSkiable Acres: 515Average annual snowfall: 300 inchesTrail count: 50 (20% black, 45% intermediate, 35% beginner)Lift count: 9 (1 high-speed quad, 4 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 3 carpets)The map above is last season's, and does not include the Wildwood expansion that's coming online for the 2022-23 ski season. Here's where the new terrain will sit - you can see Jake's landing looker's right, and Flathead rising looker's left:And here's an overhead view of the new terrain:Update [11/24/2022]: the new trailmapWhy I interviewed himIt sits inconspicuous and unassuming, 13 air miles and 49 road miles south of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Five hundred acres in a 5,000-acre resort. Step off your plane at Salt Lake airport and you're 40 minutes away from half a dozen powder bangers and this is not one of them. It's Sundance. “Isn't that that film fiestival?” Epkon Bro asks as he punches Park City into his GPS. “No time for that on my HASHTAG POWDY TOWN TRIP!”And that's OK. We won't be needing Epkon Bro for today's stop. Because where we're going today is Utah before Utah skiing went nuclear. Before the California invasion. Before this state with just 15 ski areas became third in the nation in annual skier visits. When Snowbird opened in 1971, Utah had 1.1 million residents. Today it has 3.1 million. On any given Saturday, every single one of them is angling their SUV toward the mouth of the Cottonwoods.Except everyone skiing Sundance. Here's the locals bump we all wish we had: 300 inches of snow, 2,000-plus feet of vert, owners with the cash Gatlings blowing full auto. Everyone else, somewhere else. Most of the tourists. Most of the Salt Locals. Certainly the Epkon hordes, trying to ski their passes down to $5 a day. So, here it is: Utah skiing before all the things that changed Utah skiing, mostly for the worse. Twenty years ago? Thirty? Who cares. You found it. Enjoy it.What we talked aboutEarly snow in the West; from breakfast waiter to running the resort; when big brother takes you skiing; Sundance in the 1970s; setting yourself apart when you're the ski area down the road from the Wasatch; the longest-tenured ski resort employee in the country?; Timp Haven; enter Robert Redford; the resort's expanse and legacy of conservation; working for Redford; the origins and impact of the Sundance Film Festival; why Redford sold Sundance; a profile of the new owners; industry veteran Bill Jensen's impact on the resort; Sundance's rapid and radical transformation under its new owners; the fantastically weird Ray's lift and why the mountain finally upgraded it; bringing back the old Mandan lift unload and corresponding terrain; breaking down the new alignments for Stairway and Outlaw; why Red's isn't a high-speed lift; the massive new lift project Sundance is planning next and the potential terrain expansion that could go with that; what the new lift would mean for Flathead; why Outlaw ended up as a quad, rather than a six-pack; how Outlaw ended up running chairs from Big Sky's Swift Current quad; why the resort retired the Navajo lift in 1995, and brought back a similar lift called Jake's a decade ago; why Jake's runs on a different line than Navajo; Jake's odd lower mid-station; re-thinking the road that runs beneath Jake's; Sundance's huge snowmaking expansion; going deep on Sundance's Wildwood expansion and new lift; the return of hot bread and honey-butter; potential far-future expansion; upgrading the Bearclaw lodge; night-skiing; whether Sundance could expand its group of season pass reciprocal partners; and the possibility of Sundance joining Indy Pass.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewA decade ago, Sundance was a relic. Old lifts. Slow lifts. Fixed-grip lifts all. A handle tow at the bottom. No carpets. One chair out of the base: the unbelievable Ray's, a mile-long up-and-over doozy with two midstations and a ride time longer than the State of the Union. Some snowmaking. Not a lot. Not enough.Two years ago, longtime owner Robert Redford sold the joint. The new owners brought in Bill Jensen, a U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Famer and onetime overlord of Breckenridge, Vail, Telluride, and Intrawest. Overnight, they smashed the place to bits and remade it in the image of a modern ski resort: Ray's demolished (it's going to live on at Lookout Pass), in its place a high-speed quad up the frontside – all the way up the frontside, to where the Mandan lift once landed – and a short connector lift in back; expanded night-skiing; dramatically expanded snowmaking; a trio of progression carpets at the base; more parking. This year: a 10-trail, 15-acre beginner-focused expansion. On its way out next: the 47-year-old Flathead triple. With what? You'll have to listen to the podcast for details on that.Once Flathead goes, Sundance will have one of the newest lift fleets on the continent (Redford did replace Arrowhead with a lift called Red's in 2016, and put in a new lift called Jake's in 2012), a reliable and modern collection buffeted by an ever-evolving snowmaking system that can defend the place from its relatively low elevation. It will have better skier flow, and (probably) more terrain for them to ski on.What it won't have are any of the ever-increasing numbers of Epkon Bros. The ones who won't ski anywhere off-pass. The ones obsessed with stats and biggest-tallest-most. The ones how don't mind company.Sundance is building something different. And it's something worth trying. What I got wrongI asked Chad why Jake's lift did not have a mid-station, like the old Navajo lift. Jake's does have a mid-station, of course, but it's just a touch higher than the bottom load. What I'd meant to ask was this, “why doesn't Jake's have a mid-mountain mid-station, as Navajo had?” I also incorrectly stated that Jake's followed the same line as Navajo, which was a bad reading of the trailmap on my part. Regardless, we sort it all out on the pod.Why you should ski SundanceIt's worth going a bit deeper on passes here, as Utah has what is probably the most mature megapass market of any major ski hub in America. All 14 of the state's major commercial ski areas are affiliated with one pass or another, including Sundance:If you've never heard of the Power Pass, it's the season pass for Mountain Capital Partners eight ski areas: Arizona Snowbowl, Purgatory, Hesperus, Brian Head, Nordic Valley, Sipapu, Pajarito, and Willamette Pass. Like the Ikon Pass, which includes Alterra's 14 ski areas plus a bunch of partners, the Power Pass has some add-ons: Copper Mountain, Loveland, Monarch, and Sundance. Here's the full roster:Anyway, it's a relatively low-volume regional pass, in no danger of overrunning Sundance or any other partner.Sundance doesn't have the elevation, snowfall totals, or sheer size of its megapass neighbors just to its north, but it doesn't have their crowds either, and it has just enough of those other things to make the skiing interesting. On weekends, on holidays, on fight-for-your-life LCC powder days, this is your post-up spot, an alternative where you can rack vert without really worrying about it and without really trying.Podcast notesSundance has one of the most interesting lift histories in the country. Most ski areas simply drop new lifts on their old lines. Sundance rarely does that, instead shuffling machines all over the mountain to try different configurations. Here's what the mountain looked like in 1988:In 1995, they removed the Navajo and Mandan doubles and installed the wacky Ray's, which landed lower than Mandan before curling over the mountain's backside:By 2012, Sundance realized it needed a second out-of-base lift again, and it build the Jake's quad. This lands approximately where Navajo did decades earlier, but follows a shorter line, starting from the newer, upper parking lots:Interestingly, the new Red's quad, built in 2016, follows approximately the same line as the Arrowhead triple, the 1985 Yan lift that it replaced, but Outlaw and Stairway both follow different lines than Ray's, with different load, unload, and mid-station points. Don't expect a direct replacement for Flathead either – Linebaugh outlines what that dramatic change will look like in the podcast.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 124/100 in 2022, and number 370 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing all year round. Join us. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Meet the Mirnavator, Ski Mom Mirna Valerio

Ski Moms Fun Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2022 42:43

In this episode Nicole hosts Mirna Valerio, better known as The Mirnavator, an endurance athlete who fell in love with skiing later in life and never looked back. Mirna tells us about starting her blog to make a place for plus size endurance runners that led to a career as a spokesperson for many well known brands including Lululemon, LL Bean and Hydroflask. Mirna first took ski lessons over 10 years ago at Mountain Creek when she was a teacher in New Jersey. She loved it from the start, even though some of her early ski experiences ended with spectacular falls. Then in 2021 she started taking lessons again at Sugarbush and Bolton Valley. She shares the ups and downs of learning to ski as an adult and letting go of control. She enjoys taking lessons at different ski resorts and finds it is a great way to get to know a mountain. Mirna shares some of the challenges of finding plus size ski gear for women and where she has found some great plus size options. She hopes that more ski brands will expand to plus sizes in the future. Follow Mirna on social media (links below) and you will see that she shares her ski journey in realistic full color, showing both the falls and the successes! Resources:Plus Snow (Plus Size Ski Gear) https://plussnow.com/Mountain Creek Ski Area https://mountaincreek.com/Sugarbush Ski Resort https://www.sugarbush.com/ Bolton Valley https://www.boltonvalley.com/Snow King https://snowkingmountain.com/Keep up with the Latest from Mirna!Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheMirnavatorTwitter: https://twitter.com/themirnavatorInstagram: https://instagram.com/themirnavatorBuy Mirna's Book, A Beautiful Work in Progress , on Amazon here.Please Help Support our Podcast:Visit Mabels Labels to personalize your own labels!Use code SKIMOMS at checkout for 15% off your purchaseCheck out the Ski Pack at www.puremountainfun.com and use code SKIMOMS2022 for 20% off your orderJoin the Ski Moms Fun Community! Follow us on Instagram @skimomsfunCheck out the Ski Moms Fun Store at www.skimomsfun.comContact us sarah@skimomsfun.com

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Podcast #99: Brundage Mountain General Manager Ken Rider

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 96:54

To support independent ski journalism, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Oct. 10. Free subscribers got it on Oct. 13. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription.WhoKen Rider, general manager of Brundage Mountain, IdahoRecorded onOct. 3, 2022About BrundageClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Brundage Mountain Holdings LLC, which Rider describes as a collection of “Idaho families.”Pass affiliations: Indy PassReciprocal pass partners – view full list here:* 5 days at Red Lodge* 4 days at Diamond Peak* 3 days each at Loveland, Monarch, Ski Cooper, Sunlight, Mt. Bohemia, Snow King, Mt. Hood Meadows, Beaver Mountain* 2 days at Homewood* Limited tickets available at Powder Mountain* Half off lift tickets at AltaLocated in: McCall, IdahoClosest neighboring ski areas: Little Ski Hill (10 minutes), Tamarack (47 minutes)Base elevation: 5,882 feetSummit elevation: 7,803 feet at SargentsVertical drop: 1,920 feetSkiable Acres: 1,920 acresAverage annual snowfall: 320 inchesTrail count: 70 (46% black, 33% intermediate, 21% beginner)Lift count: 6 (1 high-speed quad, 4 triples, 1 surface lift - view Lift Blog's of inventory of Brundage's lift fleet)Uphill capacity: 7,900 skiers per hourWhy I interviewed himIn April, I put together a list of 11 ski areas offering bomber reciprocal season pass benefits. Since the passes I chose are inexpensive and offer free days at up to 50 partners, they've become a bit of a cheat code for the adventure set ready to break from (or supplement) Epic or Ikon - even for skiers who live nowhere near the mountain. With that wink-wink in mind, I contacted each ski area to ask whether they mailed season passes. Brundage's answer led to an email exchange that led to this podcast.Some version of that story is how around half of Storm Skiing Podcasts are booked, but the timing was fortuitous. I'd been meaning to reach out anyway. What was this big mountain with big snow that was an Indy Pass favorite? How does a place that's larger than Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands combined, that's roughly the size of Beaver Creek or Deer Valley, that gets as much snow as Winter Park, stand so unassuming on the national scene? Yes, the place only has one high-speed lift and no on-slope lodging. It's far off any interstate and not particularly close to any large cities. But it's up the road from a great resort town (McCall), and close enough to supernova-ing Boise to catch some of the ambient heat.Who are you, Brundage? And why are you so shy about it? It was time to talk.What we talked aboutDetermining this year's opening date; snowmaking at Eldora; going from grad school to $10-an-hour peddling Copper Mountain lift tickets; working at heyday Intrawest; Tamarack in its Wild West 2004 grand opening; Tamarack's decline and current renaissance; Grand Targhee; McCall 101; the Little Ski Hill; how mountain-town pricing pressures are hitting Idaho; wage bumps and creative employee housing at Brundage; modernizing Brundage; the ski area's ownership history and the group that purchased it two years ago; Brundage's aggressive, expansive master plan; the Temptation Knob beginner/intermediate pod and what sort of lifts we could see there; Brundage's 320 average annual inches of snow falls at its base; potential lifts up Hidden Valley and Sargents; whether the Centennial triple could make its way to another part of the mountain; potential expansion off the East Side/backside of Brundage; how large Brundage could become if the master plan is fully built out; whether Brundage could be or wants to be a national destination; whether Bluebird Express could ever be upgraded to a six-pack; the evolution of BEARTOPIA!!!; Brundage's snowmaking capabilities, potential, and water source; the incoming new lodge; fixing the flow from parking lot to lodge to rentals to ski school; finally slopeside housing; the tension between the keep-it-wild crowd and people who want to sleep on the mountain; season passes; why Brundage was an inaugural Indy Pass member; the percentage of Brundage skier visits that are Indy and whether the pass is causing peak-period crowding; why the ski area introduced Indy Pass blackouts last year; and why Brundage continues to offer reciprocal lift ticket partnerships (for now). Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewBrundage is one of many indie resorts across the West that are leveling up. Under an Idaho-strong group that took ownership a few years ago, the ski area is reworking its master plan. The scale of this thing is pretty incredible. Observe:Compare that to the trailmap above. The new plan would add:* A new beginner/intermediate pod on Temptation Knob, adjacent to the existing Beartopia pod. Rider told me that he foresees a high-speed quad rising up the knob's 650-ish vertical feet and a surface lift off the backside.* A fixed-grip quad serving Hidden Valley from the base area.* A pair of lifts serving Sargents, which is currently on the trailmap as unpatrolled terrain. Rider said that he imagines both Sargents and Wayback as fixed-grip doubles or quads.* Two large intermediate/beginner pods off the backside, both likely served by fixed-grip quads – labelled “Lift G” and “Eastside” on the map.If completed, these expansions would vault Brundage into Bogus Basin/Sun Valley territory size-wise, but there's a lot more happening here: a new lodge that isn't 700 steps above the parking lot, on-site residences, extensive (and creative) employee housing, serious snowmaking investments, and much more.Brundage is also a bit of a barnstormer, among the top two Indy Pass resorts in the West every year since launch. New England, of course, is Indy ground zero, but this year Brundage finished 10th in redemptions out of 82 Indy Pass partners. The only Western resort to top out higher was Utah A-bomb Powder Mountain.That really surprised me. My guess would have been Indy's big Washington ski areas – Mission Ridge, White Pass, 49 Degrees North – and Silver Mountain plopped dead off Interstate 90 an hour east of Spokane. Yes, the Tamarack/Brundage combo – the mountains sit less than an hour apart – is one of Indy's best, but the McCall Miracle was a top draw even before Tamarack joined in 2020.Brundage is telling a good story, and it's getting better. Now was a great time for a check-in.Questions I wish I'd askedI meant to ask about the Rainbow Fire, which hit Brundage last month but ended up leaving minimal damage. An article on the resort's website summarizes the whole ordeal pretty well anyway:Just five days after lightning sparked a fire at the top of Brundage Mountain, the Forest Service has declared the Rainbow Fire to be officially under control.The Rainbow Fire was sparked by lightning during a thunderstorm event on the evening of Wednesday, September 7 and was immediately visible from both McCall and New Meadows. Initial attack efforts kept the fire from spreading beyond the upper Hidden Valley area, which is located to the north of Brundage Mountain's main front side runs.Smokejumpers and engine crews engaged with the fire the first night, and an aerial assault from helicopters and scoopers doused the flames with water and applied fire retardant at the top of Brundage Mountain the following day.Ground crews circled the fire zone with hoses and worked through the weekend to monitor the perimeter and put out hot spots. The fire was contained to an area of less than five acres.“The Brundage Mountain team would, once again, like to thank the smokejumpers, firefighters and fire managers who sprung into action to quickly control this fire,” says Brundage Mountain General Manager, Ken Rider. “Wednesday night's lightning event resulted in a number of new fire starts on the Payette National Forest. The efforts to contain and control those new fires, while continuing to make progress on larger, existing fires in the area, speaks to the skill, dedication and hard work of our friends at the Payette National Forest and partner organizations like SITPA, the BLM and Lone Peak Fire Department from Utah.”Brundage Mountain crews will be assessing the Rainbow Fire scar but the impacts on skiers and riders are expected to be minimal.“The torching and visible flames the first night of this fire were alarming,” added Rider. “We are beyond grateful that it will have such a minor impact on our overall operations and on the skiing and riding public.”What I got wrongI say in the intro that Rider began his ski career at Intrawest. As we discuss in the conversation, his first ski job was actually at Eldora. I also asked Rider about going to the “new ski state” of Idaho when he went to work at Tamarack – I meant to say “new-to-you ski state,” since Rider was moving there from Colorado. I also have it stuck in my head that Beaver Creek, opened in 1980, was the last major ski resort developed in the U.S. prior to Tamarack in 2004, but Rider correctly reminded me that it was Deer Valley, in 1981. One could also argue for Yellowstone Club (1997), Mount Bohemia (2000), Silverton (2001), or even Whitetail (1991). But those all have some sort of asterisk: too oligarchy, too minimalist, too borderline-backcountryish, too Pennsylvania. The NSAA keeps a list here, though it's missing quite a few ski areas (Wolf Creek), and has a bunch that haven't operated in a while (Gateway, New Hampshire; Elk Ridge, Arizona).Why you should ski BrundageIf you're reading this far down the page then you don't need much of a nudge to pencil “ski 2,000-acre, 2,000-foot-vertical-drop ski area with 300-plus inches of snow” into your winter calendar. The skiing, like most Idaho skiing, is pretty great. But I always feel a sense of urgency when describing ski areas that are poised to unfold like a pop-up book into something far larger. It's only going to take a few more seasons of Epic and Ikon mountains disgorging the Epkonotron onto their slopes to turbocharge the Skipass Hack-O-Matic 5000. Savvy vacationers are going to figure out the McCall + a growing Brundage + a growing Tamarack = a-good-ski-vacation-without-feeling-as-though-you're-re-enacting-the-invasion-of-Normandy equation at some point.Brundage will never be Park City or Palisades Tahoe. But it will get bigger and better and busier than it is today. So go now, while their longest lift is still a fixed-grip triple crawling 1,653 vertical feet up the incline, over hillocks and pine forests and with the lakes placid in the distance. Enjoy the motion in the midst of stillness, the big mountain with the little-mountain vibe and prices and energy. And look around and imagine what it will one day be.Podcast notesRider and I discussed the Beartopia map briefly. It's a pretty brilliant rework of Brundage's beginner corner. If you don't have kids, perhaps you don't agree. But I recently sat beside my 5-year-old for a flight across the Atlantic, during which time he became obsessed with the route map displayed on the seatback monitor. The touchscreen offered two options: the regular map or the “kids' map.” The kids' map was nothing more than the regular map with some skunks and deer and bears superimposed over the atlas. And yet so extreme was his delight that you would have thought I had just invented cookie burgers. Yes Son it's just like a hamburger but instead of meat there's a giant cookie in there and yes of course you can have seven of them.Anyway, here's the map:Rider at one point compares the Brundage baselodge to “a steamship on the Mississippi Delta.” It was not meant to be a compliment. The lodge, like those antique riverboats, is staggered, boxy, imposing. An anachronism in our architecture-at-peace-with-the-earth moment. Still, as an avid reader of Twain, I found the comparison interesting, a literary-historic reference in a podcast about an Idaho ski area. Those sorts of thinkers, fecund and surprising, are the sorts of folks I want running my local.I also mentioned in the intro that Brundage is my third Idaho podcast this year. In January, I went deep on the Tamarack story with the resort's president, Scott Turlington:Then, this summer, I chatted with Bogus Basin General Manager Brad Wilson:The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 109/100 in 2022, and number 355 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane). You can also email skiing@substack.com.The Storm is exploring the world of lift-served skiing all year long. Join us.Like The Storm? Invite the rest of your organization in via a per-subscriber discount that can be managed through a single administrator: Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

March 24, 2022: Plant Sauna

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2022 30:30

how many plants is too many? probably 200. The SnowKing's Royal Rave is back!

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Snow King' Blizzard, Arctic outbreak still unmatched 123 years later

AccuWeather Daily

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2022 6:47

AccuWeather Daily brings you the top trending weather story of the day - every day.

Snow King' Blizzard, Arctic outbreak still unmatched 123 years later

AccuWeather Daily

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2022 6:47

AccuWeather Daily brings you the top trending weather story of the day - every day.

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Snow King Navigates First Season with New Facilities and Ski Terrain

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2022 4:13

The town hill is also preparing for a future with less snow.

News Brief July 20 | Snow King Fire Quelled, ID Gov. Little Honors Rigby Middle School Teacher

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2021 3:29

News Brief July 20 | Snow King Fire Quelled, ID Gov. Little Honors Rigby Middle School Teacher by KHOL

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January 27, 2021: Snow-carving for all

Lunchtime News

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 27, 2021 15:11

Yellowknife MLAs give a slew of updates on different GNWT projects, plus the Snowking opens its snow carving contest to residents. Meaghan Brackenbury hosts.

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Meet the Cast: Garritt McCabe

Backstage with PYB

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2020 25:24

In this Meet the Cast episode, we speak to Garritt McCabe. Garritt began his dance training in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16 he moved to Boston to dance and study with Boston Ballet. From 2017-2019 he was a trainee at Boston Ballet School. He joined Pennsylvania Ballet second company for the 2019-2020 season. Garritt has performed with PYB on numerous occasions. He now returns as a featured guest dancer to perform the role of Snow King. You can find Garritt on Instagram @garritt.mccabe. Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky, performed by George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, David Zinman, New York City Ballet Orchestra

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Episode 27 "Galarian Snowking, and Pokemon Frown Tundra news!!! Yayyyy?"

It Just Works!

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2020 19:52

On Episode 27 of the It Just Works! Podcast, Ryan discusses the latest news regarding the Pokémon Sword and Shield expansion “Crown Tundra”. There’s a lot to get excited for here, but as with anything regarding the mainline games these days I need to play it for myself! I hope you all enjoyed today’s episode and please make sure to subscribe to be notified of any future episodes!

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Podcast #22: Benjamin Alexander, Aspiring Olympic Skier for Jamaica

Yonder Lies: Unpacking the Myths of Jackson Hole

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2020 65:15

The Storm Skiing Podcast is now sponsored by Mountain Gazette. The first issue drops in November, and you can get 10 percent off your order - including your annual subscription - by entering the code “EASTCOAST” at check-out.Who: Benjamin Alexander, Aspiring Olympic Skier for Jamaica Why I interviewed him: Because this is a story you have to love. I have always respected and admired individuals who came to skiing as adults, especially because most adults seem to settle into some combination of mainlining television, getting fat, and buying things. Skiing is cold and expensive and hard, and if you aren’t tossed out the back hatch of a minivan onto the slopes at age 4 like a paratrooper dropped from the back of a Globemaster then the chances you will pick it up diminish with each passing year. But if taking it up in your 30s is improbable, angling into it to the point where you can realistically hope to qualify for something so rarified as the Olympics is almost fantastical. Yet that is what Benjamin did and is doing. And even that exhilarating task almost sounds ho-hum after his globe-trotting amped-up life as an international deejay, a job title that almost sounds too cool to even be real. But it is and I wanted to hear about it, and I think you will too. All photos courtesy of Benjamin Alexander.What we talked about: Heading into the Jackson Hole backcountry when Covid descended; Benjamin’s ancestral connection to Jamaica; England’s skiing desert; the three blessings that make new skiers; London’s turn-of-the-century pirate radio scene; breaking into that scene as a teenage deejay; hazards of the job; life in Asia; ditching a finance career for a roving international deejay career with a standing gig at Burning Man; landing at a heliski lodge when you don’t ski, looking around and thinking, “Yeah, I want some of this”; a roving deejay’s wild itinerary; where he first skied at age 32 and how that went; yardsaling on black diamonds at Mammoth; the performative glory and adrenaline of international deejay touring and making the decision to leave it all behind; why skiing was the next career move and how that evolved into an Olympic quest; when courage and speed trump form and technique; how to evolve from never-ever to alpine racer over the course of a few seasons; mental discipline and other transferable skills that drive excellence in such disparate disciplines as deejaying and skiing; settling into Jackson to master the sport and yeah I guess that’s not a bad place to do it; the racing scene at Snow King and the boundless freeskiing temptations of Jackson Hole just down the road; how the wild variability of riding off-piste prepares a skier for the rhythm and relative predictability of racing; trekking into the nether regions to nail that last patch of summer snow; life in tourism-reliant Jamaica during tourism-annihilating Covid; the Jamaican diaspora; the Jamaican Olympic Association and their vision for the future; of course we talk about Cool Runnings and Benjamin’s real-life connection with the real-life athletes behind that film; diversity in skiing and thoughts on the Vail-Alterra reckoning with the need to do better; Benjamin’s positive experience skiing as a black man in a very white sport; the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the hope that things that are supposed to happen will start to happen again; Benjamin’s path to the Olympics and a quick primer on racing and FIS points; questions about ski racing from someone who knows nothing about ski racing and some very patient answers to those questions.Additional reading/videos:Benjamin’s websiteFollow Benjamin on Instagram and FacebookA Q&A with Benjamin in PowderBenjamin on the Ski Bums podcastBenjamin’s interview on Holmlands Adventure Podcast:Recorded on: Sept. 8, 2020Additional note: This is the first Storm Skiing Podcast to feature the story of a skier - previous episodes have highlighted the leaders of ski areas or ski organizations. Let me know if you’d like to hear more of these kinds of interviews (there will always be plenty of ski area-focused episodes).The Storm Skiing Podcast is on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Pocket Casts. The Storm Skiing Journal publishes podcasts and other editorial content throughout the ski season. To receive new posts as soon as they are published, sign up for The Storm Skiing Journal Newsletter at skiing.substack.com. Follow The Storm Skiing Journal on Facebook and Twitter.COVID-19 & Skiing Podcasts: Author and Industry Veteran Chris Diamond | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | NSAA CEO Kelly Pawlak| Berkshire East/Catamount Owner & Goggles for Docs founder Jon Schaefer | Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis Cofounder Jeff Thompson | Doppelmayr USA President Katharina Schmitz | Mt. Baldy GM Robby Ellingson| Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory | NSAA Director of Risk & Regulatory Affairs Dave ByrdThe Storm Skiing Podcasts: Killington & Pico GM Mike Solimano | Plattekill owners Danielle and Laszlo Vajtay | New England Lost Ski Areas Project Founder Jeremy Davis | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | Lift Blog Founder Peter Landsman | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Burke Mountain GM Kevin Mack | Liftopia CEO Evan Reece | Berkshire East & Catamount Owner & GM Jon Schaefer | Vermont Ski + Ride and Vermont Sports Co-Publisher & Editor Lisa Lynn | Sugarbush President & COO Win Smith | Loon President & GM Jay Scambio | Sunday River President & GM Dana Bullen | Big Snow & Mountain Creek VP of Sales & Marketing Hugh Reynolds | Mad River Glen GM Matt Lillard | Indy Pass Founder Doug Fish | National Brotherhood of Skiers President Henri Rivers | Winter 4 Kids & National Winter Activity Center President & CEO Schone Malliet | Vail Veterans Program President & Founder Cheryl Jensen | Mountain Gazette Owner & Editor Mike Rogge | Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows President & CMO Ron Cohen Get on the email list at www.stormskiing.com

BONUS: These Wild TImes

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2020 20:50

Jesse and Hannah talk through some of the implications of COVID-19 on the community in Jackson, Wyoming.

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Ski Bums & Sustainability

Yonder Lies: Unpacking the Myths of Jackson Hole

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2020 33:29

In this episode, we explore how ski resorts impact the people and land around them. What's behind the mythology of the ski bum? How do tourist economies impact local labor? And how have places like Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Snow King tried to mitigate their environmental impacts as a changing climate threatens the future of winter? We'll also hear from Phil Cameron, Executive Director of Energy Conservation Works, and his perspectives on Jackson's efforts to switch to greener energy sources.

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Melissa Turley

Leading Wyoming

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2020 33:24

Leadership Wyoming Class of 2009 graduate Melissa Turley shares more on her journey as a member of the Town Counsel and County Commission Boards in her home of Jackson, WY. She also talks about her approach to solving complex and dynamic challenges locally and across the state. Plus, you won't mind staring at a backdrop of Snow King on a beautiful day in Jackson.

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January 15, 2020: J All Day

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2020 31:34

Too cool for school...or just too cold? Enjoy your day off Fort Simpson students! And the 25th Snow King festival is set and we can't wait!

S2.E10 Bormio+Lienz

The Ski Racing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 31, 2019 47:43

What a weekend of racing, Shiffrin does the double in Lienz in some style as does Mr Paris taking double downhill in Bormio managing to tame the Selvio! Pinturault continues remarkable Alpine Combined streak, plus a look ahead to the Snow King and Queen trophy thats on offer this coming weekend in Zagreb, Croatia.

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October 29, 2019: Snowking 'is no Greta'

Lunchtime News

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 29, 2019 30:09

... but he still says there's a climate crisis and his Snowcastle needs to adapt. Plus Emelie Peacock meets two of the NWT's Wise Women.

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SnowKing Episode 1

SnowKing

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2019 39:23

@vtriplei & @mellowout713 discuss the season 3 opener to the FX series Snowfall

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JACKSON REVEALED: The Snow King Saga

The Jackson Hole Connection

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2019 54:26

JACKSON REVEALED: The Snow King Saga by KHOL Jackson

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Episode 31 – Skiing the Grand Teton with Bill Briggs

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2019 47:31

In this week's episode of the Jackson Hole Connection, Stephan visits with Bill Briggs. Bill is not only a Jackson Hole legend, but a world ski legend, making it into five ski hall of fames. Bill first came out to Jackson in the 50's on a ski trip out to Sun Valley, Idaho. After a quick stop over to ski at Snow King, Bill knew this is the place he wanted to call home. In this episode, Stephan and Bill talk about Bill's achievement of becoming the first person to ski the Grand Teton, being a founding member of the Church of Scientology, the Stagecoach Band and the love of the valley. To connect with Bill, you can find him most Sundays at “Church” playing in the Stagecoach Band at the Stagecoach Bar. Do you enjoy The Jackson Hole Connection? Please subscribe, rate and review our podcast wherever you listen. Tune in every Thursday for a new episode of The Jackson Hole Connection. This episode sponsors includehttps://www.theliquorstorejacksonhole.com/ ( The Liquor Store) andhttps://www.jhmarketplace.com/ ( Jackson Hole Marketplace). Want to be a guest on The Jackson Hole Connection? Email us at connect@thejacksonholeconnection.com Music in this episode is provided by Luke Taylor. The Jackson Hole Connection is edited byhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmoeri ( Michael Moeri). Website and social media support byhttp://hiretana.com/ ( Tana Hoffman).

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March 19, 2019: Snowking versus the sun

Lunchtime News

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2019 15:49

As temperatures almost 20C warmer than normal cook the NWT, Snowking's Winter Festival temporarily closes. Plus the NWT's new ombud is on the show.

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March 25, 2019: Long-Live The Robot Revolution

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 25, 2019 32:40

Ollie and Lekter pour out a mystery liquid from a metal thermos for the Snow King festival, which has unfortunately been forced to close down early. And the self-checkout ragebate continues, as Skynet begins it's slow takeover.

March 7, 2019: Curried Cabin

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 7, 2019 23:35

Question: Is Cabin Radio an Indian Restaurant? The answer (which lies within this episode) may surprise you!

March 6, 2019: Toilet Tax

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2019 34:10

Ollie and Lekter discuss the big, smelly pile of nope that is causing headaches at the Alberta/NWT border. Also...wanna be the new host of Cabin Country? PLUS special guest Jared Bihun of #86YKEats wants you to eat...and think while doing so (sounds exhausting to us).

March 4, 2019: The Prep

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2019 28:30

Ollie's back at the Cabin! And apparently is now part of Team Newfoundland? No time to elaborate, however, as tomorrow Cabin Radio turns 1 year old! Let's get ready to party!

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March 1, 2019: Ol' Platypus Feet

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2019 27:17

Wheeler recaps night 1 of the 2019 Dead North Film Festival...and needs new shoes. PLUS special guest Flora & The Fireweeds perform LIVE!

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What Are The Most Popular Pet Names Today?

Words You Never Heard

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2019 1:00

Just like baby names, pet names are often inspired by current pop culture. According to data collected by Banfield Pet Hospitals, character names from the Marvel movies were super influential this year. Marvel fans gave their pets names like Storm, Wolverine, Drax, Groot, Rocket, and Loki. Among some more creative names for dogs are TwaiSherlock Bones, Bark Twain, Chewbarka, Droolius Ceasar and Winnie the Poodle. In the United States, the most popular names for dogs are Charlie, Coco, Daisy, Bailey, Lola Molly, and Sadie. Cuttycrumb is an old Scots word for the sound of a purring cat. And when your dog or cat curls up in a ball to sleep, that’s called a kreesal, a word used to describe an untidy bundle of clothes. What’s a word for smelling something by sticking your nose in it like a dog? Snowking.

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January 15, 2019: BIRD FIGHT

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2019 32:31

Alright. Owl vs. Raven. WHO YA GOT??? Plus, what's with these kids and their unsafe sex today?! And Snow King XXIV Artist lineup revealed!

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Phil Cameron from Energy Conservation Works

energy conservation snowking

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2018 7:37

Phil discusses local businesses like the airport and Snow King going green, and explains how you can too.

Two Crabby Women: A Look at the Snow, King, and Dungeness Crab Markets

Urner Barry's Market Digest

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2018 16:25

This week Janice Schreiber joins us, over the phone, to cover rising prices in Snow, King, and Dungeness crab markets. We discuss short supply, domoic acid, and imports from Canada and Russia. Don’t miss this insight!

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County Commission candidates on Snow King

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2018 8:18

County Commission candidates on Snow King by KHOL Jackson

Town Council Candidates on Snow King

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Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2018 7:46

Town Council Candidates on Snow King by KHOL Jackson

Ryan Stanley and Jeff Golightly from Snow King Mountain

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2018 8:44

Ryan Stanley and Jeff Golightly from Snow King Mountain by KHOL Jackson

Snow King - Mayor Pete Muldoon and Vice Mayor Jim Stanford