Mt Bachelor Opens CloudChaser Lift True to its namesake, the new Cloudchaser lift opened to a lifting veil of storm clouds this morning. Most of the east side of Mt. Bachelor was lit up for the opening ceremony, while all lifts west of Pine Marten, including Outback and Northwest, were left under a stormy shroud. This opening in the clouds… Read More
Rogers Pass Glacier Park Lodge to be Demolished Rogers Pass sits between Revelstoke and Golden, British Columbia on the Trans-Canada Highway. The Pass boasts an annual snowfall in excess of 40 feet and roadside access to some of the best ski touring terrain on the planet. For more than five decades, the Glacier Park Lodge has offered accommodation at the Pass, making… Read More
THE THREAT: COPPER MINING IN THE UPPER METHOW The North Cascades of Washington hold some of the finest backcountry skiing in North America. In the northeast corner of the range sits the Methow Valley, a sleepy albeit “discovered” community surrounded by some the most inspiring terrain in the range. Anyone who has visited the valley, in summer or winter, knows what a rarity… Read More
Mountain Accord Seeks to Solve One Wasatch Debate deadline for comment extended to MAY 1, 2015 No one disputes that the Wasatch Mountains are a valuable resource, but the future of how to protect, preserve and best utilize the resources the Wasatch have to offer is the center of much debate. Mountain Accord, a public process bringing together more than… Read More
The Rogers Pass backcountry is one of the largest and most accessible backcountry ski playgrounds on the planet. It lies between Revelstoke and Golden, British Columbia in the storied Selkirk Mountains and boasts an annual snowfall in excess of 40 feet. If you have ever ski toured on the Pass, you know how vast it is and how quickly you… Read More
The United States Forest Service (USFS) recently announced plans to adopt new commercial film and photo permit fees for use in designated wilderness areas. The announcement raised the ire of news agencies and journalists as the plan’s initially vague details made it appear that permits could apply to news coverage and documentary journalism. Some of the concern stems from a… Read More
AvaTech, a new snow and avalanche safety company, announced an interesting new tool today, the SP1 – essentially a smart probe that can profile the snowpack as it descends through the layers. The 150cm long SP1 reads snowpack structure, slope angle and aspect in seconds and then geo-tags the data. The tool is designed to interface with software called AvaNet,… Read More
Editor’s Note: In the three days since this story was originally posted, BC Parks has announced that, “The Spearhead Huts Comittee (SHC) proposal has met all of the qualification criteria”. This means that as the sole qualified respondent, SHC have been given the green light to develop the permit required to build and operate the huts in the Spearhead Area… Read More
Tradeshow Highlights – Avalanche Airbag Packs There’s no shortage of Outdoor Retailer (OR) trade show beta on the interweb, but I’d feel amiss in my duties I didn’t add something about the newest backcountry ski gear we saw while walking the halls at OR. In the big picture, I’d say the two biggest themes for backcountry skiers were avalanche airbag packs… Read More
Avalanche safety has been making the news more than ever this season. Given a few recent high profile avalanche accidents (Wyoming avalanche, Utah avalanche, BC avalanche) and a highly variable and generally shallow snowpack across much of North America, avalanche safety is on the minds of many. In addition, there’s more interest and effort than ever by the media and… Read More
A recent press release from Scarpa announced that Chris Davenport is currently working on development of a new freeride focused AT ski boot line for the company. According to the release, “Davenport said he was attracted to work with the Scarpa brand not only because of its world-class reputation in the ski-mountaineering, touring and footwear categories, but also because of… Read More
The Winter Wildlands Alliance has a new action item of interest to backcountry skiers in the Bend, OR area. Local skiers are looking to create a dedicated non-motorized area around Tumalo Butte, called the Tumalo Backcountry Recreation Area. TUMALO Butte BACKOUNTRY RECREATION ZONE Proposal Presented to Deschutes National Forest Supervisor John Allen on May 8th, 2008 Some winter recreationists (snowmobilers, dog sledders,… Read More
