My Page: Bob Berwyn

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SNOWBLOG

Update: A 17-year-old from Massachusetts died Sunday afternoon in an out-of-bounds slide near Snowbasin Ski Area in Utah, the sixth person killed in an avalanche in the Northern Rockies in recent days.

The white death took a grim toll over the holiday weekend, as avalanches killed five people in Montana, Utah and Idaho. Consistent with a 10-year trend, at least four of the victims were snowmobilers. During that span, snowmobilers made up by far the largest number avalanche deaths across the country, surpassing skiers, climbers and other backcountry travelers.

An avalanche warning that was in effect for parts of the Colorado Rockies was dropped, but the danger is still classified as “considerable” across most of the state, with a “moderate” hazard in the southern San Juans, which didn’t get hit directly by the most recent storm. A backcountry traveler was injured in a slide Saturday near the east entrance of the Eisenhower Tunnel along I-70. He wasn’t buried by the snow but suffered trauma from a collision with a tree, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

Click here for more. [more]

SNOWBLOG

Wax ‘em up, because Mother Nature is going gangbusters in Colorado this week, with widespread snow leading to accumulations of up to two feet across many mountain areas. A winter storm warning from the National Weather Service is in effect through Friday, and forecasters with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center are predicting another foot of snow in mountains favored by a northwest flow, including Steamboat the Vail and Summit County resorts along the I-70 corridor.

An avalanche watch is in effect for Colorado’s northern and Front Range mountains, with the potential for a widespread natural slide cycle and for triggered releases across all aspects and elevations. The heightened avy hazard comes as Summit County looks back exactly 20 years, when a massive slab tore down the face of Peak 7 near Breckenridge, killing four backcountry skiers within sight of the resort’s ski patrol headquarters.

Click here for more on that slide the rest of today’s blog.
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SNOWBLOG

After a pesky dry spell that lasted for most of January, Ullr finally returned to Colorado and brought widespread snow to the mountains, with the heaviest amounts in the San Juans. Silverton Mountain reported 18 inches, while Telluride and Durango Mountain Resort reported about of foot of fresh from the storm. Snowfall totals were not as impressive farther north, with only a few inches around most of the major I-70 corridor resorts, but on and off snow the rest of the week should help improve conditions that were getting a bit bony. Other parts of the west also tallied impressive amounts, with Sierra resorts in California finally getting some after a super-dry start to the season. Mammoth reported about three feet of snow from the storm, while several Utah areas picked up a couple of feet. Keep your boards handy because there’s more on the way. Click here for the full Colorado snow report.

Also in today's Snowblog, check out mountain town humor from the Summit Daily News, an update on affordable housing rules in Vail and U.S. Ski Team results at the World Championships in Sweden. [more]

SNOWBLOG

Aaaah, the wide-open backcountry in the snowy mountains of Colorado. Or maybe not so wide open around some of the busy ski resorts like Aspen, where a recent collision between a snowboarder and a snowmobiler led to all sorts of soul-searching, and now even a call for increased regulation in some favored side-country stashes, where the traffic is apparently getting out of control.

The Jan. 14 crash on Richmond Ridge left both men injured. The 'boarder, a local pro by the name of Doran Laybourn, was in the hospital for two weeks. One of his legs was shattered in the accident. The snowmobile driver spent four days undergoing treatment and observation, and local law enforcement officials investigated to determine whether any charges were in order. In the end, the sheriff’s department did not pursue any action. But the Aspen Times is reporting that both men involved in the wreck think local officials should do more to improve safety on the backside of Aspen Mountain. In a separate story, Aspen Times writer Scott Condon reported that a discussion thread on the snowboardmag.com Website got a little out of control, featuring threats against the snowmobiler.

Also in today's snowblog, Aspen Police tally X Games enforcement, and Breckenridge may consider a law to regulate the number of real estate and other professional offices along Main Street. Click here for the full blog. [more]

SNOWBLOG

My best ski days so far this season have been the past few Thursdays, when I managed to sneak out of the office to get on the local hill with a rippin’ posse of free-heelers: Parker, Noah, Becca, Wade, Dylan and all the rest of the third, fourth and fifth-graders from Summit Cove Elementary School who chose telemark skiing as their gig in the school district’s winter recreation program.

OK, so I didn’t really have to sneak out of work. We’re planning a multi-media story about the winter rec program at the Summit Daily News, so combining roles as a volunteer parent and reporter, my Thursday afternoon sessions have been relatively guilt-free.

Given that we live in a community so heavily shaped by a winter sports legacy, it seems appropriate that our kids learn early what if feels like to be out on the mountain, no matter what the weather. The program has been a valued part of the curriculum for years and I cherish it even more for the chance it gives to spend the afternoon with my son. [more]

SNOWBLOG commentary

I’ve been in a bit of a ranting mode lately on the topic of ski resort development, and a few people who commented on a recent piece about all the ski “village” hoopla we have to put up with here in Colorado rightfully pointed out that my tone was perhaps a bit whiny. OK, I’ll blame it on the lack of snow. Other than one decent storm early in the month, January was dry. Good powder was hard to come by. And a string of bone-chilling days with single-digit highs didn’t improve my outlook — nothing against the cold, as long as there’s some fresh fluff to along with it, and that just hasn’t been the case.

I’ll start by reporting a threat I got after describing (I thought pretty accurately) the mindless, soulless push to plaster every possible square inch of ground around here with over-sized, energy hogging condo complexes jutting right up against public lands designated for what is supposed to be a natural recreation experience (that would be skiing). Turns out that some people felt my characterization of their activities could somehow affect their job prospects. So I got a nasty email with a generic “If-you-don’t-stop-I’ll- contact-my-lawyer” message. So much for the First Amendment. To be sure, I considered backing off for a split-second, but truth be told, I am just so over the “I’m-just-doing-my-job” line. It’s a cop-out. We deserve better answers from the people who are responsible for promoting the cancerous, unsustainable growth that threatens to turn our mountain communities into hollow shells. [more]

SNOWBLOG

According to a thread posted on TelemarkTips.com, snow scientist and avalanche guru Ed LaChapelle died Feb. 1 at Monarch Mountain ski area. LaChapelle was skiing with Knox Williams, former director of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, and Art Mears, another Colorado-based avalanche expert, when he became ill and was taken away in an ambulance.

Ed LaChapelle died just a week after his ex-wife, Dolores LaChapelle, died of a stroke in Durango, Colorado. Both were known for their deep, intimate involvement with the world of mountains and snow, and both will be sorely missed.

LaChapelle was part of the pioneering crew of Forest Service snow rangers at Alta who laid the basic groundwork for avalanche control programs at ski areas and for highway departments. As well, he authored The ABCs of Avalanche Safety, a slender, pocket-size how-to manual that has for decades been a mandatory text for winter backcountry travelers. [more]

SNOWBLOG

What a weekend we have coming up. Summit County should live up to its self-proclaimed status as “Colorado’s Playground” the next few days with a full lineup of killer winter events, not to mention a decent dusting of fresh powder.

For starters, a posse of backcountry enthusiasts, ski patrollers and avalanche experts will gather Saturday, Feb. 3 at Arapahoe Basin for the 5th annual Beacon Bowl, a fierce and friendly competition to determine exactly who is fastest at finding a buried avalanche transceiver.

And when you’re done bowling for beacons, you can head over to Breckenridge and catch DJ Logic, the irie tunes of the Wailers Friday night (Feb. 2) or Blackalicous and Michael Franti on Saturday (Feb. 3). It’s all part of The Honda Ski Tour, billed as a fusion of mountain sports, culture and music.

More after the jump. [more]

SNOWBLOG

Better preparation could help avoid a repeat of the costly pre-Christmas closure of Denver International Airport, the Denver Post’s transportation writer Jeffrey Leib reported in the daily’s Sunday edition. The airport closed the afternoon of Dec. 20 and stayed closed for 45 hours. More than 2,000 flights were canceled leaving 4,700 travelers stranded during a critical travel season, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars to airlines and the local economy. Using information from a preliminary report compiled by a winter operations expert, as well as from the airport’s daily operations log, Leib pieced together the story of the storm closure. High-speed multi-function snow removal equipment, along with industrial-size snow melters, more employees and better inter-departmental communication are the keys to avoiding lengthy shutdowns in case of similar blizzard conditions in the future, the Post reported.

Also in today's Snowblog, a Denver Post guest columnist takes a critical look at an urban snowboard park, while the newspaper's mountain bureau reports on a plan to develop a glitzy private report on an EPA Superfund site near Vail. More after the jump. [more]

SNOWBLOG

The ski community lost a cherished member this week when long-time Silverton resident and powder skiing pioneer Dolores LaChapelle died of a stroke in Durango, Colorado. When I saw the first news of her passing on Lou Dawson’s Wild Snow blog, I wanted to post something immediately, but instead found myself thinking deeply about what it means to write, ski and live in the Rocky Mountains. Then I went skiing, looking for the best snow I could find in this dry, cold January in Colorado. I think Dolores would have wanted it that way.

Dolores etched many first tracks down challenging pitches all around the Rockies. The Utah Ski Archives, for example, give her credit for making the first known descent of Alta’s Baldy Chute, along with Jim Shane, back in 1956. Along with her ski exploits, Dolores was also a gifted writer, as well as one of the early proponents of deep ecology, a philosophy that considers humans to be an inseparable part of the natural environment. [more]

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