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Land Management

The U.S. Forest Service today denied a request from recreation groups asking that snowmobiles on national forest lands be managed under the same guidelines applied to all other classes of off-road vehicles.

In August 2010, 90 organizations representing 1.3 million members filed a petition with the forest service and the Department of Agriculture formally requesting that the agency amend the 2005 Travel Management Rule, the framework used to designate routes, trails and areas on each national forest unit open to motorized use. Petitioners requested the removal of an exemption making management of over-snow vehicles optional while making designations for all other classes of off-road vehicles mandatory.

Adventure Journal Post

There’s no better alarm clock than the sound of avalanche charges banging off at your local hill, the reverbing echo calling out to you: “Powder daaaaaayyy, powder daaaaaayyyy.” In fact, the only better possible alarm is when it’s your real alarm because you’re the one who’s out there throwing the slide-o-mite. Bombs before breakfast, baby!

New West Feature

Because Salmon is so remote—about 150 miles from the nearest competitors in Idaho Falls and Missoula—tournament weekends often involve a two-night stay in the town’s hotels.

Kerrie Burley, a manager for the Stagecoach Inn, doesn’t mind the floor hockey that’s going on down the hallway with a group of rambunctious “PeeWees” or 11- and 12-year-old skaters. “Hockey is a blessing to us in the winter,” she commented calmly. A good hockey weekend can book up to 70 rooms per night.

Nick Bertram, owner and brewer of the eponymous Bertram’s Brewery, pitches in for Salmon Hockey whenever he gets the chance. He donates vats of soup to the concession stand up at the rink on big tournament weekends, and he spent years campaigning for a Local Option tax that could support activities like hockey. The tax passed in November 2009, adding 4 percent to lodging bills in the city of Salmon. Salmon Hockey has been a recipient of some of the generated funds, which have were pumped into rink improvements like lighting and electrical upgrades.

He brushes off his efforts as somewhat selfishly inspired. “Mid-winter, all we have is hockey and the locals. Construction isn’t going on, and sales reps aren’t making many trips through here. A good hockey weekend for us actually doubles our weekend business,” he reported.

“It’s wonderful. We love it,” Bertram said. 

Snow Blog Column

Snowbowl officials claim that they wish to increase skiing and snowboarding opportunities for beginner and intermediate level skiers; however, as I’ve noted above, the Lolo National Forest Management Plan explicitly states there is no need to increase local ski-area capacity to meet demand. Regardless of which party is correct, the expansion would occur on our national forest lands.

The proposed 40-year Special Use Permit would allow Montana Snowbowl to construct permanent structures on our national forest lands, for their own economic benefit. At present, the ski resort pays an annual average of only $24,000 to the Lolo National Forest for the present use and administration of 1,138 acres of public lands [4-60].

It is claimed by Snowbowl representatives that the expansion will lead to increased economic incentives for the entire Missoula community. This is a fallacy. By Snowbowl’s own admission, the majority of visitors arrive from local communities. The EIS states that the resort’s expansion would result in a “transfer of income, not a creation of income”.

Skiing & Snowboarding

Sometimes you do everything right and it still goes south. Rachael Burks is sending a sweet wind-carved line outside Grand Targhee in Wyoming, drops a nice fat air, and then lawn darts it. Both skis shoot down the hill and she drills into the snowpack like a carbide bit through balsa wood. The scariest part? The camera operator is too far to help and the guide has to climb through deep snow. Fortunately, despite 11 minutes under the snow, Burks was fine — and has a ripping stretch of turns to show for it.

Year-Round Use

Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about summer, especially when we’re talking about sleepover camp on ski hills. Woodward at Copper is a relatively new, year-round addition to the winter sports offerings at Copper Mountain, Colorado.

Opened in 2009, the centerpiece of Woodward at Copper is the Barn, a 19,400-square-foot indoor terrain park and training facility. Woodward at Copper provides training in freestyle (park and pipe) skiing and snowboarding for athletes of all levels, from beginner to pro. But the fun isn’t all indoors. Even in late July, there is enough snow in the on-mountain terrain park for campers to get out every morning and hit the jumps and the rails.

And while you may be wondering if it’s just a bit too early to care about summer camp, experienced moms will tell you that now is the time to sign up.

Below , a camper perspective on why Woodward at Copper is the coolest summer camp on Earth:

Wildlife Encounters

A YouTube video, embedded below, of a snowmobile chasing a moose on a trail in Grand County, Colo., prompted the Colorado Division of Wildlife to issue warnings about interacting with moose and other wildlife.

The public education campaign is primarily aimed at snowmobilers and snowmobile rental companies.  Wildlife officials say they’re seeing too many videos like the YouTube offering that show people chasing and harassing moose while riding snowmobiles.

“Moose don’t behave like deer or elk,” says DOW Area Wildlife Manager Lyle Sidener.  “You can’t ‘shoo’ them off a trail.  Moose don’t see people as threats and they will stand their ground, or possibly attack.”

Ski Writing

Everyone knows to see the gods face-to-face, you’ll probably have to climb a mountain. Not everyone remembers that pulling that off in winter means you get to ski down.

This book isn’t a book. It’s a little more important than that. It’s a tome of documentation and worship. By the very nature of its large format, “Fifty Classic Ski Descents” is not a page turner. The expansive leaves have the sturdy permanence of roofing shingles. The sprawling photos of menacing but skiable-for-some peaks are arresting.

With each page, it takes a little while to comprehend that the snowbound complexities and complexes featured have been climbed and skied. Indeed, you’ll probably spend more time staring in awe at the book’s photos, including shot after cliff-side shot of skiers tackling breathtaking and death-defying turns to backstraps, chops and rumps of snow steep as walls. Though the text draws from a range of writing ski mountaineers, respected for their knowledge, athletic prowess, teamwork and obvious courage, they all speak the same testimony—as prophets always do. 

Skiing & Snowboarding

Ski towns are like family, but as in many families, plenty of bickering goes on.

Take Crested Butte. Everybody loves the b.c. – the backcountry, that is. But as has been occurring now for 15 years or more, some skiers and snowboarders are buying snowmobiles to eliminate the sweat and get dibs on the choice backcountry slopes.

One local skier recently complained about planning to ski the Slate River, north of Crested Butte, and encountering seven snowmobiles while strapping skins onto her skis.

“I almost threw up from the smell. I turned around and left,” said Melanie Rees.

Resort Profile

Ski resort owners are a lot like farmers – hopelessly dependent upon the weather to make a living. And Lost Trail Powder Mountain owner Bill Grasser, in his insulated overalls, looks like he’d be happier to ride a John Deere tractor than a Burton snowboard.

But this season, Grasser’s snow crop has been bumper. Lost Trail, which straddles the Idaho/Montana border about 90 miles south of Missoula, still boasts more than 110 inches at the base. To put that into perspective, the mountain’s media director Will Moss points out that this year Lost Trail’s base depth has put it among the top five ski areas on the continent.

“We’ve been in there with places like Mammoth and Whistler,” he said. Moss said the pre-season buzz about La Nina weather patterns “has come to fruition.”

And Lost Trail is well-positioned to make the most of it. In the early part of the decade, Grasser got the go-ahead from the Bitterroot National Forest to develop the Montana side of the ski area, bringing the mountain’s assets up to more than 50 trails and a respectable 1,800 vertical drop.

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