Another Avy death in East Vail Chutes

Matthew Gustafson, 33, of Vail, died Saturday when he and a fellow skier triggered a large slide in King Tut and Old Man’s chutes. The avalanche ran about 900 vertical feet and was “4 to 5 feet” deep.
Both men where wearing beacons, but both were buried, so there was no one to search for them. Gustafson was buried for four hours before he was found. His partner was buried with his hand sticking up, and was able to free himself after an hour and call 911.

Another Vail resident, Jesse Brigham, 27, died eight days earlier in an avalanche in the same area.

DOW says don't feed the deer

The Colorado Division of Wildlife urges state residents and visitors not to feed deer that are hanging around their yards or property.
Deer digest very slowly and if they eat the wrong types of food and too much food they will not be able to digest or pass the material and they will die. So, deer should not be fed hay, pet food, fruits, vegetables or any type of table scraps.
If you have sage brush or other shrubs on your property, knock the snow off of those to expose some natural food for the animals.

Trail report

A jog up to Barr Camp Sunday showed the mountain trails in the Pikes Peak region are still overwhelmingly snow-packed. There was very little melt or ice past the second mile, making for good footing. Lower down, freeze and thaw have made for a slick mix.

Looking for deals?

Our friends in The Gazette's marketing department created their second Snow Ride Guide mini mag of the season. It's in today's newspaper. There are some useful coupons inside if you're looking for gear or a place to stay on a multi-day mountain trip.

And check out today's Business section for Bill Radford's story about Jon Easdon, who recently opened the area's newest ski/board shop, Blindside. We mentioned it here on the blog before he opened, and Dave checked out some gear in his annual December gear guide.

Jon as worked at various ski shops around town and for a board maker. His goal is to give everyone who comes in individual attention. We could all use a bit more of that when renting and buying gear, for sure.

Blindside is in the giant Angler's Covey building at Highway 24/Cimarron and 21st Street. Don't be afraid to pop in and say hi. You may recognize an ol' slopeside bud.

Montezuma bowl opens today

Arapahoe Basin opens the largest swath of new lift-served terrain in Colorado opens today at 11 a.m. The 400-acre Montezuma Bowl, made up of black and blue runs on the backside of A-Basin, should have fairly good snow too. The basin has 4 inches of new in the last day on packed powder. Mazzeltoff.

Sir Edmund Hillary dead at 88

The first man to climb Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary died Friday of a heart attack. On May 29, 1953, the successful ascent and return by the former New Zealand bee keeper and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in a Brittish team made them instant celebrities.
Over the years he has become known as the dean of Mountaineering, known for his cheerful, humble graciousness

Gas drilling in Baca Wildlife Refuge

NPR had a story this morning on attempts to drill in the new Baca Wildlife Refuge near Crestone.
Listen to it here.

No sign of snowboarders near Wolf Creek Pass

Michael George and Kyle Kerschen, both 27 and from Albuquerque, drove to Colorado on Friday for a weekend of snowboarding. Their was found in the ski-area parking lot, but there's been no trace of them. High winds and more than four feet of snow have hampered rescue efforts, but today, skiers are clear. Helicopters and searchers on skis plan to survey the area.

As a long-time snowboarder who now spends more days on skis, I must note that in the past week there have been a number of other stranded or injured snowboarders in the backcountry adjacent to ski areas. Any snowboarder can tell you if you fall in deep powder, it can be impossible to get up. If you stop, it can be hard to get going again. Ski's let you at least shuffle in the snow, a board doesn't. These two guys could easily be in a creek drainage a quarter-mile from the boundary rope, but unable to move.

Burton demos at Copper

(Team Burton crewmembers "work" a few feet of fresh snow in this photo from Burton.com. You should check out the site, it's fun, you'll look up an hour later wondering where the time flew.)

It's demo time. Burton Snowboards is bringing the "largest consumer demo in the snowboard world" to Copper for a long weekend - Friday to Sunday. You can check out new boards, boots and bindings and other gear, and there'll be interactives to keep you busy and entertained. Or maybe you'll be entertaining others...

Stay for the after-party at Endo's Adrenaline Café, on the edge of the Burning Stones Plaza, 4-6 p.m. Saturday. God knows there'll be entertainment there.

Copper has received more than 11 feet of snow, so it should be a great weekend to ride.

New look at Snowmass

Think you know all about Snowmass? Check out the area's new Web site, which highlights the parks, backcountry terrain and freeriding available at this huge ski resort.

You can look at photos and post your own, read about different areas of the resort and locate them on a panoramic photo, and check in on the local pros, too.

Zuma set to open

Arapahoe Basin’s Montezuma Bowl will open to the public for the first time this Friday, January 11 at 11 a.m. The 400-acre Montezuma Bowl, made up of black and blue runs on the backside of A-Basin, is the nation’s largest terrain expansion for the 2007-2008 ski season. The bowl has a fixed-grip quad lift with a 9-minute ride. Expect lines, at least on opening day.

For more, visit www.arapahoebasin.com

New bill aims to protect 36,000 acres of Roan

AP - Sen. Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. John Salazar said Tuesday they will introduce a bill to prevent direct drilling on about 36,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land on the Roan Plateau, backing up a key recommendation from Gov. Bill Ritter on gas development on the western Colorado landmark. Read more here.

Dog dies in Loveland Pass Avalanche

With lots of new snow, and lots of wind yesterday, avalanche conditions were prime in Summit County. According to the Summit Daily News two skiers escaped an avalanche they triggered on Loveland Pass Tuesday, but one of their dogs could not be found.

Summit County Search and Rescue said the two skiers set off slides down Dave’s Wave and Ironingboard, two popular backcountry ski runs between Arapahoe Basin and Loveland Pass.

Rescue teams were told to stand down after learning that both skiers were safely out of harms way, but unfortunately one of the skier’s dog was unable to be found.

Snow keeps piling up in the highcountry

I x-country skied to work today on a light and fluffy 4 inches, just 'cause I wanted to. But in the highcountry, you basically have to. It's been snowing for days, and many spots got almost a foot last night. That's Vail above. Check out Silverton, below, which has so much snow it can't open. Oh snap!

Snowmobilers found alive

AP - Six snowmobilers missing for three days in the snowy southern Colorado mountains were brought to safety Monday after calling 911 from a remote outpost where they sought refuge.

The group got lost and ran out of gas on Friday night near 10,222-foot Cumbres Pass just north of the Colorado-New Mexico border, and took shelter in a cabin. When reached by crews on snowmobiles, they were cold and hungry but otherwise unhurt.

The cabin is near the isolated Osier Station, a small wooden building that serves as summertime stop on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, a tourist line. Groen said his cell phone didn't work in the cabin, and bad weather kept him from leaving to find a place where he could get a signal until Monday morning.

Avalanche death in Vail

An avalanche killed a 27-year-old man Friday while he was snowboarding outside the boundaries of Vail on Friday.

Jesse Brigham, a Vail Resorts employee, was riding Vail's East Chutes with two companions when he was caught and killed in a large avalanche. The terrain was steep, 35-39 degrees, with an east to east-north-east aspect just at treeline. The large hard slab was 2 to 7 feet deep, 130 feet wide, and ran 800 vertical feet. The slide initiated on an old bed surface, but quickly ran to ground. The avalanche carried the boarder over at least one cliff band and into a group of small trees.

The other two party members quickly found the boarder, but they needed a rescue group to transport the victim out of the complicated terrain. The victim was the only party member on the slope at the time. All three party members were carrying avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes.

It was the nation's 14th avalanche death this season, but Colorado's first.

Don't count on those beacons.

No kidding.... Silverton 50 freakin' inches!

Which would be sweet, except it means the mountain is closed. Wow, what a storm.
Crested Butte 17"
Beaver Creek 16"
Monarch Pass 14"
Vail 10"
Snowmass 9"
Breck 6"
Winter Park 8.5

More to come!

52 Things - let the games begin!

Dave didn't really expound on this, but if you'll take a look at the introduction to today's Out There story, you'll notice that this is not just another "here's a bunch of crap to do in 2008" story. Oh no.

There's also a checklist involved. And a prize. Or two.

This was basically our way to throw some sweet schwag at loyal readers of the Out There blog. Sweet as in a couple hundred bucks to spend at Mountain Chalet sweet*.

Dave and I figured that, in an average year, we'd each do 10 or 15 things on the Big List just in the natural course of events. He runs the Ascent. I run the Numbers. He skis the Imperial Challenge. I ski the trees at Steamboat. You get the gist.

With that in mind, we figured that some enterprising soul could, with a modicum of additional effort, knock off say 25 or 30 or even 40 items from the List. And take a photo while they're doing it. And send those photos to us to post here.

In return, we'd shower them with glory. And schwag. Don't forget the schwag.

So, you readers of Out There blog you, pick up today's section, pin it up to the wall and start checking stuff off. We'll make it worth your while.

*Note that we haven't actually bought the aforementioned gift certificate, so our willingness to write a medium-big check will be in direct proportion to your willingness to play along.

Can the plastic in some bottles make you sick?

On today's Out There cover we noted the recent move by a Canadian gear co-op - like an REI - to stop selling certain plastic bottles because customers were concerned about the possible toxicity of a chemical, bisphenol A.

Gazette reporter Melissa Cassutt reported on similar concerns around here among some parents who fear their babies will consume the chemical after it leaches into liquids in their bottles.

There doesn't seem to be much research yet. One study that kicked off recent news stories can be found here.
(Once you're there, look on the right side of the page and click on “Reports.” Scroll down and click on “Toxic Baby Bottles.”)

Bisphenol A has been linked to reproductive problems and cancer in lab mice, according to the study.

“I think that some of the things (Environment California) say are based somewhat on their political views,” David Weiss, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, who reviewed the report and other studies on the topic, told The Gazette. He said the concentrations of the chemical are so low that they are below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “levels of concern.”

Wondering whether the bottle you're using could contain bisphenol A? If the plastic is stamped with a “PC,” it is polycarbonate plastic; if the plastic is stamped with a recycling sign and a “7,” it probably is polycarbonate. Bisphenol A is used in polycarbonate.

Yes, my Nalgene bottle is stamped with a recycling sign and a 7. Just call me a lab rat.

Two boys dead in Skier vs. Tree

Two boys died Thursday in separate incidents by running into trees while skiing fast on blue runs.
The first was an 11-year-old from England on Breckenridge's Bonanza run on Peak 9.
The second was a 15-year-old from Oklahoma on Wolf Creek's Silver Streak.

These crashes are both typical and unusual. About 10 people die in skiing accidents in Colorado every year. Most are male, most hit trees, and most do it on blue runs. So everything matches up there. However, these are the first deaths of the ski season, which is an anomaly. You can typically count on someone buying the farm during Christmas week. Good snow and extremely low temperatures can often lessen the likelihood, so that may be a factor this year. It barely got above zero degrees during all of Christmas Week in Summit County.

It's also unusual for someone as young as 11 to ski aggressively enough to be fatal.

But perhaps the most unusual aspect is that one of the kids died at Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek hasn't had a fatality for 13 years, according to owner Davey Pitcher. One reason is the lower skier numbers. It probably takes Wolf Creek a month to handle as many skiers as Breckenridge does in a day. The other reason, I think, must be the snow. Wolf Creek gets about 500 inches of powder a year. It's very rare to get the fast, icy conditions where most ski accidents occur.
Yesterday, however, Wolf Creek was reporting "packed powder" conditions. Looks like we need another big dump to keep us safe.