Seeing Shannon Meshke blast down the slope, I marveled at the fact this was just her second time on a snowboard.

Shannon, a 16-year-old skateboard enthusiast from Puyallup, embraced the opportunity to jump into the snow last winter. “I love it. There’s so much around here to do; I want to get out and do more stuff like this.”

That’s exactly what a lot of folks want to hear. Several nonprofit wilderness advocacy groups, as well as outdoor industry associations, have launched initiatives to get more young people interested and involved in outdoor recreation.

Shannon focused on snowboarding as her snow sport of choice for a couple of reasons. First, as a skateboarder, she was already comfortable on a single board. Snowboarding also has more a youthful edge — many of her friends were riders.

To get started, she enrolled in a half-day lesson at the Crystal Mountain Snow Sports School. Instructor Curtis Yanasak took a half-dozen would-be snowboarders, aged 16 to 40, under his wing and within just a few minutes had them standing and skating on their boards. Within the first half-hour, they were carefully maneuvering down a short hillside and soon were heading up the lifts for some careful descents on the beginner slopes.

“The basics of snowboarding can be learned quickly,” Yanasak said. “It doesn’t take long before you can safely and easily get down the hill. From that point, it’s a simple matter of practice — working on technique and building skills to get better and be able to tackle more challenging terrain.”

Shannon proved this point rather quickly. After her inaugural lesson, and some tentative free riding later that day, she joined my partner, Donna Meshke (Shannon’s aunt), and me for a full day of snow play. Shannon confidently opted to head straight for the upper runs at Crystal as soon as we arrived. Playing it a little safe, we skipped Rainier Express and instead headed up Forest Queen lift, so we could warm up on moderate blue runs. I underestimated the enthusiasm of a teenager.

Fast learner

After exiting the lift, I skied a few hundred yards down the slope to set up for pictures, only to find Shannon flying down the slope past me. I had to turn and tuck to catch her and then speed downslope to get far enough ahead to get a handful of pictures as she raced by in a blur.

Back at the base of Forest Queen, Shannon was all smiles. “This is great!” she gushed. “I definitely want to keep doing this!”

A few more fast runs on the moderate slopes and we headed for the summit. The Rainier Express lift brought out a bit of Shannon’s novice status as she nervously surveyed the steep slopes under the lift. But she was entranced by the views of Rainier from the ridge summit at the top of the lift, and her confidence returned as she started carving down the steep blue Little Shot run.

“Wow, that was fun, but tiring,” she said.

shannon-01

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 20

Snowboarding and Skiing at Crystal Mtn with Shannon and Donna. New gear field testing

Another upper-mountain run followed lunch, but the long descent started to zap the neophyte boarder’s energy. We spent a few more hours on the mellow runs accessed by Forest Queen before calling it a day. Shannon, though tired, was happy and eager for a repeat.

Shannon said she has no desire to try skiing. Snowboarding, she said, just “fits” her better. That’s understandable, said Crystal Mountain instructor Yanasak.

Yanasak and his boss, Sean Bold — director of Crystal’s Snow Sports School — agree that learning to ski generally has a little longer learning curve than does learning to snowboard.

“Skiing requires a bit more effort and skills development to acquire that initial level of comfort and security,” Bold said. Still, with good instruction, new skiers can be out carving up the slopes their first day, too.

A new skier

Case in point: Seattle outdoor blogger (rockclimbergirl.com) and accomplished climbing enthusiast Sara Lingafelter took her first ski lesson last winter. “A lot of my friends and colleagues ski, but it’s just something I had never done,” Lingafelter said. “It always just terrified me. I’m a scaredy cat. In mountaineering, I have a fairly controlled safety system so I feel more secure. Skiing just seemed uncontrolled.”

But Lingafelter said she embraced alpine skiing, with the ultimate goal of being comfortable expanding into backcountry skiing so she can take her enjoyment of wilderness exploration into the winter months.

“I loved my first experience skiing,” she said. “I am eager to get back out for more lessons.”

The two young women chose different paths for their outdoor experiences, but their goal was the same: to experience and enjoy the varied outdoor opportunities of the Washington Cascades.

With that in mind, Shannon enjoyed her first backpacking experience this past summer, and plans to jump into snowshoeing this month.

Lingafelter said she, too, plans to take up snowshoeing so she can explore the backcountry this winter while developing her skiing skills.

“I want to start doing more seasonally appropriate activities while enjoying our Northwest environments. I love being out there, doing anything, as long as I can enjoy our wonderful mountains.”

Today, Lindsey Vonn cranked out another win – the third World Cup downhill victory of the season for the Colorado native. She took top honors in the downhill event at Haus im Ennstal, Austria. The win today returned her to the  top of the standings in the World Cup Overall Points Race. Vonn now stands 35 points ahead of her nearest competitor, Germany’s Maria Riesch. Riesch took third in today’s event.

With the win today, Vonn shook off the gremlins that have followed her since a nasty tumble last month. That training-run crash resulted in a severely bruised arm (bruised so bad she initially thought it was broken). The arm has been painful, she said, and seemingly slow to heal (though it’s only been a couple weeks — anything but an immediate return to top form is “slow” for this speedster athlete). Vonn has turned in a couple less-than-inspired finishes the last two races since the injury.Today, she said the arm didn’t bother her much. She only felt pain for the first few seconds of the race, then her competitive nature took over.

Vonn said of today’s race, “I really attacked today. It’s a great feeling. Everything is so smooth. I can’t be more happy with my downhill season so far.”

There’s a lot of skiing to do before the Olympic Games, but seeing Lindsey’s return to top form today leads me to believe she’ll join Picabo and the Mahre borthers as one of the all-time great American Olympic ski heroes. I’m hoping to catch up with Vonn early in February before the Vancouver Games begin – the current plans call for the US Team to gather at Mission Ridge for some last minute training before heading north of the border. Hopefully, she’ll add Olympic Gold to her growing list of titles and victories. Stay tuned…..

Those words, written by U.S. District Judge James Redden  in a letter issued May 18, 2009, were addressed to various factions fighting over the recover plans for the Pacific Salmon, listed as endangered under the ESA. Redden went on to suggest that if the states, tribes, federal agencies, private business, commercial and recreational fishermen, and other stakeholders can’t agree to recover plan soon, the courts may need to step in and take drastic action – including ordering the removal of dams from area rivers (especially four contentious fish-killed dams on the lower Snake River).

Redden’s letter focused on the specific policies (or lack thereof) within the  2008 Federal Columbia River Power System Biological Opinion issued by the Bush Administration as a half-assed answer to the issue of the ESA listing of salmon. The Redden letter expounds on the problems with this multi-jurisdictional approach to problem solving. “Only recently have they begun to commit the kind of financial and political capital necessary to save these threatened and endangered species, some of which are on the brink of extinction. We simply cannot afford to waste another decade.”

One problem is there is little consensus of what should be done. Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire praises the Bush policy. She told the EPA just this spring that the Bush policy would ensure the survival of 13 species of salmon while preserving dams and business opportunities. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, though, said just this week that that policy is weak, fraught with policy problems, and lacks a scientific foundation.

Redden praised the ongoing efforts to cooperate and find collaborative solutions to a very difficult problem. But he also noted that in the end, if progress isn’t made – and soon – his court may have the final say on what actions are taken to ensure the legal requirements  of the ESA listing are met.  What are some of those requirements?  Redden says, “Federal agencies must put together a contingency plan to study specific alternative hydro actions, such as (augmenting river) flow and/or reservoir draw downs as well as what it will take to breach the lower Snake River dams if all other measures fail.”

Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a host of tribal councils, and the Bonneville Power Administration, and others must work together to make hard decisions on this crucial problem. Otherwise, the courts will!

People seeking information about specific products are always going to seek out company websites for that product-specific information. The question is, how do you get casual browsers to visit — and stay at — your site? The longer someone surfs through a single site, they more likely they are to develop a connection with that brand.

Merrell, one of the long-time leaders in the outdoor footwear market — and now one of the more innovative designers of active apparel — offers a redesigned website this week. The flash-based site includes a lot of multi-media content. Much of it is focused on their product lines, but there is also a lot of detail about outdoor adventure activities and participants.  Their events page includes a variety of events, from the Boston Marathon, to the Big Blue Adventure (multisport race/participation event series that includes: kayaking, mountain biking, trail running, orienteering, and generation wilderness navigation.

The Merrell.com site also sports a nice visitor’s adventure blog section, so site visitors can add journal posts and photos from their own outdoor adventures.

This site is most definitely a commercial site, designed to help build the Merrell name and sell their products, but the fact that the company is adding non-commercial content is nice to see. Its a nod to the interests of their customers that extends past the contents of their wallets.

Of course, Merrell isn’t alone in this break from the normal business plan online.

Seattle’s own Outdoor Research – www.outdoorresearch.com — has long offered the Verticulture section. OR defines Verticulture as “The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns of human powered adventurers; a predisposition to engage in the exploration of wild country, oceans to high peaks, with a variety of tools in all seasons.”  This section of the OR website is awash in adventure tools and journals. You can read about treks across the Andes, check calendars for important dates, such as the Banff Mountain Film Festival, and find detailed product reports and reviews.

Patagonia, meanwhile, offers some world class essays on public environmental activities, policies and practices.  Patagonia.com also hosts their Tinshed section, which blog section that boasts some incredible esssay, news stories, and general outdoor commentaries.

The list goes on, but the fact remains that the Outdoor Industry is leading the pack when it comes to non-commercial content for the public on commercial websites.  This is a nice trend to see.

Some hard-core powder hounds claim you need a quiver of skis in your closet so you can match the snow conditions and terrain with a specific type of ski. Given the price of gear these days, that’s not a reasonable plan for most of us.

Seattle-based Karhu (a division of K2) offers a line of telemark and alpine touring skis that fit the “quiver of one” model. We tested the Karhu Storm on some early-season snow days high on Mount Rainier, and more recently on the fresh powder at Crystal Mountain.

These wide skis proved to be masters at carving through soft snow, yet held a tight edge when speeding down crusty groomed runs, too. With a fairly stiff tail, and a nice side cut, the Storms responded quickly and efficiently in turns. With 96 mm underfoot (full profile is 128/96/117), the skis float through powder like ducks in water.

The Storm proved a great ski for downhillers who occasionally venture into the backcountry. For those who spend more time skinning up mountains, the Storm is available in a lighter backcountry version, the Storm BC. Using lighter carbon core materials, the BC version shaves about 10 ounces off the weight of each ski (for the 184 cm model). Available in three lengths (170, 177, 184 cm), the Storm sells for $529, while the Storm BC goes for $549. More information: www.karhuskico.com.

To make those skis as versatile as possible, we mounted them with alpine touring (AT) bindings. These types of bindings allow you to lock down your boot heel so you can ski traditional downhill style, but when you’re climbing with skins, or traversing to out-of-bounds slopes, you can flip a lever to allow your heels to lift freely, providing a more efficient and comfortable stride.

There are lots of AT bindings on the market, but none we tested came close in all-around performance to the Fritschi Freeride Plus. The latest version of the popular binding features a maximum DIN setting of 12 so even the most aggressive big skiers will stay securely clicked in. The Freeride Plus works with both AT boots and standard Alpine DIN-approved boots.

The Freeride Plus provided superb edge control in aggressive downhill runs at Crystal, and also allowed great stride comfort when skinning up Mount Rainier. The binding is available in three sizes for perfect fit with your boots, and a pair sells for $439. Black Diamond Equipment, www.bdel.com, distributes Fritschi in the United States.

– Dan A. Nelson, for The Seattle Times

This year, fun has proven fatal much too often. As of today, 26 people have died in avalanches this winter in North America – 13 in the U.S. and 13 in Canada.

The latest fatalities occurred yesterday when avalanche buried five snowmobilers. Three were found and dug out by fellow snowmobilers, but two died in the slide. That brings B.C.’s avalanche fatalities to 11 – one was a skier at Whistler-Blackcomb, the rest were snowmobilers. In the states, there have been 13 deaths, including an unprecedented 3 fatalities at in-bounds areas of established ski resorts. Its unusual to have a single avalanche death in-bounds, but to have three totally separate incidents in one year is unheard of. But it  happened this year: at Squaw Valley in California, at Snowbird in Utah and at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In 1976, there were also three in-bound avalanche deaths, but those were all caught in a single slide.

Part of the problem this winter is that the entire continent has experienced unusual weather. Here in the northwest, we had a late start to winter, but by mid-December, we had a deep, light snowpack forming. The we got heavy windstorms and lots of wind-loading of slopes, followed by warm temperatures and torrential rains.

Part of the problem is a casualness and carelessness about snow safety. I’m no expert, but when experienced ski patrollers are getting caught in slides, either there’s something new afoot in the world of slides, or someone is getting a little lax in their safety precautions.

For recreationists , there are an array of new tools available to help predict avalanche conditions so really there is little excuse for being unprepared. One great new on-line tool was put up by a friend, Steve Casimiro of National Geographic ADVENTURE. The one-click avalanche tool is available at:

http://www.theadventurelife.org/archives/1390

While you are there, check out his blog: it’s a work of art.

Eight snowmobilers died in slides in British Columbia, just this week, a skier died while skiing in-bounds at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and several other ski patrollers were hit by the slide that also severely damaged the Bridger Restaurant on the mountain. The slide, reportedly triggered by avalanche control teams, plowed through windows at the mid-mountain lodge, tore off balconies and railings, and piled snow up to 8 feet deep inside.

In Washington, severe avalanche dangers after cut the state in half, with all east-west highways closed New Years Day because of high avalanche dangers. 

More snow developments and news here:

Jackson Avalanche news:
News Report
Photos of lodge damage

Washington Cascades:
Road Conditions
More Highway Details
Weather

Bad news in that traditional print journalism is suffering. Good news in that people are still turning to traditional sources — though in non-traditional means — for their news.  Of course, some newspaper will tank and disappear as they fail to effectively capitalize on the shifting trends. Others will flourish, as they develop the methods to serve readers while still drawing advertisers.

Its a new day for journalism, and the coming years will be a volatile period of change.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081228-pew-survey-shows-online-news-overtaking-print-in-the-us.html

A relatively new website, Outdoorzy.com – launched in January 2007 – offers outdoore enthusiasts a place to share stories, compare adventures, plan trips, and talk gear.

This week, the folks behind Outdoorzy want to know what you think about gear. Specifically, who do you think makes the best outdoor gear? Cast your vote in the Gearzy Awards on Outdoorzy.com starting today.

http://www.outdoorzy.com/

The press Release at pitchengine.com – Outdoorzy.com – People Cast their Vote in the Gearzy Awards.