Pine Cobble Ski (De)scent

This morning, while finishing off some pancakes, my friend SP got a call from Julia asking for my number. Luckily, I was right there, and quickly arranged for a ski descent of Pine Cobble. Pine Cobble could be ideal for skiing: good snow accumulation, easy access (.5 miles from campus), 15-25 degree slopes, marked ascent trail as part of the Appalachian Trail. But it isn't. At least not with 10 inches of snow, or even 36 inches. 12" fresh with two feet crust underneath and it would be skiable, as all the sharp rocks and logs and stumps and vines would be buried, leaving only small trees, some larger birches and maples, and obviously a lot of evergreens to navigate.

 Leaving Williams, nice cloud cover and fresh coating of white

Adie showing off mad tele skills

Sun at the summit 

Started skiing near my ski coach Bud's house in the housing development, and was very glad I brought my rock skins. Even following the summer trail, sharp rocks stopped progress every few hundred feet. We met a nice fellow out snowshoeing; said he'd lived on the mountain his whole life and had never seen anybody ski down. We made it to the summit viewpoint, switched into downhill mode, and started shredding the 10" fresh powder over ZERO base. Slow going with lots of not-quite-falls, sudden stops of motion, and skis tangled in branches. But we made it down, edges mostly intact, no core shots.

Unknown if this is the first ski descent of pine cobble in recent years, but hopefully its my last, unless New England can get a 5 foot dump, which might turn the world upside-down.

I am no longer going insane

Snow is my existence during the winter. And we've had a major shortage the past two years out here (back in the Cascades, there's a 10 foot base, so at least summer skiing will be good). But it's finally changing. We haven't had a major snow even since early January, so now Williamstown and Prospect Mountain may get a whole foot of snow. My race skis tell me that they aren't to be used on rocks, and they may finally get their wish this weekend. 

No bets on whether this will actually change my mood, convince me to jump out my window, or stop me from scheming new ski trips, but I will no longer look longingly towards a two story parking garage, hoping some squall will appear out of the sunshine and bring some fluffy white goodness. And if this storm snow can last a few weeks, I'll be set until the Republic of Georgia. 

New (old) ski destination: Mestia, Georgia

Heading to Mestia in Svaneti to ski in six weeks. We'll be some of the first Americans to ski the area, which is part of the Georgian president's initiative to turn parts of Georgia into Swiss villages. Fortunate for Western skiers lazy enough to hop on ski lifts after a short plane ride, maybe unfortunate for the locals whose culture is slowly being eroded with new construction amidst 1,000 yr-old defense towers. But there's still time, things are just beginning to change on the exterior, and in winter, snow stops most construction.
Another place to see before its gone. Two months or two decades from now, places can be changed forever.
 http://bombsnow.com/archives/friends-of-georgia-team-bomb-snow-in-mestia

The shirt you always see me wearing

A piece to wear to work, the bar, and the trailhead. Sure, its made of cotton and probably shouldn't be worn skiing, but anywhere dry its fine. Slightly rough texture reminds you you're true outdoorsy, though not itchy like an old school wool shirt. Button pockets keep stuff in and don't hurt the fashion statement. Plus its pretty darn cheap, and lasts well (going on 4 years with mine, almost-daily use in fall/ winter). Available here: http://www.fallenfootwear.com/?product=12fa-cheyenne-flannel-ltd -Ben C

Popping into the City

Three days in New York, dozens up meetings, a few hours of sleep. Endless lessons, stories, and sights. New faith in broadcast media, investigative journalism, Chipotle, and subways.

New Ski Website- Fatterskier.com

Hey- I've been working on a new website the past few days, hopefully you'll take a look. It has to do with one of my favorite things in the world: SNOW. A bit primitive right now, but hopefully Fatterskier.com can evolve into something superb. Go ahead and check it out, maybe find yourself a deal, and look forward to future updates, including freeskiing news, videos, more gear reviews, ski shopping help, and policy updates.

Thinking about snow, boundaries, and where we can play

This shouldn't be the future of New England winters, though it appears from last year and the start of this year that we may be on such a track. Out West, however, snow does still exist. So I've decided to start a mini-series on access to snow and solutions for maintaining safe but open access to the backcountry so many take for granted. Much of this was written earlier for an environmental policy course, feel free to email me at benxcski at yahoo dot com if you're interested in learning more or would like to read the whole work.

     Large potential for friction exists between groups of skiers, the ski areas themselves, local law enforcement, state legislatures, and the USFS among other actors. While public land access during the off-season is relatively straight-forward as ski areas are not in operation and avalanche risks are low, the issue and safety of access to bordering non-permit land during the operating season of ski resorts is much more complex and deserves analysis. This paper will enumerate and classify the numerous actors involved in ski area boundary policy, and with these actors in mind, will develop and analyze a set of factors currently affecting boundary policy.

     Current boundary policies, which include signed access points, open but marked boundaries, and roped off, no-crossing boundaries, are influenced by a number of historical and current ownership issues, safety considerations, rescue coordination, and state laws. Some factors leading to these complexities are avalanche control, rescue costs and coordination, hazardous terrain, other access routes to non-permit lands, and state and federal liability laws. User education and technology is also useful in determining safe boundary policy, and is thus within the scope of this paper. Public land access is the main issue at stake, and in this case the legality and applicability of such access involves government leasing policies, application of local and state legislation in opposition of federal policy, and the role of ski areas in controlling or patrolling areas beyond their permit boundaries.
     The recommendations developed through an analysis of current policies, laws, and technologies will be applicable to and designed around western ski areas, as these are the areas with the most conflicts and controversy surrounding their current boundary access policies. The feasibility of implementing these recommendations will rely on extensive collaboration between users, ski area operators, the USFS, and other actors outlined in the paper. While the 2010 Ski Area Recreational Enhancement Act allows for fee-based use on permit lands for summer activities, there is little to no research so far into boundary access during the summer in these situations, thus limiting the scope of the analysis to the winter environment. The themes present in the recommendations, however, will be adaptable to similar access issues over boundaries, as long as similar factors are involved.