Season in Review

Some of the most important things that happened this winter.

By:Powder Magazine / Posted on May 11, 2012

Words: John Clary Davies and Heather Hansman




It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No, really, it was. Despite the losses we sustained, and the snow we didn’t ski, this winter was still full of highlights, and really high ones at that. Here’s what we’re going to remember from this winter.
Powder turns 40

In 1972, the following poem ran in the first issue of POWDER magazine:
There are mountains that i have come from
and mountains i will go to.
the mountains have shown me a love,
a happiness, that must be shared.
In December 2011, POWDER editors, writers, photographers, readers and the skiers that graced the pages gathered in Sun Valley, where Dave and Jake Moe started the magazine 40 years earlier as a rebuke to the prevailing ski titles at the time. “To us powder means freedom…” the editors wrote in that first issue. To celebrate the anniversary, everybody in Sun Valley that weekend got free. -J.C.D.
Deaths rock the skiing world

This winter was overshadowed by death. We lost a lot of skiers—good ones, people who were pivotal to the sport and to our communities, and, for a lot of us, integral to why we started skiing in the first place. It hurts any time there’s a death in the skiing world, and it hurts even more when it feels close to home and when the hits keep coming.
This season, more than any in recent memory, made us question if skiing is worth the risk, and why we still love it. But it is, and we do, and we’re going to keep believing in Sarah, and getting rad for Rudolph and skiing hard for them, and for Jamie Pierre, Steve Romeo, Jim Jack, Johnny Brennan, Chris Onufer, and the other skiers we lost to the mountains this winter. -H.H.
Snowfall disappoints, unless you’re from Alaska

By Christmas, it had snowed a total of 26 inches at Squaw Valley. The area wouldn’t break 100 inches until mid-February. The previous winter, Squaw broke the century mark on Nov. 23. It was that kind of season from Tahoe to Utah, where Alta saw its lowest snowfall in its online records, to Killington, which recorded its weakest snowfall, too.
But it wasn’t all bad. It snowed 865 inches in Alyeska this season. Teton Gravity Research decided to base their entire film there, while countless jib crews took their winches north. Meanwhile, in the Northwest, both Whistler and Mount Baker set snowfall records for the month of March, during which Baker received 260 inches. -J.C.D.
Ski movies get creative

Photo: Sweetgrass Productions

This year’s batch of big-name ski movies was largely predicable: Sage and Dana went big in Alaska, Ingrid skied pow, and Ahmet got twisty on some rails. Cool? Yes. Innovative? Not really. But small production houses, like Sherpas Cinema and Sweetgrass Productions, turned out creative, plot-focused, incredibly well-shot films that we’ll be watching for a long time. And we’re not the only ones who feel that way (cough, Powder Awards Movie of the Year, cough). Even non-skiers took notice, as JP Auclair’s street segment from All.I.Can. went extra viral and Switchback Entertainment’s The Freedom Chair won major accolades at Banff and X-Dance. -H.H.
Josh Dueck lands first sit ski backflip

Photo: X Games 2011

In 2004, Josh Dueck, at the time a freestyle skiing coach, became a full paraplegic after overshooting a jump while attempting a backflip. Eight years later, with a serious middle-finger to paralysis, Dueck landed a backflip in his sit ski for a Salomon Freeski TV episode. The clip has nearly 750,000 views and landed Dueck on the Ellen show. Earlier this season, Switchback Entertainment chronicled Dueck’s story in a short film called The Freedom Chair. The film won the 2012 Powder Video Award for Best Documentary. “You know don’t what kind of curveballs life is going to throw you,” says Dueck during his acceptance speech. “But you just do what you do and you make the most of it and you enjoy the good times.”-J.C.D.
Airbags blow up

After Elyse Saugstad credited her ABS airbag with saving her life in an avalanche at Stevens Pass in February, brands like BCA sold out of their airbag packs, EVO and other stores couldn’t keep them in stock, and casual sidecountry skiers started wearing them. Next year, The North Face and Dakine will be making airbag-compatible packs for the first time. Despite their statistically high level of success—the Swiss avalanche institute found skiers with ABS packs to have a 97 percent survival rate—airbags aren’t a perfect safety net. Days before the Stevens slide, Telluride skier Nathaniel Soules died in an avalanche in Bear Creek when his airbag shredded after he deployed. -H.H.
It’s the winter of Wally

Tom Wallisch. Photo: Reddick/Taylor/Smith

On his final run at Winter X in Aspen, Tom Wallisch was behind Nick Goepper in the standings. Wallisch opened his run with an uncanny ollie five feet up to a rail casing, then stomped a backside 450 out. The judges gave his run a 96.00, good enough for first place and the highest slope score ever. Even the commercial breaks were full of Wally, as his North Face and Verizon spots ran regularly during the event. The 25-year-old University of Utah student went on to win the Killington and Breckenridge Winter Dew Tour stops, and took second at Winter X in Tignes. He even beat out Shaun White, Kelly Slater, Kelly Clark, Travis Rice and Travis Pastrana, among others, (as a 10-seed, no less) to win the 16-person ESPN Action Sports star bracket, voted on by the public. -J.C.D.
The Olympic’s influence creeps into freeskiing

When slopestyle and halfpipe skiing became official Olympic events last spring, the sports started changing. Judging and courses start to become more standardized. In November, the USSA named the slope and pipe teams, which include Tom Wallisch, Bobby Brown, Jen Hudak, and Torin Yater-Wallace, who all started reporting to the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City for coaching, diet tips, and blood tests. Athletes like Hudak, who had been fighting hard for Olympic inclusion, say they’ve been waiting their whole lives to represent their country, but others worry that things will become more cookie cutter, corporate, and overly serious, given what’s at stake. -H.H.
Kaya Turski lands first switch 10

When Kaya Turski stomped a switch 10 on the final jump of the women’s slope course in Aspen, her father jumped in the air and yelled, “History!” And he was right. It was the first time a female had landed the trick at Winter X, and by doing so, Turski, the last competitor in the field, jumped from third place to first, and claimed her third consecutive slopestyle gold medal. Turski went on to win Winter Euro X, the Dew Cup, and the US Grand Prix slopestyle comps this season. -J.C.D
The Mainstream media hypes the danger of skiing

You GUYS, it turns out that you can get hurt, or even killed, skiing, and Brian Williams is on it. Our sport got some unfortunate media exposure when a MSNBC special, called “The Death Zone,” focused on Squaw skiers who have recently died from skiing. Sherry McConkey and Robb Gaffney make cameos, and have thoughtful insight, but overall, skiing is portrayed as dangerous and reckless. Then, HBO Real Sports takes a look at backcountry skiing and says that, “you’d have to be insane” to ski in the backcountry. They interview Tanner Hall who says that we need to keep progressing skiing in the backcountry. And that he wants to ski on Mars. You win, liberal media, you win.-H.H.

7 Questions with the Father of Avalanche Airbags

Attributed with founding the modern avalanche airbag in the ’80s, Peter Aschauer has been a pioneer in, what he calls, the avalanche emergency equipment market.

While never caught in a slide himself, Aschauer has witnessed avalanches and lost friends in them.
At the helm of one of the most well-known avalanche-related gear companies, ABS, the company’s founder took some time to chat with Skiing Business about the future of airbags and avalanche safety equipment.

Peter Aschauer

What do you think it will take for airbags to become mainstream enough for the occasional sidecountry or backcountry user? And When do you see the price and weight coming down enough for the mainstream user?
Every published avalanche accident contributes to raising the awareness for the inevitable residual risk.  Everyone who enjoys out-of-bounds skiing has to take into account the possibility of triggering a snow slab or being caught in an avalanche.  Even the most experienced cannot eliminate this residual risk.  About 80 percent of all avalanche victims die because they were buried under the avalanche.  Why would you not reduce that risk and wear an avalanche rescue bag.
For this reason, I am very confident that the avalanche airbag will become a mandatory part of the standard emergency equipment when going off-piste in the near future.
The weight of the ABS TwinBag system with both airbags is 2.28 lbs (1,035 grams). The activation unit with handle and carbon cartridge (which isn’t yet available in North America) weighs 0.76 lbs (345 grams). The base unit with cover for shovel and probe weighs 2.47 lbs (1,120 grams). That’s a total of 5.51 lbs (2,500 grams).
A weight less than 5.51 lbs (2.5 kg) including the cartridge will be difficult to reach.  Reducing the weight would be at the expenses of material safety.
The price is not determined by material and production costs. A substantial expense factor is the comprehensive quality control. Thus, every airbag is activated after assembly. This 100 percent final check illustrates our product philosophy.
When choosing avalanche safety gear one should consider the functionality and effectiveness of the system and not the price.
Where do you see airbag technology going in the next 5 years?
Hopefully airbag technology will move towards being a more functional system.  The backpack design will not change dramatically, but it will move toward the bags possible effectiveness in an avalanche.  There is a danger that the airbag system will be reduced to a backpack accessory by some vendors.
An important airbag innovation is in the activation of the system.  Too many avalanche victims activate their bags too late or not at all as they are already in the downfall and cannot reach the activation handle anymore.  ABS recognized this hazard and developed the Wireless Activation system that has been successful in many live situations.  The Wireless Activation system is of particular importance to snowmobilers who may be unable to activate the trigger by removing their hands from the throttles in an emergency.
The prevention of the “anchoring effect” in the solidification phase of the avalanche can also be further optimized.  We are already working hard to further develop the technology to reduce the risk of anchoring.
What do you see as the biggest barriers in the airbag market worldwide?
We are missing comprehensive information from the different professional associations.  Some of these organizations still consider the avalanche airbag as “nice to have;” something that supplements the beacon, shovel and probe.  However, many real cases definitely prove that the prevention of one’s own burial is by far the best possible outcome to survive an avalanche accident.  ABS avalanche airbags have a 97 percent survival rate.  An ideal situation would be to have professional associations commit to the following 3 priorities:
1. Prevention:  Avoiding avalanches
2. Self Rescue:  Avoid being buried
3. Team Member Rescue:  Fast locating and rescue of buried persons

Do you think some of the avalanche deaths this year (in North America) are because people think they are over-prepared and over-protected? Does avy safety gear, including airbags, help create a “fearless” mentality?
No one has invented equipment to prevent avalanches, and every avalanche causes an absolute danger to life.  Avalanche emergency equipment was designed and constructed to minimize the risk of death in an avalanche.  Using the word “avalanche emergency equipment” contributes to a better understanding and reduces misinterpretations of what people think they require for safety gear when venturing into the backcountry.  Avalanche airbags can, if designed properly, in most cases prevent a complete burial.  They are, however, unable to prevent deadly consequences including trauma or shock.
Why, years ago, did ABS abandon the technology and design that many of your competitors are using today?
The ABS functionality and effectiveness has always been central to its success.  Ten years of practice and experience and several dozen documented avalanche incidents led to the conclusion that a simple increase in volume was not the best possible solution to increase survival rates.  The position around the upper body and head area results in the victim swimming with the snow similar to clinging to a ball.  In the dangerous run out zone of the avalanche an anchoring effect may be produced.  Snow piles at the end of the avalanche run and can “cork” the body.  If this occurs there is a high risk that the victim can be buried under the second wave of snow that comes down with the avalanche.
According to our experience, a more effective type of architecture is the twin bag system keeps the victim horizontal on top of the avalanche.  During the crucial halting phase of the avalanche, the twin bags allow you to slide on the surface of the deposited snow.  The risk of getting stuck in the solidifying layers of snow and becoming buried is significantly reduced.
In the event that one of the two airbags is damaged and loses pressure, there is usually sufficient volume in the second bag to prevent burial.
Manufacturers of mono-airbags do without this elaborate double safety mechanism and thus ignore an important requirement for practical use.

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen since the ’80s when you more-or-less invented the airbag?  What do you attribute that to?
The development of the bag has taken many years.  From the inception of the idea of staying on top of an avalanche to the current ABS avalanche airbag with wireless activation, carbon canisters and the Vario system with interchangeable zip-ons.  The most important impulses and understandings of avalanches and how systems work in those situations are gained in the field.  At present, 50,000 ABS avalanche airbags are in use.  Those practical experiences in the field give weight to the nearly ideal figure of survival the ABS airbag promotes.
What market do you see as the biggest potential for airbag sales?
In Europe, it is estimated that there are 3 million active, off-piste snow sportsmen, and this figure increases every year.
In North America, freeriding and ski touring are up-and-coming sports.  The market in North America is also very big for snowmobilers.
Our sales force is still focused on Europe.  We are the market leaders here.  In our opinion, the high functionality and effectiveness of the ABS system will also become prevalent in North America.

Peaceful Morzine

The peace in the mountains is a major element which we can all enjoy but are you aware of Morzine's specific rules concerning noise pollution? Here's what the guys at Yodel mag have discovered... 

If you've ever had a luxurious lie in interrupted by some noisy roadworks, you'll appreciate the sanctions placed by Morzine to try and keep the peace.

Noisy worksites, grass-cutting and all other disruptive outdoor noise is banned all day on Sundays and bank holidays. On Saturdays and normal working days, noisy activities are banned between 8pm and 8am.

Any work that might be deemed a nuisance to those nearby is also banned for both high seasons! That means from the third weekend in June until the second weekend in September and in the winter; the second weekend in December until the last weekend in April.

That's alot of peace and quiet...enjoy your lie in on Sunday!

Who Invented Snowboarding?

Who Invented Snowboarding? Not Jake Burton

By Michael Frank, Adventure Journal on June 7th, 2012

On Christmas Day, 1965, Muskegon, Michigan’s Sherman Poppen’s pregnant wife, Nancy, wanted their two daughters, Wendy and Laurie, to play outside so she could get some rest. When the girls were disappointed they couldn’t safely stand up in their sled to go down the snow-covered dunes in their backyard, Poppen fastened together a pair of kid’s skis and after some tweaking invented Muskegon’s most famous toy, the Snurfer. The rest, as they say, is history. By 1968 Muskegon was hosting the World Snurfing Classic, and Poppen licensed the Snurfer name to Brunswick, which sold over a million of the proto-snowboards by the early 1980s. And even though Poppen didn’t actually bother to take up snowboarding until he was in his late 60s, he’s still considered the father of the sport, honored by the Olympic Committee when snowboarding was inducted into the Games. Poppen is being honored by the Muskegon Chamber of Commerce at a ceremony this week. Via Transworld.
Read more stories like this at Adventure Journal.

Mountain Clean Up Thursday 21st June 2012

It's all too easy to take the cleanliness of our mountains for granted but now you have a chance to get involved.

On Thursday 21st June at the bottom of the Express Prolays (Stash lift) you can meet other willing volunteers at 10.30am to help clear the mountain of the winter's rubbish. Don't worry, there will be transport provided to the top of the lift line!
All you need to do is make sure you're wearing sensible clothing and sturdy footwear as gloves and bin bags will be provided.
At the end of the day, Avoriaz Snowzone will kindly be providing a BBQ for all those who volunteered to help out. If the weather isn't looking okay on the day then it will be rescheduled to Friday 22nd.
A message from Stew Monk, who will also be making a short video to accompany the event:
"In conjunction with Mountain riders, our aim is to host an event that brings everybody together to increase awareness of the impact rubbish has on the mountains, and how people's behavior concerning their rubbish can be changed.
For this to happen, each one of us can take certain small steps:
-If you bought it up the mountain, take it back down with you.
-Dispose of rubbish properly in the closest bin/recycling bins.
You can also go further than this, by reducing rubbish at its source:
-Buying products with reusable packaging or with packaging made of recyclable material.
-Buying products with little or no packaging."

If you can't wait until 21st June or are keen for a warm-up round, there will also be litter picking at the Montriond lake and surrounding areas this Friday (15th) at 5pm.

Ski with a Buzz. Get Stung by the Fuzz.

It goes without saying that skiing (and snowboarding) while drunk is dangerous. Heck, skiing while sober is dangerous enough. Yet alcohol is almost as much a part of the culture as snow. To realize that the message about skiing and drinking doesn’t always compute, one needs to look no further than the U.S. Ski Team, where two widely publicized incidents highlighted the issue.
The first was Bode Miller’s startling-but-not-so-startling admission that he has skied drunk in World Cup races. The second was the tale of former U.S. Ski Team development squad member Robert Vietze. Vietze blew his chance at the 2014 Olympics by drunkenly urinating near a sleeping 11-year old girl during an August 2011 JetBlue red-eye flight home from training in Oregon.
Lawyers are often accused of ruining everyone’s fun, so let me clarify: No one’s saying don’t drink. I have lots of fun when I ski and enjoy a good après ski as much as the next person. However, it is important to understand the risks and legal consequences of mixing alcohol and skiing. So here’s a quick overview of the law mixed with minimal preaching.

(photo by Rutger Hesseling)

DUI SUI

Let’s start with the most basic scenario-skiing while drunk. Many people are surprised to learn that skiing under the influence is actually a crime in many states. For example, in Colorado, skiing under the influence carries up to a $1,000 fine [C.R.S. 33-44-109(9)]. In Wyoming, drunk skiing is a misdemeanor that could land you in jail for up to 20 days [Wyo. Stat. Ann. 6-9-301(b)]. Of course, these laws are rarely used to prosecute drunk skiers, but just because the law isn’t often applied doesn’t mean it won’t be applied to you. Just ask the Telluride, Colo. skier who was nabbed by cops in 2009.

Civil Liability

An SUI (Skiing Under the Influence) isn’t the only reason not to drink while skiing. Skiing while drunk increases your chances of incurring civil liability by committing a tort (a “civil wrong”). And while you won’t go to jail (unless your actions also constitute a criminal offense), it certainly can lighten your wallet. Tort verdicts can cost you millions of dollars, making those three beers with lunch the most expensive round of drinks you’ll likely ever buy.

Criminal Liability

In addition to being a crime, skiing while drunk can constitute other crimes like reckless endangerment. Worse still, it can constitute an element of a more serious offense. For example, if you have too many après drinks and run someone over while drunk and kill him, your drunkenness could elevate the crime to criminally negligent homicide or even manslaughter. That definitely won’t look good on your next job application, which, by the way, would likely be written from prison.

David Cronheim

Bartenders Liability

Individuals aren’t the only ones who can be held liable for injuries arising from drunk skiing. Resorts too can be liable. Under what are known as “dram shop” laws, restaurants, bars, and taverns can be liable for serving a visibly intoxicated patron if that patron subsequently injures or kills a third party. Dram shop laws vary greatly state to state, but the common thread is foreseeability.
Consequently, resorts (and bartenders) should be particularly careful not to over serve skiers while the lifts are still turning because it is foreseeable that an intoxicated skier might head back out on the slopes where they pose a danger to themselves and others.

The Preaching

If you’re going to drink at lunch, do so in moderation if you plan to ski after.
Remember alcohol’s effects increase with elevation, meaning that you will get drunk faster. This in turn means you will likely be deemed “under the influence” more quickly than normal regardless of your blood alcohol content.
If you’re driving home after après, be careful not to over consume. Pick a designated driver. Increasingly, law enforcement has been setting up DUI roadblocks on roads from ski areas during après ski hours.
David B. Cronheim, Esq. is an attorney at Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A. in New York a Skiing Business contributor. He also writes a ski law blog, Ski, Esq. He may be reached for comment at DBCronheim@nmmlaw.com.