Just a quick note to all you WildSnow.com readers out there. About 2,000 of you a day have been visiting us. Thanks!
Looks like the blog experiment we started a year ago is now a bonafide web entity that entertains and informs. With your support, we intend to keep it that way. You’ll find a fresh blog post here nearly every day of the week, and we’ve got numerous how-to, mod and trip articles coming up. More, we’ll be serving up our unique slant on new gear developments when we cover the Outdoor Retailer trade show coming up at the end of January.
As for blogging in the traditional sense (daily journal): Yesterday’s outdoor session of the Aspen community avalanche seminar was terrific. We hung out in the backcountry near the top of Aspen Mountain, dug pits, practiced beacon searches, and generally ramped up our avalanche safety awareness. Managed to squeak in a nice backcountry skiing poke at the end of the day as well, just to keep it real. Thanks goes to Mountain Rescue Aspen and the Aspen Skiing Company for this excellent yearly event.
|
| How to use a beacon — 101. |
Back to the subject of WildSnow.com, here is an example (lightly edited for privacy) of the feedback we’ve been getting. Thanks folks! (Now I rest my weary blogging fingers — after all, it’s Sunday.)
“Lou,
Hi! I just wanted to drop you a line and say thanks
for what you do. I met you briefly a few months ago
… A friend has been hooked on your site for a while and now
he’s gotten me hooked. I’m a beginner everything and
S. took me out telemarking for the first time last
weekend. I had a blast. But, it wasn’t quite
perfect. Now I’ve been reading your site (more than
you would imagine), reading up on AT, and am ready to
take the plunge. Alpine’s not for me. Telemark is
close. And I think AT will be closer. I’m using your
budget discussion as a guideline and now am moving
forward.
Of course, I am a beginner and there’s a long way to
go. But I wanted to thank you for your site. It has
allowed me to get somewhat educated and comfortable
with where I’m headed.
Thanks, L.”
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
