Wow, it’s dumping snow here in Carbondale, Colorado (one of the top 10 adventure towns of the U.S., according to some)! Took a walk last night and enjoyed the drifting snow flakes mixing with Christmas lights on Main Street. More importantly, when the weather hits here, it usually means that the Aspen area is getting hammered.
Speaking of the ol’ star studded mining town. Ski writer Jay Cowan is an old high school friend of mine. I always enjoy finding another one of his gems on the web. This time, in Ski Magazine he talks about Aspen Highlands ski resort and the front-country backcountry of Highland Bowl (where I had a little encounter with God some time ago.) Jay’s take is an excellent mix of insider knowledge and long-view opinion. I’m amused at how hiking a few hundred vertical feet to a steep bump run has achieved the status of high adventure. But not to get cynical — Highland Bowl really is a fun place, and yields some excellent avalanche-safe powder skiing after storms. That’s something the parent of a teen age powder hound appreciates..
My only beef with Jay is that he continues to work Hunter Thompson (who lives near Aspen) into his articles. Word is that Hunter appears to have some some real mental problems. When John Kerry visited Aspen during the campaign, one of the first things he did was climb into a car with Thompson. That little stunt made me ill. I felt sorry for Kerry. One can only wonder if Kerry tried to actually carry on a conversation with Hunter (who mumbles like some guy with an oatmeal necktie). Perhaps they spoke about the massive numbers of Hunter Thompson fans who would storm the polls after they knew Hunter would ride around in a car with Kerry? Democratic campaign mistake number 4,965?
In the amusement department, I have to call attention to the recent Consumer Electronics show where Bill Gates was showing off some Windows computing stuff, and it crashes! What bozos! (And rich bozos, at that…)Because of my eclectic work I’ve always been stuck with Windows. XP and 2000 can run pretty much crash-free, but they still frustrate when things go bad. And when that happens, there is nothing worse than knowing some guy is reaping money from the junk you can’t get working. On the other hand, if it wasn’t for the de-facto standardization of Windows and related software, we would not have the amazing variety of computing tools now available. So I also see the value in the Gates’ virtual monopoly. But I can still enjoy a warm glow as he deals with a Windows crash in front of several thousand people. I just wish I could see the company memos.
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.
