It’s official, Outside Magazine’s “Ten Latest Towns to be Ruined by Too Much Popularity” will be available for your edification in their next issue. Jackson, Wyoming is their pick for a Western town, ostensibly because of its “good pubs” and a number of other factors.
Outside should mention in their article that outdoor author and backcountry skier Ted Kerasote lives near Jackson. Ted’s an old friend of mine from late 1970s Outward Bound instructing days, and his early encouragement has a lot to do with my own career as an outdoor communicator. I’ve watched Ted’s writing do a slow but steady burn to success over the years, and he’s finally in the big time. Kerasote’s new book about his dog, “Merle’s Door,” recently made the New York Times best sellers list after only two weeks in publication. Congratulations Ted!
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| In honor of Ted’s new book, here is a photo of my own dog Princess who accompanied Ted and I on several backcountry ski expeditions back in the 1980s. Princess got killed by a car before getting old, but had quite a life. She gave me a sample of what days must be like in dog heaven when during a NOLS rock climbing course I was teaching circa 1981, she went around one night after the students had done their fry/bake practice and ate every one of their pies. She looked like an inflated tick when she returned, and her smile was classic. The students were not impressed, but I’ve been laughing about it ever since. |
We can’t let a roundup go by without some global warming comments. Near here in Aspen they have an event every summer called the “Aspen Ideas Festival.” The thing is sort of an intellectual circle jerk with occasional explosions of wisdom. For example, I’ve always enjoyed (but don’t necessarily agree with) New York Times journalist Thomas Friedman’s take on the issues. At the Ideas Fest he took on global warming, and said “we’re in the middle of a big green hallucination.” To see what he means by that, check out this article about his talk.
It’s indeed summer in the Northern Hemisphere but you can still find some gems in the ski news. For example, check out this article about a team of women doing a ski expedition on Mustagata (the popular 24,750′ mountain in China). According to one of the gals, “Ski mountaineering is one of the few experiences where you get a reverse hangover. You get the headache first from the altitude and the exhilaration comes afterwards.”
Here at WildSnow.com world HQ, we continue to tweak this website and add content. I’ve been working hard on the binding museum, and changed the news scroller (upper right on this page) to a more interactive version that you can control with your mouse. I’ve also been doing quite a bit of browser compatibility testing to make sure everyone out there can see WildSnow.com in all its glory. If your browser/operating system combo doesn’t seem to display this website correctly, please let us know, and please tell us what you think of the new news scroller.
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.
