And that’s how we met Tony. We couch surfed at his house in Bozeman, MT. Frank and I were on a whirlwind trip, skiing parts of Montana and interior BC, hitting up all the main places like Bridger, Whitefish, Fernie, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, Nelson, and Rossland. We “knew” Tony as Tone Capone from the TGR Forums – pre-Facebook era. Without ever meeting us in person, he graciously offered for us to stay at his house and show us all around Bridger the next day. We were lucky to have encountered that several times on this trip including the wonderful Ethan Johnson, who left us a few years back after a losing battle with brain cancer.

Tony Saracelli was the quiet confident sort. Despite his Italian heritage, he was not the boisterous kind. He was humble beyond words. And liked to share his world with others. A pizza delivery guy by night and ski bum by day, Tony was a fantastic ski partner and took precautions to keep everyone safe – more pre-cautions than I have seen the average backcountry skier take. He was far too well aware of how dangerous backcountry skiing could be. But he was incredibly generous and loved skiing more than life:

Yeah, you guys are always welcome to crash! I got a buddy staying with me for the month, but there is another room. Next week is looking promising with “snow showers” in the forecast! Been skiing the sidecountry a lot this week but inbounds and everything else could get really good really fast if a little snow pans out. Not married anymore, but that’s old news. Carlina’s a great woman and we had some quality times, but she needed more than a degenerate ski bum so we had to go our separate ways.

A year or so after our trip to Bridger, Tony gave me a ring. He left a message saying, “Hi. This is Tony Saracelli from Montana – I showed you around Bridger a while back” – as if I had forgotten who he was. But, how could I?

He went on to tell me that he had torn his ACL the previous season and was having a rough time coming back. At that point I had gone through two ACL surgeries myself, and he was looking for advice. I told him what my ski coach told me after my first surgery – She basically said that I would be back skiing that first season, but I wouldn’t really be skiing at the level I wanted. She said that the surgeons and the physical therapists would say I was all healed up, but that healing from an ACL surgery really takes a year or more. She was right. My first year back skiing, I struggled. But, my second year back, I was skiing stronger than ever. I explained all this to Tony and told him to stay the course. We touched base off and on about his knee over the years. Eventually, he came back strong as well.

Mid ski season of 2013 wasn’t shaping up well for Colorado. And after having a one of the worst snow years on record in 2012, we were antsy for adventure. Tony came up with the perfect trip for us. Cooke City. A backcountry skiers dream.

He said,

Would love to ski with you guys again and show ya around some more. Cooke City is also skiing awesome, deep and stable. If you didn’t want to ski Bridger the whole time, you could bring the sled and head out that way and be totally stoked. There is also some really cool stuff down there right from the road. World class ski mountaineering for sure and it’s pimp down there right now.

So, to Cooke City we went. And that remains one of the highlights of our lives. I don’t think a month during the ski season goes by without Frank and I mentioning Cooke City. And of course Tony. Tony made it happen for us. He took us deep into the mountains and we skied some great lines. One afternoon he even offered to ride the snowmobile (that 4 of us were sharing) back to town so the rest of us could ski back to town instead. We skied right to hour hotel parking lot – a story that we can now tell because Tony made it possible.

Whenever a skier/snowboarder avalanche accident is reported, my heart always drops. I get that sickening feeling in my stomach. Was its someone we know? There have been a lot of reports coming out lately, one just barely over a week ago from Aspen. We didn’t know him, but we knew friends who did – typical for a small community. But, this time, this accident, this avalanche, we knew him. Our friend Tony Saracelli perished while backcountry skiing solo out of bounds at Bridger on Saturday, April 14th. The report says his hand was sticking out of the snow where he stopped after the slide, and that the slide was large – about 100 feet wide, 1 to 3 feet deep, and 1500 feet long. I just wish someone had been there to save him.

When incidents like this happen, you can’t help but question the risks involved in the sport that we love. Those risks exist. But, we can’t live just to exist. That’s not living at all.

Amidst Tony’s accident we also grieve for our friend Tom Stillo who passed in his sleep. He was our family friend and wedding photographer. And all of this is occurring while I am in Ohio coping with some dangerous health issues my mom has encountered after having hip replacement surgery. Perhaps the purpose of all of these events is not so much to make us scared, but to remind us that we should celebrate life and continue to live passionately. Because, the unexpected does happen, and you don’t want any regrets when it does.

The last email Tony wrote to me said:

Let’s keep in touch cause I would love to either meet up with you guys somewhere or have you here or if I really get my act together visit you there in the promised land. I gotta get out and see what a real ski bum town is like before they all go the way of this aspiring west coast yupster dystopia. Miss you guys, always enjoy the blog and looking forward to skiing and hangin out whenever and wherever we can get around to it.

Tony never did come to visit us in Crested Butte. But, I have a feeling he’ll still be joining us on some
of our adventures, quietly smiling from afar. We miss you too, Tony. Be free!

The post Tony Saracelli – A Tribute appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

But, there’s other faces of SIA too. One of them is education of retailers. With many skiers and snowboarders taking the leap from the resorts and into the backcountry, it’s essential for retailers to help promote a consistent message to their buyers. The Avalanche Project is working to have retailers educated about the potential dangers that are inherent in the backcountry.

And if you’re a retailer, you’re invited for this important training, which will be unveiled at SIA by the Avalanche Project during their Retail Ambassador Program presentation at 4 pm on Thursday January 28th.

If you’re in the outdoor retail industry and don’t have tickets to SIA, you can get them for $20 by attending the Avalanche Project’s Retail Ambassador Program presentation. You’ll get a ticket for the whole show for Thursday! But, if you already have tickets, then plan on joining the presentation and becoming an influencer that may help save people’s lives.

The Avalanche Project will have several educational events Thursday through Sunday at SIA, all of which look great. Those events are shown below:

So, if you would like to attend SIA and you’re in the outdoor retail industry, here’s your chance. And if you’re already going to be attending SIA, please stop by the Avalanche Project’s booth. It’s always good to learn something new and important to keep your avalanche knowledge fresh!

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Five years ago, Aaron Blunck was a spunky Crested Butte 7th grader whom I tutored from time to time. During one evening session, Aaron informed me he had to write a paper about potential careers he was interested in, and what it would take to enter that career. I pried Aaron for ideas.

“I’m going to be a professional skier”, Aaron said.

“That’s awesome. But, it’s really hard to actually make money as a skier. It’s very rare that you could make that happen. So, what are some other career options you might be interested in?”

“No, Brittany. You don’t understand. I already know I’m going to be a professional skier. You just wait and see.”

Congrats to my former student, now a 17-yr old senior, who is Olympic-bound in Halfpipe Skiing. Kick some butt in Sochi!

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Nearly two months ago, I wrote a letter to CBMR and later met with Ethan Mueller himself about the new pricing for uphill skiers and Crested Butte Mountain Resort. While I have not been allowed to disclose things that were discussed in our conversation, I can say that after our discussion, I did not think that CBMR would change their pricing.

I was wrong. CBMR has made many locals happy by retracting the requirement of existing season’s pass holders to pay an additional $100 for uphill access – whether the access occurred during operating hours or not. Now, uphill access is FREE for all current pass holders, but uphill users must sign a waiver and agree to certain rules. Non-pass holders are being charged a seasonal fee of $100 for uphill access, or a $50 fee if they hold a Crested Butte Nordic Center pass. Those who do not wish to pay for seasonal uphill access can opt to pay $10 per day that they utilized the uphill access. We at 14erskiers are extremely happy about this current pricing change for pass holders!

Other changes are happening too! Crested Butte Mountain Resort is in serious conversation with a ski corporation and a potential sale of the resort might occur. Our sources tell us that the ski corporation will be in charge of the resort and its operations, while another corporation will be handling the real estate. Details of the sale still need to be worked out and it’s possible that the sale may not occur. But, we think that a separation of the resort operations from the real estate investments can only lead to improvements in Crested Butte. We are excited to see what is around the corner!

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We mostly worked around the first tree island near the Snodgrass trailhead. This was the section I spent the most time on:

As a trailbuilding newbie, what I didn’t realize was just how fun this whole trailbuilding thing is. As you build, you look at the trail with the eyes of a rider. So if the corner you’re working on needs a bit more of a berm, that’s what you give it. If there is a rock in the trail that just won’t move- incorporate it into the trail. As the ever-excitable Chad Reich kept saying, “Let’s make something really COOL, man!”

Or at least scenic, I say:

And hey, there’s always BEER! (Things were smoky both from the fire outside Glenwood Springs as well as CBMR burning pallets at their nearby maintenance facility)

There will be another work day for this trail next Thursday, 8/22/13, at 4pm, at the Snodgrass trailhead. For more information about upcoming trail work days, visit CBMBA’s website. Hope to see some of you there!

Not a bad place to find some good tools for the trail:

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Rookie Year in the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse 2013

At 11:00 pm on March 30th, 2012, I watched hundreds of headlamps attached to racers bobble up from the base area of Crested Butte en route to Aspen in the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse. Dressed in jeans and feeling groggy, I knew that in 2013 I wanted to be immersed in the jitters of the starting lineup of that race. The traverse itself begins at midnight, covers 40 miles and almost 8000 vertical feet, though the preparation for months beforehand is a journey in itself.

It began when I reached out to my friend, Brennan Metzler that fall. Brennan has dedicated several days in the Backcountry to philanthropy through his charity “Peaks for Peace”—which encourages brave outdoor trekkers to raise money and awareness for Children’s Hospital camps for Burn Victims. Outdoorsmen usually commit to projects or goals and ask for pledges to support their pursuits. Campaigns range from Brennan summiting and snowboarding as many peaks as humanly possible in the springtime to through hiking the Appalachian Trail in 29 days to my proposal—skiing from Crested Butte to Aspen. Not surprisingly, Brennan was thrilled with my initiative and I was off and running—5 months from the GT with a goal of raising $1500 for the kiddos.

In December, my teammate, Zach Miller, and I began the effort to spread awareness and fundraise for the Burn Camps. For the first year ever, I was thankful for my mom’s embarrassing Christmas letters because I stuffed them with a pleading blurb about our cause. Through Facebook posts, emails, word of mouth, phone calls and of course the embarrassing letters we had raised over $1800 by race day!

Overwhelmed with preparatory details, there was little room for introspective thought in the few hours leading to the race…which was probably a good thing. After a final beacon check, we knelt in a frenzy to stash choice snacks in our pockets, tape our feet for blisters and boot up. Looking up from tying my laces, I realized the large room had been evacuated. It was time to go. Shouldering my pack and wriggling into my gloves as we walked, Zach and I shared a crisp high-five and plodded to the mass of starting racers. We clicked into our Dynafits and clicked our headlamps on. In an instant we were sharing in hollers of stoke volleying between racers as we panted up CBMR ski area.

Arriving at the top of the Painter Boy chair lift, the East River Valley (our highway for the next five miles) loomed before us. We could see headlamps in disarray in the valley below as the leaders were just reaching the valley floor and transitioning to skinning for the long, gradual ascent to Friends’ Hut—the first major check point. After a quick scan, we ripped our skins only to apply them again a few minutes later after a quick descent.

As we began a long side-hill climb out of the valley and toward Brush Creek, the touchy snow conditions proved to be a hold up for everybody. Virtually the entire course ended up having similar conditions—breakable crust with facets underneath. With many racers (of many paces) pushing through as a unit this early in the race, one skin track became six side-by-side as people tried to shuffle past one another. However, the snow was not supportive, so various contrived skin tracks were constantly failing, causing the victims to merge into other lanes…..it was a booby-trap mess. It reminded me of I-70 on a snowy Saturday morning; everyone is trying to ski, but no one is getting anywhere fast and there is lots of carnage to slow things down even more.

By the time we rounded the corner to head up Brush Creek towards the Friends’ Hut, things were thinning out a bit. Racers had settled into one skin track, and there was now a continuous string of headlamp orbs. Though the pace picked up a bit, there was still no practical option of passing others on the go, and Zach and I were getting antsy. In hindsight, I can say the pace turned out to be an energy-saving blessing in disguise, so we chit-chatted as we unhurriedly trudged the next 9 or so miles to Friends’ Hut, passing people when we could, and arriving a little after 5 am. Abiding by our adopted leisurely attitude, we enjoyed a ‘leisurely’ break at the Friends’ Hut check point—dining on PB and J’s, sipping chilled water, warming numbed fingers, contemplating if we were actually going to make it and eyeing the towering climb to come, Star Pass.

After hours spent unaware of our location or progress in the tunnel of the forest, it was refreshing to climb up a ridge and get above tree line. The climb was steep—enough to require heel risers for the first time in the course :)—and littered with kick turns. I welcomed the switchbacks as an opportunity to survey the basin below as we zig-zagged up the slope. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but it was on its way. The world turned blue, then purple, as the nearby mountains began to reveal their majesty from the darkness. Just as Zach and I surmounted the ridgeline, the sun was beginning to crack the far horizon to the east. Perfect timing!

After skinning since about 12:30 am at the bottom of the East River Valley, we had now ascended the majority of the vertical, and got to rip our skins for a fun descent from the top of Star Pass. The race volunteers advised us of a specific route for the descent because of concerns of persistent weak layers on other aspects. By the time we were skiing, this route was very obvious and actually had some moguls in it. This is probably the only time I have been glad to roll up on something so skied out in the backcountry—I’ll take moguls over breakable crust any day! Though it was not technical, I was very glad to be on AT gear (instead of Nordic skis) at this point…we actually got to have some fun making turns!

At the bottom we stopped at “The Bonfire” the volunteers had set up. We reapplied our skins, put down another PB and J, and, in the tradition of 7:00 am, Zach sipped some coffee before jumping back on the skin track for almost eight more hours of FUN.

And I’m actually not being sarcastic! I thought the traverse was surprisingly FUN during the fact. Did we win? No. Was I tired? Yes. Did it hurt? At the end. Did I contemplate death? Only sometimes. But overall it was just a really long excuse to spend time in the backcountry with a good friend for a good cause. Remembering the kids who would benefit from the money we raised was certainly a motivating comfort when the going got slow, long or steep. We joked, chatted with other racers, got to watch the sunrise at over 12,000 feet, Zach defecated four times for some reason, and in general it was a great day.

So on and on we trudged. The sky grew into a gorgeous sapphire blue and the air was still and crisp. The day was as perfect as the views that surrounded us. Several valleys, and only a few quick descents later we finally arrived at the final check point and mandatory rest stop: Barnard Hut. “We’re making it,” I thought, sipping the complementary Ramen Noodles, “only seven miles to go!”

‘Only seven miles’ turned into almost three hours and Zach and I perfected our twenty-minute mile. As it turns out, the rolling topography of Richmond Ridge (the last leg of the course before reaching the top of Aspen Mountain) is also undulating with snowmobile whoop-de-do’s. It was hard to get into any sort of rhythm, hard to find energy and motivation to continue (especially when snowmobiles were whizzing by) and hard to forget the pain of the blisters forming on my feet. Slowly and with tiny strides, we skinned on. Finally, a Zach spotted a beacon of hope: a man snowshoeing in a long patterned coat and bulky fur headband. “We can’t be far from Aspen now!” We rejoiced.

Later, Zach and I found out that we were the youngest team to compete. That was cool, and we were awarded a couple of neat backpacks. Though useful, the backpacks were no match to the feeling of accomplishment, youngest or not, that came from completing a goal I had in mind for a year. Never have I seen an idea of mine grow from “I can’t do that” to “let’s try this” to “we did it”. And the problem is, now I’m thinking “let’s do that again”!

The post Grete and the Grand Traverse appeared first on 14erskiers.com.

The mayor made sure to smooth things out:

I don’t know why, but I feel like a Big Mac:

2013 (and a whole bunch of other years) winner Pat O’Neil. Clearly he has a great stride, but his costume needs some work

Women’s champ Janae Pritchett, doing a bit better on the costume front:

OK, here we are- the A-team heading towards the start:

Notice how there are no other competitors. We were just a bit late… How did we get the van up there, you ask? We constructed it in 2 parts, each of which barely fit through the crossbars of the chair. Then we had to reassemble it- which is why we were so late. I was in the back right corner, playing the part of Murdock. Can’t see me? Don’t worry, I couldn’t see anything but the tails of the skis in front of me, and the cardboard inside of the van. The guys up front (Ben Furimsky and Ben Morello) would call “left!”, or “tree!”, or “rock!”, and Danny Spencer and I would just do our best to react. Highly recommended as a unique and sometimes scary ski experience, though I think we did pretty well, all things considered. One more:

Our friend Arbany unloading some of his wine to Grete (Yes, it was a fully functional giant box of wine):

Roman, one of the few dropping the knee with style:

“Dead Bob”

Two of the more humorous group costumes were the construction crew, trying to “control” the downhill skiers, and the “Spawners”, who can be seen here, swimming upstream:

When it comes to cool and unique events in this cool and unique town, the AJ is near the top. It’s bound to put a smile on anyone’s face. Thanks to all the sponsors- especially Black Diamond since I won these at the raffle:

Heading to Crested Butte or another resort? Always check Liftopia first:

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