february

february and the skiing is easy. front country, side country and backcountry are all skiing great. very stable snow, soft and mid calf deep.

wherever you may be going, it is likely you are having a great time. add in some sunshine and everyone is happy.

today is the super bowl, but with the 4:30 start, plenty of time to get in a great day outdoors

okay, here is a story i just cannot not tell. yesterday, coming up the canyon road after a great ski, we ran into a USFS employee, one of our esteemed forecasting team. he was with a gal i assumed was their seasonal assistant, and they were doing some filming. i was excited to hear they were going to start including video in their forecasting methodology. but it turns out she was from a local tv station, doing a report on snowmobiling. so good for the USFS to be out lending a hand. spread the word, educate. but as they drove up the canyon road, after pit analysis in an area about as irrelevant as can be, the tv woman stopped to take some video of one of the more prominent of the "skook chutes". and where was she stationed. right at the bottom of the slide path. now, i understand she likely did not realize this was not a great spot, and the USFS forecaster was just down the road, on his way up behind her. i fully expected him to have her move off to a bit more safe zone. but he stopped and turned off his sled, and observed her filming. now, i understand the conditions are very stable, and there were multiple snowmobile high marks on the slope, but the entire top 60% was untracked, waiting for a skier to rip it. and if some skier had come and ripped it, and it ripped out, then the USFS employee and the tv gal were in the perfect spot to get annihilated. sure, unlikely, but possible. i would think, even if the chances of avalanche were zero, he would have moved her off this spot to a safer spot, just as a matter of course. set the right example.

and we wonder why our esteemed forecasting team continues year after year to be the laughing stock of the avalanche society.

any, be safe and have a great day and on into the week. the snow is great right now, so get it while it's great.