Q U I C K HI T S | 1 0. 20
RESORT OF THE FUTURE WITH NO LIFTS AND A F O C US O N L E A R N I N G T H E B AC KCO U N T RY RO P E S , B LU EB I R D B AC KCO U N T RY I S P ER FE C T LY P OS I T I O N ED F O R PA N D EM I C SK I I N G . THE CLOSING OF SKI AREAS ON MARCH 14
GEAR WE LOVE TACTICAL TABLE
The Filson x Helinox Solid Tactical Hard Top Table limited-edition collaboration folds out for a lightweight and stable place to keep food and drinks above the dirt. Set-up is quick and easy thanks to its durable aluminum legs, nylon resin hubs, and easy-to-clean 600D polyester fabric tabletop. $165 | FILSON.COM
10
E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S / O C TO B E R 2 0 2 0
THE NORDIC NORMAL L A S T Y E A R , T H E H I S TO R I C A L L E Y LO O P D R E W COS T U M ED CO M P E T I TO R S F R O M AC R OS S T H E P L A N E T. H ER E ’ S A LO O K B AC K AT T H E F U N . W E H AV E O U R F I N G ER S C R OS S ED F O R 202 1 . EVERY FEBRUARY FOR 34 YEARS, CRESTED
Butte, population of 1,700, swells with an additional 700 folks for the state’s largest cross-country ski race. The Alley Loop is an American Birkebeiner qualifier. Known as the Birkie, the iconic competition pulls 13,000 people to Wisconsin later in February. “The American Birkebeiner is a bucket list experience. Serious American cross-country skiers participate at least once in their life,” says Laura Puckett Daniels, marketing and development director of Crested Butte (CB) Nordic, the nonprofit that organizes the Alley Loop and maintains the cross-country trails. For international travelers, university athletes, and core racers, their performance today influences their Birkie wave placement. For recreational Nordicers, like us, the focus is our quirky appearance: The Alley Loop is arguably Crested Butte’s primo costume party. Throughout the morning, close to 1,000 skiers shove off from Elk Avenue in eight different swells. The distances range from 1K to 42K for skate, classic, and freestylers. The routes criss-cross streets, alleyways, and bridges over Coal Creek before fanning out onto
WINTER IS BACK: COVID-19 MAY BE LURKING BUT THE UNTRACKED LINES OF BLUEBIRD BACKCOUNTRY (ABOVE), ZANINESS OF THE ALLEY LOOP (OPPOSITE PAGE LEFT), AND OVER 2,000 SKIABLE ACRES AT TELLURIDE (OPPOSITE PAGE RIGHT) ARE ALL VIABLE OPTIONS TO FIND SOME NEEDED SANITY.
peripheral trails. The loops finish near the picturesque candy-cane colored Old Town Hall, erected 137 years ago. Back in 1986, 30 skiers inaugurated the Alley Loop. “Photos of ski racers in the narrow streets of European villages inspired the creation. I realized Crested Butte is snowy enough to host that type of event,” says Alley Loop Founder Gary Sprung, a.k.a. Gnurps, the CB Nordic Council co-founder. The event retains its genuine spirit. “The Alley Loop accommodates both the serious and silly. We may hold the silliest record for the slowest 5K: over 3 hours,” says Keith Bauer, former CB Nordic executive director. I’m entertained by everyone’s flamboyant, frivolous garb and don’t mind the congested kickoff. As my crew and I reach town’s edge, the fastest 5K skater finishes—far ahead of us—in 12 minutes, 35 seconds. Moments later, we jump aside for the first place 42K competitor, who’s on lap two. Beside us, a Tigger onesie, a bobbing Tyrannosaurus rex, and a troop of rocket ships disperse. Mount Crested Butte towers over us, like Mount Crumpit above Whoville. We dig in our poles, and skate. Planing for the 2021 Alley Loop with COVID-19 risk mitigation is underway. Check cbnordic.org for updates and info. —Morgan Tilton
TECHNOLOGY AN UP AND AT ’EM APP
New this year, TerraQuest is a trail route navigation app for backcountry users from mountain bikers to trail runners. It offers crowdsourced routes and leaderboard features to help set realistic expectations on how long it takes to complete a route—plus, it gives audible turn-by-turn navigation guidance. IOS/ ANDROID FREE (FOR NOW) | TERRAQUEST.COM
BOOKS 50 ADVENTURES IN THE 50 STATES
In this lavishly illustrated children’s book by Kate Siber and illustrator Lydia Hill kids can check off adventures that include a horseback ride through canyons with a Navajo guide in Arizona and sliding down a waterfall in Pennsylvania. Each adventure includes education about local flora and fauna and other wonders. $30 | QUARTOKNOWS.COM
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ERIC PHILLIPS, VIISIT TELLURIIDE, COURTESY THORN NATURE EXPERIENCE
mentorship doesn’t scale properly. Bluebird provides that. We hope we can provide the full spectrum of backcountry learning, avalanche education, and a place to practice all of those skills in a relatively safe, controlled environment.” To attain that, Bluebird patrols and mitigates risk to the same standard as other resorts, employing professional ski patrollers who evaluate, ski cut, and open and close terrain as needed. Bluebird Backcountry plans to open for the season on Christmas Eve, earlier if snowpack allows, and operate Thursday through Monday with a maximum of 200 skiers per day. The “resort” will move about four miles northwest this year from its inaugural location. Operations on about 4,200 acres, 1,200 of which will be avalanche-evaluated and patrolled, including a contactless check-in station and warming huts. Important to its mission, Bluebird will be an official American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education (AIARE) course provider, and is offering Backcountry Skiing 101, 102, and 103 level courses throughout the season. So is Bluebird the future of skiing? One thing is certain: It will create more backcountry skiers away from the resort, and it's essential those new skiers know how to be safe out there. Season passes and day tickets will go on sale November 1 on the resort’s website, bluebirdbackcountry.com. —Aaron H. Bible
JESSE MELCHISKEY
in response to the novel coronavirus sweeping the nation spurred a bum rush on backcountry ski gear that, according to Aspen’s Ute Mountaineer, precipitated 10 days of Christmas-like buying as people scrambled to obtain the tools needed to keep them skiing. Now, with an impending ski season that promises closed bars, intimidating daily reservation systems, potentially crowded and/or limited parking, reduced amenities, and COVID-19era protocols that could take some of the joy out of our usual resort experiences, backcountry skiing is poised for a revolution. “This whole thing started almost four years ago when I took my brother backcountry skiing as a Christmas present,” says Bluebird Backcountry co-founder Jeff Woodward. “He had this amazing day, but it made me realize that it’s very hard to just safely try this sport.” Woodward and his partner Erik Lambert knew this much about backcountry skiing: The gear is expensive and intimidating, the activity potentially dangerous and inconvenient, and, says Woodward, it’s a mentorship model of learning, which isn’t easy to build into a business plan. So the two created a ski area without chairlifts, serving what they saw then— and even more so now—as a gaping hole in the world of backcountry. “We wanted to shape how people learn how to backcountry ski, give them a relatively safe place to practice, and have a way for them to bridge out of that, develop good habits, and develop the experience, knowledge, and confidence to go out of bounds themselves,” says Lambert. “Learning requires mentorship, but