Word: mountains
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...trouble for resort operators, but now they're a revenue source as well. People are "living a lot closer to the edge of the envelope than we ever were and are looking for something to test them in a different way," says Ralph Walton Jr., chairman of Crested Butte Mountain Resort, which has added a wilderness experience to its mix. Crested Butte has built a new lift to provide access to 550 acres of steep, ungroomed runs called Extreme Limits. It also offers guided snowshoe tours and telemark classes. Says Walton: "We made the decision that this was a niche...
Across the country, ski areas are getting wilder. New York's Whiteface Mountain recently opened the Slides, hundreds of feet of treeless, sheer rock face atop the East Coast's highest vertical drop. The Mount Hood Meadows resort in Oregon runs a Sno-Cat tractor so that skiers and boarders can move 1,000 ft. higher to reach an in-bounds canyon that offers 55[degree]-angle chutes (90[degrees] is vertical...
Others, who insist that you must "earn your turns"--that is, ascend mountains on a pair of skis that have synthetic skins attached to the base for traction--find their own backcountry or hire guides. Jean Pavillard, a Swiss-born mountain guide whose Colorado tour service, Adventures to the Edge, leads such folks as trial lawyers and surgeons into avalanche country (up to $2,800 for a five-day group trek), says his clients are "addicted to risk management." He leads them into the back, where they are supposed to apply the three rules they follow in their own work...
Snowboarders are exploring the backcountry in record numbers, taking advantage of both old and new technology to make their way uphill. Some are using Voile's Split Decision ($665), a board that divides into skis to skin up mountains. Others are strapping on snowshoes, such as K2's Verts ($159), to ascend steep mountains. Buggy-whip companies such as Tubbs, around since 1906, have a spring in their step. Last season more than $13.2 million worth of snowshoes were sold, an increase of 236% over the previous year. Sales in skis like the Salomon Super Mountain, Volkl Cross Ranger...
Fifteen Minutes regrets to inform the general public of a tragic accident which has befallen two magazine staff writers. On Saturday, Feb. 27, 1999, Ginnie and Russell Independence of Colorado Springs, Colo. were found dead on a mountain in Lake Placid, N.Y. Sources inform FM that Mr. and Mrs. Independence suffered fatal injuries as a result of skiing while under the influence of alcohol. The coroner's report found concentrations of the following substances in the blood of the two victims...