Aug 06

NEWS: Vermont Backcountry Alliance(VTBC) Takes Next Steps

NEWS RELEASE

Vermont Backcountry Alliance Takes Next Steps
Alliance joins the Catamount Trail Association; New backcountry zones proposed; Fall backcountry forum planned

For Immediate Release: Aug 5, 2014

Contacts:
Brian Mohr / VTBC ph 802-989-0570 / email: brian@vtbc.org
Amy Kelsey/ Catamount Trail Association (CTA) ph 802-864-5794/email: akelsey@catamounttrail.org

Info: vtbc.org, catamounttrail.org

Green Mountains, VT – In an ongoing effort to create a unified voice for Vermont’s growing backcountry skiing and riding community, the recently formed Vermont Backcountry Alliance (VTBC) has been formally recognized as an official program area of Vermont’s Catamount Trail Association(CTA). It’s a step that should enable both organizations to work successfully toward the VTBC’s primary areas of focus: mountain lands conservation, backcountry access, safety, and responsible terrain management.

“This is a big step for backcountry skiing and riding in Vermont,” says Brian Mohr, a volunteer member of the VTBC Working Group, which helps to guide the VTBC’s efforts. “Joining forces with the Catamount Trail Association pools our community’s resources and gives us the means to move ahead on a number of exciting projects.”

One such project is spearheaded by central Vermont’s Rochester Area Sports Trails Alliance (RASTA), and includes a proposal with the Green Mountain National Forest to develop and maintain a handful of new backcountry skiing and riding zones on national forest land near Rochester. The proposal is currently moving through an approval process, with some work on the proposed zones commencing as soon as this fall. RASTA is also moving ahead with a similar project on a large area of conserved land in Braintree.

“Our hope is that these could be models to help the CTA and VTBC drive similar projects around the state,” says Angus McCusker, a volunteer with RASTA and member of the VTBC Working Group. “We’ll need lots of volunteer and financial support, however, to see these through.”

This summer, RASTA has been recognized as a pilot CTA chapter, a possible first step toward the CTA becoming chapter-based organizationally – similar to how the Green Mountain Club (GMC) and the Vermont Mountain Bike Association (VMBA) are organized.

Other projects on the VTBC’s radar include the creation of a new Vermont Backcountry Ethic, as well as the planning of the 2nd Annual VT Backcountry Forum on Thursday, Nov. 6th in Rochester, VT. At the event, results from the recent Vermont backcountry survey will be presented, along with an overview of RASTA’s proposed backcountry zones. The attendees will be asked to weigh in on a working draft of the VT Backcountry Ethic, and participate in a brainstorming session about the future of Vermont’s backcountry. VTBC is also working closely with the VT Dept of Forests, Parks and Recreation (VTFPR) to help update land management strategies to better accommodate backcountry skiing and snowboarding on Vermont state lands.

Anyone interested in getting involved or supporting the VTBC are encouraged to join or donate to the CTA, which will be accepting grants and donations in support of relevant backcountry skiing and riding initiatives.

For more info, please visit vtbc.org, catamounttrail.org or Facebook.com/vermontbc.
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Upcoming Events
2nd Annual VT Backcountry Forum – Evening of Thursday, Nov 6, 2014 at the Pierce Hall Community Center in Rochester, VT – More info here.

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Jul 14

Photo(s) of the Week: Summer Ski Check

Green Mountains, Vermont, USA ©Brian Mohr/ EmberPhoto - All rights reserved

Especially during these toasty warm days of mid-summer, it’s refreshing to pull out the skis now and then, make sure the red squirrels aren’t chewing the bindings to pieces, and even slide around on them a little bit – be it on a rain soaked hillside, around the yard, or better yet, on the fast sliding floor of a red pine forest. Seventeen-month old Maiana Snow took the lead this week with her own (borrowed) pair of snow-white boards. A pair of hand-me-down pink crocs made for the perfect summer boot setup (Thanks John and Hannah!, and sorry Scarpa), and although pole-less, she came through with some smooth kick and glide action across the yard.

With the first ski-movie trailers making headlines and the first ski magazines of the season about to drop, it won’t be long now before we’re back on the snow again. In the meanwhile, it’s a fine time to swim in all the clean water you can find, eat fresh greens from the garden, go wandering up a stream bed and sleep out under the stars.

– Brian

Green Mountains, Vermont, USA ©Brian Mohr/ EmberPhoto - All rights reserved

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-Brian

Jun 21

Photo of the Week: Mid-Summer Arctic Dreams

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Happy Summer Solstice everyone! We hope everyone is enjoying these longest and brightest days of the year…and that the nights b/w them filled with your wildest skiing dreams. (Does anyone else have vivid skiing dreams this time of year?)

And here’s to living your wildest summer dreams…

We captured this image while skiing and camping in a quiet corner of the Arctic that we had scouted by bicycle a few years prior. It was an adventure generic klonopin that began on the summer solstice with a fresh 6″ of snow awaiting us, and was characterized by thirty days of the most scenic and delectable corn skiing of our lives. For nearly ten of those days, we lived above the fog and clouds, basking in sunshine while a cool fog clung to the valleys and seashores below.

Here’s to a dreamy summer…
-Brian

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-Brian

May 07

Photo of the Week: The Steep Season

Skiing in the White Mountains, NH - ©Brian Mohr/EmberPhoto

You can always count on the White Mountains of New Hampshire for offering up some of the finest steep corn in the country this time of year. Terrain that is seldom safe and fun to ski mid-winter transforms into a candy store for skiers in springtime. Days like this often beg the question…if you had to choose either powder or corn, what would it be?
– Brian

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Apr 22

Photo of the Week: Sliding into Spring

Backcountry skiing in the High <a style=buy zolpidem online cash on delivery Peaks of the Adirondacks, New York – ©Brian Mohr/EmberPhoto” width=”750″ height=”418″ class=”alignnone size-full wp-image-4811″ />

After a couple fantastic weeks of spring skiing across the Northeast, it was nice of Old Man Winter to throw us some fresh snow last week. Although the warmth of days prior (the equivalent of Mother Nature taking a blow torch to our snow pack) had drastically eroded our snow pack, the fresh snow had us feeling like it was mid winter again, if only for a day. On a hunch that at least a few good lines in New York’s Adirondacks were still hanging in there, we headed for the High Peaks region with the aim of skiing a couple of tasty alpine lines, a favorite “slide” (Adirondack speak for landslide path) and a classic down-mountain trail to finish off the day.

This week’s Photo of the Week features Augusta Blackstone paying respects to Old Man Winter, half way through what was probably her last big ski tour of the season in the Dacks. However, more snow is on tap for Tuesday in the mountains…

Ski you out there.
-Brian

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