A refreshing conversation with a New Mexico ski icon
Benny Abruzzo
SANTA FE, N.M. – It had been nearly 24 hours since I endured my worst-ever day skiing. Old injuries piled up, piled on and left me sidelined inside the Ski Santa Fe cafeteria.
What was supposed to be a week-long tour of some of New Mexico’s finest ski resorts was a bust for me. While fellow travel writers checked out Santa Fe’s slopes, I was nursing a bad back that left me hobbled a day after aggravating it on Angel Fire’s peaceful runs.
Bad skiing and nagging injuries don’t mix well. But even in such crummy circumstances, sometimes there’s a silver lining.
Benny Abruzzo ate breakfast with the group of journalists, myself included, that had come to check out Santa Fe. While one writer persisted (in annoying fashion) that I push through it, Abruzzo understood my pain. He’d been there. And so when everyone left, he hung out with me for 90 minutes.
What a treat that was.
Abruzzo runs Ski Santa Fe. He’s an avid skier. But talk to him long and you get a sense that he’s not just a skier-turned-businessman. Abruzzo is an outdoor enthusiast who has a refreshing passion for skiing, rock climbing and mountaineering.
“If you don’t do anything else, you have to get to Chamonix,” he told me as we discussed our shared love of the mountains.
Chamonix, if you don’t know, is basically the center of the mountaineering universe. The town in France is the jumping off spot for famous climbs up the Eiger and many other choice climbing destinations. Mountaineering was arguably invented and definitely perfected in Europe, with the Alps being the setting for the exploits of climbing’s pioneers.
Run into someone who talks about their experiences climbing in the Alps (and especially Chamonix), you’re bound to get an air of elitism reserved for those been-there, done-that alpinists who would scoff at my rather light climbing resume.
Not Abruzzo. It’s just a place he’s been where he’s done what he loves. We talked about peaks in Colorado, climbing spots in New Mexico’s Sandias and even a few places in Oklahoma. More than once, he mentioned how people from his home state, as well as Texas, hone their big wall skills in the peaks not far from his hometown of Albuquerque.
In each story he told, his love was more for the activity and the place, not his own accomplishments.
And it’s something he likes to share. His dream for the near term? Taking his son to the Alps for days of hut-to-hut travels and climbs up that range’s spectacular and challenging routes.
Eventually, Abruzzo had to go tend to his media guests. I had to tend to my back and the inevitable decision to cut my trip short, head home and nurse myself back to health.
But if nothing else, I carried home a little bit of encouragement. Climbing and mountaineering are full of big egos, ambition and narcissism that encourage an unhealthy form of hero worship. What we need are a few more people like Benny Abruzzo, people who are passionate about the outdoors and not themselves. These are the people who will pass on their craft to future generations who, if we’re lucky, will not just enjoy themselves in the backcountry , but also learn to appreciate it, take care of it and pass it along.
Bob Doucette
Weekly ski reports and a link to a cool mountain biker Web site
Right about now, the Rockies are being overrun by Okies and Texans.
Two ways you can look at this. The seeming lack of snowfall over the past few days will mean either A., packed powder or even somewhat icy conditions, or B., sunshine and good temps for spring breakers. Someone will have to tell me! And someone should also let me know why Silverton Mountain in Colorado plans to open March 18. Why so late? What’s the deal?
Here’s the weekly ski reports:
Colorado: http://www.skireport.com/colorado/
New Mexico: http://www.skireport.com/newmexico/
Utah: http://www.skireport.com/utah/
Wyoming: http://www.skireport.com/wyoming/
EARTHBIKERS UNITE!
About time to get out and ride.
From Out There reader Augie Frost, a link and some praise for this site:
“Here’s a cool link you might want to share with your readers. They do GREAT trail work in Oklahoma and this is an amazing utility for the mountain bikers in OK looking for new trails and adventure. It also links to some wonderful trails in neighboring states, particularly in Arkansas.”
Check it out if you haven’t already.
Bob Doucette
Trail building course draws good crowd at Chickasaw National Recreation Area
Just got this from the folks at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. It’s always cool when people show up to volunteer for such hard work that will not just benefit them, but many others. So a big thanks to those who went down there March 6 to work on the trails. Read on…
Trail maintenance at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area (NPS photo)
SULPHUR — At the invitation of the park, the International Mountain Bicycling Association trail care crew recently made its way to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. On March 6, the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew, led by Chris and Leslie Kehmeier, provided both classroom instruction and on-the-ground training in support of bike trails in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Leslie Kehmeier stated that the number of participants “was one of the largest we’ve had in our eight months of traveling.”
The Trail Building School was attended by park staff, bike club members, equestrians and others from throughout the state who were interested in learning more about maintaining the trails open to users in the park. Participants traveled from as far away as Edmond and Tulsa for this hands-on learning experience. Following some classroom work the weekend’s trail building activities focused on a series of projects along the Rock Creek multi-use trail. Rock armoring, re-routes, and maintenance were conducted along several hundred yards of trail. By the end of the day the revitalized trail had already seen traffic by equestrian and mountain bike riders.
Park Superintendent Bruce Noble hiked the trail as the work progressed, and visited with the volunteers. “This kind of hands-on stewardship better connects park visitors to the resource they are using,” Noble said. “If we can work with IMBA and other partner organizations to develop our trail infrastructure, the potential for improved mountain biking use at Chickasaw National Recreation Area is very favorable.”
In honor of the Irish: A classic hike on Ireland’s Crough Patrick
Standing at the summit of Croagh Patrick, Ireland. (Compass Points Media / flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/compasspointsmedia
Today is the day when Oklahoma City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade takes place. The actual holiday is a few days off, but what the heck. Here’s a video of a classic mountain hike up Ireland’s Crough Patrick. Watch and enjoy. And here’s a link describing the hike: http://compasspointsmedia.com/how-to-hike-croagh-patrick/
Spring Break ski reports: Snowfall looking good in Colorado, New Mexico
Spring Break is upon us, and the snowfall has been excellent this week. (AP photo)
Ah, yes. Spring Break in the Rockies. For those of you not headed to the beach, chances are the slopes may be your destination next week. My first ski experience was in college during Spring Break. It’s been in my blood ever since.
It looks as if the late winter/early spring weather patterns are putting up some serious snowfall in Colorado and New Mexico, so if you’re headed to resorts out that way you can expect prime ski conditions. If you are going to do any backcountry skiing, please be careful. Huge snowfall totals make for great powder and excellent conditions, but they also bring about considerable avalanche danger that isn’t present on the groomed slopes of the resorts.
Without further delay, some links to the Rocky Mountain ski reports:
Colorado: http://www.skireport.com/colorado/
New Mexico: http://www.skireport.com/newmexico/
Utah: http://www.skireport.com/utah/
Wyoming: http://www.skireport.com/wyoming/
Bob Doucette
Fly-over to celebrate off-road fun at Little Sahara State park April 10
Recently got this from the state Tourism Department. It’s about an interesting sounding event at Little Sahara State Park. Read on:
Fifteen thousand off-road sand enthusiasts are expected to flock to the Flight Path for Vintage War Birds Fly-Over. The fly-over event is taking place to honor the 250,000 motorized recreational tourists who travel to Woods County each year.
More than 75 percent of these sand enthusiasts travel up to 1,000 miles across country to enjoy the dunes at the Little Sahara State Park each year during “Snake Hunt” week.
At 5 p.m. April 10, the fly-over event will commence in Waynoka in a joint effort between Dan Delasantos of the Tek-One Corporation; Classic Communications; Bob Baker, aircraft owner and pilot; and Reed Helicopters.
Helicopter and off-road services will be on hand to transport media into the park. Classic Communications will broadcast the event throughout northwest Oklahoma via live radio remote beginning at 3 p.m. Thousands of recreationists and their vehicles will line the tops of the many towering sand dunes along the flight path in anticipation for the fly-over. Reed Helicopters will be on hand providing park guests the opportunity to explore the 1,500-acre sand dune park from the air.
Receiving the highest volume of motorized recreational traffic in the state, the Little Sahara State Park supports more than 250,000 guests annually.
‘North Face’ film to show in Tulsa March 12-18
A still shot from the film 'North Face,' showing the north face of the Eiger.
Awhile back, I mentioned a movie called “North Face,” about a pioneering ascent of the north face of the Eiger in the Alps. As it turns out, the film is showing in Tulsa March 12-18 at the Circle Cinema. The movie is in German, but does have English subtitles.
Here’s a summary of the film provided by its producers:
“Based on a true story, ‘North Face’ is a suspenseful adventure film about a competition to climb the most dangerous rock face in the Alps. Set in 1936, as Nazi propaganda urges the nation’s alpinists to conquer the unclimbed north face of the Swiss massif — the Eiger — two reluctant German climbers begin their daring ascent.”
The Circle Cinema is at 12 S Lewis in Tulsa. If you’re looking for show times, click here: http://www.circlecinema.com/films.htm
And just for grins, here’s the movie trailer again. Thanks goes to Out There reader Trent Riley for bringing this to my attention.
Skiers get lost, hike 26 miles the wrong way
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE — The call came at 1 a.m., New York time. His girlfriend said Jason Mielcarek and his friend Taylor Cameron hadn’t come home from a ski trip to Crystal Mountain.
Patti Mielcarek said she thought about all her son’s strengths: He runs marathons, rock climbs and has skied since he was 3 years old.
And then she looked up Crystal Mountain on the Internet. She saw a panorama of mountains, a vast expanse of mountains.
“We had confidence in him, but we started to worry about the elements. How cold it was going to get, wolves, avalanches.”
“We didn’t sleep at all,” said his father, Daniel Mielcarek.
The story ends happily.
Mielcarek and Cameron walked into the Ohanapecosh Ranger Station in Mount Rainier National Park Faeuro” about 26 miles from where they’d started Faeuro” before noon Friday. The pair sounded sheepish about the search they’d touched off but also grateful to would-be rescuers.
“We just want to thank everyone who was looking out for us. They did a really fine job,” Mielcarek told KING-TV after the pair was flown by helicopter from the campground back to Crystal Mountain.
The two men, both 27, had met at the University of Vermont, where they both graduated in 2005, Mielcarek’s parents said. Cameron was originally from Pennsylvania; Mielcarek grew up in New York.
Mielcarek moved to Seattle in November, his parents said, drawn here by a number of friends and by the prospect of a job in the out-of-doors. Patti Mielcarek said her son had just landed work with the Redmond Parks Department.
After they were found, the two men told rangers that they hadn’t realized they were straying out of bounds from the ski area into the Norse Peak Wilderness. When they discovered they were lost, they followed the Morse Creek drainage about 3 miles down to Highway 410, which is closed for the winter.
They skied and snowboarded 6 miles to Chinook Pass and another 3 to Cayuse Pass, where they hit Highway 123, said Uwe Nehring, acting chief ranger at Mount Rainier.
The two men said they asked a passing motorist for directions and were told it was about 5 miles back to Crystal. Although it was getting dark, they figured they could hike to the ski area and their car and get home.
“We definitely wouldn’t have gone if it wasn’t for the 5-mile estimation,” Cameron told KING-TV.
But instead of heading up Highway 123 to Crystal, they turned left, heading in exactly the wrong direction.
Nehring, the Mount Rainier ranger, said that in summer, signs would have shown the way to Crystal Mountain. But signs were removed at the start of winter so they wouldn’t be destroyed by snow or snow-removal equipment.
“There probably weren’t any signs to tell them which way to go,” he said.
When the two skiers didn’t return home to Seattle by 9 p.m., their girlfriends reported them missing. Pierce County Search and Rescue started looking for them early Friday. Ski Patrol members found their empty car in the Crystal Mountain parking lot.
Searchers found tracks leading out of the ski area and down Morse Creek into Yakima County. The Yakima County sheriff’s search-and-rescue unit joined the hunt on snowmobiles.
Nehring said the pair had hiked for an additional 13 miles through the night, Mielcarek wearing ski boots, Cameron in snowboard boots.
“It couldn’t have been too pleasant,” Nehring said. “Fortunately they were both in pretty good shape.”
By the time their overnight trek ended, they had re-entered Pierce County and then crossed into Lewis County, near the southeast edge of the national park.
As the dark hours crawled by in New York with no word of their son, Mielcarek’s parents booked airplane tickets to Seattle.
His mother said she calmed herself by thinking about all her son’s experience, how he’d worked for five years at a ski resort in Stowe, Vt., how he skied some 85 days each season, how he often worked nights driving snow-making and grooming machines.
When Mielcarek called his parents about 3 p.m. their time, he said his feet were blistered but that otherwise he was OK.
His parents saw their son from the Crystal Mountain parking lot in a TV interview via the Internet.
His father said, “You could see him, his shyness, his quietness.”
“He walked all night,” his mother said.
Weekly ski reports
Good, recent snow has been reported in Loveland, Winter Park.
Looks like the weather has slowed down a bit, mostly packed powder in the Rockies. Still, most places have a decent base now. For those of you looking into places close to Denver, Loveland and Winter Park got 12 to 17 inches over the past few days. Here’s the weekly Rocky Mountain ski reports:
Colorado: http://www.skireport.com/colorado/
New Mexico: http://www.skireport.com/newmexico/
Utah: http://www.skireport.com/utah/
Wyoming: http://www.skireport.com/wyoming/
‘North Face’ movie trailer: A film about climbing, politics and the Eiger
Had a friend send me this movie trailer. Looks pretty interesting. Check out the trailer, and then check out the movie.
