stefan
11-21-2008, 05:55 PM
Wharton: 'Wizard' shares snow info
By Tom Wharton
Salt Lake Tribune
A friend dubbed backcountry skier Bob Athey as "the Wizard of the Wasatch." He called Athey's ability to ski nearly every day in remote areas without getting hit by an avalanche magic.
"The snow is fascinating," said Athey, an outspoken man with long hair and a scraggly beard who has been skiing the backcountry for over 30 years. "It is ever changing. When you leave the mountains in the evening and return the next morning, the snow has changed. That's the lure ? the ever changing and chaotic nature of the snow."
Bob shares his educated observations about snow conditions. He spent 15 years as a volunteer and independent contractor for the U.S. Forest Service and Utah Avalanche Forecast Center until just over a year ago,
Printable Utah ski resort guide.
when he parted ways with those two for a variety of reasons.
So Athey bought a digital camera, learned to use a computer and put together his own Web site, www.wowasatch.com, where he posts beautiful photographs of the Wasatch Mountains year-round and, most important to backcountry ski enthusiasts, offers firsthand observations of snow conditions. Athey does not rate avalanche hazards but instead offers his evaluation on the relative stability or instability of the snow.
Those observations can be quite complex, often involving detailed graphics of snow pits he digs. This is information serious backcountry skiers study along with the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center's forecasts at www.utahavalanchecenter.org to access Wasatch avalanche conditions.
Athey sometimes skis alone and at other times goes with partners.
"People start skiing in college or when they are in their 20s like I did, and then they grow up and get married and have families and don't ski so much," he said. "Then, when their kids are all grown or become teenagers, they start skiing with their kids or, as their kids get older, a lot of them return to backcountry skiing after being away."
Being out so much has resulted in many close calls. Athey remembers one on Jan. 9, 2007, on Box Elder Peak when an avalanche fractured above him in an area known as the Shotgun Chutes. As snow cracked all around him, he picked out a route, pointed his skis, and picked up as much speed as possible. He jammed his skis between two trees and wrapped his arms around them, waiting to be hit.
"It didn't really nail me," he said. "I was lucky because it would have killed me."
Backcountry skiers are lucky to have Athey.
By Tom Wharton
Salt Lake Tribune
A friend dubbed backcountry skier Bob Athey as "the Wizard of the Wasatch." He called Athey's ability to ski nearly every day in remote areas without getting hit by an avalanche magic.
"The snow is fascinating," said Athey, an outspoken man with long hair and a scraggly beard who has been skiing the backcountry for over 30 years. "It is ever changing. When you leave the mountains in the evening and return the next morning, the snow has changed. That's the lure ? the ever changing and chaotic nature of the snow."
Bob shares his educated observations about snow conditions. He spent 15 years as a volunteer and independent contractor for the U.S. Forest Service and Utah Avalanche Forecast Center until just over a year ago,
Printable Utah ski resort guide.
when he parted ways with those two for a variety of reasons.
So Athey bought a digital camera, learned to use a computer and put together his own Web site, www.wowasatch.com, where he posts beautiful photographs of the Wasatch Mountains year-round and, most important to backcountry ski enthusiasts, offers firsthand observations of snow conditions. Athey does not rate avalanche hazards but instead offers his evaluation on the relative stability or instability of the snow.
Those observations can be quite complex, often involving detailed graphics of snow pits he digs. This is information serious backcountry skiers study along with the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center's forecasts at www.utahavalanchecenter.org to access Wasatch avalanche conditions.
Athey sometimes skis alone and at other times goes with partners.
"People start skiing in college or when they are in their 20s like I did, and then they grow up and get married and have families and don't ski so much," he said. "Then, when their kids are all grown or become teenagers, they start skiing with their kids or, as their kids get older, a lot of them return to backcountry skiing after being away."
Being out so much has resulted in many close calls. Athey remembers one on Jan. 9, 2007, on Box Elder Peak when an avalanche fractured above him in an area known as the Shotgun Chutes. As snow cracked all around him, he picked out a route, pointed his skis, and picked up as much speed as possible. He jammed his skis between two trees and wrapped his arms around them, waiting to be hit.
"It didn't really nail me," he said. "I was lucky because it would have killed me."
Backcountry skiers are lucky to have Athey.