Mind the Track

In the midst of record-breaking heat, out of control wildfires, brazen bears and dry, dusty blown-out trails, the boys catch up on a grab bag of topics including Pow Bot’s harrowing adventure sailboat racing on Lake Tahoe, Trail Whisperer’s week of trail work spent in the Toiyabe Range with no cell service, a recap of the Downieville Classic, whether you should buy an SL-style ebike or a “full power” ebike, Trail Whisperer’s new bike day and whether or not he likes “mullet” style mountain bikes, the modern world of social media and how to break away from the stranglehold of Meta, the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris with lame mountain bike courses and the greatest surfing wave ever, Pow Bot’s recent rediscovery of hiking and his relationship with the same mountain from summer to winter and Trail Whisperer’s struggle to stay amped on riding his mountain bike through the hottest and dustiest part of the summer. The boys also do some listener shout-outs and play the first 888 COR LORD call-in voicemails from listeners.  2:50 – Pow Bot enthralled with the Golden Hour and sunsets, enjoying the cooler weather after a record breaking heatwave.4:45 – Trail Whisperer is not motivated to ride his mountain bike because of hot and dry and blown out the trails have been.7:30 – Pow Bot thumbs a ride at Emerald Bay and got picked up by a county sheriff, and Trail Whisperer shares his story of being interrogated in the back of a police car.10:30 – Bears in Lake Tahoe and Sierra County are out of control, breaking into homes, schools and peoples’ cars, leading Sierra County Sheriff’s Department to euthanize several bears.13:40 – 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris kicks off – the mountain bike course is lame, Teahupo’o is the surf venue, one of the greatest and most dangerous places on the planet to surf.18:45 – Fire season is in full swing in the Sierra Nevada – Gold Complex Fire in Portola and Park Fire in Chico are two big ones.24:45 – Shout out to Zeke Lunder of The-Lookout.com – a great fire info resource.28:15 – Climbers, mountaineers, skiers bodies are being found in melting glaciers after being missing for decades.31:00 – Two horses die during the Tevis Cup event on Western States Trail.34:20 – Ebike banter. Buying an SL eMTB versus full power eMTB. The long-term health of riding an ebike versus the peaks and valleys of spiking your heartrate on a mountain bike.42:10 – Type 1-3 Fun comes from the Dirtbag Diaries.44:45 – COR LORD Call-in Hotline – Superfan #1 - Scott Kessler and Gordo48:15 – Trail Whisperer watching a documentary on the history of the Grateful Dead, and how they have always controlled their content and media.51:00 – Modern social media, Meta controls everything. Trying to make a direct line of communication with your followers and cut out the third party like Meta.55:00 – Chas Smith – Welcome to Paradise Now go to Hell – Cocaine and Surfing – getting shut down by Meta after a satirical story about a cocaine shark.59:00 – Trail Whisperer was in the Toiyabe Range of central Nevada for an entire week with no cell service working on the Toiyabe Crest Trail.1:08:00 – Pow Bot’s crazy sailing adventure on Lake Tahoe with John Morrison.1:20:30 – NEW BIKE DAY for Trail Whisperer – Santa Cruz Bronson1:27:00 – Pow Bot made a heartwarming Instagram reel tribute to Carson, his dog.1:31:50 – Downieville Classic Recap and riding moto in Downieville. Lost Sierra Endurance Race – a running race in Downieville on a Saturday.1:50:00 – Pow Bot has been getting into hiking, Hike Bot. Seeing terrain he skis in the winter in the summer and how different it looks.1:59:00 – What’s coming up the next couple weeks? Trail Whisperer goes to Breck Epic and ebiking the Rubicon Trail.

In a shift away from skis and bikes, Episode 41 profiles two Truckee trail running core lords, Jenelle Potvin and Steve Martelli and their passion for ultra distance running events like the Western States Endurance Run. Just like Western States itself, this episode covers a lot of ground from how the couple had their first date on a seven hour trail run, to the history of the Western States trail, to preparing for a 100 mile adventure on foot with the support of an incredible trail running community. Steve also shares his emotional story of spiral fracturing his femur at mile 70 in the 2023 event after a nine year journey to be accepted into Western States. The boys also chat about the historic July heatwave hitting Lake Tahoe, the Reno Rodeo, listener shout outs and a tribute to PowBot and his wife’s dog Carson who recently passed after nearly 15 years of putting his paws in the track. 2:30 – Historic July heat wave hits Lake Tahoe and Reno just after the summer solstice.5:00 – Kurt went on a multi-day rafting trip to the Deschutes River in Oregon.6:40 – The joys of trail running – simplicity, no gear required. Just go running.9:50 – Truckee Dirt Union rallies a crew for the Truckee 4th of July parade. 11:30 – Building trails for everybody. Including all user groups into trails and not discriminating against trail users. 13:50 – Listener shout outs – JT Robinson, Alex Horgan, Rob McCormick, Nate Melen.17:00 – Trail Whisperer and Burning Man19:00 – Rainbow Gathering disaster in Plumas National Forest. 22:00 – The Sphere in Las Vegas.23:00 – Trail Whisperer recommends Reno Rodeo – The Wildest and Richest Rodeo in the West.25:10 – PowBot and his wife say goodbye to their dog Carson.28:47 – Introducing Jenelle Potvin and Steve Martelli – hardcore trail runners. 41:00 – How do you go from a 10 mile run to doing a 50 mile trail run?43:30 – When Steve and Jenelle met – on the trail running Western States trail. 48:00 – What does it take to be a pacer in a running event?53:45 – How do you stay cool in 100+ degree temperatures during Western States Endurance Run?57:45 – The history of the Western States trail and the Tevis Cup horse race. 1:06:00 – Western States race in big snow years when the course gets rerouted. 1:09:40 – How do you qualify and get accepted into the Western States Endurance Run?1:13:40 – How do you run a 100 mile event when your longest run has only been 30 miles?1:18:15 – There are six sections to the Western States trail – The Canyons break the most people.1:20:50 – Steve’s story of running the 2023 Western States event and spiral fracturing his femur at mile 70.2:00:40 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

In the world of big wall climbing and wingsuit BASE jumping, @chris_mcnamara was a leader and innovator, claiming the first wingsuit BASE jump of the Grand Canyon (where he almost died twice in the same jump) and one of the youngest people to ever climb the West Face of El Capitan. As the founder of Supertopo, which evolved into GearLab, McNamara’s interests also evolved beyond climbing and the dangers of BASE jumping. It was when he moved to Lake Tahoe over a decade ago and discovered trails, mountain biking and specifically TAMBA, where he found his new passion. Always the dopamine-fueled thinker and dreamer obsessed with first ascents, “BushwhackNamara” immediately started asking “what if”? What if there was a mountain bike singletrack around Lake Tahoe? What if there was a trail from Susanville to Mammoth called Sierra Camino? What if there was a mountain bike trail from Canada to Cabo called Orogenesis? The dopamine was flooding his brain with possibilities, and a decade later, Chris and his wife Tor have been instrumental in funding the trails renaissance happening in Lake Tahoe.2:00 – Recording in the Toyota Sunrader RV up on top of Monitor Pass off Highway 89.3:30 – Introducing Chris McNamara, legendary big wall climber and early wing suit BASE jump pioneer and now a big trails advocate.7:00 – Chris and his obsession with long distance trails, and the Orogenesis Trail, a trail from Canada to Cabo, as well as the Sierra Camino.10:00 – The dopamine fix associated with thinking and ideas. A book – Molecule and More talks all about. Dopamine is about novelty and surprise.13:00 – UNPACK THE BAG – The Downieville fatal bear attack story made international news.18:00 – PowBot is no longer using Squaw anymore in reference to Palisades Tahoe.23:00 – Truckee Dirt Union Loam Masters Party24:50 – 1 (888) COR-LORD Listener Hotline – 267-5673 - Call in and leave us a message!30:00 – Smashing rear wheels, trail tools and hip mounted hand saws34:00 – SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE CLEARING TRAILS!35:45 – Shout out to Eric Ramin at Brewer’s Cabinet for hosting Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship and to Chris’ company GearLab.36:30 – June is now officially Mountain Biking Month state of California thanks to the efforts of CAMTB. Similar to the Access Fund in the climbing world.39:00 – Hero dirt in Verdi. Could it be Hunga Tonga?41:45 – What is Petrichor? The earthy scent of dry soil after a wetting rain.45:00 – The history of GearLab as a company, by way of Supertopo and rock climbing guide books.56:30 – How did Chris find South Lake Tahoe?1:01:50 – Parallels between the cultures of rock climbing and mountain biking. The Camp 4 Education. Learning about how little you can spend and still be happy.1:16:00 – Chris believes singletrack trail is one of the greatest returns on investment ever.1:18:00 – Finding trails after being a climber, wingsuit BASE jumper and paraglider.1:23:00 – Dreaming up the Sierra Camino, the Orogenesis Trail and meeting Gabe Tiller, starting with riding mountain bike legal singletrack all the way around Lake Tahoe.1:25:45 – Riding the Charity Valley Trail from Hope Valley to Markleeville. Working with Alpine Trails Association on dreaming up connections.1:37:50 – The challenge of federally designated Wilderness and figuring out how to route trail around Wilderness areas for legal mountain bike use.1:40:00 – Fundamentalist views that are driving Wilderness policies, banning mountain bikes and dividing recreationists who all want the same thing.1:52:00 – Charity Valley trail is a recent mountain bike discovery that is destined to be legendary in another 10 years.2:00:00 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

In Episode 39, the boys sit down with @fresh_hamm , the founder of @truckeebikenight and Tahoe’s favorite underground mountain bike adventure rides, Giro di Stammina. Since he was tall enough to ride, Fred’s life has revolved around bicycles, taking his Dad’s fancy road bikes for long rides as a teenager with nothing more than some paper maps, a few quarters (for the pay phone) and a desire to get lost and find himself again. After being exposed to the devoted cycling community while attending Caly Poly in San Luis Obispo, Fred was inspired to bring similar community gatherings on bikes to Truckee, including Truckee Bike Night (first Thursday of each month) and Giro Di Stammina. The boys also discuss the confirmed first fatal bear attack on a human in California history, which happened in Downieville last fall, and a recap to the 2023-24 winter. 2:00 – The seasons have flipped, no more skiing, it’s all about bikes.3:00 – Trail Whisperer has been hiking and flagging new proposed trails in the Peavine Maze area north of Verdi.6:50 – Pow Bot turns 51 and Trail Whisperer turns 47.8:30 – Introducing Fred Stamm – Founder of Truckee Bike Night.11:30 – Has mountain biking gone too far? Red Bull Hard Line – a canyon gap too far.14:10 – The first documented fatal attack by a black bear on a human in California history confirmed in Downieville. Shout out to the Mountain Messenger newspaper.24:00 – Two brothers attacked by a mountain lion in Georgetown, California while hunting for antler sheds, one of the brothers died.25:40 – Bears in Lake Tahoe are reportedly diabetic because of all the sugar they eat.29:50 – Pow Bot shout out – been loving the listener reviews. Crash Davis and Rachel Davis – big fans of the pod. We need to turn our volume up.32:50 – PUBLIC NOTICE: Jackass Ridge is closing for the entire summer on June 10. Please do not ride the trails on Jackass Ridge including Donkey Town.36:10 – Ski season is officially over. Recapping the season. Pow Bot’s takeaway: He’s not going to buy an Epic or Ikon Pass next year. Would you get Mount Rose or Sugar Bowl?41:30 – All about Fred Stamm and bicycles. The story of Fred and Kurt racing each other in the Santa Cruz Criterium in 2004, the first time they met each other.48:00 – Fred is the unofficial mayor of Truckee when it comes to bikes and good times.49:30 – As a kid, Fred started riding his Dad’s road bikes and riding long distances.56:50 – Fred attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo for college, studying engineering.58:00 – The inspiration for Truckee Bike Night came from Bike Night in SLO, every first Thursday of each month.1:02:00 – Truckee Bike Night has as many as 300 people show up on bikes.1:06:20 – All about the Giro di Stammina – also inspired by the Giro di SLO.1:09:00 – The Giro di Stammina gravel ride out by the ghost town of Bodie, California.1:17:00 – Where does the inspiration for putting on community bike rides come from?1:22:00 – Stammina on Castle Peak, on the Toiyabe Crest Trail and in Pinecrest.1:23:20 – Fred’s day job is working for Placer County as a civil engineer.1:26:50 – Riding Pinecrest and the terrifying drive over Sonora Pass Highway 108.1:32:00 – Riding dirt bikes in Kingston, Nevada in the Memorial Day ride with Battleborn Adventures.1:37:00 – Truckee Bike Night starts and finishes at RMU (Rocky Mountain Underground) on Donner Pass Road.1:43:00 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

“Where have all the goofy people gone?” – asked @trail_whisperer to Episode 38 guest, Taylor Carlton. As a lifelong snowboarder who emigrated to Truckee from Michigan in 2005 after almost moving to Colorado, Carlton has witnessed the changes in Truckee firsthand working as a real estate agent through the wild times of COVID when “everyone bought everything”. Most of Truckee’s new residents bring a more serious and competitive personality, displacing many of the core lord, ski bum types who never took themselves too seriously, just like Carlton. Despite this changing of local culture, Carlton holds on to his goofy snowboarder roots, chief among them is being the co-founder and ringleader of the Rally for Rocker backcountry slalom competition-slash-party held every April on Donner Summit, a fundraiser for the future Rocker Memorial Skate Park; an event he was mistakenly arrested for by federal law enforcement in its second year, one of many funny stories Carlton shares with listeners.2:00 – Introducing Taylor Carlton, organizer of Rally for Rocker.6:00 – The story of skiing into Frog Lake Huts during the tail end of a big storm.12:00 – How did Taylor end up in Tahoe coming from Michigan?15:30 – Michigan has roots in snowboarding – the Snurfer, Jake Burton, Brett Kobernick19:30 – The transition from park and slopestyle riding to backcountry snowboarding21:00 – The insane progression of snowboarding and crazy tricks in events like XGames22:00 – Athleticism, relatability and inspiration. Crazy tricks are not relatable to the average rider.25:00 – Warp Wave film era – Aurora Boardealis and A Place Called Kookabunga – Gray Thompson and Eric Messier.30:00 – Truckee since COVID – Taylor’s perspective as a real estate agent in Truckee and the seriousness of new residents.36:00 – The insanity of the real estate market in Truckee during COVID – Everybody bought everything.40:50 – Taylor’s roof on his house had an ice dam and it turned into a leak that destroyed part of his house with water damage.47:00 – Jeff Brown of Tahoe Mountain Realty – did an analysis about value of Tahoe homes compared to other mountain towns across the list – maybe Truckee was extremely undervalued.52:30 – May 5th Snowstorm – Craziness at Palisades Tahoe – mayhem in the parking lot.57:30 – Witnessing backcountry skiers in steep terrain with no avalanche safety gear.59:45 – All about Rally for Rocker, in memory of Steve “Rocker” Anderson.1:05:00 – Taylor’s story about getting arrested by U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement.1:12:00 – Story of Mike D, flying his airplane over the event and dropping money.1:19:20 – Why does Truckee need another skate park? The one Truckee has is incredibly dangerous. Shout out to Colin Robinson for planning Rocker Memorial Skate Park.1:23:00 – Donate to Rocker Memorial Skate Park – rockermemorialskatepark.org1:26:15 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?1:30:00 – Find Taylor Carlton – tahoemountainrealty.com - @shadtothebone

In Episode 37, the boys catch up after a very special Cinco de Mayo, blessed with a late season snowstorm that dumped some of the best winter pow of the year. Pow Bot shares his manifesto of the backcountry, The 10 Shredmandments – 10 rules of etiquette that every traveler in the backcountry should abide to minimize impact and be a responsible pow-shredding human. Banter and ASS (Angry Singlespeeder) rants are copious in this episode, covering a variety of topics like the love and hate for wind, the overwhelming hate of horse poop on trails, 10 things Europeans hate about American ski resorts, the dangers of traveling to Baja, the travails of the post office and listener shout outs (thanks @terrainadvco for the rad swag!). And thanks to everyone who’s been leaving positive rating and reviews. Please support the cause, press pause, and leave us a rating and review to help get Mind the Track in the ears of more core lords like yourself. 1:30 – Skiing Cinco de Mayo POW – Snowiest single day of the 2023/24 Winter season.4:00 – Celebrating 4/20 and hopefully our listeners had a celebratory toke.6:45 – Cam Zink Invitational – challenges due to wind.9:00 – Do you like wind or do you hate wind? Pow Bot loves wind – surfing slopping Lake Michigan. Trail Whisperer hates wind having grown up as a cyclist. Wind creates huge wildfires, avalanches and falling trees in the forest.12:30 – Pow Bot’s story of ecology, forest fires and falling trees due to wind.17:15 – North American avalanche fatality report – total number of avalanche fatalities were way down – only 13.20:10 – Transition back to mountain biking – Trail Whisperer has been hiking new moto trail alignments in the Peavine Maze area for the Nevada OHV planning project.22:00 – Trail report: Armstrong connector, Corral Trail in South Lake are open. Jackass Ridge in Truckee is open.23:00 – New issue of Tahoe Quarterly is out – two articles written by Kurt Gensheimer.24:00 – Riding ebikes and rock crawling on the Rubicon Trail.27:45 – Listener shout outs: Brad Hisgen – Explaining backcountry etiquette.28:45 – Fostering etiquette and ethos in the backcountry - The 10 Shredmandments31:20 – Rule #1 – Don’t park like a kook. Be considerate when parking your car at the trailhead.32:50 – Rule #2 – Group size matters. At the most, 4 people. Big groups are for guided hut trips. And consider leaving your dog at home.36:00 – Rule #3 – Shred within your ability and go with people who are all the same ability.  37:10 – Rule #4 – Mind the skin track. Stay on the established routes. Don’t set a wonky skin line if you don’t know how to do it properly.39:10 – Rule #5 (or #6?) – Don’t be a bad bogey. Don’t follow up on another group ahead of you in a line. For example, if someone else is booting up Terminal Cancer, you’re too late. Go somewhere else.41:50 – Rule #7 – Ski the fall line. Go straight down. No traversing across a slope. SFD = straight fucking down. Learn to landmark ski.45:50 – Rule #8 – Be a good mentor. Set the example for others and help them do it right. Mentorship is contagious.47:00 – Rule #9 – The social delay rule – Protect the spot when it’s firing. It’s not ok to ride a secret spot in prime conditions, then immediately post about it on social media. Wait until the cycle is over before posting about it.50:45 – Rule #10 – Don’t be a dick and other shenanigans – backpack speakers, dog crap in the skin track, don’t litter. Buy the skin track setter a beer.54:55 – Shout out to Christian from Terrain Adventure Co - @terrainadvco55:50 – Shout out to Gordo Clute – he recommended that we get bestselling author Steven Kotler on the show to talk about flow state.57:00 – People have been leaving great reviews, thank you!58:20 – Shout out to Andrew Cobourn – Carson Valley Trails Alliance social post saying its ok for horses to poop on the trail. There was public backlash. Leaving horse poop on a trail violates The Golden Rule – don’t be a dick.1:02:00 – 10 Things Europeans hate about American ski resorts1:05:00 – US Postal Service planning to close Reno mail processing facility and moving all Reno mail to Sacramento for processing.1:11:20 – Two Australian and one American surfers recently murdered near Ensenada, Baja California. Is it safe to go to Baja anymore?1:21:00 – Future guests: Amie Engerbretson – Protect Our Winters. The POW film “The Hypocrite”. The impact of living and recreating on planet Earth.

Boasting some of the biggest vertical relief in North America and some of the best skiing anywhere in the world, California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada hits its zenith in spring with warm weather for camping at the foot of massive snow-covered peaks. For the last 25 years, Nate Greenberg has been documenting all the best lines to ski, and his book, Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra (along with co-author Dan Mingori), is the “bible” of the region. In addition to co-authoring the book, Nate was also a GIS expert in his former life working for Mono for two decades, now the Chief Administrative Officer for Inyo County. He’s also the co-founder of the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. We chat with Nate about a variety of topics related to the Eastern Sierra and what makes it so special, as well as the controversial launch of the OnX Backcountry app featuring ski lines from the book, which some fear will blow up all the secret spots. Nate also opens up about a harrowing avalanche incident in the Bardini Chutes that nearly took his life. Purchase the book at your local outdoor retailer or online at Wolverinepublishing.com and donate to ESAC at esavalanche.org.1:00 – Pow Bot and Trail Whisperer recording from the Toyota Sunrader on the shores of Convict Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada after skiing Mount Morrison.7:00 – Nate Greenberg – CIO for Inyo County, 20 year employee of Mono County, GIS expert,  Co-Author of Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra.11:00 – Talking about avalanches, the OnX Backcountry app and the concept of gatekeeping18:40 – The story behind the convicts who Convict Lake was named after. 21:00 – The unique gift of skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada.  22:25 – Nate grew up in Orange, California and skied and climbed in Mammoth as a kid.27:00 – Nate’s background in GIS, and built Mono County’s GIS infrastructure. 30:30 – All about Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra by Nate Greenberg and Dan Mingori40:00 – Has Nate’s perspective on skiing big lines changed in recent years with having a family and a real job?43:00 – The challenges of finding a good skiing partner. 46:20 – Founding the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center (ESAC) with Walter Rosenthal, who passed in the fumarole accident at Mammoth Mountain in 2006.57:00 – Nate’s story about getting caught in an avalanche in Bardini Chute and being seriously injured.1:13:15 – Going from the book to an app on your phone – the launching of a partnership with OnX Backcountry featuring skiable lines in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, and the controversy of gatekeeping. 1:26:30 – How do you protect “secret spots” from the masses with an app like OnX, and how does it compare to the impacts of social media accounts and influencers?1:39:00 – Incorporating an ethos of how to appropriately experience the outdoors, the importance of mentorship and education and having respect for the rules of backcountry skiing.1:47:00 – Nate’s Mentors: Don Sharaf, Ian McCammon, Christian Pondella.1:50:00 – What is it that Nate loves the most about skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada?1:54:14 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?1:56:45 – Support the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, make a donation.

“Snow is blissful, it’s pure, it’s white, it’s serene, it’s a siren call. But it’s also very dark, it’s death. The darkest white is the perfect analogy for an avalanche,” said New York Times bestselling author Eric Blehm on Episode 35 about his latest book, The Darkest White, chronicling the life and untimely passing of legendary snowboarder Craig Kelly. Widely regarded as the Michael Jordan of snowboarding, Kelly was a pioneer in this uniquely American sport, and in his book, Blehm dives deep in to Kelly’s life and his pivotal role in the history of snowboarding and splitboarding. Blehm also goes into remarkable detail about the 2003 La Traviata avalanche in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, where Kelly and six other skiers lost their lives, including Truckee local Kathy Kessler. Our chat with Blehm covers a bit of the history here in Lake Tahoe, a bit about Kelly and an insightful discussion around the human factors involved in the tragic avalanche. Learn more about Blehm and purchase his award-winning non-fiction books at ericblehm.com. 2:30 – Recording from Jim and Bonnie Zellers garage in Tahoe Donner.3:50 – Introducing Eric Blehm, author of Fearless, The Only Thing Worth Dying For, The Last Season and his new book, The Darkest White, about the history of snowboarding, Craig Kelly and the La Traviata avalanche.7:20 – Kathy Kessler – a core lord in Truckee who lost her life in the La Traviata avalanche with Craig Kelly.9:10 – The roots of snowboarding were on Donner Summit – Donner Ski Ranch, Soda Springs and Boreal. 10:10 – Mind the Track Superfan #1 – Scott Kessler. Thanks for the shout out buddy!13:15 – Eric was a snowboard magazine editor at TransWorld when he met Jim and Bonnie Zellers, the original backcountry snowboarders for The North Face. 15:30 – Transitioning from being a short-form magazine editor to a long-form book author and investigative journalist.22:06 – Learning about the formation of the Mount Baker Hard Core, the lawsuit between Burton and Sims over Craig Kelly.23:00 – Tom Sims claimed to have invented the snowboard before Sherman Poppen, but it was never confirmed.25:00 – Mount Baker, Donner Ski Ranch, Boreal and Soda Springs were one of the first places to allow snowboards on chairlifts. 30:00 – Parts of Craig’s story that were cut from the book – Greg Stump’s film Siberia with Kelly and Scott Schmidt. 34:30 -Craig Kelly’s unique riding style, his fall line style influenced a generation of riders and convinced Trail Whisperer that he should have been a snowboarder.45:00 – Craig as a pioneer in being one of the first snowboard guides in Canada, pursuing the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides certification.48:00 – Early splitboarding, Eric got a splitboard and infiltrated ski resorts that didn’t allow snowboarding, riding the lift in split, then assembling it and snowboarding down as ‘The Chameleon”.1:01:10 – The Durrand Glacier avalanche on La Traviata, the human factor and group dynamics.1:10:30 – Ruedi Beglinger as a lead guide at Selkirk Mountain Experience, a strong character and the changes in the guiding industry and backcountry culture after the avalanche. 1:16:30 – Hubris and its role in the avalanche incident.1:23:00 – Craig Kelly wanted to educate the younger generation on snow safety and the dangers of the backcountry.1:28:30 – If Eric could ask Craig one question, what would it be?1:35:15 – The Darkest White – where did the name come from?1:39:30 – What does Mind the Track mean to you? 1:40:30 – Go to ericblehm.com or @ericblehmofficial on Instagram

“Everybody in Tahoe is the kid who doesn’t want to come in from recess”, said PowBot in Episode 34 with our guest Kacy Roeder. The concept of play is not just for kids, playing is an essential part of being an adult. Nobody knows this better than Kacy, a licensed landscape architect who designs playgrounds and sends it on her mountain bike and her splitboard. We learn about Kacy’s unique career, growing up on the East Coast and finding her way to Lake Tahoe, her love of being outside adventuring and why she built her world around playing as much as possible. Kacy also talks about her involvement with the Rocker Memorial Skate Park and the Rally for Rocker fundraiser on April 27, and how splitboarding has rekindled her love of snowboarding.  1:45 – POWBOT is back! Rest and a knee brace are helping.3:20 – Introducing Kacy Roeder and her hens – farm life7:20 – You Are What You Eat Documentary – industrial food complex and diet9:00 – Trail Whisperer scored pow in the Toiyabe Range of Nevada. Tonopah Low and the Inside Slider storm.10:45 – Kacy scored pow on Mount Rose after hitting Frog Lake Huts and West Shore14:00 – Listener shout outs – Sebastian Johnson - Diamond Peak closes uphill ski access due to people breaking rules and coming within striking distance of a loaded winch cable. 19:20 – Ski Magazine announces ski injuries due to GoPros and weed gummies. But what about alcohol consumption while skiing? 21:00 – PowBot shouts out all listeners who helped him with his knee issues.23:00 – April Fools posts, Zak Mills – snowboarding downhill with ski poles in hand.25:49 – Brian Sullivan – funny video about podcasters.28:20 – All about Kacy Roeder – Landscape Architect – Designing Playgrounds34:00 – Growing up on the East Coast and the path to finding “play” as a profession. 36:00 – Moving to Lake Tahoe after graduating from University of Vermont.39:30 – Trail Whisperer’s first encounter with Kacy – Riding MTB in Reno. 43:30 – The concept of men teaching women to mountain bike. 50:20 – Parallels between work and play. Play as an essential element of being an adult.55:00 – Building playgrounds for kids and adults alike. 57:00 – Adventure Journal – Steve Casimiro – observing animals playing. The importance of humans playing. 1:02:00 – Rally for Rocker – Saturday April 27. Donner Ski Ranch on Donner Summit. Fundraiser for Rocker Memorial Skate Park in Truckee. 1:14:30 – Kacy’s youth and growing up as an active outdoor family, going to school in Vermont, snowboarding at her home mountains, Okemo Mountain, Stowe and Jay Peak.1:17:00 – Spending time in Florida, New York accents, the competitiveness of the East Coast 1:27:30 – Learning to balance play and education in college.1:30:30 – Kacy’s transition from snowboarding to splitboarding and backcountry skiing, and the concept of “Nature Bathing”.1:39:40 – What does Mind the Track mean to you? 1:44:30 – Snoop Pow Dogg Snowsizzle My Dizzle Corn Dog and Powderrific Snow Report

In the wake of The Crippler – one of the biggest snowstorms to hit Tahoe in the last 5 years – the boys sit down with Reno-native core lord @aurelbaker, a Pediatric ER nurse who crushes it skiing as an ambassador athlete for @atomicski @rab.equipment and @lebent_ . Always the adventurer, Aurel covers a variety of topics including her “puke and rally” sailboat to ski adventure in British Columbia, her path to becoming a nurse, enduring as a nurse through the pandemic, her five different knee and ankle surgeries over the years and the psychological struggles associated with being an injured athlete. We recap the 10 feet of snow that shut down Lake Tahoe for three days, talk about skiing pow in Reno, Snoop gives the Snowsizzle My Dizzle Powderiffic Snow Report and shout outs to listeners. 1:30 – Introducing Aurel Baker – Pediatric ER Nurse, Skier, Mountain Biker, Fly Fishing, Climber.6:30 – All about fly fishing. 10:00 – The challenges of surfing.12:15 – Shout Outs – Michael George – Lebron James and JJ Reddick starting a new podcast called Mind the Game. Jed Ritchey – Washington Post story about record ocean temps and Hunga Tonga. 17:00 – Jonathan Irwin – wondering how to gain real backcountry experience not living full time in the mountains.23:00 – Sendy Send of the Week - Zak Mills and Nick Russel ski Banner and Ritter Mountain in the same day.24:10 – THE CRIPPLER – The aftermath of the March 1 snowstorm. Interstate 80 closed for three days. Hundreds of cars stranded on Donner Summit. A three day blizzard warning. Palisades Tahoe closed for three days.31:30 – Backyard pow slashing in the wake of the storm. Skiing pow in Reno and Virginia City on Mount Davidson. 34:00 – Winter of 23-24 in a word: awkward. Seeming like a light winter, yet we are almost at season average for snowpack. Months of dangerous snowpack. 39:00 – Skiing Peavine Mountain in Reno. 40:25 – The Snoop Pow Dogg Snowsizzle My Dizzle Powderrrific Snow Report43:00 – Spring Equinox – Mind the Track has made it a full four seasons!47:00 – Aurel traveling to Sitka, Alaska for a sail to ski trip. Looking back on last year’s sail to ski trip in British Columbia. Learning the concept of Puke and Rally. 55:00 – Aurel has had five orthopedic surgeries on her knees and ankles over the years. Struggling with injury and recovery. The bicycle is the best tool for physical therapy. 1:02:00 – Dealing with loss of identity when the thing you love most you can’t do because of being injured. 1:05:00 – PowBot is dealing with early osteoarthritis in his knee.1:10:30 – Delux Landscape in Lake Tahoe – PowBot’s new job as a project manager. 1:15:10 – Aurel grew up in Reno, and learned to ski and snowboard at Mount Rose. Going to University of Nevada, Reno and becoming a nurse.1:19:10 – Enduring through the COVID pandemic as a nurse in a hospital.1:27:30 – Leaving Reno, but coming back to Reno because of how good the access is to so much adventure.1:32:00 – What was the closest call Aurel has ever had with avalanches? 1:37:00 – PowBot almost drowns in a creek crossing on the Sierra Buttes. 1:38:45 – Random historical tidbit: Sierra City compared to Downieville.1:40:45 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?