Imagine Vermont with a network of trails and huts that would allow a mountain biker, hiker or skier to travel throughout the mountains staying entirely off the grid and in the backcountry. Other states, including Colorado, New Hampshire and Maine, have well-developed hut systems, but Vermont is new to this wave. RJ Thompson discusses how the decades-old vision of a network of mountain huts for Vermont is being turned into reality. (December 4, 2019 broadcast)
Is climate change killing skiing? One study argues that only about half of the 103 ski resorts in the Northeast will be economically viable by mid-century. The advocacy group Protect Our Winters says that in low snow years, reduced participation in skiing cost 17,400 jobs compared to an average ski season. In January 2019, the National Ski Areas Association joined forces with the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and Snowsports Industries America (SIA) to form the Outdoor Business Climate Partnership, which “aims to provide leadership on climate change and inspire meaningful action” and improve the resiliency of their $887 billion industry. We speak with Kelly Pawlak, president of the National Ski Areas Association about the ski industry’s response to climate change. And we talk with journalist Porter Fox, who argues in his book DEEP and in a New York Times op-ed that the ski industry has not done nearly enough to fight climate change. (April 10, 2019 broadcast)
Kelly Pawlak, president, National Ski Areas Association
Porter Fox, author, DEEP: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow
In February 2018, the US women’s cross-country ski team team won the first ever Olympic gold medals in their sport. Olympic skiers are now returning home, which for many of them is to Craftsbury, Vermont. This small northern Vermont community has become a pipeline for Olympic cross-country skiers, many of whom are part of the Green Racing Project at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center. About half of the athletes on the Green Racing Project team competed in the 2018 Olympics. We talk with Judy Geer, founder of Green Racing Project, her two daughters who competed in the Olympics, and another recently returned Olympic cross-country skier to learn the secrets behind their success. We also discuss why American biathletes, who fire guns as part of their sport, are now speaking out in favor of gun control. (March 21, 2018 broadcast)
Judy Geer, Concept2, director, Craftsbury Outdoor Center, Green Racing Project, 1976, 1980 & 1984 Olympic rower
Hannah Dreissigacker, 2014 Olympic biathlete, member, Green Racing Project
Emily Dreissigacker, 2018 Olympic biathlete, member, Green Racing Project
Caitlin Patterson, 2018 Olympic cross-country skier, member, Green Racing Project
Surviving in Avalanche Country: In the aftermath of the death of two US Ski Team members in an avalanche in Austria this week (including 20 year old Burke Mountain Academy graduate Ronnie Berlack), there is renewed interest in the science and art of staying alive in avalanche country. We speak with the journalists behind The Human Factor, Powder Magazine’s new groundbreaking 5-part series on surviving avalanches:
John Stifter, editor, Powder Magazine, who survived an avalanche in 2012 that killed three friends
David Page, author, The Human Factor, Powder Magazine
Health Care Reform in Vermont After Single Payer: What’s next for health care reform in Vermont now that single payer has been abandoned? Four experts weigh in:
Rep. Bill Lippert, chair, House Health Care Committe
Neal Goswami, Vermont News Bureau Chief
Dan Barlow, VBSR public policy manager
Bram Kleppner, CEO, Danforth Pewter, and supporter of single payer
Vermont Land Trust leaders Gil Livingston and Elise Annes tell the remarkable story of how skiers and land conservationists teamed up to preserve one of Vermont’s most cherished (and endangered) skiing & hiking stashes, the $1.8 million purchase of Bolton’s backcountry. They are joined by Ann Gotham, head of Friends of Bolton Nordic and Backcountry, and 90 yr-old ski pioneer Clem Holden.
Vermont Conversation 