Off Piste

I have no idea what prompted it, but one day in late October, I got this overwhelming urge to give away a great deal of what I have laying about the house, to strip down to the essentials and rid myself of the extraneous. The feeling proved not to be fleeting, but one that grew into a driving force.
First came loads of clothing and shoes to Goodwill and that led to gifts stereo gear, furniture, outdoor gear and apparel, and all sorts of ski gear to people who truly had a need for them. For example, at Christmas a bag full of warm jackets was taken over to the Bethlehem Inn the week before Christmas.
The point of this is not to call attention to myself as a saintly donor but to reinforce how good it is to not only to give things away but to trim down one’s personal inventory of stuff.

Thanks to Seth Masia of the International Ski History Association for a heads up on a story in the Telluride (Colorado) Watch newspaper entitled “Public Lands Access For Backcountry Skiing Debated Elsewhere.”
It’s a cautionary read for skiers in parts of the backcountry ski world where getting to the best skiing often means short treks across private lands.

Every time an alpine skier takes a spill and his or her bindings release on impact preventing either a leg fracture or something worse, they should thank Hjalmar Hvam.
An Oregonian by way of his native Norway and a short stay in Canada, Hvam came up with the idea of releasable bindings in 1939.