Seattle Times 12/14/16

Just thought it was worth a mention: www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/snow-...ry-month-since-1993/

The article includes quote from a few TAY inhabitants. One highly-controversial quote from the article: "There is not a record book to track such feats and the Turns All Year website (turns-all-year.com), which still hosts a forum for backcountry skiers, has changed hands and become outdated."

"In his 23 years of monthly skiing, Miller has seen a niche community of skiers coalesce around the monthly ski calendar he thought he’d invented. He has witnessed climate change slowly chomp away at his precious glaciers and watched his once-private backcountry ski destinations grow more crowded."  LOL.  He thought he invented year-round skiing?  And a niche community of skiers coalesced around ... .  Well, IMHO, TAY is the site the community coalesced around.  I never heard of  Miller--not that that means anything.  We've all witnessed the glacieal recessions and crowding.  I started my initial TAY streak in the very early 90's as did Miller as did all those I knew, with the exception of a couple who started years earlier. But, of course, I only know of those who registered on TAY and there may have been many, many more mountain lovers who skied all year or skipped 1 month a dry year etc.

Hi TAYers,

I wrote the article, and I think the section markharf referenced is not reading as I intended.

We've updated the language to make it clearer:

"There is not a record book to track such feats and the Turns All Year website (turns-all-year.com), which still hosts a forum for backcountry skiers, has changed hands and its year-round skier page has become outdated."

I'm fairly new to backcountry skiing and outdoors writing, and I appreciate any comments or feedback you've got. Email me (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or give me a call (206.464.2253) if you have thoughts you'd like to share or story ideas you'd like to see in the paper.

Thanks for reading.

-Evan

Hi Evan, thanks for the coverage and for updating the wording in your article. Charles did all the hard work creating this site over a decade ago, and Marcus has been keeping the site running for the last several years. Now that the reins have been handed over to me, I hope to do a major overhaul in the near future, including, updating the Year-Round-Skiers page. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

cheers,
Chris Mosetick

Danny Miller is a good guy. He's been volunteering with me for years on the Mountaineers History Committee. I don't know much about his skiing streak, but as far as I know it's genuine and he's pretty low-key about it.

I suspect that his responses just came across poorly in print. Before the internet, it would have been hard to know of anybody else who was on a year-round skiing streak. Saying that you invented the idea could be just a flippant sort of comment, not really to be taken seriously. I'm guessing that's the case.

I sure didn't mean any disrespect to the skier. Past experience has taught me that anyone at all can end up sounding like a jackass when they're quoted in the mass media. It's not a good idea to assume any more than the most casual relationship between a newspaper article and consensual reality.

What's more, I don't mean any disrespect toward the article's author. I've also learned that no matter how careful and clear I think I'm being in my written communication, it'll usually turn out vague, ill-considered, and grievously misunderstood. I appreciate the correction offered by Evan above.

I did think the characterization of Turns All Year was kind've curious. That's why I posted the link.

Mark

Hey Evan, thanks for the article. if you are new to covering our weird outdoor niche it might be worth your time to look at past reactions to media coverage on the site. I don't know what the best way to search for that is. One better than usual article that comes to mind is the NYT article about the tunnel creek incident a few years back. That was one of few articles that I recall sparking good discussion here rather than just criticism.

As for story ideas,tree well and avalanche deaths is something that could use a thoughtful reflective piece written about it. I think there is a lot of coverage directly following a tragedy but few good things that look backward at them after we have had time to process it more.

Anyway welcome to the conversation.

...
I suspect that his responses just came across poorly in print. Before the internet, it would have been hard to know of anybody else who was on a year-round skiing streak. Saying that you invented the idea could be just a flippant sort of comment, not really to be taken seriously. I'm guessing that's the case.

I'm sure you are correct. My response was predicated on my own experiences: every time I've thought I was being quite original, quite individualistic, remarkably observant of some phenomena, I later learned I was one of a large mass movement feeling the same way. As a scientist, I recognize there is extremely rarely an original idea, hypothesis, or theory; at best we just build upon what others have postulated or experienced. We belong to a family, community, and culture that shape our views. LOL

I'm fairly new to backcountry skiing and outdoors writing, and I appreciate any comments or feedback you've got. Email me (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or give me a call (206.464.2253) if you have thoughts you'd like to share or story ideas you'd like to see in the paper.

You should write a bunch of articles about how dangerous backcountry skiing is, and how novices should stay away from the pass, especially Snow Lake, Chair Peak, and Mt. Snoqualmie. Those areas are extremely dangerous.

Also, I think it's important not to write any articles about secret stashes or ski routes. There are already enough guidebooks.

And an article about what I call the Monday Morning Maniacs. A group of retired, social security funded miscreants who race their souped up SUV's to Crystal Ski Area every Monday morning while wearing Hawiian shirts and terrorizing the local elk population.

Bad to the core.

I'd like to see a story on winter dog parks.