Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Lou Dawson is a ski pioneer who has been setting the skintrack for countless skiers for decades. Since he arrived in the Roaring Fork Valley as a teenager in the mid-1960s, Dawson has helped shape backcountry skiing. From being the first person to ski all of Colorado’s 14ers — finishing in the early 1990s — to meticulously documenting nearly every technological advancement in ski gear, Dawson has shepherded backcountry skiing from its nascent roots in the 1970s to today’s global juggernaut. His recent memoir, Avalanche Dreams, traces his life from a hard-charging skier to a thoughtful father, husband, and alpinist.

Tune in to hear Lou talk about his first ski tour, the 1982 avalanche that nearly killed him, leaning on his spirituality, penning more than 3,000 posts at his WildSnow.com site, the evolution of touring gear, and the art of setting a skintrack. Topics:

2:30: Life in Aspen in the 60s as a teenager with hippie parents.

7:40: First-ever touring up to Conundrum Hot Springs at age 16.

9:40: The “radical sensibility” of progressive adventurers in Colorado

10:50: The 1982 avalanche in Aspen Highlands Bowl.

13:40: The Peter Pan Syndrome challenges many ski town men.

16:10: The spiritual awakening after the avalanche.

19:00: Finishing all the Colorado 14ers in 1991.

20:40: Writing posts for Wild Snow, tinkering and modifying backcountry gear.

24:50: The role of alpine tech bindings in ski mountaineering.

26:40: How gear and improved education have helped protect backcountry skiers.

35:40: North American versus European skin tracks.

36:40: “A beautiful combination of technology and athletic ability and a mystical awareness of the environments and the mountains.”

40:40: The fun of low-angle touring

Photo credit: Lou Dawson skis Long's Peak in 1990. Photo by Glenn Randall

Quotes:

“I started on wooden Bonna skis without edges and I literally would take those up and go powder skiing on those things back behind Aspen Mountain and places like that.” - Lou Dawson

“The difference between the 60-something millimeter skis we were skiing back in the 1970s and 80s with these with say an 80-millimeter ski or a 90-millimeter ski is like night and day.” - Lou Dawson

“In a lot of ski posses, people would look at you and think, ‘Well, I wish he or she had taken an avalanche course.’ And, you know, the avalanche course might not serve you to be able to predict whether a slope is safe or not, but it just makes you more aware of the danger.” - Lou Dawson

“I've always applied my craft to just anything I do. And I think one of the crafts of ski touring is the skin track. It's how you create it.” - Lou Dawson

Resources:

Avalanche Dreams

WildSnow.com

Wagner Custom Skis

Lou Dawson is Our Skintrack Artist