LOCALadk Magazine

Up & Comer | LOCALadk Riggins Family Photo where we put my gear in Ron's truck. I realized I still didn't know where we were going, and when I asked Ron, all he said was "into the woods." We hopped in the truck and drove to Adirondak Loj. With loaded backpacks and skis, Ron led the way onto the trail. It didn't take long to realize where we were going. I had done the Wright Peak ski trail before. We took our time going up, getting to where the ski trail splits off around noon. Most people would be near the summit by now, but when we got to the bottom of the ski trail, we made a fast transition and did a lap on the lower section of the trail. We didn't ski the actual ski trail much because the lower trail was in such good condition. It was some of the best glade skiing I have ever done. Rory Shreddin' the Gnar Every March, The Mountaineer in Keene Valley hosts the Adirondack Backcountry Ski Festival. I was excited because skier Glen Plake was going to be the guest athlete. When I first met him there, with his multi-colored hair and neon clothes, I thought he was 20 years old. He's really almost 50! The festival included a free demo at the North Country School ski hill, where they have a rope tow and awesome glade skiing. Glen is a big fan of small town ski hills and thought it was great. At the festival there was an avalanche beacon park to find buried transmission beacons using a receiver. It was a competition to see who could find the beacons the fastest. Glen gave me and my best friend/skiing partner Jonah Kaz a quick rundown on using them. Jonah and I won, winning a backpack and headlamp. While Jonah and I were skiing with Glen, we played ski games and shredded the gnar until we literally couldn't stand on skis any longer. I'll never forget it. I wanted to ski with Glen in the backcountry, but unfortunately I had school. Mr. K was retired then (we could now call him Ron), so he got to go backcountry skiing with Glen the next day. He told me afterward that on their adventure they started talking about local young skiers Glen had worked with during the demo, and Glen said "That Riggins can really turn 'em!" That excited me and made me determined to work harder to become a better skier. When we finished our lunches, Ron had to put a new sign on the trail that said "Trail for Skiing Only." With hundreds of miles of hiking trails, there are fewer than five miles of designated backcountry ski trails in the High Peaks, something the Adirondack Powder Skiers Association is trying to fix. Ron says their main goal is to create more designated ski trails, as it was in the days before ski lifts. When I am skiing down, I enjoy it more with less traffic. Backcountry skiing in the Adirondacks is an awesome experience and I'd like to see it expanded. I'd love to one day take my parents and little sister on a ski tour that would be fun for us all. Skiing the backcountry is an opportunity to really connect with nature. I'd love to see some ski trails on the peaks that surround my town so we could enjoy them as much as hikers can. Ron and I did a few more laps and then headed back to the Loj parking lot. I had a really awesome time in the backcountry with Ron that day and would love to enjoy more like it. Local Organization: The Adirondack Powder Skier Association (APSA) is a not-for-profit corporation formed to study, protect, promote, and enhance low-impact human-powered snow sports on public lands in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Visit adkpowderskier.com for more details and information on how you can support this group through membership. One evening a week after the festival the phone rang; it was Ron. He wanted to know if I wanted to go shred the gnar in the backcountry the next day, and he told me to meet him at the ADK Café. The next morning my Dad drove me to Keene LOCALadk Magazine Fall into Winter 2013 17

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