Fatal Shooting at Eldora Mountain Resort

Eldora Mountain Resort's General manager Brian Mahon lost his life yesterday in a senseless act of violence. Brain was 46.

"...General manager Brian Mahon was the first one to arrive at Eldora Mountain Resort every morning and the last one to leave each night, co-workers say."

More news



From Eldora website:
Release Date: 12/31/08
Good morning skiers, riders and the Eldora family. It is with great sorrow that we share the news of the tragic loss of our general manager, Brian Mahon. Please come up and join us for a day of skiing and riding. Without question, Brian would want it that way. Let's make it a great day at Eldora.

via Summit Daily News Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Two dead in Eldora Mountain shootings
NEDERLAND — A black-clad worker at the Eldora ski area asked other employees about their religious beliefs before shooting a manager to death early this morning, then died a short time later several miles away in a gunbattle with a Boulder County sheriff’s deputy.
Although authorities did not publicly identify the man who died in the pump house near the base of Eldora Mountain Resort, fellow workers who witnessed the shooting said he was a manager at the resort west of Nederland.
The gunman had been in town only a short time, several Eldora workers said.
“I was scared for my life — as scared as I’ve ever been,” said Fabio Sales, who was in the pump house near the Eldora base when the gunfire erupted around 7 a.m.
Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said the gunman drove away from the ski area, and witnesses there called 911 with a description of him and his car.
A veteran deputy on patrol in the area sped toward the resort and met the man, who was driving in the other direction. The deputy turned around and pursued him on Colorado 119, known as the Peak-to-Peak Highway, south of town, where the man stopped along a long, sweeping curve.
At that point, Pelle said, the man opened fire on the deputy, who shot back, killing the suspect. The Daily Camera in Boulder identified the deputy as John Seifert.
Bullet holes pierced the grille, hood and windshield of the deputy’s Tahoe, and a cluster of gunshots pocked the side and front windows on the gunman’s gold Infiniti sedan.
The trouble apparently started shortly before 7 a.m. in Nederland.
Cynthia Davis, 35, awakened to a pounding on her front door about 6:50 a.m. When she opened the door, she was met by a tall, slender man in his early 20s with a pistol strapped to his right thigh. He was dressed entirely in black.
The man wanted to know where the location of Davis’ neighbors, who recently moved away. Davis said the man appeared “very agitated and angry” when she told him she didn’t know. Her former neighbors worked at the ski area before moving out of town, recently.
Davis said she did not immediately call the police.
“I kept telling myself that it had to be a walkie-talkie or something, because it didn’t make sense why he would have a weapon,” said Davis, adding she kept staring at the gun as she talked to the man.“I thought he was a cop,” she said.
A short time later, the gunman entered a room in the Eldora pump house where about 20 employees were preparing for the day. He asked people their religious beliefs, then opened fire.
Matthew Koehorst, a 21-year-old Eldora employee, said the manager who died was “just unlucky — a complete fluke.”
“It could’ve been me next,” he said. “I was next in line ... That was the most terrifying experience of my life; I’m not gonna go through that again.”
Erika Peterson, a clerk at a coffee shop who used to work for the manager at Eldora, described him as “a great guy to work for.”
“He was never rude to me,” Peterson said. “Just a nice guy.”
And Susan Sanford, the manager at the First Street Pub & Grill in Nederland, said she worked with the manager in 2003. She called him a “very reputable man.”
“He was always about the mountain,” Sanford said, adding the victim had a wife and children.
The violent outburst closed the ski area and a section of Colorado 119 south of Nederland.
Pelle brought in the bomb squad to examine the dead man’s vehicle as a precaution but said that he had no indication that there were any explosives in it.
“I think the entire community at this point is shocked by a pretty violent series of events on a beautiful holiday week,” Pelle said.
The deputy involved in the shooting is a member of the department’s SWAT team, Pelle said. Pelle said the deputy has “been with us a long time ... and has prior law-enforcement experience before that. He’s a long-term, very solid member of our department.”
Pelle also said that it was too early to know what touched off the violence.
“We know the ‘what,’ “ he said. “We don’t know the ‘why.’ “
The Daily Camera and Associated Press contributed to this report.

Suspect was Lyons grad, former football player

Northern Colorado: Snowmoshred

Northern Colorado at its finest!
I decided to extend my Christmas vacation to include last Monday(yesterday). I'm glad I did! After weeks of bitter cold, we finally got a warm one. Here is a video of a perfect Snowmoshred day in Northern Colorado! Video by JP.
It was a sunny 30+F with no wind! Excellent conditions for what we had in mind.
and with 2 CFR equipped 2009 ARCTIC CAT HCR how could we go wrong!
Hero Snow to boot...A little slidey up top, but mostly stable where we were riding.

Colorado backcountry: Christmas 2008

Vail Pass Snowmoshred, -13F

Chaco USA...Yeah right.

My Chaco Feet a few years ago on the Colorado tundra(Holly Cross wilderness).

As many of you know I live in my Chaco sandals in the summer months and have been for more than a decade now, I get my "Chaco tan" every year because of it. Some of my Chaco sandals in past years have lasted multiple hundreds of walking miles, and I've always been proud to boast "Made right here in Colorado!"

But NO More! As this email I sent to "Chacousa" confirms...
_____________________________________________________________
My email:
Hi Chaco,
For the longest time I could have sworn I saw "Made in Colorado" on my Chaco footwear. I've lived in Colorado my whole life (33 years) and I really got proud of wearing my Colorado made product by a Colorado made company. Then a couple months ago in REI I overheard a conversation, where one person was saying that all the Chaco products have moved production to China. Are Chacos made in China now? Please say it anit so.
Sincerely, Alex

...And now the bad news:
Chacousa's reply:
Alex,
Thank you for your email. Unfortunately what you heard was true, all of Chaco products are made in China now. Below is our reasoning for going to China by Mark Paigen, owner.

As you probably know, Chaco has made our Headwaters line of sandals in Colorado since the company was founded in 1989. However, as with any other company Chaco is subject to the vicissitudes of economics. It is no longer an economically viable proposition to manufacture relatively simple products by hand in the United States. By attempting to keep production here, when the numbers tell us otherwise, we put ourselves at a distinct economic disadvantage which threatens our very existence. While we will still assemble a limited number of our custom sandals here in Paonia, our production operations will now move overseas.

(If you’re interested in a pair of our custom, assembled-in–Colorado sandals, please let us know at help@chacousa.com)

For the past few years, Chaco sandals have been "Assembled in the US" as opposed the "Made in the US." The reason is that there are no domestic US suppliers of the materials we need to legally say the shoes are "made" here. That is, the domestic content of our shoes has fallen below that level required to use the word "made." Parts are all imported - in separate boxes in containers - and then assembled here in Paonia. We think it's likely that the move to Chinese production may actually create a positive environmental impact. By assembling those parts into a whole sandal where the parts originate and shipping the whole item in one container instead of in many small ones provides an economy that we are unable to capture in the United States.

Chaco has for years been a model of environmental responsibility, going so far as to heat and cool our offices geothermally, to donate 10% of after-tax profits to organizations that care for the planet and its people and to pay our employees an incentive to ride their bikes or walk to work. The factories in China where our products are built were only selected after a rigorous investigation - and ongoing visits - by the owner of Chaco and his executive staff.

Speaking for myself, being able to work with a group of friends and make a great product in our little town here in the mountains of Colorado was a wonderful experience. However, as much as we wish they wouldn’t, things do change. To be perfectly honest, it has been a very emotional experience for all of us at Chaco – those who left and those who remain - to watch while our production jobs went away.

While we fully understand the economics of the situation and we know that we can’t stay in business if we don’t make money it hasn’t made the experience any easier.

On the positive side, while production jobs went away, other opportunities were created. Almost all of my colleagues in Customer Services, for example, are former Chaco production staff and other former production workers now fill key roles in Dealer Services, Marketing, Distribution, Repair and Warranty and Operations.

Chaco was very generous in providing separation benefits to our friends and former colleagues whose jobs went away and while that’s not the same as having a job to go to each morning it does go a long way to providing assistance until that new job is found.

We hope that you and other people of good conscience like yourself will still want the best sport sandals and shoes on the market. In that hope, we will continue to pour our heart and soul into these products. Thanks again for your email and on behalf of all of us here at Chaco, thanks for your support.
-Mark Paigen
_____________________________________________________________

Anybody know where I can get a good pair of sandals, Mine moved to China!
The problem I have with this move is that I've only had to buy about 4 pairs of Chaco sandal in the 12+ years or so that I've been wearing them. I can expect them to last a few hundred miles (2-3 years of summer walking) a pair. They are/were nearly Bombproof!
With production moving to China, I'm not positive but I'm pretty sure that the quality will suffer and I'll eventually be paying more for less.

Colorado Powder: Snow Falling in Most of State!

I've been getting a few inches a night for the last few days up at the house. The ski resorts are all reporting nightly accumulations as well!
Wax em up!

Colorado backcountry: Kiteskiing.

text to come...

GULMARG Resort

"THE MOST EXOTIC SKI RESORT ON PLANET EARTH" -Gulmarg Resort
Gulmarg is located 52 km from Srinagar. It is located at 34°03′N 74°23′E / 34.05, 74.38^[1]. It has an average elevation of 2,690 m (8,825 ft).

Gulmarg's resort gondola, designed by France's Poma Group, ascends from the resort at 2650 metres, via a mid station and restaurant at 3050 metres, to an elevation of 3980 metres, providing lift served access to 1330 vertical metres of vast snowriding terrain.
Other winter sports infrastructure at Gulmarg includes road-clearers, Kassbohrer snow grooming machines, Poma surface lifts, hire equipment for a range of winter sports and an ice skating rink.


Rocky Mountain Sherpas

Dawn Patrol

From The Web: Santacon 2008

An "anarchist" Santa rocks a candy cane mohawk.
via Los Angeles Times

From The Web: California's Monster Salmon

Monster salmon could be harbinger of fish's recovery
Tom Stienstra (via San Francisco Chronicles)
(11-08) 17:50 PST -- The biggest salmon in 29 years in California, 85 pounds and more than 4 feet long, was found washed up on a river bank last week, dead and spawned out. Fish and Game biologists discovered the giant fish on a creek that feeds the Sacramento River near Anderson in Shasta County.
The salmon likely weighed more than 90 pounds before it died, a big buck, according to Fish and Game biologist Doug Killam, perhaps far more when in the ocean and beginning its journey through San Francisco Bay, the delta and up the Sacramento River to its place of birth on Battle Creek. When salmon begin their migratory journey to freshwater, often swimming more than 500 miles to their spawning grounds, they stop eating.

The state record salmon is 88 pounds, caught in 1979 by Lindy Lindberg in an epic tale. Lindberg was fishing alone near Red Bluff and brought the fish alongside after a long fight. Then, like in Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea," he strapped the 41/2-foot salmon to the side of his boat to make it back to the boat ramp.

Last week's giant fish is more good news in what has been a great year for the long-term future of salmon:

-- Genetics: The fact that the salmon appeared to have spawned successfully means that its rare genetics, a wild fish of landmark proportions, will be passed down to its progeny.

-- Future indicator: The giant salmon is another indicator that the ocean has been full of food this year, the richest year of marine food production in more than a decade. When plankton, krill, anchovies, squid and sardines are abundant, salmon can grow an inch and a pound per month.

-- 2010 a magic year? The ocean abundance is a key because more than 20 million salmon smolts were trucked from hatcheries in the north state to San Pablo Bay this summer and released from net pens in order to short-cut the juvenile salmon's journey to the ocean. That trip allowed the fish to get past unscreened water diversions, Delta pumping and verified ammonia pollution in the river near Sacramento. It will take two years for those fish to reach 15 to 30 pounds, so an ocean full of food makes the 2010 salmon season appear very promising off the Bay Area coast.

This comes after two disastrous summers in 2006 and '07, when there was little upwelling in the ocean and sparse marine food production. That lack of food caused the salmon population to crash, not only for Chinook, or king salmon, but also for Coho salmon on small coastal streams. The population of many species of marine birds, including murres, often considered an indicator species, also plunged in '07.

Some blamed global warming, or the delta pumps, but the consensus among scientists is that the crash was due to a scarcity of food in the ocean. That population crash was caused by a change in wind conditions and predicted in a Chronicle story in '06.

Yet this past spring, strong winds out of the northwest returned for the first time in three years. That set off upwelling, where cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface, and jump-started the marine food chain with plankton and krill. The high numbers of marine birds, blue whales, humpback whales, porpoise and other marine species that have spent the summer and fall off the Bay Area coast indicates that the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is again one of the richest marine regions in the world.

The giant salmon that washed up last week adds to the great news, and it's needed after a disastrous shutdown of the salmon industry. The number of adults was so low in the '06 and '07 classes that salmon fishing was prohibited this year off California and most of Oregon, and next year is a question mark.

At the Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek, a tributary to the Sacramento River, about 13,000 adult salmon made the migratory trip this fall from the Golden Gate, according to Scott Hamelberg, manager of the hatchery.

Although that's down by more than half in a typical fall run at the hatchery, Hamelberg said it was enough to collect 15 million eggs and produce its goal of 12 million smolts for release next spring. He said the biggest salmon that made it to the hatchery this year weighed 53 pounds.

The world record for salmon caught on rod and reel weighed 97 pounds, 4 ounces, and was landed in 1985 in Alaska on the Kenai River, according to records kept by the International Game Fish Association. A 100-pounder caught on rod-and-reel has never been verified. But a salmon that weighed 126 pounds was caught in a fish trap near Petersburg in 1949, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Another 126-pounder was caught by a commercial fisherman off British Columbia. That fish was mounted and is displayed at the Vancouver International Airport.

Sledding Colorado: Central Rockies

From The Web: Lego-Style Terrorist action figure

Lego Weapons by Brickarms

BrickArms Bandit - 'Mr. White'
"While his other siblings shun the day, Mr. White basks in the sunlight. Boldly attacking when the sun is high, each toss of his 8 fragmentation grenades erupts in a miniature supernova of destruction!"

In the News:
Full Story From FOX News

"BrickArms is not licensed by LEGO Group to customize LEGO figures and has no links to the LEGO brand," the statement said.

"The LEGO Group is committed to developing toys which enrich childhood by encouraging imaginative and creative play — and does not endorse products that do not fit with this philosophy."


Pictured: Full figure and accessories.
Includes:

• Tan two-sided minifig LEGO torso with crossed-bandoleer print
• White LEGO Scarf Headwrap
• Black BrickArms RPG
• Black BrickArms C96 Broomhandle Mauser Pistol
• Black BrickArms AK Asault Rifle
• 8 Black BrickArms M67 Frag Grenades
• Black LEGO Rubber Band Bandoleer

Also From BrickArms:

The US Colonial Marine figure.

They can not keep up with sales:

I set up a spotter so that I may check the smoker temperature from inside the house. I like to check the smoking meats every 10 - 15 minutes.


A watercolor.

Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle

The Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle is expected to affect 2.5 million acres in the US west.
Check out this New York Times Movie

They're here...
I placed a yellow dot on the house. (southwest of Boulder)

The Colorado River is in danger, NOT a fishing tale.

Colorado River photo:Ian Parker
The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District hopes to divert as much of its 30,000 acre-feet of water as possible from the Colorado River every year to the East Slope. Northern proposes building a reservoir near Carter Lake for storing Windy Gap water to serve cities like Loveland, Greeley, Fort Lupton, Broomfield and Longmont.

With about 60 percent of the upper Colorado is already being diverted by Northern and Denver Water Board, this project would take another 20 percent of a river struggling to survive.

Worse, Denver Water's Moffat Firming Project will further reduce flows in the upper Colorado. Both projects are seeking federal approval at the same time. You would think their collective impacts need to be considered. This is not the case.

We have until October 29, 2008 express our views on the 2 1/2 thick draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement). At this time the document does not

• Reflect a cumulative impact assessment of both projects
• Address the impact on stream tempetatures, reduced fish populations, sediment, and nutrients changes
• Accurately assess the recreational impact
• Deal with conservation opportunities for Front Range cities will receive the water

Download/Read the EIS.

WHAT CAN YOU DO

1. Attend the hearing and make your views known...there will be opportunities to speak. The time and place TBD...click here to send me an email and I'll send you the specifics

2. Prepare a written statement (email or letter) of your concern(s) which should includes some personal statement on why the Colorado River is important to you. This should be addressed to

Will Tully
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Eastern Colorado Area Office
11056 W. County Rd. 18E
Loveland, CO 80537-9711
Email wtully@gp.usbr.gov

Mop Sauce

Winter Camping Gear 2009

via nunatakusa
The Raku features warm sleeves and a deep hood plus an openable foot box, making it a fully functional hybrid between an insulated down suit and a 3 season sleeping bag. From sitting around the dinner pots to lying in the tent is merely two steps apart. No more chilly transitions between the cozy bag and mandatory visits to the bathroom. Setting up tent, cooking, doing repair jobs, organizing food and gear, sleeping, all is possible wearing the Raku. Life in camp has forever been elevated to an unheard level of comfort and protection against the elements. The sleeves on the fully baffled Raku can be pulled inside to create a draft collar for greater warmth while sleeping. Around camp the elastic shock-corded foot opening allows for unparalleled mobility and access. The two way front zipper allows you to sleep in your climbing harness without un-roping. For ultralight travel in cold conditions this bag eliminates redundant layers while providing complete warmth. We also offer the Raku with numerous custom options, including differentially cut 0 and -30 degree F versions. The foot box in the open mode, allowing you to vent effectively or walk around. If you pull the bag up and cinch the foot box draw-cord on the waist you have unrestricted mobility.

Indian Peaks Wilderness: Lost Lake

• N39 57.100 W105 35.696 - 2WD Parking Area for Hessie Trailhead

• N39 57.278 W105 36.192 - Hessie Trailhead

• N39 57.330 W105 36.780 - King Lake-Devils Thumb Bypass Trail junction (.85 miles)

• N39 57.265 W105 37.000 - King Lake - Lost Lake Trail junction (1.1 miles)

• N39 57.072 W105 37.045 - Lost Lake

Colorado Snow Season: Stokin The Flame of 09!

The Season is almost here!
Some stokeage for ya, Slednecks!
AND Soundtrack by MOWER!

Full moon October 2008

Morgan Marries.

My younger sister marries in Parker, Colorado,

Colorado Beetle Invasion: Pachydissus sartus

Pachydissus sartus.

Austin City Limits 2008

Waiting for the bats near Congress Bridge.
There is a colony of Mexican free-tail bats that live under the bridge, estimated at 1.5 million each night from mid-March to November at duks, the bats emerge from within the cement seams of the bridge's construction.They blanket the sky as they emerge to forage for food. Apparently the bat cloud can be seen with weather radar systems.
______
Note: Viewing the bats from atop is advised, as "something bat" will rain down from the bat cloud.


A lone show-goer's bad-ass bike sports a sticker that reads.
"Support the lunatic fringe."


David Byrne, Austin City Limits Review:
I always remember David Byrne from his hay day with Talking Head when I hear a band with similar sound and/or rhythms. It is a relatively common occurrence today to hear pieces of the past in the newest hits. For good reason, element like that tend to be timeless, ah la,The Beatles.
What really got me interested in David Byrne lately was this youtube video. He plays a old building with a pipe organ that controls remote controlled vibration motors attached to the building's infrastructure(old pipes, radiators, and columns.) The different vibrations create a tone that can be represented as music scale or keys on an organ.


His show was great! Everything you might expect from a true pro. The energy level throughout the show sky rocketed, with older tunes following newer stuff from his "Everything That Happens Will Happen Today" album. He would bounce in with the dancer's routine every now and then to complete the free flowing choreographed patterns. With one encore song he set the tone for Manu Chao, another great performance. David Byrne still gotz plenty.



Foo Fighters, Austin City Limits Review:
To Come...

Show-goer jumping off a foot bride into Barton Springs.

Bike Parking at the ACL 2008. (day 3)

BBQ Texas Style.
Review to come...

Austin 2008.

Two Turtles in Barton Springs.

Our Hosts. Mike and Jack(Dog) Hancock.


Breakfast at Cisco's, day 2.
Review to come...


The monster Smoker at a UT, Horns Tailgate party.
Note: Everything really is bigger in Texas.