A lone skier stops on his diagonal traverse down a steep bowl to assess the rest of the way down. Perched above him, narrow snow chutes spread out like veins from the rocky cap of the remote ridgeline.

Below him wait bumps padded down and molded by the blowing mountain winds, unpoached pockets of powder stashed on their leeward side and rock outcrops and trees to safely navigate around. The first turns are his to carve, the spoils of the backcountry his to take.

A skier makes his way down Montezuma Bowl at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. The addition of the terrain boosted the ski area's size by 80 percent.

The only difference is the grunt work of getting to such pristine riding terrain has been subtracted. The dangers and concerns about avalanches have been mitigated. Ride the backcountry within the safe confines of a ski area. Welcome to the Montezuma Bowl at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

Calling it a bowl doesn't truly do it justice.

When Arapahoe Basin began operating the Zuma Chair three weeks ago, it was more like the opening of a new ski area.

"It's big. That bowl is amazingly huge," Arapahoe Basin's director of marketing Leigh Hierholzer said. "That's the first thing people say, 'I can't believe how big it is.' It's not just a wide-open bowl. It has all of the different features and terrain variety in it. We opened another mountain basically."

It's also not your run-of-the-mill concave open bowl.

The biggest drawing point of the 'Zuma' bowl is it's untamed terrain. Arapahoe Basin removed only one percent of the trees when constructing the chairlift this summer. Aside from a few groomed runs which run down the middle of the area to the chair lift, it's untouched and exactly what backcountry skiers have been dropping into for years. A lot of the run names are what backcountry skiers have been calling them for years.

Skiers scope out their lines at the top of the Montezuma Bowl
at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

Opening up Montezuma Bowl has always been in the vision of the founders of the ski area, over 50 years ago. That vision started becoming a reality in the past six years with negotiating between the ski area and the U.S. Forest Service.

In what has essentially become opening up another ski area, Arapahoe Basin is banking on being a bigger draw to tourists who might otherwise not take the longer drive off of the I-70 corridor to visit. But Hierholzer says while the addition gives A-Basin better footing to compete against the larger neighboring resorts, the ski area still maintains a vibe of a local's area where the interaction is more intimate and laid back.

"People are always looking for something new," Hierholzer said. "Maybe now when the destination visitor comes into Summit County we might be more attractive to them now because there is more to ski and ride and something new for them to experience."

Arapahoe Basin's expansion is part of a trend that Troy Hawks of the National Ski Area Association is seeing in Colorado ski areas; creating a safe backcountry skiing experience.

"Certainly they are catering to more niche demographic markets," Hawks said. "And they are adding to the experience s they provide, not only to backcountry folks, but to teens, women, seniors."

Breckenridge Ski Resort added the Imperial Express SuperChair- the highest lift in North America at 12,840 feet - last year, opening up access to what used to be historically "hike-up" terrain. It wound up being more popular than they could have envisioned as the resort doubled up the capacity of its lift for this season.

Being more popular than expected, Breckenridge Ski Resort doubled the capacity of its Imperial Express SuperChair - the highest chairlift in North America - this season.

Also this year, Breckenridge allowed access to expert terrain which used to be roped off in years past. Now off the north side of Peak 8, riders and skiers can test their mettle in the Lake Chutes.

Breckenridge Ski Resort's Nicky DeFord said the resort is catering to what the demand is out there.

"People have wanted more of that backcountry experience," she said. "And they are going to go where they can find that."

Keystone and Copper Mountain have historically offered Cat skiing, shuttling skiers to the neighboring backcountry in essentially snow tractors.
But the taste of the untamed isn't only for the intrepid expert skier.

'I think it's neat for the intermediate skier to go back there and experience it because it's no problem getting from top to bottom," Hierholzer said. "Back there it's quiet and the views are amazing. You feel like you're in the middle of nowhere, which is what you feel like when you're in the backcountry."

CLEAR CREEK COUNTY - It's 5:30 am and Pip Baehler alarm is going off. It's cold, dark and the wind is howling outside. Resisting the urge to turn over and return to slumber, Baehler gets up and heads out to work, to spend more time in the cold, dark, blustery elements.

The passion is the giant part of getting up every day and looking outside and knowing it's going to be 40 below zero all day long, Baehler said. "It's your commitment to a job that is important."

Working 10 to 11 hours is the norm for Baehler, the assistant ski patrol director at Loveland Ski Area. And there have been days where he's been there till 3:30 am.

"You have enough time to go home, put wood on the fire to warm the house up and let the dog out," he said. "Then you come back to work and do it again."

Photo courtesy Loveland Ski Patrol

Work entails being part avalanche forecaster, part medic, part customer service representative and part handyman. Sometimes it means skiing down runs and making sure people are having a fun and safe experience on the hill. And sometimes it means being the guy digging out a snow fence from a 4-foot snow drift in skin-chapping conditions.

A typical day starts with a sweep of the ski area and assessing conditions. If there has been heavy winds or a dumping of snow, avalanche conditions are evaluated and mitigation work is completed - be it with multiple ski cuts to slough off snow or with explosives. Sometimes safety equipment needs to be replaced or moved. The patrollers are always analyzing their surroundings while skiing down. So the skiing isn't just for getting the first turns in powder - Baehler said patrollers are considerate to leave that for the customers.

"We use the term patroller goggles," Baehler said. "You're not just looking at where you're going to go. You're looking and you see that rope over there that is half buried. You see those tower pads need to be raised and you see that little tip of a snow fence sticking out and you just heard that squeak in a shiv. There is a lot more to it."

Photo courtesy Loveland Ski Patrol

Any patroller will say a good day is when they don't have to use the toboggan to bring an injured party down the slope. All patrollers, whether they are pro or volunteer patrol, are certified in outdoor emergency care. Many of them have additional training or professions in the medical field such as EMTs, firefighters and doctors.

The training is extensive; refresher courses are required every year to stay up-to-date, and is also paid for by the patroller. Volunteer patrollers are required to buy their uniform, pay for their classes and certification and pay dues to National Ski Patrol.

"It's not really a profession you're going to raise a large family on, that's for sure," Baehler said. But the 25-year veteran wouldn't do anything else. With his red beard flecked with gray hair, Baehler doesn't look like the stereotypical patroller. In fact he says the young, hotshot ski patroller is a myth. Many of the patrollers are highly tenured.

"We have members who have been affiliated with NSP for 50, 60 even 70 years," said April Darrow, Communications Director for National Ski Patrol. The NSP counts over 2,00 members in Colorado and 27,000 people nationwide.

"Our membership really runs the gamut. The oldest patroller that I know of and still active is 92 years old. Not many organizations have volunteers that stay onboard as long as the National Ski Patrol, and it's pretty amazing to witness."

So what keeps bringing them back?

"As far as why they do it, the majority of patrollers get involved because they truly like helping people," Darrow said. "Patrollers also have a love of skiing or snowboarding and the outdoors. Patrolling is the perfect way to mesh these two interests, but helping people in need is a real draw for our membership."

Ski patrollers are also a tightly-knit fraternity. Baehler said the annual softball game in the summertime draws 150 members. Many times patrollers get together on their days off as well.

Anybody can test out to be a volunteer patroller. A person just needs to show up early on the weekend and a senior member will go out skiing or riding with the aspiring applicant and determine if their skiing acumen is high enough.

Volunteers are required to patrol 24 weekend days a season at Loveland in order to earn a season pass. There are other small perks that comes with the position as well. But it's an indescribable fervor that makes people give up there free time to watch over the mountain.

"It is a misconception that patrollers are just doing it for a free ski pass," Darrow said. "It really does require a lot. If people wanted to do that and get a pass, they could be a lift operator."

To learn more about the National Ski Patrol, visit http://www.nsp.org. To learn how to join the Loveland Ski Patrol, visit http://www.lovelandskipatrol.com

GOLDEN-- Estes Park resident Kelly Cordes has earned every one of the gray hairs that flecks his head.

"Man, I was hoping nobody would notice," he said laughing. "Yeah, I'd say I've earned every one of them."

Listening to his slideshow presentation on Sunday during the grand-opening weekend of the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum in Golden, anybody would have understood the appearance of his salt-and-pepper hair which juxtaposes his boyish exuberance.

Cordes is an accomplished mountaineer, equally skilled on both rock and ice. One of his most famous exploits was a route on the Great Trango Tower, located in the Karakoram in northeastern Pakistan. The climbing route called the Azeem Ridge, pioneered with Josh Wharton, climbs more than 45 pitches and over 7,000 feet up to the summit of the 20,617-foot peak.

But even somebody like Cordes who has climbed in Pakistan multiple times, Patagonia in southern Chile and made countless climbing pilgrimages to the great peaks of the Alaska Range can be awed.

A sleek, modern museum awaits visitors in Golden.
Photo courtesy Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum

And the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum is the place that can do it with some of its exhibits and artifacts. The most famous might be what is simply referred to as "The Ax." It is an ice ax which belonged to the late mountaineer Pete Schoening.

The American climber was part of a party that attempted to be the first on top of K2 in 1953. K2, also located in the Karakoram, is considered to be the most dangerous mountain in the world despite being not as high as Mount Everest. It is the second tallest mountain in the world at 28,251 feet and is still to this day one of the toughest summits to reach.

While descending the peak to save a sick person in the party, one member slipped and fell. In the chaos that followed, climbing ropes got tangled and all six members were pulled off their feet. Schoening, the highest person in the group, plunged his ice ax into the slope and stopped the fall of every member, saving each of their lives.

"The ax is pretty sweet," said Cordes a day before leaving on a trip to China. "The symbolism and story behind it is amazing. It is an iconic piece of equipment. It's hard not to hold it in reverence."

A climber might have better insight as to what a heroic and amazing feat Schoening's actions were. That is from having the experience of self-arresting with an ice ax themselves. However, the story can give even an armchair climber the chills.

That is what the vision was when the museum was created, said museum director Nina Johnson. The museum is for those who not only climb, but who appreciate an adventuresome life and the natural beauty of the mountains. It offers a great presentation through various displays of not only the history and nuts-and-bolts of climbing, but it also delves into the characters who shaped exploring the high places in the world.

Many Coloradoans have heard of the 10th Mountain Division - made famous for its exploits during World War II in the Alps as well as the hundreds of miles of trails and backcountry huts dotting the Rocky Mountains in the state.

But how many people know that alumni of the Army division includes the founders of both Aspen Snowmass and Vail ski resorts? Or that former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole was one of its ranks?

"Like today--we had two folks come in after they saw us in a magazine article," Johnson said. "And they were totally absorbed by the museum. The museum is for anybody who loves the aesthetics of the mountains, who loves the art, who loves different mountain cultures around the world."

Cordes also has left his mark at the museum. One of his photos during his epic climb up Great Trango Tower is blown up as a display poster. Also he helped pose one of the mannequins of an ice climber to make its actions realistic.

Cordes' presentation about climbing, succeeding and failing rounded out the opening weekend's events, which also included presentations by famous local climbers Lynn Hill and Tonya Riggs.

Being up on stage and discussing his exploits is far more uncomfortable for Cordes than being perched up an ice rime-plastered headwall on some remote peak halfway around the world.

"It is odd being the center of attention," Cordes sad. "The reason you are up there is because you do remote climbs. And you are asked to talk about the remote climbs as a center of attention. The irony hasn't been lost on me."

Going to those remote places can bring pain, suffering and defeat. Those however are lessons Cordes has been trained previously in. He is a former collegiate boxing champion and he took lessons from his former hobby and applied them to his current passion.

"Even though they seem like completely opposite endeavors, they have similar mental aspects," he explained. "It helps with enduring pain and pushing yourself and the mental discipline for the intense training and blacking out your irrational fears. It makes your mind direct your body to do what it needs to do."

Over 800 people attending the opening weekend, the culmination of two years of creating the museum. It is the joint effort of The Colorado Mountain Club, The American Alpine Club and The National Geographic Society.

"The comment I kept hearing again and again was the look of the museum was so unexpected," Johnson said. "It is so modern, sleek, interactive and engaging. There are lots of different things do to."

Johnson said the museum plans on keeping things fresh as well, switching it's main exhibit every few months as well as changing displays and artifacts.

For more information about the Bradford Washburn American Mountaineering Museum, visit www.bwamm.org