Awe, Nice!

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at awenice.com.

This week, I talked with Alex Marienthal from Montana. After high school, Alex left Boulder, Colorado, for Montana State University where he studied snow science as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student. Before becoming an avalanche forecaster, he worked for the ski patrol at the Bridger Bowl outside of Bozeman. Part of the job was mitigating avalanche risk which often involved setting off explosives, to get the snow headed downhill preemptively.

To further set the scene, Bridger Bowl has some spots that are strictly for advanced skiers and it requires those skiers to have avalanche beacons on them if they're going to access those spaces. As a ski patroller, Alex always skied with a beacon, a shovel, and a probe pole.

Every year, Alex told me, at least one person he knows - a backcountry guide, a ski patroller or someone in his professional community - is killed in an avalanche. According to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, an average of 27 people die in avalanches each winter in the U.S.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

We also welcome your support. You can find a donate button on our about page.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at here.

In this segment, we return to visit with Alex Marienthal, who works in Montana as an avalanche forecaster.

Here, Alex shares a near-miss moment. It happened during an intense and extended winter storm which brought more than six feet of heavy, wet snow to the region. It all landed on top of the winter's already developed snowpack. He picks up the account around Cooke City, which is near Yellowstone National Park.

With all the predictability in life these days, I can appreciate how unpredictability lends itself to keen interest and professional fascination. Alex told me that avalanche forecasting lands at what can be a tense intersection of recreationalists, businesses, and, yes, Mother Nature. Sometimes the forecast is dire but nothing happens. Sometimes, as he recounted, the natural phenomenon can be devastating.

Last February, despite an avalanche warning ranking of "high", a big group of backcountry skiers near Lake Tahoe, California, headed into the mountains. The weather got worse and ultimately, nine died in an avalanche that was by all accounts considerably smaller than the one Alex described.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

We welcome your support. You can find a donate button on our about page.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out here.

This week, I interviewed Kyler Brown.

Apart from the stink, or, maybe because of the stink, that was a fantastic encounter!

I asked Kyler how he first learned to ride. He said his rabbi, back in Missouri, first taught him. Who would have thought?

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.

Awe, Nice! also welcomes your support. You can find a donate button on our about page. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their sponsorships.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe, Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out here.

My name is Maddy Butcher, I'm the creator and producer of Awe, Nice! and we are entering our second season of this novel radio segment. Lined up, I have interviews with ranchers, an avalanche researcher, a farmer, a working cowboy, and our first Awe, Nice! moment from Canada. I figure it's time for another segment of Mini-Awe-Polis, a departure from our usual interviews, a snippet of small observations, like hay in my jacket pockets.

My horses, dogs, and I did something new and spent several months in Arizona this winter and spring. When we returned to Colorado, there was a multi-species exhale of sorts. Where we were in Arizona was rocky and with hardly any grass, so the horses were happy to return to the soft red dirt and green grass. They have been moving more and also lying down more often, with audible pleasure. The dogs, too, seem happier, freer. It was getting hot down there and the cold nights here have given us all a snap-to spirit. For the horses and dogs, that means more friskiness, more appetite, more soaking up the sun with moments of relaxation whereas in Arizona they'd be seeking shade. There is something to be said for familiarity with one's surroundings. Arizona was unfamiliar to us and I feel like we all carried a bit of a brace as we experienced the time there. Next time, it will likely feel different. So, when we returned to Colorado, our familiarity added to the pleasing aspect of green grass and open skies.

The drought has been on my mind and I'm grateful that the pasture could rest until we showed up. It's a precarious time to be on working lands. Many ranchers are selling stock to reduce the pressure on their fields. Personally, I'll be cordoning off sections of pasture, to keep the horses from overgrazing it. For the moment, the wind blows beautifully over healthy grasses and the birds busy the skies with territorial calls and with food in their beaks to feed their young. I anticipate rougher going as summer heats up. May the monsoon season be fruitful.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here. at awenice.com.

Awe, Nice! also welcomes your support. You can find a donate button on our about page. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their sponsorships.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out here.

This week I visited with Allana Salmon from Ohio. Allana teaches horsemanship and rock climbing, but it was on a trek with friends toward a climb called Listerine Girl, in the Red River Gorge, when she experienced what she wanted to share here.

Allana told me that before three years ago, she was her own worst enemy. No one disliked her more than herself, she said. Since then, she's done a lot of work, including therapy, and has made significant progress in cultivating more peace and balance to her days.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us at awenice.com. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their generous sponsorship.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl. You can find a link to Forrest as well as an Awe Nice donate button here.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms.

This week we wrap up our short visit with rancher Joe Morris from California. Joe thinks deeply about his work, literally and figuratively. While many of us are looking at what's in front of us, Joe has learned to see beyond.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us at awenice.com. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their generous sponsorship.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl. You can find a link to Forrest as well as an Awe Nice donate button on our about page here.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors.

This week, I visited with Cooper Hibbard from Montana. Cooper runs the Sieben Livestock Company, which is part of the Old Salt Co-op in Helena, Montana.

The Co-op, with has beef, lamb, and other offerings from five central Montana ranches, is committed to transforming the status quo of beef production to a more regenerative, giving-back model. They're doing some really cool stuff and I encourage you to check them out.

Cooper traveled far and wide - to South American and Australia, to name a few places - before coming back to take the reins of his family's ranching operation.

He told me that he's often had a feeling, when he's fixing fence or gathering cows or hunting, where the hair stands up on the back of his neck and it seems like the air is charged, and he just knows he's being watched. Then he might come upon a cache, where a lion has stashed a deer to come back later and feed on it. What he feels then is not fear but reverence.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here. We thank Kershaw Knives and Redmond Salt for their generous sponsorships. Music is by Forrest Van Tuyl.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms. And you can check us out at awenice.com.

This week we have another visit with Joe Morris from California. Joe runs Morris Grassfed Beef and is an award-winning leader of environmental stewardship and regenerative ag.

This second moment involves the cattle.

The connections we have – with other animals and with the land – become more and more apparent when we can pause and pay attention. The connections are full of energy and communication. There is often an undercurrent of that theme with these segments and I'm grateful to Joe for highlighting it.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us at awenice.com. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their generous sponsorship.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl. You can find a link to Forrest as well as an Awe Nice donate button on here.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice!, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms.

This week, I visited again with Carol Von Michaelis from Arvada, Colorado. Carol runs The Community Farm which seeks to bridge the gap between agriculture, the outdoors, and urban residents. Lots of people visit and when they do, they are likely greeted by Pepsi, a mini donkey that came into Carol's life when the two were paired for a burro race.

What's a burro race? Glad you asked! Pack burro racing is the Colorado's official summer heritage sport. Runners and donkeys pair up for races of varying lengths. All donkeys must be loaded with a pack, which includes mining gear. The race Carol and Pepsi ran was about 15 miles and started in Fairplay, elevation about 10,000 feet.

It was a bit of a blind date as sometimes goes with people who have donkeys but don't run and runners who are donkeyless.

I was so glad to hear that Pepsi ultimately landed at the Community Farm.

Carol told me that Pepsi also serves as a mascot for the Colorado School of Mines, where he specializes in meeting fans and having photo opportunities.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their generous sponsorship.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl. You can find a link to Forrest as well as an Awe, Nice! donate button here.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.

Welcome to Awe Nice, where we highlight moments of wonder while working outdoors. We're on the radio and we're also on podcast platforms.

This week I interviewed Joe Morris from California. Joe is a horseman raised in the vaquero tradition and part of an accomplished, multi-generational line of ranching in his family.

He learned holistic management practices from Allan Savory, who many say pioneered the field. Joe told me he sees the animals and the land as one community, a whole.

We have three short moments from Joe. The first involves a young horse he started years ago when he was working on a large ranch in Nevada. Joe picks up the story at the banks of the Owyhee River during spring runoff. The current was fast, deep, and chocolate-colored.

Boy, so many elements of this scenario that could have been stressful for horse and rider. There's the current and the depth of the Owyhee. There's the fact that Joe is lifting his legs way up. And there's having Sissy on his back.

But Joe worked very hard to develop a partnership, a relationship with his new horse. I trust you. You trust me. We go forward together.

Awe, Nice! welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us at awenice.com. We thank Kershaw knives and Redmond salt for their generous sponsorship.

Music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl. You can find a link to Forrest as well as an Awe Nice donate button here.

Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.