Mind the Track

Despite a hot, dry and smoky September, Trail Whisperer and Pow Bot reunite after a month off to compare living in Colorado against Lake Tahoe and how much better we have it in the Sierra Nevada than in the Rockies. Not only weather and snowpack-wise, but also fewer people, less busy trailheads, more affordable cost of living and a wider range of recreational options. The boys also talk about the new sport of wing foiling, running the Rim to Reno trail, e-biking the Rubicon Trail, remembering Mammoth weatherman Howard Sheckter, getting fired up for the inaugural Mountains to Meadows trail festival in Quincy, CA and experiencing a rare snowfall in August in the Sierra. On the topic of snowfall, what indicators are you seeing right now that tells you a big – or not so big – winter is coming to Tahoe? Call 888 COR LORD, leave us a voicemail and let us know!

3:30 – Rock Shox Flight Attendant – mountain bike suspension powered by AI

5:00 – All about wing foiling and foil boards.

12:20 - @misterbennetts – foiling in the Molokai Challenge in Hawaii.

19:30 – Trail Whisperer is a little down on mountain biking right now. Hot, dry and dusty.

21:45 – It snowed in Lake Tahoe in August.

25:45 – Trail Whisperer and Swan John went for a trail run on Rim to Reno trail in Mount Rose Wilderness.

30:20 – Remembering Howard Sheckter – The Dweeb Report – Mammoth Weather page – Mammoth’s legendary weatherman and ski addict.

34:35 – What is a haboob?

36:20 – Riding e-bikes on the Rubicon Trail for a Tahoe Quarterly story.

43:00 – The history of Rubicon Trail, Rubicon Springs and the trail’s status as a county road.

48:45 – Pow Bot’s Ice Creek Lodge barrel of sewage story.

53:30 – Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship is having their inaugural Mountains to Meadows trail festival at Plumas County Fairgrounds – Sept 19-22. Buy a trail building pass for Friday or Saturday for $50 and get a full weekend festival pass. Quincymountainstomeadows.com for more info.

1:00:20 – September 28 – Buzzards Roost Ridge trail day – resurrecting a historic trail.

1:05:00 – Call 888 COR LORD and tell us what you’re seeing to indicate a big winter coming!

1:07:00 – Comparing living in Colorado to living in Lake Tahoe. Pros and cons of both.

1:27:45 – Breckenridge, Colorado is anti e-bike, the complete opposite of Lake Tahoe. The benefits of allowing pedal assist electric mountain bikes on trails.

1:36:45 – Tahoe season ski passes, Ikon Pass gains access for passholders to Sierra-at-Tahoe.

In Episode 44, the second and final installment of coverage from the Breck Epic six-day mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge, Colorado, Trail Whisperer and Adam Mahomed document a week of suffering, random shenanigans and high elevation hypoxia. They also document the trajectory of their good friend James Adamson, who ended up finishing second overall in the Men’s 40+ category as well as second in the Enduro category. James’ big day was Stage 5 on Wheeler, the most feared day because of its grueling hike-a-bike up to 12,500 feet, then a technical and treacherous descent all the way back to Breckenridge. James was down 20 minutes on the leader, and in that one stage, he reeled back 17 minutes, going out of his own body, unleashing a performance that astonished everyone. Everyone seemingly, except himself. This episode is randomness mixed with purpose, insight and inspiration. And suffering. A lot of suffering.

In Episode 43, Trail Whisperer is on assignment in Breckenridge, Colorado with a special edition of Mind the Track covering the Breck Epic, a six-day mountain bike stage race featuring some of the most amazing high alpine singletrack in North America. But unfortunately, for the first time, the pod is without Pow Bot this week. Avid listener and an old friend of Kurt’s who’s been coming to Breckenridge for 25 years, Adam Mahomed co-hosts this Breck Epic course preview episode where they chat about what to expect over the six days, suffering at high elevation, preparing for unpredictable weather, and getting some inside knowledge on the six stages from local resident James Adamson, who used to be a Tahoe core lord back in the day before moving to Breck in 2018.

In the midst of record-breaking heat, out of control wildfires, brazen bears and dry, dusty blown-out trails, the boys catch up on a grab bag of topics including Pow Bot’s harrowing adventure sailboat racing on Lake Tahoe, Trail Whisperer’s week of trail work spent in the Toiyabe Range with no cell service, a recap of the Downieville Classic, whether you should buy an SL-style ebike or a “full power” ebike, Trail Whisperer’s new bike day and whether or not he likes “mullet” style mountain bikes, the modern world of social media and how to break away from the stranglehold of Meta, the start of the Summer Olympics in Paris with lame mountain bike courses and the greatest surfing wave ever, Pow Bot’s recent rediscovery of hiking and his relationship with the same mountain from summer to winter and Trail Whisperer’s struggle to stay amped on riding his mountain bike through the hottest and dustiest part of the summer. The boys also do some listener shout-outs and play the first 888 COR LORD call-in voicemails from listeners.

2:50 – Pow Bot enthralled with the Golden Hour and sunsets, enjoying the cooler weather after a record breaking heatwave.

4:45 – Trail Whisperer is not motivated to ride his mountain bike because of hot and dry and blown out the trails have been.

7:30 – Pow Bot thumbs a ride at Emerald Bay and got picked up by a county sheriff, and Trail Whisperer shares his story of being interrogated in the back of a police car.

10:30 – Bears in Lake Tahoe and Sierra County are out of control, breaking into homes, schools and peoples’ cars, leading Sierra County Sheriff’s Department to euthanize several bears.

13:40 – 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris kicks off – the mountain bike course is lame, Teahupo’o is the surf venue, one of the greatest and most dangerous places on the planet to surf.

18:45 – Fire season is in full swing in the Sierra Nevada – Gold Complex Fire in Portola and Park Fire in Chico are two big ones.

24:45 – Shout out to Zeke Lunder of The-Lookout.com – a great fire info resource.

28:15 – Climbers, mountaineers, skiers bodies are being found in melting glaciers after being missing for decades.

31:00 – Two horses die during the Tevis Cup event on Western States Trail.

34:20 – Ebike banter. Buying an SL eMTB versus full power eMTB. The long-term health of riding an ebike versus the peaks and valleys of spiking your heartrate on a mountain bike.

42:10 – Type 1-3 Fun comes from the Dirtbag Diaries.

44:45 – COR LORD Call-in Hotline – Superfan #1 - Scott Kessler and Gordo

48:15 – Trail Whisperer watching a documentary on the history of the Grateful Dead, and how they have always controlled their content and media.

51:00 – Modern social media, Meta controls everything. Trying to make a direct line of communication with your followers and cut out the third party like Meta.

55:00 – Chas Smith – Welcome to Paradise Now go to Hell – Cocaine and Surfing – getting shut down by Meta after a satirical story about a cocaine shark.

59:00 – Trail Whisperer was in the Toiyabe Range of central Nevada for an entire week with no cell service working on the Toiyabe Crest Trail.

1:08:00 – Pow Bot’s crazy sailing adventure on Lake Tahoe with John Morrison.

1:20:30 – NEW BIKE DAY for Trail Whisperer – Santa Cruz Bronson

1:27:00 – Pow Bot made a heartwarming Instagram reel tribute to Carson, his dog.

1:31:50 – Downieville Classic Recap and riding moto in Downieville. Lost Sierra Endurance Race – a running race in Downieville on a Saturday.

1:50:00 – Pow Bot has been getting into hiking, Hike Bot. Seeing terrain he skis in the winter in the summer and how different it looks.

1:59:00 – What’s coming up the next couple weeks? Trail Whisperer goes to Breck Epic and ebiking the Rubicon Trail.

In a shift away from skis and bikes, Episode 41 profiles two Truckee trail running core lords, Jenelle Potvin and Steve Martelli and their passion for ultra distance running events like the Western States Endurance Run. Just like Western States itself, this episode covers a lot of ground from how the couple had their first date on a seven hour trail run, to the history of the Western States trail, to preparing for a 100 mile adventure on foot with the support of an incredible trail running community. Steve also shares his emotional story of spiral fracturing his femur at mile 70 in the 2023 event after a nine year journey to be accepted into Western States. The boys also chat about the historic July heatwave hitting Lake Tahoe, the Reno Rodeo, listener shout outs and a tribute to PowBot and his wife’s dog Carson who recently passed after nearly 15 years of putting his paws in the track.

2:30 – Historic July heat wave hits Lake Tahoe and Reno just after the summer solstice.

5:00 – Kurt went on a multi-day rafting trip to the Deschutes River in Oregon.

6:40 – The joys of trail running – simplicity, no gear required. Just go running.

9:50 – Truckee Dirt Union rallies a crew for the Truckee 4th of July parade.

11:30 – Building trails for everybody. Including all user groups into trails and not discriminating against trail users.

13:50 – Listener shout outs – JT Robinson, Alex Horgan, Rob McCormick, Nate Melen.

17:00 – Trail Whisperer and Burning Man

19:00 – Rainbow Gathering disaster in Plumas National Forest.

22:00 – The Sphere in Las Vegas.

23:00 – Trail Whisperer recommends Reno Rodeo – The Wildest and Richest Rodeo in the West.

25:10 – PowBot and his wife say goodbye to their dog Carson.

28:47 – Introducing Jenelle Potvin and Steve Martelli – hardcore trail runners.

41:00 – How do you go from a 10 mile run to doing a 50 mile trail run?

43:30 – When Steve and Jenelle met – on the trail running Western States trail.

48:00 – What does it take to be a pacer in a running event?

53:45 – How do you stay cool in 100+ degree temperatures during Western States Endurance Run?

57:45 – The history of the Western States trail and the Tevis Cup horse race.

1:06:00 – Western States race in big snow years when the course gets rerouted.

1:09:40 – How do you qualify and get accepted into the Western States Endurance Run?

1:13:40 – How do you run a 100 mile event when your longest run has only been 30 miles?

1:18:15 – There are six sections to the Western States trail – The Canyons break the most people.

1:20:50 – Steve’s story of running the 2023 Western States event and spiral fracturing his femur at mile 70.

2:00:40 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

In the world of big wall climbing and wingsuit BASE jumping, @chris_mcnamara was a leader and innovator, claiming the first wingsuit BASE jump of the Grand Canyon (where he almost died twice in the same jump) and one of the youngest people to ever climb the West Face of El Capitan. As the founder of Supertopo, which evolved into GearLab, McNamara’s interests also evolved beyond climbing and the dangers of BASE jumping. It was when he moved to Lake Tahoe over a decade ago and discovered trails, mountain biking and specifically TAMBA, where he found his new passion. Always the dopamine-fueled thinker and dreamer obsessed with first ascents, “BushwhackNamara” immediately started asking “what if”? What if there was a mountain bike singletrack around Lake Tahoe? What if there was a trail from Susanville to Mammoth called Sierra Camino? What if there was a mountain bike trail from Canada to Cabo called Orogenesis? The dopamine was flooding his brain with possibilities, and a decade later, Chris and his wife Tor have been instrumental in funding the trails renaissance happening in Lake Tahoe.

2:00 – Recording in the Toyota Sunrader RV up on top of Monitor Pass off Highway 89.

3:30 – Introducing Chris McNamara, legendary big wall climber and early wing suit BASE jump pioneer and now a big trails advocate.

7:00 – Chris and his obsession with long distance trails, and the Orogenesis Trail, a trail from Canada to Cabo, as well as the Sierra Camino.

10:00 – The dopamine fix associated with thinking and ideas. A book – Molecule and More talks all about. Dopamine is about novelty and surprise.

13:00 – UNPACK THE BAG – The Downieville fatal bear attack story made international news.

18:00 – PowBot is no longer using Squaw anymore in reference to Palisades Tahoe.

23:00 – Truckee Dirt Union Loam Masters Party

24:50 – 1 (888) COR-LORD Listener Hotline – 267-5673 - Call in and leave us a message!

30:00 – Smashing rear wheels, trail tools and hip mounted hand saws

34:00 – SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE CLEARING TRAILS!

35:45 – Shout out to Eric Ramin at Brewer’s Cabinet for hosting Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship and to Chris’ company GearLab.

36:30 – June is now officially Mountain Biking Month state of California thanks to the efforts of CAMTB. Similar to the Access Fund in the climbing world.

39:00 – Hero dirt in Verdi. Could it be Hunga Tonga?

41:45 – What is Petrichor? The earthy scent of dry soil after a wetting rain.

45:00 – The history of GearLab as a company, by way of Supertopo and rock climbing guide books.

56:30 – How did Chris find South Lake Tahoe?

1:01:50 – Parallels between the cultures of rock climbing and mountain biking. The Camp 4 Education. Learning about how little you can spend and still be happy.

1:16:00 – Chris believes singletrack trail is one of the greatest returns on investment ever.

1:18:00 – Finding trails after being a climber, wingsuit BASE jumper and paraglider.

1:23:00 – Dreaming up the Sierra Camino, the Orogenesis Trail and meeting Gabe Tiller, starting with riding mountain bike legal singletrack all the way around Lake Tahoe.

1:25:45 – Riding the Charity Valley Trail from Hope Valley to Markleeville. Working with Alpine Trails Association on dreaming up connections.

1:37:50 – The challenge of federally designated Wilderness and figuring out how to route trail around Wilderness areas for legal mountain bike use.

1:40:00 – Fundamentalist views that are driving Wilderness policies, banning mountain bikes and dividing recreationists who all want the same thing.

1:52:00 – Charity Valley trail is a recent mountain bike discovery that is destined to be legendary in another 10 years.

2:00:00 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

In Episode 39, the boys sit down with @fresh_hamm , the founder of @truckeebikenight and Tahoe’s favorite underground mountain bike adventure rides, Giro di Stammina. Since he was tall enough to ride, Fred’s life has revolved around bicycles, taking his Dad’s fancy road bikes for long rides as a teenager with nothing more than some paper maps, a few quarters (for the pay phone) and a desire to get lost and find himself again. After being exposed to the devoted cycling community while attending Caly Poly in San Luis Obispo, Fred was inspired to bring similar community gatherings on bikes to Truckee, including Truckee Bike Night (first Thursday of each month) and Giro Di Stammina. The boys also discuss the confirmed first fatal bear attack on a human in California history, which happened in Downieville last fall, and a recap to the 2023-24 winter.

2:00 – The seasons have flipped, no more skiing, it’s all about bikes.

3:00 – Trail Whisperer has been hiking and flagging new proposed trails in the Peavine Maze area north of Verdi.

6:50 – Pow Bot turns 51 and Trail Whisperer turns 47.

8:30 – Introducing Fred Stamm – Founder of Truckee Bike Night.

11:30 – Has mountain biking gone too far? Red Bull Hard Line – a canyon gap too far.

14:10 – The first documented fatal attack by a black bear on a human in California history confirmed in Downieville. Shout out to the Mountain Messenger newspaper.

24:00 – Two brothers attacked by a mountain lion in Georgetown, California while hunting for antler sheds, one of the brothers died.

25:40 – Bears in Lake Tahoe are reportedly diabetic because of all the sugar they eat.

29:50 – Pow Bot shout out – been loving the listener reviews. Crash Davis and Rachel Davis – big fans of the pod. We need to turn our volume up.

32:50 – PUBLIC NOTICE: Jackass Ridge is closing for the entire summer on June 10. Please do not ride the trails on Jackass Ridge including Donkey Town.

36:10 – Ski season is officially over. Recapping the season. Pow Bot’s takeaway: He’s not going to buy an Epic or Ikon Pass next year. Would you get Mount Rose or Sugar Bowl?

41:30 – All about Fred Stamm and bicycles. The story of Fred and Kurt racing each other in the Santa Cruz Criterium in 2004, the first time they met each other.

48:00 – Fred is the unofficial mayor of Truckee when it comes to bikes and good times.

49:30 – As a kid, Fred started riding his Dad’s road bikes and riding long distances.

56:50 – Fred attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo for college, studying engineering.

58:00 – The inspiration for Truckee Bike Night came from Bike Night in SLO, every first Thursday of each month.

1:02:00 – Truckee Bike Night has as many as 300 people show up on bikes.

1:06:20 – All about the Giro di Stammina – also inspired by the Giro di SLO.

1:09:00 – The Giro di Stammina gravel ride out by the ghost town of Bodie, California.

1:17:00 – Where does the inspiration for putting on community bike rides come from?

1:22:00 – Stammina on Castle Peak, on the Toiyabe Crest Trail and in Pinecrest.

1:23:20 – Fred’s day job is working for Placer County as a civil engineer.

1:26:50 – Riding Pinecrest and the terrifying drive over Sonora Pass Highway 108.

1:32:00 – Riding dirt bikes in Kingston, Nevada in the Memorial Day ride with Battleborn Adventures.

1:37:00 – Truckee Bike Night starts and finishes at RMU (Rocky Mountain Underground) on Donner Pass Road.

1:43:00 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

“Where have all the goofy people gone?” – asked @trail_whisperer to Episode 38 guest, Taylor Carlton. As a lifelong snowboarder who emigrated to Truckee from Michigan in 2005 after almost moving to Colorado, Carlton has witnessed the changes in Truckee firsthand working as a real estate agent through the wild times of COVID when “everyone bought everything”. Most of Truckee’s new residents bring a more serious and competitive personality, displacing many of the core lord, ski bum types who never took themselves too seriously, just like Carlton. Despite this changing of local culture, Carlton holds on to his goofy snowboarder roots, chief among them is being the co-founder and ringleader of the Rally for Rocker backcountry slalom competition-slash-party held every April on Donner Summit, a fundraiser for the future Rocker Memorial Skate Park; an event he was mistakenly arrested for by federal law enforcement in its second year, one of many funny stories Carlton shares with listeners.

2:00 – Introducing Taylor Carlton, organizer of Rally for Rocker.

6:00 – The story of skiing into Frog Lake Huts during the tail end of a big storm.

12:00 – How did Taylor end up in Tahoe coming from Michigan?

15:30 – Michigan has roots in snowboarding – the Snurfer, Jake Burton, Brett Kobernick

19:30 – The transition from park and slopestyle riding to backcountry snowboarding

21:00 – The insane progression of snowboarding and crazy tricks in events like XGames

22:00 – Athleticism, relatability and inspiration. Crazy tricks are not relatable to the average rider.

25:00 – Warp Wave film era – Aurora Boardealis and A Place Called Kookabunga – Gray Thompson and Eric Messier.

30:00 – Truckee since COVID – Taylor’s perspective as a real estate agent in Truckee and the seriousness of new residents.

36:00 – The insanity of the real estate market in Truckee during COVID – Everybody bought everything.

40:50 – Taylor’s roof on his house had an ice dam and it turned into a leak that destroyed part of his house with water damage.

47:00 – Jeff Brown of Tahoe Mountain Realty – did an analysis about value of Tahoe homes compared to other mountain towns across the list – maybe Truckee was extremely undervalued.

52:30 – May 5th Snowstorm – Craziness at Palisades Tahoe – mayhem in the parking lot.

57:30 – Witnessing backcountry skiers in steep terrain with no avalanche safety gear.

59:45 – All about Rally for Rocker, in memory of Steve “Rocker” Anderson.

1:05:00 – Taylor’s story about getting arrested by U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement.

1:12:00 – Story of Mike D, flying his airplane over the event and dropping money.

1:19:20 – Why does Truckee need another skate park? The one Truckee has is incredibly dangerous. Shout out to Colin Robinson for planning Rocker Memorial Skate Park.

1:23:00 – Donate to Rocker Memorial Skate Park – rockermemorialskatepark.org

1:26:15 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

1:30:00 – Find Taylor Carlton – tahoemountainrealty.com - @shadtothebone

In Episode 37, the boys catch up after a very special Cinco de Mayo, blessed with a late season snowstorm that dumped some of the best winter pow of the year. Pow Bot shares his manifesto of the backcountry, The 10 Shredmandments – 10 rules of etiquette that every traveler in the backcountry should abide to minimize impact and be a responsible pow-shredding human. Banter and ASS (Angry Singlespeeder) rants are copious in this episode, covering a variety of topics like the love and hate for wind, the overwhelming hate of horse poop on trails, 10 things Europeans hate about American ski resorts, the dangers of traveling to Baja, the travails of the post office and listener shout outs (thanks @terrainadvco for the rad swag!). And thanks to everyone who’s been leaving positive rating and reviews. Please support the cause, press pause, and leave us a rating and review to help get Mind the Track in the ears of more core lords like yourself.

1:30 – Skiing Cinco de Mayo POW – Snowiest single day of the 2023/24 Winter season.

4:00 – Celebrating 4/20 and hopefully our listeners had a celebratory toke.

6:45 – Cam Zink Invitational – challenges due to wind.

9:00 – Do you like wind or do you hate wind? Pow Bot loves wind – surfing slopping Lake Michigan. Trail Whisperer hates wind having grown up as a cyclist. Wind creates huge wildfires, avalanches and falling trees in the forest.

12:30 – Pow Bot’s story of ecology, forest fires and falling trees due to wind.

17:15 – North American avalanche fatality report – total number of avalanche fatalities were way down – only 13.

20:10 – Transition back to mountain biking – Trail Whisperer has been hiking new moto trail alignments in the Peavine Maze area for the Nevada OHV planning project.

22:00 – Trail report: Armstrong connector, Corral Trail in South Lake are open. Jackass Ridge in Truckee is open.

23:00 – New issue of Tahoe Quarterly is out – two articles written by Kurt Gensheimer.

24:00 – Riding ebikes and rock crawling on the Rubicon Trail.

27:45 – Listener shout outs: Brad Hisgen – Explaining backcountry etiquette.

28:45 – Fostering etiquette and ethos in the backcountry - The 10 Shredmandments

31:20 – Rule #1 – Don’t park like a kook. Be considerate when parking your car at the trailhead.

32:50 – Rule #2 – Group size matters. At the most, 4 people. Big groups are for guided hut trips. And consider leaving your dog at home.

36:00 – Rule #3 – Shred within your ability and go with people who are all the same ability.  

37:10 – Rule #4 – Mind the skin track. Stay on the established routes. Don’t set a wonky skin line if you don’t know how to do it properly.

39:10 – Rule #5 (or #6?) – Don’t be a bad bogey. Don’t follow up on another group ahead of you in a line. For example, if someone else is booting up Terminal Cancer, you’re too late. Go somewhere else.

41:50 – Rule #7 – Ski the fall line. Go straight down. No traversing across a slope. SFD = straight fucking down. Learn to landmark ski.

45:50 – Rule #8 – Be a good mentor. Set the example for others and help them do it right. Mentorship is contagious.

47:00 – Rule #9 – The social delay rule – Protect the spot when it’s firing. It’s not ok to ride a secret spot in prime conditions, then immediately post about it on social media. Wait until the cycle is over before posting about it.

50:45 – Rule #10 – Don’t be a dick and other shenanigans – backpack speakers, dog crap in the skin track, don’t litter. Buy the skin track setter a beer.

54:55 – Shout out to Christian from Terrain Adventure Co - @terrainadvco

55:50 – Shout out to Gordo Clute – he recommended that we get bestselling author Steven Kotler on the show to talk about flow state.

57:00 – People have been leaving great reviews, thank you!

58:20 – Shout out to Andrew Cobourn – Carson Valley Trails Alliance social post saying its ok for horses to poop on the trail. There was public backlash. Leaving horse poop on a trail violates The Golden Rule – don’t be a dick.

1:02:00 – 10 Things Europeans hate about American ski resorts

1:05:00 – US Postal Service planning to close Reno mail processing facility and moving all Reno mail to Sacramento for processing.

1:11:20 – Two Australian and one American surfers recently murdered near Ensenada, Baja California. Is it safe to go to Baja anymore?

1:21:00 – Future guests: Amie Engerbretson – Protect Our Winters. The POW film “The Hypocrite”. The impact of living and recreating on planet Earth.

Boasting some of the biggest vertical relief in North America and some of the best skiing anywhere in the world, California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada hits its zenith in spring with warm weather for camping at the foot of massive snow-covered peaks. For the last 25 years, Nate Greenberg has been documenting all the best lines to ski, and his book, Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra (along with co-author Dan Mingori), is the “bible” of the region. In addition to co-authoring the book, Nate was also a GIS expert in his former life working for Mono for two decades, now the Chief Administrative Officer for Inyo County. He’s also the co-founder of the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center. We chat with Nate about a variety of topics related to the Eastern Sierra and what makes it so special, as well as the controversial launch of the OnX Backcountry app featuring ski lines from the book, which some fear will blow up all the secret spots. Nate also opens up about a harrowing avalanche incident in the Bardini Chutes that nearly took his life. Purchase the book at your local outdoor retailer or online at Wolverinepublishing.com and donate to ESAC at esavalanche.org.

1:00 – Pow Bot and Trail Whisperer recording from the Toyota Sunrader on the shores of Convict Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada after skiing Mount Morrison.

7:00 – Nate Greenberg – CIO for Inyo County, 20 year employee of Mono County, GIS expert,  Co-Author of Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra.

11:00 – Talking about avalanches, the OnX Backcountry app and the concept of gatekeeping

18:40 – The story behind the convicts who Convict Lake was named after.

21:00 – The unique gift of skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada.  

22:25 – Nate grew up in Orange, California and skied and climbed in Mammoth as a kid.

27:00 – Nate’s background in GIS, and built Mono County’s GIS infrastructure.

30:30 – All about Backcountry Skiing California’s Eastern Sierra by Nate Greenberg and Dan Mingori

40:00 – Has Nate’s perspective on skiing big lines changed in recent years with having a family and a real job?

43:00 – The challenges of finding a good skiing partner.

46:20 – Founding the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center (ESAC) with Walter Rosenthal, who passed in the fumarole accident at Mammoth Mountain in 2006.

57:00 – Nate’s story about getting caught in an avalanche in Bardini Chute and being seriously injured.

1:13:15 – Going from the book to an app on your phone – the launching of a partnership with OnX Backcountry featuring skiable lines in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, and the controversy of gatekeeping.

1:26:30 – How do you protect “secret spots” from the masses with an app like OnX, and how does it compare to the impacts of social media accounts and influencers?

1:39:00 – Incorporating an ethos of how to appropriately experience the outdoors, the importance of mentorship and education and having respect for the rules of backcountry skiing.

1:47:00 – Nate’s Mentors: Don Sharaf, Ian McCammon, Christian Pondella.

1:50:00 – What is it that Nate loves the most about skiing the Eastern Sierra Nevada?

1:54:14 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?

1:56:45 – Support the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center, make a donation.