Can somebody start a good argument please??

Wow Jibber that made my day. Welcome back to the warm embrace of TAY where you have been sorely missed during your Germanic excursion.

Lets get you back in the groove ASAP. When you want to go skiing ole buddy?

PM me with the latest JibberD life story update!
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH Jibber's back !

OK, Scottie, do you....uh....have a little time on your hands or what?

Go ahead. Argue with me about that!

Well actually I will. I'm extremely busy at the moment getting my new company started and so although my surfing and posting on skiing website may give the impression of a person with a lot of time on their hands, it's really the opposite and my posting is a form of relaxation between bouts of intensive work........... It's just  those summer doldrums. Can't wait for the season to start.

How's the boys Oftpiste,( Oftpiste's kids are some of the best young skier's I have ever seen. Hard chargers!!) Ready to rip for another season??

Scotsman, You speak of gloating as if it were a character flaw of some kind. I will amend the No Crying Club Bylaws to include "gloating" and "bird flipping" as examples of behavior expected of all members.

I was just flipping through the new issue of Backcountry magazine that arrived yesterday. On the last page is a Biff America column complaining about how web bloggers are making it impossible to keep secret places secret. How about an argument about that?

I feel no desire to keep my stashes secret. There are a couple of reasons why this would be so...

The first and most obvious is I'm in the military and move every few years. It's only by talking to locals and learning about the cool places in each new area that I can learn to appreciate my new surroundings. This applies both to stashes and non-skiing pursuits, like good pubs. If I didn't share what I learned from locals, I'd be a hypocrite.

More relevant to skiing, it's not the number of people who know about a stash that ruins it, it's really the ease of access. If you've got a powder stash that's a five minute hike from a lift-serviced slope, someone is going to find it -- soon. If it's a five hour slog through rough backcountry, you can brag all you want, and maybe a few times a year someone else will head out there.

It takes a lot of people to ruin a run. Two tracks from the day before? So what? Life is better shared.

LodHedgie, Good post. Your rationale is flawless.

In general, I believe the best way to maintain a secret stash is to choose lines where access involves an exposed, overhung two-pitch rappel on crumbly, icy rock. Another good strategy is to maintain secrecy is to choose stashes that are around 20-30 kilometers from the nearest road. While accessing such a stash involves some suffering, the stash will remain pristine even if people know about it.

I suggested the secret stash topic, then decided I really didn't feel like an argument, so I deleted it. But since lordhedgie and CookieMonster picked up on it, I guess I'll re-post.

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I was flipping through the new issue of Backcountry magazine that arrived yesterday. On the last page is a Biff America column complaining about how web bloggers are making it impossible to keep secret places secret. How about an argument about that?
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Here's my take on the subject, written before weblogs existed. It addresses the question of ease of access, which combined with popularity (or lack thereof) forms the crux of the problem. One size does not fit all!

www.alpenglow.org/ski-history/notes/peri...#couloir-1994-feb-p2

Couloir Magazine, Feb/Mar 1994, p. 2, Letter from Lowell Skoog: "Don't forget joy of discovery"

"As someone who writes and speaks about backcountry skiing, I too have wrestled with the question of publicizing secret spots. My solution is to recognize three kinds of backcountry places: 1) those that are already well known and accessible, where additional publicity has little effect; 2) those that are very remote, where difficult access prevents them from becoming popular; and 3) places that are accessible yet for some reason little known.

"I don't mind publicizing spots in the first two categories. This is how we introduce newcomers to the sport and inspire experienced skiers to expand their horizons. The last group however, are backcountry gems. I don't write about these spots or mention them in my slide shows. Although the wilderness is a big place, the number of good, accessible, little known spots is tiny and always shrinking.

"Some people get indignant when I decline to name my secret spots. These are perhaps the same people who demand to know everything about the private lives of public figures.

"My response is to assure these folks that if we meet at one of my secret spots (or one of theirs!) I'll greet them cheerfully and join them for a great day of skiing. I trust that everyone's experience will be richer for having spent the time to find these spots on their own. The process of discovery is one of the great joys of wilderness skiing."