Top Five Fridays: September 22, 2023
Lead Image: In recent years, Nina O’Brien has proven to be one of the fastest rising stars on the U.S. Women’s Ski Team. Unfortunately, she’s just incurred another setback after initially badly breaking her leg in 2022. More on that below. Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Athlete Profile
#1: Former “Extreme Skier” Dan Egan Named New General Manager of New Hampshire’s Tenney Mountain:
To get a taste of the Dan Egan story, check out the video above, courtesy of Big Sky Resort.
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the September 22, 2023 edition! This week we’ve got yet another pre-season grab bag, with stories from every corner of skiing. To get things started, we’re excited to share with you a headline that was actually sent to us by one of our regular readers (shout out to Jeffery Estella): Dan Egan has just been named the new General Manager of Tenney Mountain in New Hampshire. Now, there’s a few layers to this story as both Egan and Tenney Mountain have their own interesting backstories, so stick with us while we share the context for why this news is so exciting.
First, let’s tell Egan’s story. Back in the 1980’s and 90’s, Dan and his brother John were the faces of Warren Miller ski movies. In the years just before parabolic and twin tips skis came about, the Egans were pushing the limits of what was possible on snow. As validation for his feats, Powder Magazine named Dan Egan one of the most influential skiers of our time in 2001, while the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame inducted him in 2016. Since his time as a professional skier, Egan’s continued to work within the sport in numerous capacities, from producing the “Wild World of Winter,” tv series for 12 seasons, to working alongside ski resorts in leadership roles, most recently at Sugarbush, VT. Prior to his stint there, Egan was also the GM for Tenney Mountain from 2002-2004. As such, this week’s announcement is a bit of a homecoming for the renown skier.
As for Tenney Mountain, things have been a bit tumultuous since Egan’s stint there. After being unable to reopen for the 2010/2011 season, the resort was largely abandoned until being purchased in the fall of 2014 by a company called, “Tenney Mountain Development Group.” That group attempted to reopen the resort the following year, but was unable to due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. Over the course of the last decade or so, the resort has been consistently attempting to reopen while simultaneously encouraging people to put it to use during the winter months. Finally, in 2022, the resort was once again purchased, and was reopened in February of 2023. Now, after significant investment, the newest ownership group is excited to open the resort for the full 2023-2024 season, a feat that hasn’t happened at the ski area in over a decade. When it does, it will be helmed by Dan Egan, a man who has deep roots in skiing and big plans for the future of the ski area. In addition to its winter offerings, he hopes to embrace the trend of creating year round mountain getaways by adding disc golf, mountain biking, zip lining, and more. In his own words, “What you see at Tenney today is not what you'll see in one, two, five or 10 years.” All in all, this is exceptionally exciting news for both the mountain and the region in general as it feels like this new round of ownership and leadership might finally get the resort back on track. To learn more about this week’s news, check out the report from Ski Area Management. To learn more about Dan Egan, check out his profile on the Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame website.
#2: The Injury Bug is Biting the U.S. Women’s Ski Team Early: Ava Sunshine and Nina O’Brien, Out For the Season:
It’s been a tough stretch for the U.S. Ski Team, as two rising athletes from the Women’s alpine team have incurred season ending injuries. Nina O’Brien (left) has refractured her leg, while Ava Sunshine (right) has torn her ACL. Images: Nina O’Brien on Instagram and Ava Sunshine on Instagram.
Next up is some unfortunate news that we feel compelled to share: the injury bug is biting the U.S. Ski Team early this year. The last time we checked in with World Cup racing was just a few weeks ago, when we had a celebratory highlight sharing the news of significant success at the Australian New Zealand Cup. At that event, U.S. athletes AJ Hurt, Ava Sunshine, and Nina O’Brien took home a combined smattering of medals across a series of three races. At the time of our writing, our hopes for the U.S. Women’s ski team were through the roof for the season ahead, as the roster was seemingly filled with talent from top to bottom. Then, two major injuries happened.
Last week on September 12th, Nina O’Brien shared on her Instagram account that she had unfortunately re-fractured her leg. As you might recall, O’Brien initially broke her leg back at the 2022 Beijing Olympics as she competed in the giant slalom. After a strong first run, in which she clocked the 6th fastest time, O’Brien was going all out in her second run before crashing just before the finish line. Unfortunately, the crash was brutal as she badly broke her leg, ultimately requiring four surgeries to repair the damage. Amazingly, she returned to snow last November and put together an honorable season, with her best result being a 10th place finish. After her recent results at the Australian New Zealand Cup, we found ourselves anticipating an even bigger year from O’Brien this time around, as she looked to be back to full form, potentially even better than ever. Unfortunately, this week’s news negates those feelings as O’Brien is officially out for the season. While this is obviously a massive disappointment, it feels safe to say that she’ll look to rehab her injury and return once again. We’ll keep you posted as her story progresses.
In other injury news this week, rising star Ava Sunshine also announced a season ending injury via her Instagram last week. In a brief post, Sunshine announced that she had torn her ACL, sidelining her for an indefinite amount of time. For those who haven’t heard Sunshine’s name before, well, get ready to hear it a lot more in the future. She first made waves last season when she earned 21st and 27th place finishes in her first two World Cup slalom races last year in Levi. Over the course of the year, she continued to notch notable results, while her recent first, second, and fourth place finishes at the Australian New Zealand Cup all vouch for her further progress. At just 21 years of age, Sunshine is in the youth of her career, and we fully expect her to become one of the biggest names in U.S. Ski Racing in the near future. For now though, she’ll have to focus on healing. To learn more about Ava’s injury, check out this report from SkiRacing.com. To learn more about O’Brien’s injury, read this release from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.
#3: After 4 Years of Legal Battles, Ultra Exclusive Wasatch Peaks Resorts at Risk of Being Forced to Close:
Looking out at the terrain owned by Wasatch Peaks Resort, which they’re hoping to develop into a private ski resort for the ultra wealthy. Image: Mirr Ranch Group Website
In other news this week, we have a story coming out of Utah’s Wasatch front, where an ultra-exclusive ski resort that’s currently in development may have hit a crippling road block. Located about 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City, in Morgan County, Wasatch Peaks Resort is being billed as an exclusive ski and golf resort for the 1% of the 1%, with the cost of membership being quoted at roughly $500,000 each. While the project is expected to bring significant growth to the rural region, it should come as no surprise that it’s also facing equally significant pushback from locals who aren’t too keen on the idea of developing their currently open lands. This timeless dynamic, as you might expect, takes center stage in this week’s news.
Back in 2019, two things happened in regards to Wasatch Peaks. First, the 12,700 acres that make up the resort were purchased from the estates of Snowbird developer Dick Bass, Snowbasin developer Earl Holding, and another businessman, Peter Hicks. Second, the land that was purchased was rezoned from “forestry” and “multiple-use” to “resort special district” by the Morgan County Council. Ever since that decision was made back in October of 2019, it’s been facing constant legal challenges. In November of that year, a petition for referendum was filed and then quickly thrown out by a county clerk on procedural grounds. That resulted in a lawsuit in the 2nd District Court, which in turn led to two more lawsuits - one from each side. Long story short, this whole project has been a hotbed issue in the community since its beginnings. Still, despite the legal uncertainty, developers have pushed ahead, ultimately installing two of the five planned chairlifts.
This week, a judge ruled in favor of Morgan County residents who want to have a say in the matter in regards to whether or not the Wasatch Peaks Resort terrain will be rezoned to a “resort special district”. As a result of this decision, two things happen. One, Wasatch Peaks Resort is forced to immediately halt any further development that’s outside the bounds of the previous zoning districts: multiple-use and forestry. In other words, they need to stop developing the property as a ski resort until the land is officially deemed a resort special district. The other outcome is that residents now have the opportunity to put the rezoning to a vote. To do so, they’ll need to obtain 1,000 signatures in order to put the measure on the next voting ballot. With the next vote scheduled for November, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to clear this step in time, meaning that the next likely vote will occur next November. In the meantime, Wasatch Peaks will be unable to continue developing the area. All of this, of course, comes with a big asterisk: Wasatch Peaks filed an appeal of the judge’s decision within hours, meaning the referendum itself is now being challenged. All in all, this is a particularly messy story, and one that’s far from over. To learn more details, we recommend giving this article from the Salt Lake Tribune a read.
#4: The Sale of Colorado High Peak to Conservation Group Highlights Liability Issues Facing Private Landowners:
A view of Mount Democrat, the peak of which was sold to a conservation group this week in a move that increases public access while decreasing the previous owner’s liability. Image: Wikipedia
Finally, we end this week with a story that’s not exclusively skiing related, but certainly has some overlap. Earlier this week, the Colorado Sun published an article sharing the news that the Conservation Fund has purchased about 300 acres of private land that sits at the peak of Mount Democrat, one of Colorado’s 14’ers. While that’s enough to be newsworthy on its own, the real story here isn’t the fact that one of Colorado’s high peaks is being put into conservation. Rather, it’s the underlying story that ultimately resulted in the sale. Allow us to explain.
This story really starts back in 2008, when a cyclist sued the U.S. Air Force Academy just outside of Colorado Springs after injuring themself on a washed out portion of trail. In the lawsuit, the cyclist claimed that the Academy was aware of the trail damage but didn’t warn recreationalists using the trail. In 2019, that lawsuit was upheld and the cyclist was awarded $7.8 million in damages. It also set a troubling precedent for private landowners who owned property commonly used by recreationalists. As a result landowners either began requiring waivers to access some areas, while others areas were simply closed indefinitely. Such was the case for the popular Decalibron Loop trail, which traverses through the 300 acres atop Mount Democrat, privately owned by John Reiber. In the wake of the lawsuit, and with encouragement from his attorneys, Reiber effectively closed the Decalibron Loop trail in 2021 when he disallowed access to his property. As a result, the local economy took a hit. With hiker traffic down 15,000 people from then previous year, tax revenue in nearby Alma fell by 19% during June and July of 2021, while overall revenue was down 55%. In other words, a very noticeable ripple effect began as a result of the 2008 lawsuit. Suddenly faced with the possibility of incurring multi-million dollar lawsuits, those who made their privately owned land available for public use were forced to take protective actions. In Reiber’s case, that meant a temporary closing of access, followed by the innovative use of online waivers, accessible via QR codes at the edges of his properties. While that strategy is currently in effect on land that accesses other high peaks, it’s ultimately not the best solution to the issue. The preferred solution for Reiber, a multitude of other land owners, and various parties hoping to increase access to natural lands, is to reform the Colorado Recreational Use Statute in a way that would protect private landowners from liability. Like we said, this story ultimately isn’t about skiing, or about the sale of 300 acres of land to a conservation group. It’s about a much larger conversation regarding liability and access to the great outdoors. To learn more about it, check out this report from the Colorado Sun.