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.