FIRST TRACKS
LOCAL LIFE
Backcountry Keeper
Meet CRAIG GORDON, one of the most colorful characters in the Wasatch Mountains. Why? For one, he’s skied every month since 1990. By Melissa Fields
CRAIG GORDON arrived in Utah from the “world renowned New Jersey mountains” on a ski club trip in 1979. “I watched ski pa- trol throw avalanche control bombs at Alta in the middle of a storm and my fate was sealed,” he says. After spending a decade on ski patrol at Brighton and a stint as a helicopter ski guide, Gordon landed at the Utah Avalanche Center. He manages to ski all 12 months of the year, sports a George Hamilton tan and is known for creating the UAC’s Know Before You Go program.
What’s your day like as a UAC forecaster?
Most days are spent in my forecast area, the western Uintas and Manti Skyline. I use a snowmobile to access the terrain and then slip climbing skins on my skis and I’m off hiking around looking at snow. The next day I get up at 3 a.m. and immediately hit my computer to write and post an advisory.
You’ve skied in Utah every month since 1990. Where do you find snow in summer? I don’t need a lot of snow to ski. A friend told me once that he thought I could crank out 10 turns in a Slurpee spill. September is the hardest month to make it happen, but I can usually find a slim ribbon of snow somewhere. All it takes is about six inches.
You seem to have an overflow- ing enthusiasm for life, regard- less of the season. What are some of your other passions? Life is definitely worth celebrating. My wife, Anita, and I got married at Snowbird on Cinco de Mayo and we mark our anniversary every year by skiing in our wedding garb. I also have three parrots, one of which is 45 years old. In the summer, Anita and I love to play tennis and go to outdoor concerts.
22 SKI UTAH WINTER 2013–14
And your topknot?
I wear it for world peace so that everyone in the military fighting overseas can return home safely.
How did you come up with the concept for Know Before You Go? Dec. 26, 2003, 14 people were caught and three killed in an avalanche on Mount Timpanogos. It was so stormy you could hardly drive, and yet these men chose that day to hike into one of the biggest and most active avalanche paths in the state. That kind of discon- nect made me think we needed to create a simple and dynamic way to expose young people to snow safety information that saves lives. I began putting together a video the following summer, and the next winter presented Know Before You Go to more than 13,000 Utah mid- dle and high school students. Three years later the Utah Board of Ed- ucation approved the program as a middle school health and fitness elective. Today, Know Before You Go has been presented to more than 180,000 Utah students. I’m most proud when someone comes up to me at the supermarket or an outdoor concert and tells me Know Before You Go probably saved their life. We all have the chance to live the dream, but in those moments I feel really lucky that I get to share the dream, too.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
The Wasatch Mountains literally rise from the backyard of Utah’s largest urban centers. This in- credible proximity means that the mountains are a part of daily life in Utah. Craig Gordon realized that kids need to be informed before heading
into the mountains, and created the Know Before You Go school program in 2004. The program educates middle and high school students on how to have fun in the mountains and avoid avalanches. Visit:
utahavalanchecenter.org EMeet Craig Gordon at
skiutah.com/powderpeople
ACHRIS PEARSON
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