When Steve Romeo, creator of the popular backcountry skiing blog , and Chris Onufer, an employee of at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, while climbing Ranger Peak, in Teton National Park, it was more bad news in a rough year for off-piste riders. Romeo鈥檚 death in particular has prompted an outpouring of remembrances and grief online, perhaps because he reached so many people through his blog. Since 2006, he had written detailed trip reports, gear reviews, and irreverent op-eds. Earlier this year, we recognized it as one of the best winter sports blogs out there.
Steve Romeo in 2008
Steve Romeo in 2008A few days before his death, while I was working on a story about the growing popularity of side- and backcountry skiing, and the risks involved, Steve spoke to me at length about his involvement in the sport. Though I was intimately familiar with TetonAT.com, I had never spoken with Steve before. I was struck immediately by his passion and enthusiasm. The longer we talked, the more I recognized something that most backcountry skiers will relate to: the intense pull of skiing pure powder. Few experiences can match the feeling of arcing down a mountain at speed, the deep sense of personal empowerment that comes from mastery and control in the face of so much peril. But of course, the danger never recedes, nor do any of us transcend the risks, facts we have been all too grimly reminded of in recent weeks.
Steve鈥檚 motto, as many Internet tributes have been quick to point out, was 鈥淟ive to Ski.鈥 Here, in what is likely his last recorded interview, he explains why.
We鈥檙e looking into the growing phenomenon of sidecountry skiing. Do you see it becoming more popular?
Well, that鈥檚 a good question Nick. Obviously, backcountry skiing is becoming more popular, and not just hardcore skiers, with the everyday skier. In that sense, more and more people are getting out into the backcountry. Some of those people don鈥檛 have quite the respect for the mountain and the conditions that maybe folks who spend all their time in the backcountry might have. A lot of the time the proximity of the ski area gives people a false sense of security. The fact that a particular line has been skied multiple times before, and recently, can affect peoples鈥 judgment.
But you know, Nick, I think there are two big sides to this phenomenon. One being the gear鈥攖he skis and the gear are just so awesome now, I mean, some people think they can just straightline everything, and just haul ass. You get this feeling, man I鈥檓 just gonna send this, there鈥檚 no way and avalanche can catch me, even if it does rip, cause I鈥檓 just gonna鈥 shred it top to bottom, and be way out in front of it, because the skis are so awesome, the gear is so awesome that you can just do anything.
And then, the other thing, as much as it hurts to say, is that people just want the fame, the glory, the notoriety, of always sending it, always pushing it, always being able to stick the particular line that they鈥檙e going for. We鈥檙e all guilty of it. It鈥檚 just a lot of the times we miss injuries by a hair.
I live in Jackson Hole, and we have an open boundary policy and the terrain here is just insane. People do insane things, but very rarely are people getting injured or killed. They鈥檙e dropping 100-foot cliffs, sending steep exposed runs, straightlining 1,000–foot couloirs. You鈥檇 think people would be getting injured every day, dying every day.
But it鈥檚 just a matter of time before the law of statistics catches up with people, and I think you鈥檙e seeing that now. It鈥檚 just a matter of time before the snowpack is just sketchy enough, just a little bit out of the norm that people are used to seeing, and it just doesn鈥檛 connect.
Tell me a little about your own ski habits. How much are you in the sidecountry? How do you think about it as someone who鈥檚 out there a lot?
The way I look at it is, sidecountry is accessed by riding up a lift and going out a gate at a ski area. Skiing the terrain that is next to the ski area but not in the ski area. Slackcountry is terrain that you don鈥檛 hike. You go out a gate and you ski down and you come back in. Sidecountry can be a blend of any of that.
And how much time to you spend in terrain like this compared to true backcountry touring?
Rarely.
So you鈥檙e really more of a backcountry skier in the traditional sense?
I would say so, yes. I moved to Jackson and skied the ski area for six years, and that was before the resort had an open boundary policy. They鈥檇 only open the gates when there was really low avalanche danger. But since I don鈥檛 really ski in area anymore, the sidecountry doesn鈥檛 really appeal to me anymore.
Do you have a sense of the numbers here, how much of a spike there鈥檚 been in the amount of people going into this terrain? I hear Teton Pass is packed now.
Oh yeah, yeah, the park [Grand Teton National Park, which is near the resort], Teton Pass, it鈥檚 just inevitable that it鈥檚 going to grow more with the boom in backcountry skiing. The resorts are helping spur the backcountry movement, with open gates, being a little more flexible, with a European-like policy.
And of course the gear is so awesome now, you鈥檙e not sacrificing a whole lot on the descent when you鈥檙e using all this awesome backcountry gear. There鈥檚 just way more focus on it, between blogs, forums, magazines. I definitely see it here in the Tetons, I鈥檝e been blamed for it. But you see the same kind of growth and gear throughout the whole country.
Do you feel like there鈥檚 anything in particular driving it? Is it the market that鈥檚 asking for new and better gear, or is the industry looking at this hot market segment and they鈥檙e pushing the gear?
It鈥檚 a combination of those things. I鈥檝e been skiing Dynafit stuff for the last 10 or 15 years now. You just see the evolution of that gear. Then, I mean, who wouldn鈥檛 want to shred an untracked powder line top to bottom with no one around. I think for people who really love to ski, and aren鈥檛 so caught up in the hype and the crowds, we鈥檒l always be drawn to the backcountry. As long as you鈥檙e interested in fitness and getting a workout, why wouldn鈥檛 you want to climb up this untracked peak, on your own, and have this moment in the backcountry where you鈥檙e not being rushed to ski down the line? You can take whatever track you want, and always get fresh tracks, and have this orgasmic moment at the end, like, oh my god. And then to realize that this is possible every day, day in and day out. I think it is just inevitable that you gravitate to that as a skier.
It sounds like people are just beginning to discover that part of the experience. Maybe they鈥檝e gotten a taste of it at the ski resort itself鈥擨 mean I鈥檝e been to Jackson, and Snowbird, and Telluride on a powder day. I know what it鈥檚 like. It鈥檚 rabid. And if you鈥檙e not in that first group, forget it.
You know, when you go to the ski area here, and when the danger is low, you don鈥檛 see that many locals in bounds. They鈥檙e all headed out the gates, skiing Granite, skiing Cody, Four Pines, Green River. Because that鈥檚 where it鈥檚 at. Sooner or later, a lot of these people gravitate over to becoming true 100 percent backcountry skiers. They go through this moment where they鈥檙e like, man, I don鈥檛 want to have to wait until 9:30 to ski, I don鈥檛 want to have to wait to 9:30 to make a frickin鈥 turn. You wake up at 6:30, you want to frickin鈥 go! We talk about that a lot, Man I could have done three laps on Glory Bowl [a popular backcountry area outside Jackson] before the lifts even open.
What鈥檚 your feeling about how well avalanche awareness, education, and gear is keeping pace with this trend?
I play a part with Facebook and all, but it can get tiresome, the preaching and the second-guessing. If you鈥檙e aware of what鈥檚 going on, it鈥檚 easy to find avalanche information. The people that miss out are the people that have absolutely no idea. They don鈥檛 even know what an avalanche is, they鈥檝e never seen an avalanche transceiver. The education is out there. Here in Jackson, especially, we have a number of avalanche educators.
What about the avy protective gear, like air bags?
I don鈥檛 use one. I could probably get one given to me if I tried hard enough. I鈥檓 afraid of the courage it might give me to ski what I wouldn鈥檛 normally. I don鈥檛 want a false sense of security that the airbag might give me. Granted, they鈥檝e proven to be successful, as well as the Avalung.
I do use an Avalung, and there are times when you ski with it in your mouth and you鈥檙e like, man, should I even be doing this? If I feel like I need to be skiing with this in my mouth? But you get this confidence, and adrenaline, and the sheer stoke just takes over, and it鈥檚 really hard to look the other way a lot of times. You just kinda have to go with your gut. You keep your fingers crossed even though you鈥檙e on the edge.
One thing that鈥檚 fascinating to me is that a lot of people who get killed are experienced skiers. They know what they鈥檙e doing and they鈥檙e well aware of the risks that they are facing. And yet they鈥檙e choosing to push the limits in the back- and sidecountry. They鈥檙e literally betting their life that it鈥檚 going to be okay. I鈥檓 amazed that the power of that ski run can override the sense of self-preservation.
Totally! That鈥檚 something my partners and I try to remember. When you鈥檙e planning to ski some exposed run, you鈥檙e like, man, do I really feel that confident? Am I ready to die for this? Because that could happen.
It鈥檚 an awfully high price. You鈥檙e all-in.
Exactly. You know, you鈥檙e up there, and the sun is out and there鈥檚 this perfect powder slope and its鈥 kind of a grey area, 50-50, and you鈥檙e like man I got this, I鈥檓 just gonna go for it. I don鈥檛 know what drives it. It鈥檚 just the passion and the love for skiing, and that adrenaline rush. And maybe there鈥檚 a feeling that you skirted death, that you were good enough to ski it and not have it rip. You had the skills to ski it correctly. Who knows. It鈥檚 definitely a challenging aspect to the whole thing, the mindset and the personal dynamic of making those decisions. I think the more you鈥檙e out the and the more close calls you鈥檝e had, the more you鈥檝e avoided or skied from, you get this sense of security, a sense of confidence that you鈥檙e making the right calls.
It almost feeds your decision-making.
Exactly. Statistically the odds are in your favor. But it just takes a little bit of tweak in the snowpack that you鈥檙e not used to, or you make a turn in the exact wrong spot and you get the whole thing to go.