Dawn Patrol in the Skiing Mag Backyard - Ski Mag

Dawn Patrol in the Skiing Mag Backyard

A dawn patrol is a spring right-of-passage in Colorado, and the Skiing Magazine backyard is littered with great places to ski before work—like Rocky Mountain National Park.

Author:: Skiing Magazine
Updated:: Oct 19, 2017
Original:: May 5, 2014

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Editor Kevin Luby skis our test run at Skiing Mag’s 2013 Ski Test at Snowbird, Utah.

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Skiing Magazine and Odell Brewing Co. in Fort Collins, CO did a collab beer in honor of the ski season: Send It Stout, a dark chocolate salted caramel stout. Here's how we brewed it.

Backcountry Ski Tips: How to Put On Skis in Steep Terrain

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The Colorado Mountain School's Mike Alkaitis shares tips on how to put on skis in steep terrain while backcountry skiing.

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The Colorado Mountain School's Mike Alkaitis shares tips on how to efficiently transition from climbing to skiing while backcountry skiing.

Backcountry Ski Tips: How to Set a Bootpack

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The Colorado Mountain School's Mike Alkaitis shares tips on how to set a bootpack while backcountry skiing.

Ah, those ski bums. They trade security and income for skiing endless powdery, bluebird days, and whimsical lives. But it takes a special kind of talent to live large on 8 grand a year, plus the idea of being a 30-50 year-old server or bartender might not be a huge draw to you (and definitely not to your spouse/kids/pets). Luckily, in ski towns, there is a middle road. Some people have real jobs and still ski every day. Welcome to the elite club of dawn patrollers, who, in order to live the dream, traipse up mountains before or after a day at the office, like strange, very fit, powder-loving vampires.Zahan Billimoria, director of communications for Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and avid dawn patroller found time to offer some tips on how to get started. Billimoria holds a full time job, runs a language school, and is an Exum mountain guide and father. He can do it, what’s your excuse? Soon, you’ll be shunning lifts and skinning in the dark even on your days off.

Adventure

If you want to ski powder and still hold down some semblance of a real job you're going to have to get up early. Backcountry guide/dawn patroller/employed dude Zahan Billimoria told us how to do dawn patrol right.

The rising sun casts a breathtaking glow on the south face of Buffalo Mountain, the approach route.

Adventure

Last week, a couple Skiing Magazine staffers decided to make some turns before work. They bagged the Silver Couloir, a steep, 2,500 foot stripe down the northeast face of Buffalo Mountain in Silverthorne, Colorado. Conditions were all time for this classic Summit County line, they found blue skies and buttery, boot-top powder. Not a bad way to start the day.