{"id":804760,"date":"2020-02-29T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=379831"},"modified":"2020-02-29T20:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T03:30:00","slug":"snowmobiler-organizes-vail-pass-event-to-improve-avalanche-safety-connect-recreation-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/snowmobiler-organizes-vail-pass-event-to-improve-avalanche-safety-connect-recreation-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmobiler organizes Vail Pass event to improve avalanche safety, connect recreation groups"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Backcountry skiers hitch a snowmobile ride up Vail Pass on Saturday, Feb. 29.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

VAIL PASS \u2014 It was years ago, while filming marketing campaigns for Polaris snowmobiles, when Jon Miller decided all he wanted was for his clients to come up to Vail Pass on a Saturday.<\/p>\n

At the time, Miller, a native of northwest Colorado, wanted them to understand the market potential of using snowboard stars to promote snowmobiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see how many skis and snowboards were attached to snowmobiles,\u201d Miller said, speaking Saturday afternoon during the Avy Sally Rally & Fundraiser at Vail Pass. \u201cSo they can understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the years have progressed, Miller\u2019s desire for what he wants the snowsports world to understand has shifted to two things.<\/p>\n

One: that backcountry skiing and snowboarding\u2019s popularity is growing in tandem with snowmobiling, with people riding motorized vehicles into wild locations like the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area to ski and board.<\/p>\n

Two: Miller, who is both an avid snowmobiler and snowboarder, sees avalanche and snow safety as a possible way to bridge what he sees is a division between the state\u2019s more blue-collar snowmobile community and wilderness-first advocates who believe much backcountry access should be off limits to mechanized means.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere they combine, I don\u2019t know yet,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThat\u2019s the big mystery, and that\u2019s what we are trying to figure out, you know? And I think the best way to do that is to get people together. It\u2019s not a social media battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Miller felt the popular trailhead off of Interstate 70 at Vail Pass was the perfect spot for Saturday\u2019s event, where he and the foundation he founded, Backcountry United, joined up with the Friends of CAIC, the U.S. Forest Service, Never Summer Industries and other companies and agencies to interact with recreators. Both Miller and Mason Davey of Backcountry United felt was it was also important just to have these different agencies interact with each other.<\/p>\n

They wanted a kind of event where officials from the Forest Service or Colorado Parks & Wildlife could chat casually with some of the biggest influencers in the state\u2019s snowmobiling scene.<\/p>\n

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