People

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photo: Courtesy of ARC

There you are, charging up I-70 on your way to a foot of fresh Colorado powder, when an elk the size of your grandmother’s china cabinet decides that the other side of the highway is the place he wants to be. It’s bad for your fenders, very bad for the elk, and bad for the economy, at a cost of $8 billion a year.

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photo: Courtesy of Michele Marin

Say goodbye to that smelly, two-stroke engine, and to those love handles while you're at it. Michelle Marin, an industrial designer from Venice, Italy, has created —at least on paper — the human-powered snowmobile. Built of lightweight tube aluminum and standard bicycle parts, her HPSVehicle is designed to give a quiet, athletic experience for those who aren't able to get the hang of cross-country skiing. The experience will be slow, and you'll need flat, groomed snow for an optimal experiecne, she warns. Tour de Minnesota, anyone?

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photo: Brooke Slezak

It is an idiosyncratic species, the Mad River Glen skier, and among its distinguishing features, pride leavened with self-effacing humor is its most endearing. That, and the bumper stickers.

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photo: Dan Campbell

Members of the U.S. Women’s Ski Jumping Team gathered last April for breakfast at a house on a quiet street in Park City, Utah. The home belonged to former Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini — a longtime advocate of the team and the sport — and over their bagels and coffee, they were waiting to hear if they would become Olympic athletes.

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photo: Courtesy of Bogner

My father grew up close to the mountains in Traunstein, and it soon became his favorite pastime with the family to hike up the mountains and in the winter to use their cross-country skis,” explains Willy Bogner Jr., of a time before his birth. “When my mother came into the picture, she was an innocent tourist who fell in love with the top athlete. Pretty soon she found herself going skiing quite often, and realized that the clothing left a lot to be desired — especially for women.”

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photo: POBY/CPI

Most of my mornings begin with a way-too-early wake-up call, and though I press snooze a couple of times, I’m still up well before sunrise. I mix a green, not-so-tasty drink for breakfast, and work my way through a routine for my (now) old and squeaky hip — 20 minutes of exercises assigned by my trainer, designed to warm up the joint and get the muscles firing. I was born with hip dysplasia, and have compounded the problem with a 2003 crash and a 2006 surgery to repair a torn labrum. It takes a lot of work to stay healthy and prepared for every race.

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photo: Theodor Dalenson

When Theodor and Isabella Dalenson came to Aspen looking for a home, they weren’t working from the typical mountain wish list of natural stone fireplaces, exposed beams, and floor-to-ceiling windows with mountain views. What they wanted was simple: wall space and plenty of it — bare, white, and well-lit.

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photo: Courtesy of First Decent

Brad Ludden adjusts the playlist on his iPhone, drops it back into his parka, and then slides off a small cornice at the top of Genghis Khan in Vail’s China Bowl. Like a big-wave surfer on a 50-foot face, he slices down the long, steep slope, so buoyant on his skis that they seem barely to touch the snow.