Hand Drawn (and Hiked) by McCall

Happy Hump Day! It feels like across most of the country, temperatures have finally slipped down into the beautiful land of mid-50’s all day. I hope you’re reading this with some candles lit and a cozy beverage.

Just about every major resort in Colorado either had it’s first natural snowfall or started making snow, so here’s your friendly reminder that Ikon & Epic discounts expire next week (hashtag not sponsored content — save your $150 while you can).

Mini Musings

Last week, I headed up to Pierre, South Dakota for my first work trip since I started my new gig in May. It was a quick, less than 36 hour trip to give a presentation we’d been working on for a few months.

This was my first time 1. being put in charge of a huge project since I started my job and 2. my first big chance to prove myself to my team. Cue the nerves!

Inevitably, as the day got closer, I had major anxiety about my presentation. By the time the big day rolled around, I had probably practiced my respective sections 20+ times and could say them in my sleep.

When I felt the nerves setting in, I took it as an opportunity for growth and change. Would the presentation be difficult? For sure. Would I get nervous beforehand? Of course — but I reminded myself that doing something that made me so unbelievably uncomfortable was only in my best interest.

I saw it as a new chapter on a long road: after that day, I could confidently say I had led a workshop with 30+ people, gave a client presentation, and designed exercises for everyone. Plus, my boss is a phenomenal public speaker so I knew she would have invaluable feedback for me.

Through that frame of reference, my perspective on the entire day changed. This was my entrance into the next phase of my career — a phase where my ego was nervous, but my highest self knew all feedback from that experience would make me better at my current job and any future job.

The short? Hype yourself up beforehand. I blasted You’re On Your Own, Kid (because, of course), but to each their own. It’s easy to remind ourselves that perspective is everything in our personal lives, and this is your friendly reminder to give it a go in your professional life, too.

Artiste In The Making

Here’s the latest and greatest update on my Crested Butte series — T Bar in downtown CB. Barring a few holiday pieces, I’m spending the rest of the year drawing spots all across Crested Butte in preparation for a submission to an art show next year. I’ve never stuck with an actual series and I’m so amped to have a full collection of one place when it’s all said and done.

Last week in South Dakota, I had a long conversation with some colleagues about AI and the arts, and more specifically, the role AI will inevitably play in art. It’s one of the more hot-button topics out there, with some artists feeling extremely sensitive about AI integrating into the art world.

We talked for a while about hyperrealism and abstract art, and how AI can integrate into those. Is hyperrealism really that impressive if someone uses AI to grid the entire thing? Is it still abstract if one of the many AI-photo generators created the concept for it? And, of course, the biggest question: if it wasn’t created by a human, is it still art?

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking to generative artificial intelligence to find inspiration — I used Canva’s free photo-generator tool last week to get an idea out of my head and onto paper.

We all landed somewhere around agreeing that AI won’t take your job as a creative, but someone who’s using it probably will.

These tools are meant to aid you in your job — whether that’s writing, copyediting, sketching, or just creating. Use them! If they suck and don’t help you in any way to perform at your job, then awesome, you’re really good at what you do.

The Wild, Wild West

Last edition, I touched on depth hoar and promised I wouldn’t leave y’all hanging. Think of it this way: “continental” is a type of avalanche climate, while depth hoar is a type of snow.

Specifically, depth hoar is an advanced, generally larger and weaker form of faceted snow crystal that’s usually found near the bottom of the snowpack. Like we talked about last week, depth hoar is especially persistent in continental avalanche climates: Colorado, Eastern Montana, Western Wyoming. Fun fact: if you’re looking for info on different types of snow or general avalanche climate information, check out the local resources for each of those state — they’re diligent about keeping their skiers safe.

Depth hoar forms when a shallow snowpack, typically less than one meter (3.2 feet, my fellow Americans) deep, is exposed to a cold and clear weather pattern that persists for an extended period of time. Under these conditions, individual snow crystals become faceted and angular, making it very difficult for these grains to bond together, which creates a weak and sugary base for the winter snowpack.

Here’s where it gets interesting: without an overlying slab, depth hoar does not create an avalanche hazard. It’s only once it gets loaded by new snow that it’s highly reactive, producing obvious signs of instability like cracking and collapsing along with avalanche activity. Depth hoar is typically the most unstable during the first few loading events of the season.

One frightening characteristic of freshly loaded depth hoar is its ability to produce remotely triggered avalanches — meaning you can trigger them from a distance. This creates especially dangerous situations since it’s possible to trigger an avalanche from at or near the bottom of a slope.

Interestingly, as it gets capped by a deeper and denser slab, it often requires finding a specific spot to trigger an avalanche; these spots are known as trigger points. Trigger points are often located near the thinner edges of the slab or around rock outcroppings where it’s more likely to impact the buried weak layer.

Once a fracture is initiated in the weak layer, it can propagate into deeper portions of the slab, producing large and often destructive avalanches. This is because avalanches typically fail near the ground with buried depth hoar, releasing the entire season snowpack.

The bottom line with buried depth hoar is this: it can’t be trusted!

What I’m Noodling On

⛷️ I watched not one, not two, not three, but seven episodes of Cody Townsend’s The Fifty on YouTube last week and he’s slowly taking Rayland Baxter’s place as the primary celebrity crush in my life. Jokes aside, the level-headedness this man brings to some of the gnarliest ski lines in North America is nothing short of incredible. Check out the latest episode for a masterclass on decision making in the backcountry.

💵 Wouldya look at that? Another banger of a piece in Young Money. This is a long-but-worth-it read. The overarching thesis is predicting the future is easy, but predicting who wins in that future is much, much more difficult.

📱 Ever wonder why you sleep so much better when you’re not on your phone before bed? Better yet, ever wonder what having your phone in the room while you sleep does to your sleep? Here you go.

Friendly reminder that you have two weeks to find a halloween costume. Or just buy some pink pre-wrap, throw on your old shin guards, and be Alex Morgan. Timeless classic.

- McCall 🌻

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