She lived to tell her story

We all can learn from it

Hi friends,

More and more every day, I’ve been thinking about all of the things we take for granted: peacefully protesting and speaking out against the government without fear of retribution, looking up at skies that aren’t raining bombs, moving through life as if there’s no reason to do it all differently, and simply waking up to see another day. If you ask Fern, the day she ascended the Terminal Cancer Couloir in the Ruby Mountains, she thought she’d see the next day, until she didn’t.

Fern, a seasoned backcountry skier and a member of our Ambassador team, was caught in an avalanche last Sunday. Even before she ascended the couloir, it didn’t feel or look right—the winds and cornices didn’t sit well with her, but other skiers had successfully skied it the previous day, so they started the climb up. She felt panicked, knowing something didn’t feel right, but she kept climbing, checking her beacon, and then 200 feet later, her boyfriend yelled SLIDE! She looked up at a powder cloud she’ll never forget. She thought she was going to die, flushed down the couloir over cliffs. She found a small crevasse in the rock wall in the couloir and dug her way into it.

Twenty seconds later came the wall of snow. She was buried to her neck but was able to keep one of her arms up. The snow stopped moving, but she remembered it as if it were a river that felt like it had flowed for hours. She was stuck, buried to her neck, and could barely breathe from the snow compression on her chest. She started to dig herself out, and when her partner ran down to help, a second slide forced him into the rock structure Fern was in, protecting her from getting further buried. When the avalanche passed, he got her out, and they searched for their third friend.

Miraculously, everyone lived.

A typical day for Fern in the Utah backcountry.

Fern agreed to share her story because she wants others to learn from her experience. Before you at me or her, let me remind you that she made mistakes that weren’t so different from the ones we make every day when we don’t say what needs to be said. She went along with something that didn’t feel right, and I’m sure you have, too, with varying consequences. Her reflections might be specific to surviving an avalanche, but it’s not that difficult to apply them outside of backcountry skiing:

• Listen to your little voice. Mine was screaming today, and I didn’t listen. We saw red flags (recent avalanches, wind loading) and tried to outsmart them, but human factors played a huge part. I knew we shouldn’t have been there in my gut and should have spoken up. Speak up.

• Don’t ignore red flags in avalanche terrain.

• Be confident in your partners, listen to their thoughts, and have many discussions.

• Actual avalanche incidents can be chaotic. A mess. Half of us lost all our gear and didn’t even have shovels to dig as our packs were ripped off. Be prepared for any situation if you plan on skiing avalanche terrain.

• We are all very experienced backcountry skiers. We got lucky today. How many lines have we skied thinking we made good decisions when, in fact, we just got lucky?

• I had to call my family and tell them what happened. Think about those you love and how our decisions affect everyone. It’s really hard to break that news, and I never want to do that again. We all make mistakes, and it's important for us to share them with our community so we can learn.

When I thought about why Fern might not have turned around the minute she became nervous about the situation, I thought about all of the times I’ve questioned myself, believing what I’ve conditioned to believe—that I’m overreacting. What would be possible if we trusted our gut and spoke our truth in moments when it’s easier to go along to get along? I don’t know; I’m still figuring that all out. It was a hard lesson for Fern, but I’m grateful she’s still with us and has been courageous enough to share it so we can learn from her experience, too.

Until next time…

Jen Gurecki, she/her, CEO of Coalition Snow

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I’d love to hear from you: When was the last time you did something that scared you? How do you find the balance between pushing yourself in a healthy way and knowing when to turn it around?

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• All eyes on the US Institute of Peace after the DC police were called to help DOGE pick the locks and force their way into the building, which is not owned by the government, nor do their employees work for the government. Will DOGE continue to use force and armed officers to get their way? That’s the question everyone is trying to answer, and we should all consider how this is a test of DOGE’s power.

• There is no evidence that the men deported to El Salvador were criminal members of Venezuelan gangs or that they were in the US illegally. We don’t know who was deported, but what we do know is that the government bypassed due process and arbitrarily arrested these men and sent them to another country to potentially live out their lives in horrific conditions, despite a judge’s ruling. When one person loses their due process, we all do.

• If you ask the architect of Project 2025, it’s all going according to plan, in fact, it’s better than he could have ever imagined it.

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⛷️ April 8th & 9th, Demos + Gathering at Winter Park: If I’m driving all the way to Colorado for Boot Tan Fest I figured I would make the most of it and ski one of my favorite resorts! More details coming soon but mark your calendars. Demos will be picked up the evening of the 8th and 9th and we’ll be organizing an on-mountain meet-up. Details and registration coming soon!

🏂 April 11th, Demos at Boot Tan Fest: We'll be getting naked, turning screws, and having the time of our life, not necessarily in that order. RSVP for demos here. And keep your fingers crossed that we organize some demos in SLC on the way to/from.

🎿 April 13th & 14th, Demos + Gathering in Salt Lake City: SLC, I’m headed your way! More details coming soon but mark your calendars. Demos will be picked up from evo the evening of the 12th and 13th and we’ll be organizing an on-mountain meet-up. Details and registration coming soon!
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🏔️ April 23-27th, Bachelorette: Because skiing at Mt. Bachelor in the spring is glorious and so is the company. There's ONE SPOT LEFT, so if you want to join, get your buns in gear and respond to this email.

💌 May, Full Send: Join me in this collaborative workspace to grow and nurture your emails, newsletters, and creative writing because the algorithm isn’t there for you to succeed. Wait list coming soon!
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🚲 July, Cycling Safari in Kenya with Zawadisha: Please tell us what is more fun in summer than cycling next to giraffes and elephants. If you want to learn more, register for a Q&A call on Wednesday, March 26th at 5 pm PST. This is THE trip to save for. ⁠

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🧥 In 2022, the Patagonia’s billionaire owner Yvon Chouinard revealed that he was handing his entire company over to fight the climate crisis. Now, podcaster Matt Barr has released a deep dive into the seemingly seismic move to find out what it means now.

🥇 The first female president of the International Olympic Committee hopes her election as the first female and African president—beating six male candidates including Britain's Lord Coe—sends a "powerful signal.”

🏂🏿 Zeb Powell chatted with SportsCenter about being the first Black X Games gold medalist and how ADD plays a role in his creativity.

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Thanks for reading! All typos are intentional to make sure you’re paying attention.

Did you know? Coalition is so much more than a ski and snowboard brand. We are a team of creatives and dreamers who love to get our hands dirty.

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