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On a weekend that saw a Washington racer capture the Town Downhill crown, another skier quietly extended a feat stretching more than 12 years.

Ed Bushnell, the former journalist and videographer turned prosecuting attorney, returned to the Tetons and skied the backcountry Saturday, his 149th consecutive month of skiing.

Last we checked in with Ed, his streak had eclipsed 10 years. He has been skiing at least once every month since Bill Clinton was president.

To put it in perspective, when Ed began skiing year round in the fall of 2000, there was no Facebook, many of us still had dial-up Internet and it would be three years before I owned my first cell phone.

Now a deputy prosecutor in Clackamas County, Ore., Ed cobbled together gear and charged up Mount Glory with friends. He skied powder in the north-facing woods and found conditions so good that he went for a second lap.

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Posted under Sports

Tags: backcountry, ed bushnell, powder, skiing

Ski mountaineer Ed Bushnell returned to the Tetons on Sunday and kept alive his streak of skiing year round. The former journalist and videographer turned prosecuting attorney has skied the backcountry at least once a month since November 2000 — a string of 126 consecutive months.

President Clinton had negotiated peace in the Balkans and was preparing to leave office when Ed began the streak on Teton Pass. Since then, he has earned his turns in the Cascades and Sitka, Alaska, in addition to the Tetons.

He was greeted Sunday on the 10,100-foot summit of Mount Glory by conditions more evocative of his home in the Pacific Northwest: rain, rime crust and heavy snow akin to soggy mashed potatoes. Still, he was as ebullient as ever and shredded the downhill with trademark fluidity.

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Posted under Sports

Tags: backcountry, ed bushnell, powder, skiing

With all the nostalgia around Teton Village these days — “Swift, Silent, Deep” and Gelande Quaffing Championships — this is a good time to dust off a video gem from the vault of Ed Bushnell.

Ed was a Powdershots videographer in the late 1990s, and far ahead of his time. If only YouTube had existed, Ed would have broadcast his footage of on-slope largeness to an audience of millions, and not just the smattering of ski bums who gathered in the Powdershots office to drink beer after the tourists left.

Earlier this winter the copious snowfall prompted a bit of a discussion here comparing last year’s record 605 inches to the bountiful seasons of yore.

There is a reason why the winter of 1996-97 has a near-mythical (read: “Ninety-Sick-Ninety-Heaven”) reputation, and opening day was a big part of it. Back then the resort used to open the entire mountain if conditions permitted, and, well, you can see what the conditions were like. This kicked off a December in which 225 inches of snow were recorded in Rendezvous Bowl, and a season many skiers still regard as the best in recent history.

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Posted under Ski Resorts, Sports

Tags: ed bushnell, history, jhmr, powder, skiing, snowboarding

(Click to enlarge this largeness.)

It’s mid-May, and yet he’s peculiarly enthusiastic about skiing. At a time when most of us are looking ahead to boating and biking, he wouldn’t dream of stowing away the skis. In fact, he never stows away the skis.

He’s Ed Bushnell, journalist, videographer and adventurer turned law scholar. And he’s in Jackson this week to keep alive his streak of skiing every month of the year.

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Posted under Sports

Tags: backcountry, ed bushnell, skiing, snow king