Hours before "first chair," Brian Herrmann of Breckenridge, Colorado, hucks a jump at Loveland Ski Resort, 1:28 a.m., October 15, 2008.

Welcome to Front Range Riffraff. This blog is intended to keep my snow-riding friends up to date on all things skiing and snowboarding.

The name of this blog comes from a Colorado Confidential story published last spring. It touched on fears that the new Vail Resorts Epic Pass would bring too many Front Range skiers and snowboarders to Vail, and that those “Front Range riffraff” wouldn’t bring with them what most Vail merchants want – money. A follow-up story had some spin, a link to a denial, and “taken out of context” and “perhaps been off the record” fun. Either way, I like the name Front Range Riffraff. And since most of my friends live on the Front Range of Colorado, it was chosen.

I’ll be blogging about news and events that I think interest my fellow riders. You may read about a cheap hotel deal, or tips to score sweet powder, or resorts that allow Front Range riffraff to camp in their parking lots.

If this sounds of interest to you, I suggest you subscribe to Front Range Riffraff using your favorite RSS reader. Don’t have RSS? Just Google “RSS” to see what’s up. RSS is a great way to find all the webthings that you want to read. Safari users can use the built-in RSS reader, which is my preferred method.

Please feel free to give me your feedback, comments and questions. Look for “Ask Dude” posts in the future, providing answers to all your snow-related queries.

See ‘ya in the pow.

Rick