The Front Ranger by Jason Sumner

Sumner was born in Colorado and spent part of his youth living in Crested Butte where he was on the same ski team as Chris and Casey Puckett. Their World Cup skills didn't rub off, and today Sumner is a full-time, Boulder-based freelance writer specializing in outdoor sports and adventure travel. Recent bylines include 5280, Bicycling, BIKE and Away.com, a travel website.

Before forsaking a regular paycheck, Sumner was on staff with the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper and VeloNews, a bike-racing magazine. Assignments ranged from girls high school basketball games and a two-day softball tournament, to the Tour de France and the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He also worked for the Olympic News Service at the 2006 Torino Olympic Games, where he learned all there is to know about bobsled, skeleton and luge.

Torino is also where Sumner met RealVail founders David Williams and Tom Boyd, and it was then that the trio consummated their working and skiing friendships with shots of grappa and one too many beers.

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