Experience Snowmass Mountain During the Winter Season

Terry McEnany, MD, built a successful career as a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon over the course of 25 years. Most recently, Terry McEnany provided ski lessons in his role as instructor at the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen in Colorado.

Located within driving distance of four separate mountains, Colorado's Aspen Snowmass ski resort offers a wide variety of winter activities to its guests. Snowmass is the largest and most popular of all the mountains, featuring a vertical rise of more than 4,400 feet and an excess of 3,300 skiable acres during the winter season. While on the mountain, both children and adults can take ski lessons, dine at a number of restaurants, or ride any of Snowmass’s 94 trails. Spanning 150 miles, these trails accommodate skiers from beginning to expert levels, though the majority of trails cater to intermediate skiers.

Those who do not wish to ski can also experience Snowmass throughout the winter season. Between November and April, the ski resort hosts a number of guest activities on the mountain, including its weekly Ullr Nights party at Elk Camp. Guests can also go tubing on Snowmass or attend the resort’s annual Thanksjibbing event.                            

Preventing Frostbite When Skiing

Terry McEnany, MD, served as a cardiovascular surgeon and clinical educator for 25 years. Now engaged in a second career as a ski instructor, Dr. Terry McEnany works with students at Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen, Colorado.

Defined as the freezing of body tissues, frostbite can develop with any overexposure to cold temperatures. This may occur with extended exposure to moderately cold temperatures or with brief exposures to extreme cold. In either case, skin begins to signal damage with pain and subsequently with numbness as ice crystals form within the tissue.

Insulation of the extremities is key to preventing this process, as parts of the body farthest from the heart are also those most susceptible to frostbite. Skiers should carefully layer both hands and feet, preferably with a wicking under-layer that keeps moisture away from the skin. Any moisture, including that produced by blowing warm air on the fingers, can lower skin temperature. When hands or head do become warm, the skier should remove outer layers before sweat forms.

Physical activity may also be helpful in keeping the extremities warm, though excessive wind renders this strategy less effective. In fact, wind chill stands out as a contributing factor to frostbite and should prompt a skier to be more mindful of temperature sensations. If the skier does notice a numbness in the extremities, immediate overall warmth or a warm-water soak may prevent the condition from progressing further. Severe cases or cases that involve loss of sensation typically require medical attention.                            

Aspen, Colorado - A Skiing and Cultural Destination for Decades

Over the course of a career spanning several decades, accomplished cardiovascular surgeon Terry McEnany, MD, held prominent positions at medical facilities across the country. Currently, Dr. Terry McEnany divides his time between Boston and Aspen, Colorado, where he serves as a ski instructor at the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen.

A skiing and outdoor recreation destination for decades, Aspen first made its mark on the skiing world in 1950, when the community hosted the United States’ first world skiing competition. That event and others that followed showcased Aspen’s unique and difficult mountain terrain and helped elevate the area’s status as an international destination for both skiers and cultural enthusiasts.

Over the years, Aspen continued to expand its ski territory and attract visitors from around the world. Today, the town remains a top destination for not only skiing but also art, music, and education. Modern visitors travel to Aspen to enjoy such events as the Alpine Skiing World Cup, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Winter X Games, which will be held there every year through 2019.

Determining Your Skiing Skill Level

A graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Terry McEnany, MD, practiced thoracic and cardiovascular surgery for nearly 25 years, and he has a second career as a ski instructor at Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen, Colorado. Operating out of Aspen Snowmass ski resort, Terry McEnany and his fellow instructors help aspiring skiers of all ages and skill levels hone their skills on the slopes.

Before deciding which ski lessons to register for, it’s best to first determine your personal skill level. Aspen Snowmass classifies beginners, who fall into levels 1-3, as individuals who have either never skied or who can only ski on green terrain. Beginner ski students learn to come to a stop, change direction, and link turns on green terrain. Level 4 skiers, or advanced beginners, can ski on all green terrain as well as easy blue slopes, while intermediate skiers can take on the majority of groomed blue areas. Intermediate skiers are able to ski parallel and perform a hockey stop before gaining experience on small bumps and easy, groomed black terrain. By level 7, intermediate skiers should be able to use their poles to make parallel turns and are prepared to take on ungroomed black slopes.

Advanced or expert skiers fall into levels 7-9 and are generally well equipped to explore all black terrain, as well as easy double-black slopes. They have learned to make rhythmic short radius turns on both groomed and ungroomed blue and black terrain, and should eventually be comfortable skiing on all areas of the mountain while honing their speed and technical skills.                              

Mass General App Could Provide Faster, Cheaper Tumor Diagnoses

Dr. Terry McEnany has over 30 years of experience as a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon. Early in his medical career, Terry McEnany, MD, completed a surgical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General), where he also served as chief resident and a staff surgeon.

The first teaching hospital of Harvard University, Mass General has been at the forefront of medical care and research since its founding in 1811. However, not all doctors and hospitals have access to such progressive resources. Advanced screening technology is prohibitively expensive for many healthcare providers, and countless individuals in rural areas lack the resources to access specialty care. In response, a team of Mass General investigators set out to develop a smartphone-based platform which could quickly, reliably, and cost-effectively diagnose tumors.

The D3 (digital diffraction diagnosis) system simply uses a battery-powered LED light and a high-resolution camera that clips onto standard smartphones to capture images of tissue samples. The tissue samples are treated with a microbead solution that binds to known cancer-related molecules, and the patterns are then analyzed against a numerical algorithm to determine the presence of a tumor. Pilot tests revealed that the D3 system’s accuracy matched current molecular profiling techniques and cost only $1.80 per assay - a rate which is expected to improve as the system is enhanced. Future plans for development involve testing to determine the D3 platform’s ability to analyze markers of other diseases and its feasibility in rural settings and developing countries.