Fumiko Shibahara

A former ski-patrol dispatcher who tracked avalanche-gate openings by storm interval, Fumiko Shibahara now writes in her forties with a standing grudge against runners who rotate shoes by superstition while calling it strategy. The grudge began when a pair assigned to wet trail duty was praised for its mileage after spending most of its life on dry pavement, and she has never again accepted a rotation chart without asking what surface earned it.