Former anchor’s new life as author all fresh powder
Phil Bayly’s 4 releases mix skiing, crime
In 2017, local television journalist Phil Bayly was deciding if he wanted to sign on for another three-year contract to continue as the anchor for the morning broadcast at Newschannel 13.
“I loved my work, but three years felt like a long time. I was at that age when I was thinking of what else did I want to do. I loved the outdoors. I was an avid skier, and I loved to write. I was always carrying around a notebook and scribbling down things I might want to write about.”
He recalled a trip to Montana years earlier when he began writing a novel. “I like books about the places where I’m going. I was going on a ski vacation in Montana and I couldn’t find any adventure or mystery book about Montana or about skiing so I wrote one.”
On that trip, Bayly woke early every morning and watched the sun come up. “At the time I had a demanding job as a television reporter. I had two kids to raise, and I just put that book aside. It always bothered me, because I love to write even when I was anchoring the morning news. The last 15 years of my career I’d get in to the station at 1 a.m. and help write that morning ’s script.”
Bayly decided to retire during that 2017 crossroads. In the past five years he has published four books that have combined his love of writing and his love for skiing. Each book follows Colorado television reporter J.C. Snow as he attempts to solve a crime that takes place in or near a ski
Former news anchor Phil Bayly recently released his fourth novel, "Witch Window." area. His first book took place in Montana, his second book was set in Colorado, and his third book was in the Adirondacks. His most recent book, “Witch Window,” is set in Vermont.
“I thought my first book might just be a glorified present for my siblings and some friends, but it sold well. It was a book that had been in my head for years, and I wrote it to exorcise it out of my system. Every book has sold more than the one before, and I just love what I’m doing. Writing is creative, fun and it’s given me so much more freedom to do what I love.”
Skiing has always been a great passion for Bayly, even as a kid when he was growing up in suburban Chicago. “Our family would go on long drives to ski in Wisconsin, and I knew all about the Vermont ski areas like Mount Snow and Killington. Vermont is where skiing began. It’s where the old movie stars used to go.”
He also loves ski towns. “They bring together a crosssection of all sorts of different people. When you ride up a chairlift someone on your right might be from Michigan and on your left someone is from Montana, and there’s always good conversation about the skiing and the local cafes and bars. Ski towns bring together all these friends you’ve never met.”
He had a great deal of fun setting his most recent book
People who read mysteries are smart. They want to read something that will make them think. They want to be entertained, but there’s a game in a mystery and part of the fun is to try and figure it out. As an author, I need to throw in a few surprises to keep my readers stumbling along to the finish.”