Which Volcano Holds the Most Glacial Ice in the Pacific Northwest? Before we get into the core of this topic, let us quickly cover some glacier science — because understanding what makes a glacier tick is essential to appreciating why Mt. Rainier’s glacial system is so extraordinary. What Is a Glacier and How Does It Form? A glacier is a large body of densely compacted snow and ice that accumulates over […] Brains Matthew Oliphant | June 8, 2026 12 Comments
Inside Chile’s Most Intimate Backcountry Ski Operation Where You Can Ski Volcanoes and 1,000-Year-Old Araucaria Forests For most skiers, “all-inclusive” means a lift ticket and a buffet. Forrest Schmidt means something very different: a hot titanium stove in a tipi, filet mignon next to a steaming hot spring, and ancient araucaria trees holding cold smoke over a perfectly set skintrack. Schmidt, a 44-year-old “East Coast kid” from rural New York, runs APEX Backcountry Guides (Andes Puro […] Backcountry Martin Kuprianowicz | May 22, 2026 0 Comments
SnowBrains Forecast: 2-3 Feet of Snow for PNW Volcanoes This Week Call it the first nudge from winter: a warm-leaning southwest-flow system fires Tuesday night through Thursday night, stacking the first true coats of white on the upper volcanoes of Washington with a taper into Friday. Snow levels mostly hover near 6,100–7,200 feet, winds peak Tuesday night into Wednesday with strong southwest gusts, and the biggest tallies focus on Mt. Baker […] Weather WeatherBrains | September 30, 2025 0 Comments
Massive Volcano Near Anchorage, AK, Showing Signs of Seismic Activity Despite Being Dormant For Over 100 Years A massive volcano near Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, that has been inactive for more than 100 years is showing signs of seismic activity according to scientists. Mt. Iliamna, a 10,016-foot volcano, sits approximately 130 miles away from Anchorage, posing a significant threat for eruption. On June 15, seismic activity ramped up from the normally dormant to a “nearly continuous” […] Weather Joseph Kaufmann | July 21, 2025 0 Comments
Mt. Bachelor, OR, Bike Park Report: Cone Runs and Lava Flows on a Sleeping Volcano Report for Saturday, July 12, 2025 Last summer, I took my two boys to Mt. Bachelor, Oregon, to attend its Bike Camp for Kids. They had a blast and assumed we would do the same thing every year. Related: Mt. Bachelor, OR, Gravity Bike Camp Trip Report: The Most Fun Kids Can Have on Two Wheels Unfortunately, our busy summer […] Conditions Report Brent Glogau | July 13, 2025 0 Comments
Mount Spurr Rumbling: Alaska Volcano Unrest Spurs Eruption Watch Alaska’s Mount Spurr—a 11,070-ft glacier-clad volcano 75 miles west of Anchorage—is showing worrisome signs of life. The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reports elevated seismic activity with numerous small, shallow earthquakes now detected daily beneath the mountain. Over the past month, more than 100 quakes per week have been recorded, some up to magnitude 2.7, totaling thousands of tremors since last […] Clay Malott | March 12, 2025 0 Comments
Sicilian Authorities Prohibit Access to Mount Etna, Italy, As Hordes of Reckless Tourists Flock to the Erupting Volcano Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, is erupting again, prompting urgent safety measures from local Italian authorities. The eruption has led to spectacular lava flows, attracting large crowds of tourists despite the significant dangers posed by the phenomenon. Officials warn that hydro-magmatic explosions—violent bursts of steam caused by the interaction between lava and snow—pose a serious risk to anyone venturing […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | February 18, 2025 0 Comments
Fiery Thrills: 9 Active Volcanoes Where You Can Ski & Snowboard For thrill-seekers and adventurous skiers, you can take your skiing and boarding to a whole new level by going down the slopes of an active volcano. While known for their destructive power, these fiery giants offer some of the most unique ski destinations on Earth. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines an active volcano as “a volcano or volcanic field […] Brains Julia Schneemann | February 12, 2025 0 Comments
Shastina, CA, Report: Cracking the Code of The Cascades’ 3rd Highest Volcano This report is from Saturday, June 1, and was written by Ryan Turner. Shasta’s little sister, Shastina, typically gets much less attention than the bigger Shasta. However, Shastina is the third-highest Cascade volcano after Shasta and Rainier and has a very large crater of its own. All the route descriptions to Shastina show a long traverse from the Bunny Flats […] Conditions Report Guest Author | June 15, 2024 0 Comments
Trip Report: 10,358′ South Sister Volcano – South Face | Three Sisters Wilderness, OR Report from Thursday, June 6, 2024 Driving north from Mount Shasta, having failed to reach the volcano’s summit, I was itching for another shot as I crossed state lines. The Cascade Line reared its bony spine out my driver’s side window; miles of low, rolling, seemingly unexciting forest were interrupted every so often by a massive snow-capped volcano that rudely […] Trip Report Martin Kuprianowicz | June 12, 2024 0 Comments
Mount St. Helens, WA, Backcountry Report: Volcano Season has Arrived Report from Wednesday, April 17, 2024 Mount St. Helens, Washington, may not be as big as it used to be, but it’s still a formidable PNW staple. I was excited to return to St. Helens after a wonderful, placid trip in 2023 and this Wednesday did not disappoint. The route from Portland to the Marble Mountain Sno Park was bare and […] Conditions Report Nicky Blumm | April 18, 2024 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Antarctica Ski Trip 2023 | Day #1 = Deception Island – Orcas, Penguins, & Corn in an Active Volcano View this post on Instagram A post shared by SnowBrains (@snowbrains) Antarctica Ski Trip Day #1 Report from October 21, 2023 Yesterday = Deception Island! This is an active volcano (see the video of the penguins walking on the steaming beach.) To start the day, 10 orcas surrounded our ship while two large fin whales lounged in the […] Trip Report SnowBrains | October 25, 2023 0 Comments
Timberline Lodge, OR, Report: Ripping a Volcano on the Summer Solstice Report from Wednesday, June 21, 2023 Resort skiing in the northern hemisphere in June is a rare commodity; few do it better than Timberline. What a treat to head up there with my boys for some skiing on the first day of summer. It was the perfect cure for my withdrawals from not having skied in almost two months. Related: […] Conditions Report Brent Glogau | June 22, 2023 0 Comments
Antarctica 2022 [2.0] Day #1: Deception Island – Skiing in an Active Volcano… Report from November 29, 2022 On November 27, 2022, we set sail with Ice Axe Expeditions on the Ocean Diamond for Antarctica for our 2nd trip ski guiding there within a month. On this 2nd trip, we got lucky with a calm Drake Passage (ocean between Antarctica & South America) and we were able to make good time. Making good […] Trip Report Miles Clark | December 9, 2022 0 Comments
NASA: Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, World’s Largest Active Volcano, Erupts for 1st Time in 40-Years The world’s largest active volcano—Hawaii’s Mauna Loa—has been quiet for the past four decades. But in November 2022, the volcano began to stir. Related: Yes, You Can Actually Ski in Hawaii The first signs of unrest emerged in early October 2022, when U.S. Geological Survey data showed a tenfold increase in small earthquakes beneath the volcano’s summit caldera—a result of […] SnowBrains | November 30, 2022 0 Comments
Mount Terror: The 10,000-Foot Antarctic Volcano This article originally appeared on nasa.gov Mount Terror might sound like a place to avoid. But this Antarctic volcano is not as terrifying as its name implies. From a geological perspective, the mountain itself is relatively benign. It is a shield volcano located on the eastern side of Ross Island and consists of numerous pyroclastic cones and lava domes. But […] Brains SnowBrains | November 4, 2022 0 Comments
NASA: Looking Straight Down Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand’s Active Volcano While passing over the North Island of New Zealand, an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) took a photograph of Mount Ruapehu, offering a nadir (straight down) view of the mountain and Tongariro National Park. Ruapehu is an active stratovolcano that stands 2,797 meters (9,177 feet) at its highest point. It is the tallest mountain on North Island. Related: […] Kiwi Brains | September 18, 2022 0 Comments
Icelandic Volcano Erupts 20 Miles Southwest of Capital City Following Days of Earthquakes Only eight months since its last eruption officially ended, an Icelandic volcano near the capital city of Reykjavik is erupting again. It began on Wednesday after a series of earthquakes were reported in the region over the past week, signaling volcanic activity near the crust, according to the country’s meteorological authorities. BREAKING: A volcano close to the capital of Iceland […] Martin Kuprianowicz | August 3, 2022 0 Comments
American Tourist Falls into Mount Vesuvius Volcano While Taking Selfie on Forbidden Route A 23-year-old American tourist fell into the crater of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano looming over Naples, Italy, after taking a closed route clearly marked as being highly dangerous and out-of-bounds. Related: Sharks Discovered Living in a Volcano The incident occurred on Saturday after the tourist and his family decided to bypass the visitor entrance to the volcano and take a forbidden route […] SnowBrains | July 12, 2022 6 Comments
This Week’s Top 5 Stories: Why Ski Areas Don’t Reopen When it Dumps, Snowbird’s New Tram Damaged Beyond Repair, Sharks in a Volcano, and More… In order of most popular, these were our top five posts of the last seven days: If you want to receive our top three posts in your inbox every Thursday, sign-up here: SnowBrains Weekly Top 3 Posts Email Sign-Up Arapahoe Basin, CO, Chief Explains Why Ski Areas Can’t Just Reopen Terrain When it Dumps Late Season With the amount of […] SnowBrains | June 3, 2022 0 Comments
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