British Adventurer Aims To Summit Mont Blanc, France, in 1830s Gear Lise Wortley, British Adventurer aims to climb Mont Blanc, France, in 1830s gear. Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe at 15,766 feet, has been summited numerous times. But the first woman to reach the top, at least under her own power, was in 1838. Her name was Henriette d’Angeville and she was 43 years old […] Climbing Ben Davies | May 6, 2024 0 Comments
Is the Semi-Private Model at Powder Mountain, UT, the Future of Independent Ski Resorts? Could the semi-private model at Powder Mountain, Utah, be the future for independent ski resorts? The new CEO of Powder Mountain and principal investor, Reed Hastings, certainly believes so. Hastings sees it as a model for keeping large ski areas independent from big corporations such as Vail Resorts. By selling private memberships to half the visitors on the mountain, the […] Industry News Ben Davies | April 26, 2024 0 Comments
Mount Kailash, Tibet: The Unclimbable Mountain Mount Kailash, Tibet, has the reputation of being an unclimable mountain. Located in the Ngari prefecture in Tibet, it reaches 21,778 feet in elevation. This photogenic mountain isn’t close to the heights of some of the other mountains in the Himalayas, such as Mount Everest at 29,032 feet or K2 at 28,251 feet. So why hasn’t it been climbed? In […] Climbing Ben Davies | April 15, 2024 3 Comments
Whitewater Ski Resort, BC, Conditions Report: Backcountry Delivers Five Inches of Cold Smoke Report from Sunday March 11, 2024 The backcountry at Whitewater, British Columbia, delivered cold smoke again on Sunday. Expectations were low in the morning when the car was getting loaded. Although it looked like it had snowed roughly to the belt buckle of the Viking gnome on the snow stake at Whitewater, the reports from the day before weren’t that […] Conditions Report Ben Davies | March 19, 2024 0 Comments
Massive Avalanche Control Week for Ski Patrol at Whitewater Ski Resort, BC Between February 26 and March 5, Whitewater Ski Resort, British Columbia, experienced a historic avalanche control week. It’s been a different sort of winter season in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, home to Red Mountain and Whitewater Ski Resort, this year. One of the worst starts, followed by one of the biggest storms, with 64 inches falling since the […] Avalanche Ben Davies | March 19, 2024 0 Comments
Ski and Snowboard Production in the EU Up 37% in 2022 Ski and snowboard production rose by 37% in the EU in 2022. According to an article in Snow Industry News Online, this means that production within the EU has now surpassed the pre-COVID level. Europe, in general, has long been a large net exporter of skis, with multiple brands rolling out of the same mega factories. There are many well-known […] Industry News Ben Davies | March 5, 2024 0 Comments
39% of French Ski Slopes Were Covered in Man-Made Snow in the 2022/2023 Season As the snowline rises across the European Alps, the once snow-sure resorts find themselves using more and more snowmaking to stay open. Where once you could be reasonably sure of being able to ski down to the lower village at around 4,600 feet off-piste through the trees, there are now just thin landing strips of snow, covered in artificial snow. […] Industry News Ben Davies | February 19, 2024 0 Comments
Whitewater Ski Resort, BC, Report: Hero Snow in the Burn This conditions report was written on February 12th, the morning after With the new Raven lift going in, access to the area of the Whitewater Ski Resort, British Columbia, backcountry known as 5 mile has become easier this year. The chair goes to the ridge that used to take 20 to 30 minutes to reach on skins. With five and […] Conditions Report Ben Davies | February 12, 2024 0 Comments
Spuzzum First Nation Look To Open New Ski Resort in British Columbia Highway 5 rises up out of Hope British Columbia and into the snow belt of the Coquihalla, where the Spuzzum First Nation wants to build a year-round recreation resort. South Anderson resort is slated to include 3,000 mixed-use housing units, with cross country and downhill skiing in the winter, golfing, hiking, and downhill mountain biking in the summer. With 11 […] Industry News Ben Davies | February 2, 2024 0 Comments
Avalanche Canada Asks Backcountry Users to Report Conditions Did you play in the snow today — then say what you saw. Avalanche Canada is looking to skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers for help with reporting snow conditions across the country. For those not aware, Avalanche Canada (‘AVCAN’), is responsible for avalanche forecasting across all the mountain ranges of Canada. With such a huge area to cover, and only a […] Avalanche Ben Davies | January 26, 2024 0 Comments
Whitewater Ski Resort, BC, Report: A Few Inches of Quality Snow and Zero Liftlines This report is from January 21, 2024 Whitewater Ski Resort is a five-lift (one rope tow and four chairlifts) ski hill 12 miles from Nelson, British Columbia. Six miles of that is a plowed logging road, taking you to the base lodge, overlooked by Ymir Peak, an iconic mountain that tops out at 7850 feet. The drive can be interesting […] Conditions Report Ben Davies | January 23, 2024 0 Comments
Supreme Court of Canada Ruling Allows Jumbo Glacier Rethink The Supreme Court of Canada made a ruling today regarding the Ktunaxa Nation’s claim that building a year round ski resort at Jumbo Glacier, near Invermere, in southern BC, would infringe on their religious rights. These rights are guaranteed to indigenous people in Canada, under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Ktunaxa believe that the project would drive the […] Ben Davies | November 3, 2017 0 Comments
Video: Tom Wallisch and Sherpas Cinema show Imagination [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YVQ5s6ePeI"] Ben Davies | November 1, 2017 18 Likes 0 Tweets 0 Comments
VIDEO: Olympic Snowboarders Kelly Clark & Mike Schultz Will Be Featured On Kellogg Cereal Boxes [arve url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueP7EEYsEGQ"] Ben Davies | November 1, 2017 12 Likes 0 Tweets 0 Comments
Grand Canyon Tram Proposal Goes Before Navajo Council Next week Navajo lawmakers are voting on the “Grand Canyon Escalade” project. According to the New York Times, the only agenda item for the special session on Tuesday is the plan to build a gondola from the rim to the floor of the Grand Canyon. This gondola is similar to the 8 person gondolas at places such as Kicking Horse, […] Ben Davies | October 26, 2017 0 Comments
Legendary Whistler Split board Marker, Chris Prior, Has Passed Away On October 15th, Chris Prior, the owner and founder of Prior died. A professional windsurfer, turned snowboard and ski shaper extraordinaire, who believed in the 20cm rule, and enforced it in his Function Junction ” manufactory”. Chris took his experience shaping windsurf boards, and brought it to the custom snowboard industry, shaping boards for the alpine race scene, freeride, and […] Ben Davies | October 25, 2017 0 Comments
North Face and Columbia stores in Breckenridge to be bought by Vail resorts The Vail Resorts name is synonymous with company expansion, at least up here in British Columbia, after buying Whistler. They are not just buying resorts though, also adding retail stores to their portfolio. North Face stores in many other resorts, including Whistler, and resorts in Colorado, California and Utah, are already under their banner. Now, in an extension to their […] Ben Davies | October 17, 2017 1 Comment
Private Colorado Ski Resort for the Uber Rich About To Launch | $3 Million to Enter Then $50,000/Year So, you’ve got the Bugatti, the G6, and you like to slide down snow. Then Jim Aronstein, the owner Cimarron Mountain Club CO, has the place for you. This place is so exclusive, they won’t even let you look at their website without approval… In 2005, Aronstein, a retired lawyer bought 2000-acres of former logging company land in the San […] Ben Davies | October 17, 2017 4 Comments
Worth the walk! British Columbia delivers again. “ I can’t see you, lodge” Coming up through the notch in the mountains below Powder Creek Lodge, the helicopter pilot sounded calmer than it seemed he should be. The machine puts down in a cloud of powder and as the rotors slow, we can see our home for the next week. A lodge building, sauna, and outhouse, perched on […] Ben Davies | October 16, 2017 0 Comments
Video: Cody goes wild in Bodie Cody Laplante, Everybody! Cody was born in 2002, in California, and is now based at Squaw. This has always seemed a good choice for a ripping young skier, following in the footsteps of legendary free skiers. At just 15, Cody’s list of achievements reads like a manual for how to progress in the industry. Starting competing at 9 years old, […] Featured Video Ben Davies | October 1, 2017 0 Comments
Ben Davies
Climbing
Industry News
Conditions Report
Avalanche
Featured Video