Yes, You Can Actually Ski in Hawaii You read that right, Hawaii’s tallest mountain gets a dusting of snow most winters. Mauna Kea towers over the ocean at 13,796 ft. The “ski area” has no lifts, but a road to the summit provides access to the world-class observatory as well as skiable terrain. When it snows, a 4-wheel drive vehicle is required to reach the summit. Riders […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | December 3, 2021 8 Comments
Thinking About Being a Ski Instructor This Winter? Becoming a ski instructor or snowboard instructor is easier than you think! Especially this season since the ban on work visas will likely leave ski resorts short-staffed. On June, 22nd, the US put a hold on J-1 visas (the most common visa used by foreigners to come work at US ski resorts). Even as ski resorts are taking measures to […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | November 6, 2020 0 Comments
The World’s Top 9 Ski Towns Après-Ski: a French term that translates literally to after-ski. This beautiful term encompasses the glorious post-ski beer, the needed post-ride snack, and the required unwinding of an epic day. Nothing beats hitting up the go-to happy hour bar and enjoying a local brew in a mountain town. Ski towns often get a bad rep for being overly expensive, too touristy, […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | May 12, 2020 2 Comments
Ikon’s Alternative Transportation Campaign View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ikon Pass (@ikonpass) Crowded resorts have been a huge area of complaints recently. Many blame the newer collective passes (Ikon Pass and Epic Pass) for the crowds. A couple of pictures of congested traffic and horrific lift lines drew tons of attention online and more hate for the passes. The Ikon […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | February 8, 2020 2 Comments
Why Your Phone Battery Dies in the Cold So why do phone batteries die in the cold? The short answer: type of battery. Phones and small electronics usually use a popular type of battery called Lithium-Ion. Side note: there are actually lots of different kinds of Lithium-Ion batteries (the ones in a Tesla or a power drill are made from different metals than the ones in phones and […] Brains Joseph Phillips | January 21, 2020 0 Comments
Sugar Bowl, CA Report: Big Storm Hitting, but Letting Up Tomorrow Morning Report from 16th January 2020 – Brought to you by Visit Reno Tahoe Sugar Bowl’s Instagram video for the day, captioned “Complete whiteout right now!” was spot on! The storm rolled in around 10 am this morning and it hit hard causing some lifts to go on and off of wind hold. I stuck to 2 lifts that stayed open […] Conditions Report Joseph Phillips | January 17, 2020 0 Comments
Mt. Rose, NV Report: Great Snow and Even Better Weather Report from January 15th, 2020 and brought to you by Visit Reno Tahoe The wind let up today at Mt. Rose, NV and it was a great day! Clear skies all morning and a recent storm (and on a weekday too) provided some amazing runs. Certain wind prone mountains can be plagued with icy, windswept runs and weather holds, and […] Conditions Report Joseph Phillips | January 16, 2020 0 Comments
Australian Ski Resorts Using Snow Guns to Fight Fires Some Australian Ski Resorts have been deploying their snow guns to fight off incoming fires. Thredbo Ski Resort and Perisher Ski Resort are hoping to survive the brush fires ravaging Australia. The highest and largest ski areas in Australia, respectively, hope to avoid the fate of Selwyn Snow Resort, which succumbed to the fires at the beginning of January. Nobody […] Fire Joseph Phillips | January 14, 2020 0 Comments
Youth Winter Olympics Begin Today The opening ceremony for the Youth Winter Olympics began yesterday (Thursday the 9th) with events beginning today, until January 22nd. The events will be held in several venues across Switzerland (with Lusanne being the hub), and they even dabble over the border to France. The ski jumping, nordic combined, and biathlon will all take place at the French venue Stade […] Olympics Joseph Phillips | January 10, 2020 0 Comments
Tamarack Ski Resort, ID Opens New Quad Tamarack Ski Resort of Idaho celebrates the new year with a brand new high-speed quad, Wildwood Express. The ski area lays about 2 hours north of Boise, Idaho and has 2800 vertical feet (almost as much as Squaw Valley, CA) on 1100 skiable acres. This brings the ski area up to 3 quads with 7 total lifts. Although it is not […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | January 6, 2020 0 Comments
Man Dies in Tree Strike at Killington Resort, VT On Sunday, during the busy holiday weekend, Jason Vitale passed away after colliding with a tree at Killington Resort, VT. The 58-year-old resident of New York went into cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital where he later died. He was reportedly riding without a helmet and traveling at fast speeds. According to a National Ski Areas Association study, helmet […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | January 3, 2020 0 Comments
Alternative Ski Areas for the Holiday Season The week between Christmas and New Year is the busiest ski week of the season. The combination of school breaks, work vacations, and the start of winter is the perfect combo to bring the crowds to ski towns. Below are a handful of lesser-known resorts that are in proximity to some of the most popular ski areas in the western […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | December 27, 2019 0 Comments
Interstate-5 Grapevine CLOSED for Icy Conditions As of the morning on December 27, the Grapevine remains closed due to snowy conditions. Above is a snapshot of Caltrans CCTV camera at Frazier. The elevation pictured is a mere 3836 ft. and has a forecasted high today of 36 degrees. The grapevine is a major artery connecting northern and southern California. Not only for commuters, but thousands of big-rigs make […] Featured Article Joseph Phillips | December 27, 2019 0 Comments
Bogus Basin, ID Report: Nothing Bogus About Bogus Basin Report from Sunday 22nd December 2019 Bogus Basin is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, meaning that they are a non-profit enterprise, hence the slogan “Non Profit. All Good”. All of the revenue is invested straight back into the resort and the community, and the board of directors are all volunteers. The resort changed owners 6 years ago, and have since invested […] Conditions Report Joseph Phillips | December 23, 2019 1 Comment
Cockaigne Ski Resort, NY to reopen! Cockaigne Ski Resort is back! After a 9-year hiatus, this quaint ski resort is reopening for the 2019 – 2020 winter! Located on the western edge of New York State, almost to Lake Erie, this resort gets crazy snowfall for an east coast resort. It averages about 275 inches per year on its summit (thanks to the lake snow […] Industry News Joseph Phillips | December 20, 2019 0 Comments
Bear Valley Ski Resort, CA Report: Bluebird Powder Day and the Slopes to Myself Report from 14th and 15th December 2019 Nestled at the end of Highway 4 in Northern California lies Bear Valley Ski Resort. It is a quaint mountain town with about 200 year-round residents and plenty of space for guests. It is only 40 miles south of Tahoe as the crow flies but features none of the crowds. The first lift started […] Trip Report Joseph Phillips | December 19, 2019 0 Comments
Tangible Solutions to Climate Change Climate change, while very complicated in nature, has grown more tangible in recent years. Especially for skiers and boarders, abnormal snowfall has been widespread over the last several seasons. Mitigation seems complicated. Scientists agree that reducing emissions is key, but so many sources of pollution leave so many areas for improvement. Related: Understanding Climate Change vs. Global Warming An August […] Weather Joseph Phillips | September 11, 2019 0 Comments
The Double-Edged Sword of Climbing Chalk There is a double-edged sword of climbing, and all outdoor activities really. The world is covered in beautiful and well-preserved parks, forests, and untouched swaths of land. These lands attract hundreds of thousands who want to experience the beauty, but every mile driven and hour flown is slowly destroying the lands we seek out. Slowly but surely altering the world’s climate […] Climbing Joseph Phillips | September 6, 2019 0 Comments
Amazing Glamping at Bear Valley, CA Bear Valley, California has the best glamping setup this summer. Bear Valley, located on Hwy 4 in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, is just 32 miles south of Lake Tahoe as the crow flies. The quaint mountain town has great year-round activities: cross-country and alpine skiing in the winter then mountain biking, kayaking, fishing, and hiking in the summer. “Imagine waking […] Joseph Phillips | August 29, 2019 0 Comments
Mountain Swings, Thanks to #AspenSwingProject A few spots around the ski town of Aspen, Colorado got a special gift. Random swings have been popping up in the forests that surround the city, and nobody knows who’s doing it. Several swings, covered in a deep-red coating of paint, dot trails around Aspen. The only clue about them is the etching in each swing: #AspenSwingProject. Related: Several […] Joseph Phillips | August 29, 2019 0 Comments
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