Aspen, CO, Real Estate Market Smashes Through $100 Million-Ceiling Aspen’s latest real estate deal has smashed the record set last week with a deal that breaks through the $100 million barrier. Many properties had been listed with lofty price targets in the nine figures but none had ever reached that caliber — until now. On Monday, April 15, the sale of 419 Willoughby Way in Aspen, Colorado, at the […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 17, 2024 0 Comments
Zermatt, Switzerland, Announces Changes to Summer Operations: No Training for Elite Athletes The FIS World Cup season has wrapped up and international ski racers are planning their upcoming summer training. Aside from off-snow training such as strength and endurance, vital on-snow training needs to be scheduled over the summer months. Popular locations for European teams are typically the glaciers across Europe due to their proximity and for some skiers and boarders also […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 17, 2024 0 Comments
Top 7 Snowiest Ski Resorts in Europe — Week 16, 2024 The season is slowly coming to an end but there is still great skiing and boarding to be had for those not willing to hang up their ski gear just yet. If you are wondering which resorts will be open all the way until May or even June, check out our piece on the top 15 resorts for late spring […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 16, 2024 0 Comments
Italian Ski Racer Sofia Goggia Shares Emotional Update on Recovery Post-Fracture In a very emotional interview for the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), Italian ski racer Sofia Goggia shared her feelings about competitive skiing and her struggle to come back from her most recent injury. Goggia broke her leg during training on February 5, 2024, on the Casola Nera run in the Ponte di Legno Tonale ski area in Italy. […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 15, 2024 1 Comment
Swiss Analysis Shows Snowfalls in 23/24 Winter “Eerily Similar” to Big Avalanche Season in 74/75 A comparison of snowfalls from 2023/24 with snowfalls in 1974/75 — almost 50 years ago — by the Swiss Avalanche Institute SLF has shown that snowfalls in those two seasons have been very similar. In early April 1975, several avalanches across the eastern Alps in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria went down, killing more than 40 people, both on the mountain […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 15, 2024 0 Comments
Ski Star Announces Retirement After Lack of Support From Swedish Ski Association Swedish ski racer Lisa Hörnblad announced her retirement on her Instagram page on April 10, stating, “I can’t continue like it has been last season because it’s impossible to be competitive against the best in the world without support, coach, and team.” The 28-year-old ski racer admits that she is sad to announce that she is quitting but feels that […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 14, 2024 0 Comments
Preliminary FIS Alpine World Cup Calendar for 24/25 Proposes a Total of 17 Events in North America The preliminary FIS Alpine World Cup calendar has been making its rounds across chat boards and emails. While it is not officially released by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), national coaches receive the preliminary schedule for planning and feedback purposes and it’s exciting news for North American ski racing fans. The 24/25 Alpine World Cup season sees a […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 13, 2024 0 Comments
Late Season Skiing in Europe: Top 15 Resorts for Spring Skiing As winter fades into spring, some skiers and snowboarders may be moth-balling their equipment for the season, but then there are those die-hard winter enthusiasts refusing to call it quits. If you count yourself into the latter group, you may wonder where you can still get turns in as late as the end of April or even early May in […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 12, 2024 2 Comments
Summer-Only Ski Resort at Mount Gassan, Japan, Opens Today, April 12 Tsukiyama Ski Area at Mount Gassan in Japan announced that it will open its ski season today, April 12. The Japanese summer-only ski resort is situated in the Yamagata Prefecture of Japan’s main island Honshu, about six hours north of Tokyo. Tsukiyama at Mount Gassan is one of six summer-only ski resorts in the world. Related: Unveiling the Six Spectacular […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 11, 2024 0 Comments
“If You’re Not Scared, You Have a Death Wish” — Lessons for Aspiring Athletes From Champion Freeskier Alex Ferreira I had the great privilege of chatting with legendary halfpipe skier Alex Ferreira about the keys to his success from his home in Aspen, Colorado. Ferreira can look back on a perfect season: winning five out of five competitions in the halfpipe on the FIS World Cup circuit, awarding him the Halfpipe Crystal Globe as well as the Overall Park […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 11, 2024 0 Comments
Avalanche Near Sölden Ski Resort, Austria, Sweeps Away Dutch Backcountry Group, Killing 3 An avalanche below near Sölden Ski Resort, Austria, struck a group of 17 Dutch backcountry skiers and their four Austrian mountain guides who were on their ascent to the Martin-Busch hut at 2,501 meters (8,205 feet) on Thursday, April 11. The Martin-Busch hut is a popular starting point for further excursions into the Ötztal glacier area. The spot where “Ötzi”, […] Avalanche Julia Schneemann | April 11, 2024 0 Comments
Lindsey Vonn Undergoes Knee Replacement Surgery Retired American ski racer Lindsey Vonn has undergone yet another knee surgery. This time, the 39-year-old elected to undergo knee replacement surgery, after issues with her right knee resulting from several injuries during her career never really were fixed sufficiently by previous surgeries. During knee replacement surgery, parts of the damaged knee are replaced with implants, in Vonn’s case titanium […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 10, 2024 0 Comments
USA Finishes 23/24 FIS World Cup Season With a Total of 13 Crystal Globes It’s been a fantastic season for U.S. winter sports athletes, who are bringing home a total of 13 Crystal Globes. A Crystal Globe is awarded by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) to the overall points winner in a discipline. There are Big Crystal Globes for the overall winner across several events in a discipline as well as Small […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 9, 2024 0 Comments
Top 7 Snowiest Ski Resorts in Europe — Week 15, 2024 We are coming to the end of the season in many resorts. Naturally our top 7 are still open but some not for much longer. Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming piece on the best European resorts for spring skiing to see where you can ski until late April or even May. Which resorts have the most snow […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 9, 2024 0 Comments
Plans for 2024 Winter Season Revealed for Turoa Ski Fields, New Zealand On Saturday, April 6, the Department of Conservation announced that it has granted Pure Tūroa Limited a 10-year concession to operate the Tūroa ski field in New Zealand. The previous operator at Mount Ruapehu, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), was forced to file for voluntary bankruptcy in June 2023 following a poor season and two years of Covid-19-related closures. RAL had […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 8, 2024 0 Comments
Reintroduced Colorado Wolves Kill Second Calf in 5 Days After not killing any livestock for more than 100 days, the wolves released on Colorado’s Western Slope in December 2023 killed a calf in Jackson County on April 7. It is the second killing of a calf by wolves in the last five days. A prior wolf depredation was reported on April 2 in Grand County, 30 miles away. Related: […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 8, 2024 0 Comments
Skier Missing in Easter Monday Avalanche in Zermatt, Switzerland, Identified as Canadian Army Captain The missing person after the Easter Monday avalanche in Zermatt, Switzerland, has been identified by the Canadian Government on April 7 as Canadian Armed Forces member Captain Sean Thomas. Captain Thomas was on leave in Zermatt, Switzerland, from Operation IMPACT in the Middle East, and is presumed dead following the avalanche on Monday, April 1, that claimed the lives of […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 7, 2024 0 Comments
Hilarious Photoshop Fail of Cover Photo of Italian Ski Racer Sofia Goggia Italian ski racer Sofia Goggia, known as ‘The Queen of Speed’ (“La Regina della Velocita”), broke two bones in her right lower leg earlier this year. For a recent photo shoot her lower right leg was clearly not magazine-cover-ready, so the photo editor decided to photoshop in a different foot so as not to show the extensive scar on her […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 7, 2024 0 Comments
U.S. Ski Racer Mikaela Shiffrin & Norway’s Speed Specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Are Engaged U.S. ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin and Norwegian ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde are engaged. The couple shared the happy news on their social media today, April 4. The 29-year-old American and 31-year-old Norwegian have been dating for three years. We know we tricked readers with an April Fool’s article last year regarding a supposed wedding, but we can assure SnowBrains readers […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | April 4, 2024 0 Comments
Avalanche Hits Helicopter near Verbier, Switzerland, Leaving 3 People Dead [Updated April 5, 2024, with correct last names for survivors] A fatal helicopter accident was reported on Tuesday, April 2, at Petit Combin, near Verbier, Switzerland. Three people lost their lives in the accident while three further people were injured. According to the police report, a type B3 helicopter crashed at the Petit Combin, a popular backcountry and heliskiing location […] Avalanche Julia Schneemann | April 3, 2024 0 Comments