Rigoplano, Italy Avalanche Final Tally: 29 Dead, 11 Rescued According to CNN, rescuers have stopped searching for survivors in the Hotel Rigoplano, the site of a deadly avalanche last Wednesday. The avalanche was 120,000 tons and essentially destroyed the hotel. Out of 40 people inside the hotel during the avalanche, 29 have been confirmed dead and 11 survived. Out of those who survived, 4 are children and 9 had been trapped […] Sergei Poljak | January 26, 2017 0 Comments
California Storms Leave Trail of Carnage On The Coast This past week, California saw three huge storms roll in off the Pacific, with the third and final in the series leaving a trail of carnage in its wake. Precipitation records were shattered, rivers overflowed, the mountains received tremendous amounts of snowfall, and massive waves claimed at least four lives in the Pacific Ocean. A woman drown in Ocean Beach, Northwest […] Sergei Poljak | January 24, 2017 0 Comments
Italy Avalanche: Survivors Recount Disaster, Rescued After 58 HOURS Georgia Galassi, 22, is an Italian student and was one of the nine survivors rescued from the buried hotel Rigopiano thus far. Five days after the massive avalanche in the Abruzzo Region of Italy, search crews are still on the hunt for survivors. As time passes, it becomes increasingly unlikely that persons trapped will be found alive. As of Jan 22nd, nine have been […] Avalanche Sergei Poljak | January 23, 2017 1 Comment
Mammoth Mountain, CA, Conditions Report: In A Word…ALL-TIME Thursday Jan. 19th was all-time at Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra. Mammoth reported the most snow, with 30″ at the top, in the world today – no other lift-accessed location received more. Better yet were the clear conditions early on, the heavy snow in the afternoon, and the fact that a fairly large portion of the mountain was actually open. Everything except […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 19, 2017 2 Comments
The Average Skier Killed @ Colorado Resorts Is Experienced A new report by the National Ski Areas Association suggests that the average skier killed in a crash at Colorado resorts is an adult male with 30 years of experience. It’s often been cited that most skiers killed at resorts are beginners or intermediates who lose control and end up in front of a tree, pole, or another skier. Although the report is limited to U.S. […] Sergei Poljak | January 17, 2017 0 Comments
Grand Targhee, WY Conditions Report: The Bird Is Blue & The Snow Is New Just ignore the last couple of conditions reports, because these are the conditions that you need to expect at Grand Targhee Resort for this weekend. We just got 28 inches of snow, and we’re cruising into an extended stretch of bluebird days with great, soft snow conditions. The cold temps are keeping things extra puffy for those of you who work […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 13, 2017 0 Comments
Grand Targhee, WY Conditions Report: Storm Day(s) It’s been a stormy four days at Grand Targhee Resort in WY. I heard there’s a sun out there, and that it’s the source of all life on Earth…nuts. But seriously, all of these clouds have contributed to a lot of snow. A bit more than two feet of it, to be precise. Sure, we didn’t have the totals that California […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 11, 2017 0 Comments
Granby Police Release Details of Investigation of Fatal Lift Accident @ Ski Granby Ranch On Dec. 28th, a mother was killed and her two children injured after they fell 25 feet from the Quickdraw high speed quad at Ski Granby Ranch. At the time, the cause of the accident was undetermined and there were few details available. The Granby Police has conducted an investigation and have determined that the electronic drive system in the […] Sergei Poljak | January 10, 2017 0 Comments
Londonderry, VT Plans Public Sculpture To Honor Burton Snowboard History Not many people know that Jake Burton Carpenter opened his first snowboard factory in the teeny tiny town of Londonderry, VT, near Stratton ski area. That’s one of the reasons why Mimi Wright, who worked with Jake that first winter, now wants to install a sculpture to honor that history. Spearheaded by the Londonderry Arts and Historical Society, the plan is […] Sergei Poljak | January 9, 2017 1 Comment
Swiss Alps Driest December Ever, Study Shows Winters Now One Month Shorter Than In 1970 This December was the driest in the Swiss Alps since record keeping began in 1865, and the long-term trend is not looking good for winter sports. It may have been DEEPcember in the Tetons, but the European Alps have been alarmingly dry. According to MeteoSwiss, the Swiss plateau received an average of just .07 inches of precipitation during the month, in […] Sergei Poljak | January 9, 2017 2 Comments
Grand Targhee, WY Conditions Report: Huge Snows A-Comin’ Today was my first day at Grand Targhee Resort at the foot of the Tetons, and it was full of good turns, trees, faces, pistes and all kinds of great terrain. What could possibly be better than that? Grand Targhee on a full blown powder day, that’s what. And that’s exactly what’s about to happen folks. To make a short story even […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 8, 2017 0 Comments
Trip Report: 8812 Bowl @ Roger’s Pass British Columbia Many times I’ll meet keen travelers in Revelstoke, and Roger’s Pass will come up in conversation. I guess it’s lore has been growing recently; multiple times, folks who haven’t been there have heard it was “the best ski touring” in North America: Just so, my friends, just so. Located between Golden and Revelstoke in Glacier Park, B.C., there are simply no comparable areas in […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 4, 2017 0 Comments
VIDEO: You Can’t Just Stand Around; Scott Gaffney Makes Piecemeal of Squaw Valley Scott Gaffney takes Squaw Valley by storm in this 2016 edit of his escapades at the resort. This is a look at one man’s no frills, all thrills approach to keeping Squaw true to its legendary reputation as a wild and steezy skiers mountain. Lest you forget, Squaw has fostered a great many descendants of Ullr, such as Plake, McConkey, and more. Real […] Sergei Poljak | January 3, 2017 0 Comments
Revelstoke, B.C. Conditions Report: Powder, Powder, Powder, Then… There have been many happy days thus far at Revelstoke, and sometimes you just have to grin like a blissful fool. It’s OK, we’ve all done it. We’re all blissful fools during that powder rush. I get to be a blissful fool like everyday, it’s so awesome. Being a blissful fool is the best. The snow has been consistent these last […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | January 2, 2017 0 Comments
Record Low Snowpack In French Alps Leaves Many Resorts Closed During Holidays The French Alps have been dry and sunny during the early season, but nowhere is the situation as serious as in the Massif Central in France, where some resorts have not seen a snowflake in a month. While the higher altitude resort in the Northern French Alps saw a snowy November, they too have been plagued by a prolonged period of stable weather. […] Sergei Poljak | December 29, 2016 0 Comments
Revelstoke, B.C. Conditions Report: Moist Westerly The wind usually blows from the southwest in Revelstoke. Sometimes that wind gets moist. Really moist. And it starts dumping white stuff out of the sky for three days or something. It’s called a moist westerly. Moist, and westerly. Coming from the great, big, hyper-moist Pacific Ocean. In Revelstoke, it so happens that this solidified moisture gets so deep that it gets all over your […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | December 28, 2016 0 Comments
Revelstoke, B.C. Conditions Report: One Powder Cycle Softly Transitions To Another Revelstoke has the 2nd most snowfall in North America this season: The 10 North American Ski Resorts with The Most Snowfall: Revelstoke has been going off for the past week and we’ve been going at it…hard. The final tally for the latest storm cycle is just under 100 cms. Gnorm has personally expressed his joy at being able to breathe without choking […] Conditions Report Sergei Poljak | December 25, 2016 0 Comments
The North Pole Hit Freezing Point, 32 F, Yesterday, Dec. 22nd “We’ve seen a year in 2016 in the Arctic like we’ve never seen before” – Dr. Jeremy Mathis, Arctic Research Program, NOAA For the second time in six weeks, temperatures in the North Pole have spiked to record highs. Yesterday, in an unprecedented turn of events, a buoy ~145 km from the North Pole registered a temperature of exactly freezing, which […] Weather Sergei Poljak | December 23, 2016 0 Comments
Jackson Hole Reduces Congestion With New Sweetwater Gondola Jackson – in its quest to become the ultimate ski resort, including catering for families – has upgraded the capacity of its Sweetwater triple chair and Eaglesrest chair to a 8-person Dopplemayr gondola that replaces both lifts. There has been whisperings these past few years of long lines at the lifts at Jackson Hole, and the resort is taking action. The […] Sergei Poljak | December 23, 2016 0 Comments
Valemount Glaciers May Ascend From B.C. Proposed Resort Purgatory Valemount Glaciers is more than just a project, it’s a bundle of ambitions that would make it one of the premier ski resorts in the world. In terms of terrain, these guys want to go big or go home: “The ski area is designed to be developed in three major phases. The first phase will reach Twilight Glacier, at elevation 2,530 […] Sergei Poljak | December 20, 2016 1 Comment