Michigan Republicans Propose Skiing Tax To Cover Property Tax Elimination Michigan’s ski industry, known for its beloved local ski hills and sneaky lake-effect powder skiing on the Upper Peninsula, has been caught in the cross-fire of a Republican-led attempt to eliminate state property taxes. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall recently proposed legislation that would add a 6% tax on luxury services, including skiing, golf, country club memberships, marinas, private jets, […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | March 2, 2026 0 Comments
Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz Opens Up About Expensive Lift Tickets, Crowding In Wall Street Journal Interview In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz gave some insight into how he and Vail Resorts view high ticket prices, crowding, and dwindling Epic Pass sales. Katz seldom gives interviews, so his conversation with WSJ Correspondent Roberto Ferdman gives a rare glimpse into his thinking on some of the more contentious issues facing […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | March 1, 2026 30 Comments
How Will This Winter Affect the 40 Million People Living in the Colorado River Basin? Recent storms brought much needed snow to ski areas in the western United States, but as the East Coast digs out from another blizzard and New England ski areas continue to enjoy record setting snow years, many Western ski areas continue to struggle to open and maintain terrain. With March rapidly approaching, this season has crossed the “bad start” threshold […] Brains Zach Armstrong | February 26, 2026 0 Comments
Jackson Hole, WY, Report: Bowls Full of Bumps in the Shadow of the Tetons Report from Saturday, February 21, 2026 As we stepped off the parking lot shuttle bus, we were immediately struck by the scale of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. The top of Rendezvous Mountain soars over 4,000 vertical feet above the base area, and the whole ridgeline between Rendezvous and Apres Vous Mountain on the other side of the resort is filled […] Conditions Report Zach Armstrong | February 26, 2026 0 Comments
Grand Targhee, WY, Report: Go Fast, Stay Warm, Find Powder Report from Friday, February 20, 2026 The day started out in the low single digits, with the snow noisily squeaking beneath our boots on the walk through the parking lot. It was the kind of cold that you could feel as soon as you took off your gloves, but there was a warmth in the base area coming from all […] Conditions Report Zach Armstrong | February 26, 2026 0 Comments
[OLYMPICS] How Ben Ogden Became the 2nd American Man Ever to Medal in Cross-Country Skiing Ben Ogden made history by becoming only the second American man ever to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing when he took silver in the Sprint Classic on Tuesday, February 10. It has taken 50 years and five days for America to claim another Olympic cross-country medal. Coincidentally, Bill Cook Ogden grew up in the same area in Vermont […] Olympics Zach Armstrong | February 10, 2026 1 Comment
Federal Jury Dismisses Lawsuit Against Yellowstone Club, MT, Over Irrigation With Treated Sewage A Federal jury has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center against the Yellowstone Club, alleging that the Yellowstone Club has been discharging treated wastewater into the Gallatin River without a proper permit. For years, the Yellowstone Club has used treated wastewater from its private wastewater treatment plant to irrigate parts of its golf course, recycling the […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | February 10, 2026 0 Comments
[OLYMPICS] Norway’s Birk Ruud Takes Gold In Men’s Slopestyle While Alex Hall Takes Silver For USA Norwegian Freeskier Birk Ruud came away with gold in a Men’s Slopestyle Final that featured athletes struggling to land their tricks through the rail section and graceful airs with dizzying numbers of spins. American Alex Hall came away with silver and Kiwi Luca Harrington came from behind in the final run to secure bronze. Related: [OLYMPICS] Swiss Skier Mathilde Gremaud […] Olympics Zach Armstrong | February 10, 2026 0 Comments
Mia Jones Wins Inaugural FIS Freeride World Championships in Andorra with Americans on All Podiums The first ever FIS Freeride World Championships went off yesterday, squeezing almost all of the competitors into a tight weather window on the Basser Negre face at Ordino Arcalis in Andorra. More than a couple of feet of new snow led to a significant weather delay at the start of the event, and hid many of the smaller rocks throughout […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | February 4, 2026 0 Comments
Weather and Snowpack Update for the United States Many ski areas across the Western USA continue to experience one of the most challenging winters in recent memory. Mount Hood Ski Bowl recently announced that its operations will be suspended until further notice, and many large ski areas, including Vail, Park City, Deer Valley, and others only have roughly 65% of their terrain open, according to ski area websites. […] Weather Zach Armstrong | February 4, 2026 0 Comments
Study Shows That Ski Techs Have Highest Levels of PFAS Exposure, Linked To Significant Negative Health Outcomes Walk into any ski shop worth its salt, and you will be hit with that distinctive waxy ski shop smell. Built up from the waxing of thousands of pairs of skis over decades, that smell has recently been linked to significant long-term health effects for ski technicians. Ski waxes are made from a mixture of organic compounds with long alkyl […] Brains Zach Armstrong | January 30, 2026 2 Comments
Dusting of Snow in Colorado Leads to 28 Human-Triggered Avalanches in 7 Days In the midst of The Winter That Never Came, Colorado was graced with a few inches of snow last week, after a few fast moving storms from Canada snuck around the giant dome of high pressure that has persisted across much of the Western United States. The snow brought a flurry of backcountry travelers, and with them came avalanches. The […] Avalanche Zach Armstrong | January 30, 2026 0 Comments
The Next Big Place For Freestyle Skiing Is…Ohio? A Look At Where The Olympics’ Team USA Is From With the opening ceremony of the Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games less than two weeks away, Team USA has finalized its list of 232 competitors, the largest contingent ever sent. Though more than 80 athletes live or train in Utah, only 17 of them identified Utah as their home state. Colorado is the state with the most athletes, at 30, and […] Olympics Zach Armstrong | January 28, 2026 0 Comments
Grand Targhee, WY, Considers Selling Lots Next To Base Area Grand Targhee, Wyoming, is considering subdividing part of the area west of the base area, with the potential to sell some lots for homebuilding. Geordie Gillett, Owner and General Manager of Grand Targhee, told the Jackson Hole News and Guide, “We’re a ways out in terms of this actually becoming real,” but that preliminary plans had been submitted to Teton County, […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | January 23, 2026 2 Comments
Mad River Glen, VT, Could Pull Off Land Acquisition And Pub Renovation Thanks To Co-op Shareholder Donations Mad River Glen, one of the only co-op owned ski areas in North America, is drawing nearer to completing purchase of an 1,100 acre parcel of land next door to the ski area, affectionately called the 20th hole. The opportunity to buy the land came up suddenly, after an anonymous group, Lyme Mill Brook LLC, put in an offer to […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | January 23, 2026 0 Comments
Experience the Olympics With an Olympian at Tamarack, ID, This February With the start of the Milano-Cortina Olympics just a few weeks away, Tamarack, Idaho, has been gearing up for a wide array of Olympics themed events during the games. Long before the start of the games, the resort will continue to offer excellent conditions for carving out some GS turns or ripping through the bumps. In between runs, the Seven […] Olympics Zach Armstrong | January 22, 2026 0 Comments
White Wilderness Heliskiing, BC, Ordered To Shut Down After 9 Years Without Proper Approval White Wilderness Heliskiing, a Canadian heliskiing operation located outside of Terrace, British Columbia, was ordered to shut down in May 2025 by British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Commission, following a decision that found improper land use within the province’s Agricultural Land Reserve. The heliski operation has continued despite the order, claiming it does not require them to cease operations. White Wilderness […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | January 21, 2026 10 Comments
Sun Valley, ID, Report: Long Runs, Longer History, and Sweeping Vistas In 1936, the Union Pacific Railroad changed the sport of skiing forever, when, in Sun Valley, Idaho, it fired up the world’s first chairlift. In the 90 years since then, Sun Valley has remained a lauded and legendary place to ski, playing host to celebrities and celebrated skiers alike, including Gretchen Fraser, the first American to win an Olympic Medal […] Conditions Report Zach Armstrong | January 21, 2026 3 Comments
Tamarack, ID, Report: Incredible Terrain Rises from the Ashes of the Rock Fire Continuing South from McCall, the next stop on Visit Idaho‘s Gem Line was Tamarack Resort, Idaho, perched just above Lake Cascade. Alongside playful pistes and thrilling tree skiing, we would soon discover that Tamarack has easy access to amazing sidecountry terrain. We met up with our guides for the day at the base of the Tamarack Express lift and quickly […] Conditions Report Zach Armstrong | January 20, 2026 0 Comments
Brundage, ID, Report: Fast, Scenic Groomers and Extraordinary Sidecountry Laps My next stop on Visit Idaho‘s Gem Line Ski Trip was Brundage Mountain, just to the north of McCall Idaho in the Payette National Forest. Brundage is a beloved mountain for Idaho skiers, combining great groomers, expansive tree skiing, and scenic vistas with a relaxed atmosphere. Last winter, Brundage was named in National Geographic reporter Alf Anderson’s list of the […] Conditions Report Zach Armstrong | January 20, 2026 0 Comments
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