The Benefits of Yoga and Pilates for Skiers and Snowboarders For skiers and snowboarders, incorporating dryland training both mid-season and off-season is crucial to your success on the slopes. The sport requires a unique combination of strength, mobility, balance, and core stability. When it comes to exercises typically geared toward skiers and snowboarders, many people think of those that develop leg strength and power, such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, and […] Brains Brent Thomas | May 15, 2025 0 Comments
Top 5 End-of-Season Spring Skiing Traditions As ski resorts begin to close, it’s a great time to look back and reflect on the past winter. The ups and downs. The chairlift-chats and gut-busting laughter with friends, both old and new. The long days filled with powder and après. But just because the snow is winding down, doesn’t mean the fun has to, too. If there is […] John Cunningham | May 14, 2025 0 Comments
SnowBrains is Hiring Summer 2025 Interns SnowBrains is the world’s leading independent snowsports media outlet, and we’re on a mission to become the New York Times of the snowsports industry. To achieve this dream, we’re seeking passionate and talented individuals to join our team and take us to new heights. A Unique Opportunity for Snowsports Enthusiasts If you’re a positive, original, and intelligent individual who loves skiing, […] SnowBrains | May 1, 2025 0 Comments
The Women Speed Riders of Chamonix Speed riding is essentially skiing but with wings. You clip into your skis, strap on a small glider, and take off. The glider or ‘wing,’ as it is referred, lifts, the skis carve, and gravity does the rest. It’s fast. It’s light. And when done right, it looks like flight sculpted in real time; the ability to glide only inches […] Martin Kuprianowicz | April 28, 2025 0 Comments
Turns All Year: A Guide for How to Ski Every Month of the Year in North America Ask any die-hard skier what keeps them up at night in the swelter of July, and odds are they’ll mention three innocent-sounding letters: TAY… Turns All Year. The idea is seductively simple: ski at least once every single month, no matter what the calendar or the weather says. The execution, however, is anything but. It demands early-morning alarms that ring […] Backcountry Clay Malott | April 28, 2025 9 Comments
Letter From The Editor: Myths, Fallacies, and the Usefulness of Social Media in the Backcountry I took my role as Editor with SnowBrains four years ago, when I was a young college kid at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. I wanted to ski every day and find a way to make a living from writing, and by some cosmic chance I landed an internship with SnowBrains. Not long after that, I was […] Backcountry Martin Kuprianowicz | April 27, 2025 0 Comments
Top 9 Largest Vertical Drops on the East Coast We all love stats and numbers and the ski industry is no different from any other sport, profession, or business in that aspect. Which ski resort has the highest elevation, which one has the most trails that are rated expert, and which resort has the most off-piste terrain are all questions we ask ourselves when trying to select the next mountain […] Industry News Gregg Frantz | April 27, 2025 5 Comments
The Effects of High Altitude on Your Body’s Largest Organ: The Skin High altitudes in alpine regions are challenging environments for anyone and anything. Not just fauna and flora had to adapt over thousands of years, but humans—whose bodies were not designed for living at altitude—struggle with the specific attributes of alpine environments and have to take special precautions when venturing into alpine regions. High altitudes have lower air pressure, resulting in […] Brains Julia Schneemann | April 26, 2025 0 Comments
7 Largest Indoor Ski Areas in the World For most of us in the northern hemisphere, the skiing season is coming to a close. Palisades Tahoe, CA, closed for the season on the 4th, leaving just two resorts open in North America. There still are plenty of places to ski this summer, however, and a unique way to get some laps in the off-season is actually indoors. A […] Anton Lengyel | April 26, 2025 0 Comments
The 7 Most Underrated States in the U.S. for Skiing and Snowboarding When it comes to skiing and snowboarding, a handful of states often dominate the spotlight like Colorado, Utah, and Montana. However, some of the best powder, unique terrain, and unforgettable mountain experiences can be found in places that fly under the radar. These underrated states offer everything from pristine slopes and stunning backcountry to affordable lift tickets and smaller crowds, […] Brent Thomas | April 26, 2025 1 Comment
Top 7 Sunniest Ski Resorts in America As much as the skier community craves deep, jaw-dropping powder days, it’s hard to deny the pure joy of bluebird days. There are few feelings that match cresting the top of a ski lift on a gorgeous blue sky day and seeing mountainous views surrounding you. Although, skiing down the run in that same setting may top it. That’s why […] Brains Riley McDonald | April 21, 2025 2 Comments
How Backcountry Ski Guidebooks Get Written Lou Dawson, the first person in history to ski down all 54 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, published his first backcountry ski guidebook in 1985 when he was healing from an injury he sustained in an avalanche. It was titled “Colorado High Routes” and covered backcountry skiing in the Vail, Aspen, and Crested Butte areas. It was well-received. The guidebook was […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | April 20, 2025 2 Comments
End of Season Checklist: Care for Your Gear Sadly, the ski season is coming to an end, or for some it already has. Soon your focus may turn toward warmer weather activities, but before you do, it is wise to give your gear some TLC before storing it away for the season. Doing so will ensure you are ready to hit the slopes again when the snow returns, […] Brains Brent Thomas | April 20, 2025 0 Comments
The 9 Best ‘Small’ Snowsports Brands Everyone knows big snowsport brands like K2, Burton, or Salomon. So let us introduce you to some small but incredible snowsports brands, the garage band of the bunch. We looked at the best small brands and compiled a ‘top nine’ list. To qualify for our “small” category, revenues had to be <$5 million, and the product launched less than 30 […] Gear Julia Schneemann | April 19, 2025 6 Comments
Why is Avalanche Safety Gear So Expensive? This post was first published in August 2021. The gold standard of avalanche rescue gear is a beacon, a shovel, and a probe—three products you hope you never have to use outside of a beacon park. A standard-issue kit like this will almost always set you back at least a few hundred dollars—$333 is the cheapest one I found on […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | April 19, 2025 4 Comments
Every State’s Record Snow Year According to Their Ski Areas 2023 will go down as one of the overall snowiest ski seasons ever. An incredible 18 resorts set snowfall records. But what year and at what resort holds the record for each state? See below for the answer. The list is sorted in ascending order by total snowfall. States not included are lacking records. West Virginia – 1981 Snowshoe Ski […] Brains Brent Thomas | April 19, 2025 4 Comments
9 Best Places to Ski and Climb in North America If you’re the kind of person who racks up ski days all winter and scales granite when the snow melts, there’s no need to choose between the two. These nine North American destinations serve up the best of both vertical worlds: world-class skiing and rock climbing, often in the same weekend—or even the same day. Whether you’re a powder hound, […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | April 15, 2025 0 Comments
The World’s 11 Best Mountain Ranges for Skiing & Snowboarding The world is full of incredible mountains. Some are better to ski and snowboard than others. What makes a mountain range great for skiing and snowboarding is the combination of copious amounts of snow and great terrain. The mountain ranges below have both of these qualities in excess. The World’s Best Mountain Ranges for Skiing & Snowboarding: *** Teton Range […] SnowBrains | April 13, 2025 23 Comments
9 Must Read Books for Your Dive into the World of Skiing and Snowboarding Yes, YouTube is a great resource for beginners looking to explore the beautiful world of skiing, but there is also merit to books that can be an excellent resource for all things skiing. My first discovery of mountain sports was reading a book back in the 4th grade. Growing up in Kansas, I didn’t have exposure to skiing or snowboarding, […] Luke Guilford | April 12, 2025 0 Comments
Quit Your Day Job: These 5 Gigs Will Pay You to Live the Ski Bum Dream Most people work full-time during the week and hit the slopes on the weekends or on weeknights. They might ski two times a week at most, but, according to statistics from the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), most do not go more than 20 to 30 times a season. The combination of balancing life, work, and leisure activities gets too […] Industry News Gregg Frantz | April 11, 2025 0 Comments