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
Mt Baldy: A Timeless Ski Escape in Southern California Bumping up and down in the backseat of Dad’s green convertible Jaguar, the potholes of Mt Baldy’s parking lot bring excitement for a day of skiing ahead. That backseat was once a battleground for “shotgun” against my brother. A battle I often won. The upgrade to the passenger seat led to today. More than 15 years later, I had to […] Miles Berman | March 26, 2025 0 Comments
evo To Open its Second Hotel in Tahoe City, CA The outdoor retail and experiences company, evo, paved its way into the ski community as one of the first online retailers in the industry in 2001. Since then, evo has opened brick-and-mortar locations, created evoTrip Adventures, and recently spread its wings into the hotel industry. The first evo hotel, Campus Salt Lake, opened in 2022 in Salt Lake City, and now […] Industry News Luke Guilford | February 6, 2024 0 Comments
Hometown Mountain Shoutout: Kirkwood, CA – Admiration of the Sierra Crest I will never forget my first day at Kirkwood. There was a storm blowing in the night before continuing into the morning bringing feet of fresh snow. I pulled up to chain control in Hope Valley just 20 road miles south of Lake Tahoe. I stopped, rolled my window down, and asked how the road conditions were. The attendant stated […] Trip Report Brady James Kraabel | November 4, 2022 1 Comment
Salt Lake City’s Annual “Shred Fest” Kicks Off Winter With Utah’s Biggest Ski Festival This Weekend View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shred Fest (@shredfest.life) Salt Lake City’s biggest winter kick-off festival is back for two full days of action. Shred Fest is a winter and music festival that invites the community to celebrate the arrival of winter with a rail jam competition, lumberjack demo, food trucks, local breweries, and more. […] Industry News SnowBrains | November 4, 2021 0 Comments
Dive Crews Pull Up Over 5,000 Pounds of Garbage From Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe is known for its beautiful panoramic views, great skiing, and the clarity and cleanliness of its water, and the locals are especially particular about that last part. Related: Lake Tahoe Is Currently at Its Lowest Level Since 2017 About 53,000 permanent residents live around Lake Tahoe, and over three million people visit the lake each year. On the […] Artur | June 29, 2021 0 Comments
Ski-Through Vaccine Clinic Hosted at Arapahoe Basin, CO COVID-19 vaccination numbers continue to go up, but healthcare providers are hoping that statistics will not plateau. To vaccinate more of the population, officials have had to get creative. At Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, the Summit County Public Health Department hosted a ski-through vaccine clinic on Sunday, May 16. The ski resort and the Summit County Public Health Department partnered to […] Brains Alex Mangels | May 18, 2021 0 Comments
SkiDUCK: Skiing & Snowboarding for Disadvantaged & Underprivileged Children & Older Kids “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman Not everyone is privileged enough to ski even once in their lifetimes. Thankfully there are good people out there like the ones working with SkiDUCK. SkiDUCK is an entirely volunteer-based […] Industry News SnowBrains | December 4, 2020 0 Comments
Hundreds of Pounds of Trash Removed from Donner Lake, CA As part of a collective effort to clean and preserve the Lake Tahoe region, volunteers from Clean Up the Lake are diving deep to remove hundreds of pounds of trash from the floors of one of the Sierra’s most immaculate lakes. Fueled by the desire to combat plastic and all forms of pollution, the non-profit will focus on scuba and strategic […] Emily Crofton | July 17, 2020 0 Comments
Volunteering Not Only Helps Others, It Helps You Too! It comes as no surprise that volunteering, the altruistic activity where an individual freely gives their time to help others, significantly improves the health and well-being of those assisting. While the obvious goal is to help others, whether it be a person in need, a worthwhile cause, or the community as a whole, studies have shown that American adults who […] Brains Emily Crofton | June 19, 2020 0 Comments
Helping the Community: Why I’m Auctioning Off My Pair of Shane McConkey Tribute Pontoons View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam U (@adamcu280) Professional skier, marine biologist and musician Adam Ü is trying to be the change he wants to see in the world. Related: SkiDUCK: Skiing & Snowboarding for Disadvantaged & Underprivileged Children & Older Kids That’s why the Mt. Baker, Washington local is auctioning off his limited edition pair […] Industry News SnowBrains | June 19, 2020 0 Comments
Killington Mountain Ski Resort, VT Hands Out Free Food to the Community On Tuesday, Killington Mountain Resort & Ski Area in Vermont gave away more than 700 bags of food to the local community for a food drive aimed towards helping everyone affected by the coronavirus. WCAX reports that cars lined up for about two miles to get half a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, fresh produce, pantry items, frozen food, and […] Industry News SnowBrains | April 23, 2020 0 Comments
Ski Programs Molding Better Lives for Those Living in Salt Lake City’s West-Side Communities Published on Voices of Utah It’s Saturday. The sun is shining and snow is on the ground. Parents are dropping their children off at Mountainview Elementary in Salt Lake City and the kids are already exploding with excitement — they are going on a field trip. Juan Gilberto Rejón — or “Coach Juan,” as those in west-side communities refer to […] Martin Kuprianowicz | February 28, 2020 0 Comments
Alpine Meadows Residents Protest New Gazex Avalanche Control System As another winter season begins, it’s of no surprise the residents of North Lake Tahoe are in dispute with the newly formed owners of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, Alterra Mountain Co. This time concerning the use of newly installed Gazex remote avalanche control systems along the Alpine Meadows entry road. Members of the community have expressed concerns about the noise […] Avalanche Alex K | November 7, 2018 1 Comment
$1 Goes a Long Way in the Truckee Tahoe Community [arve url="https://youtu.be/0sJPYeSnaLU"] Katy Shipley | June 20, 2018 13 Likes 0 Tweets 0 Comments
Vail CEO Robert Katz Announces $31 Million Donation According to Vail Resorts, Inc., CEO Robert Katz will be making a $31 million donation to his family charitable foundation and donor advised charitable fund. His donation comes from exercising stock appreciation rights (SARs) that were expiring over the next two years. Katz received 113,000 shares of Vail Resorts stock, each priced at $275.25. He will be donating 100% of […] Featured Article Katy Shipley | June 14, 2018 1 Comment
Swedish Ski Area Reaches New Heights Thanks to Amazon Data Center What could an Amazon Web Services Data Center and a Swedish ski area possibly have in common? Rocks. 100,000 tons to be exact. The construction of Amazon’s new data center in Stockholm, Sweden led to an abundance of rocks donated to the Vilsta Ski Area. Amazon’s donation expedited the ski area’s improvement plans so much, the changes are expected to be seen by the […] Industry News Katy Shipley | May 9, 2018 1 Comment
“Is the Community Ready for More Squaw Valley Development?” “Recently, I sat down and listened to Wayne Poulsen, Jr. talk about the history of Olympic Valley to a small group of locals that ranged from high school students to business owners and community leaders to service workers. Poulsen moved to Olympic Valley with his parents when he […] SnowBrains | January 13, 2014 4 Comments
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