Valdez, AK, Report: Chasing Blue Holes, Buzzing Over Glaciers, & Skiing Powder Snow Report from April 12, 2025 Saturday was the last day of my buddy’s week here in Valdez. It had been a rough week with brutal weather. We needed a win. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SnowBrains (@snowbrains) Mother Nature gave us the nod on day 7 and gave us a lingering blue hole. It wasn’t much, […] Conditions Report Miles Clark | April 17, 2025 0 Comments
Researchers Discover “Best-Preserved” Pair of 1,300-Year-Old Skis Ever Recovered on Norway Glacier A pair of prehistoric skis, more than 1,300 years old, has been reunited on a remote Norwegian mountainside after one ski was discovered this year just five meters (15 feet) from where the first was found in 2016. The discovery was made at Digervarden in September 2021, a site in Innlandet County, central Norway, by glacial archaeologists working with the […] Brains Martin Kuprianowicz | April 10, 2025 0 Comments
Top 5 National Parks for Backcountry Skiing Are you looking to earn some turns and check some National Parks off your bucket list this year? As tourist season at many National Parks has ended, it’s the perfect time to visit. There’s no better way to explore the West’s National Parks than skiing them. Here are five National Parks with some of the best backcountry skiing. Related: How […] Backcountry Aunika Skogen | November 23, 2024 0 Comments
Tignes Glacier, France, Opens for Summer Skiing The vast Tignes Ski Resort located in the French Alps is known for its expansive terrain and year-round skiing just announced the summer opening of Glacier de la Grande Motte. The ski area is open this summer from June 29 to July 21. The summer ski season began a week later than initially planned, as the Savoie region experienced […] Industry News Luke Guilford | July 4, 2024 0 Comments
NASA: Melting Glaciers Are Destroying Climate Archives Glaciers are natural archives of past climate. In their frozen layers lies evidence of Earth’s changing temperature and atmospheric composition. But as the climate warms, some of the longest records of our changing planet are melting away. One such archive is the Corbassière glacier in Switzerland. The high-altitude glacier is situated on the flanks of Grand Combin, one of the […] SnowBrains | February 28, 2024 0 Comments
Conditions Report: Skiing La Vallée Blanche, Chamonix, France Report from January 13, 2024 La Vallée Blanche La Vallée Blanche is arguably the most famous off-piste ski run in the world. Starting atop the Aiguille du Midi, average people take 4-6 hours to ski the 22 km (13.5 mile) glacier run with a 9,000-foot descent. If you have any questions or have never skied it, it is necessary to […] Conditions Report Brett Ploss | January 22, 2024 0 Comments
FIS Responds to POW Petition Protect Our Winters (‘POW’) started a petition last week to put pressure on the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (‘FIS’) to better align wintersport with environmental sustainability. The initiative was prompted by the emergence of pictures from both preparations for the World Cup at Sölden, Austria, as well as the cross-border event at Zermatt, Switzerland & Cervino, Italy, that saw […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | October 24, 2023 0 Comments
The Glaciers of the North Cascades, WA, in an Ever-Changing Climate Did you know that the most glacier-concentrated terrain in the lower 48 is in the North Cascades National Park, located in the northern section of Washington state? In fact, this remote and wild National park embodies more glaciers than Glacier National Park (Montana) or any other National Park in the contiguous United States. There are over ~250 active glaciers contained […] Brains Matthew Oliphant | August 27, 2023 0 Comments
French Ski Resorts Val d’Isere and Tignes Will Not Open for Autumn Skiing and Riding This Year Once upon a time, the interconnected French ski areas of Val d’Isere and Tignes would spin their chairlifts 365 days a year, weather permitting. They are known as the resorts with the longest ski seasons in France. But then it started getting warm. Espace Killy is the name of the large ski area network that intertwines Val d’Isere and Tignes, which […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | August 14, 2023 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Houses Washed Away by Historic Glacial Flooding in Juneau, AK Record-breaking glacial flooding in Juneau, Alaska’s state capital, has led to a state of emergency after waters from the Mendenhall River caused unprecedented damage, destroying at least two buildings and prompting urgent evacuations. The surge occurred Saturday after a significant glacial dam outburst from Suicide Basin, a compartment of the 3,000-year-old Mendenhall Glacier, located roughly 12 miles north of Alaska’s […] Steven Agar | August 7, 2023 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Incredible Footage of Glacier Collapse in Switzerland German photographer Jürgen Merz specializes in capturing glaciers and volcanoes across the globe. On his website Abstract Landscapes, you can check out some of his beautiful work. Related: Swiss Voters Back Plan to Cut Carbon Emissions to Save Europe’s Melting Glaciers For his ‘Glacier Project,’ he has traveled along the glaciers of the Alps, Norway, and Iceland to document the […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | June 29, 2023 2 Comments
The Science Behind Problematic Pink Snow An annual summertime sight in alpine environments, pink snow, also known as watermelon snow, often lingers on late-season snowpack and glaciers worldwide. Though it may be appealing to try and take a bite of the brightly colored snow, it may forecast a more sinister warning about our warming environment. The bacterial phenomenon behind pink snow helps to accelerate the melting […] Brains Lucas Gauthier | June 23, 2023 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Skier Catches Terrifying Drop Into Massive Crevasse on Helmet Cam One lucky skier caught the scary moment he dropped into a massive crevasse but managed to edge his skis into the wall and come to a halt on his helmet cam. The French ski group Les Powtos shared the incredible footage from last year a couple of days ago on their social media channels. It shows one of their group […] Featured Video SnowBrains | April 22, 2023 0 Comments
Which Cascade Peak in Oregon Hosts the Southernmost Active Glacier? Before we jump into the main topic of discussion, let’s first understand what specific characteristics you can expect to see with an active glacier. A vibrant and robust glacier will embody various components pertaining to the movement and flow of ice. Some of these iconic features and behaviors you can expect are icebergs, crevasses, ice falls, and ice caves. Any […] Brains Matthew Oliphant | January 11, 2023 0 Comments
Which Volcano Holds the Most Glacial Ice in the Pacific Northwest? Before we get into the core (pun intended) of this topic, let’s quickly dive into a little science 101 on what exactly a glacier is and how it forms. What is a glacier and how does it form? A glacier is a large body of densely compacted snow, ice, and ground deposits that accumulate over time under ideal conditions (consistent […] Brains Matthew Oliphant | December 21, 2022 12 Comments
European Glaciers Are Back in Business as Several Ski Areas Reopen Good news is coming from all over Europe where athletes have been able to return to alpine training on many of the European glaciers. Colder temperatures, and even some early season snowfall, have enabled many of the glacier resorts in the European Alps to reopen. Recreational skiing has been able to resume in some resorts as well. Only a couple […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | September 29, 2022 0 Comments
Fire Engulfs Gondola Station At Summit of Glacier 3000, Switzerland Shocking pictures reach us from Switzerland, where on Monday, September 19, 2022, the summit station of the Glacier 3000 gondola burst into flames. Glacier 3000 is a ski resort in the Swiss canton of Vaud, about 20 minutes from Gstaad and 40 minutes from Montreux. The fire appears to have started on the fourth floor of the upstairs restaurant “Botta” of […] Fire Julia Schneemann | September 21, 2022 3 Comments
Dachstein Glacier, Austria, Is ‘Unsafe’ Due to This Summer’s Extreme Heat and Won’t Open at All 22/23 Dachstein Gletscherbahn Ramsau, the company operating the lifts on the Dachstein Glacier, announced on September 15 that the glacier would not open for skiing or boarding this ski season. Following the below-average snowfall last season and extreme heat in the summer, the glacier was deemed unsafe for snowsport operations. Whether skiing can ever resume is currently uncertain. Related: Northern Hemisphere […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | September 20, 2022 1 Comment
Finland Ski Resort Building Artificial Glacier Levi Ski Resort in northern Finland is a leader in innovation and environmentally friendly development. That trend continues as they are building a man-made glacier and a new high-speed chair lift to service it. So far Levi says they have moved around 20,000 cubic meters of soil to create a smooth base for the slope to get it ready to […] Industry News Brent Thomas | August 24, 2022 2 Comments
‘Glacier Clean Up Day’ and State-of-the-Art Snowmelt Recycling Technology: Efforts are Underway in Switzerland to Preserve Melting Glaciers Millions of people are drawn to the Swiss Alps every year and particularly to the eternal ice of the spectacular glaciers. Switzerland has a staggering 1,400 glaciers, but they have been shrinking at an increasing rate, worrying scientists and the general population alike. A recently published study by the ETH university in Zurich discovered that glaciers have shrunk more than half […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | August 23, 2022 0 Comments
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