3 Revolutionary Inventions in Skiing and the History Behind Them Sliding on snow with planks strapped to your feet—aka skiing—has an ancient history, debatably dating back as far as 8,000 BCE in Altay, China. Norway, however, has the most definitive record of skiing as a practical means of transportation. Early Norwegians constructed thick, flat, long wooden planks for skis and carried a long pole, carved with a scoop into […] Brains Zach Suffish | September 19, 2025 3 Comments
Recently Digitized Historic Reports Give Glimpses Into the Early Days of Avalanche Research If you’ve ever taken an avalanche class in the United States, then it’s likely that your instructor has at least a tenuous connection to Ed LaChapelle. As a snow and avalanche researcher and educator for more than thirty years, LaChapelle had a hand in developing most aspects of modern avalanche safety, from the invention of the avalanche transceiver to forecasting […] Avalanche Zach Armstrong | September 8, 2025 0 Comments
The Rich History of Extreme Skiing in Crested Butte, CO Colorado’s Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) was the early centerpiece for extreme skiing. Before extreme in-bounds terrain became mainstream across the resort ski industry, a day on the slopes meant clipping into skinny 200+ cm skis and proceeding to rip groomers. Now, many skiers head straight for the bowls, cliffs, chutes, or whatever extreme terrain the resort offers to get […] Industry News Luke Guilford | May 26, 2025 0 Comments
The History of the Legendary 10th Mountain Division, The Men Who Started USA’s Ski Industry The 10th Mountain Division in WWII: – Arrived in Italy on January 6th, 1945 & immediately entered combat – Fought in the roughest terrain of Italy during WWII – Saw combat in Cutigliano, Battle of Monte Castello, Monte Della Torraccia-Mount Belvedere, Canolle, Mongiorgio, Torbole and Nago. – 992 killed in action – 4,154 wounded in action […] Brains SnowBrains | May 26, 2025 158 Comments
Sven Coomer, Ski Innovator Who Revolutionized the Modern Boot, Dies at 84 Sven Coomer, a former Olympian and the designer widely credited with creating the modern ski boot, died March 10 in Aspen, Colorado, of heart failure. He was 84. Coomer’s breakthrough designs in the 1970s fundamentally changed the skiing experience, replacing the discomfort of stiff leather boots with supportive, plastic-shell footwear that remains the foundation of ski boot construction today. Related: […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | April 29, 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
A Look Back at the Aspen Ski Patrol Strike of 1971 The recent Park City Ski Patrol strike demonstrated the importance of ski patrollers in daily mountain operations and visitor experience. The strike began on December 27, 2024, after prolonged negotiations with Vail Resorts regarding wage increases and benefits for the patrollers. The demonstration, which included picketing lines, job walk-offs, and social media campaigns, lasted until January 10, 2025. The strike […] Quinn Brophy | January 24, 2025 0 Comments
Portland Pickles Make History with THC-Infused Beverage Sales at Games In a groundbreaking move, the Portland Pickles have become the first sports team to legally sell THC-derived drinks at their sporting events. This pioneering initiative, in collaboration with the beverage company Cycling Frog, marks a significant milestone in the intersection of sports, cannabis, and consumer culture. The Portland Pickles, a collegiate wood-bat baseball team known for their fun and […] Jack Bynum | July 5, 2024 0 Comments
Top 7 Ski Resorts in Greece Greece has always been a popular vacation destination for purveyors of ancient history, stunning natural beauty, and laid-back lifestyles. Legendary destinations such as the Parthenon on the Acropolis, the stadium at Delphi, and the cliff towns on Santorini garner most of the headlines and attract the bulk of the tourists visiting the country. But consuming delicious seafood, island-hopping from Athens, and […] Brains Jared Roberts | December 4, 2023 0 Comments
Brain Post: Ralston Purina (Yes, the Pet Food) Owned Which Colorado Ski Resorts? This is breaking news to me, but in case you were wondering who owned Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, and Keystone before their current owners… it was Ralston Purina. So, next time you’re heading westbound on I-70 through Denver on your way to ski, and you get that big whiff of Purina pet food from the factory that seems to overlook the […] Brains Luke Guilford | September 10, 2023 0 Comments
Hometown Mountain Shoutout: Mammoth Mountain, CA Hold the phone… skiing? In California? Yes! I know what you’re thinking, California only caters to “surfer dudes” and Hollywood enthusiasts. However; contrary to popular belief, California is home to the phenomenal ski resort Mammoth Mountain. It nests in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in Eastern California and sits atop the town of Mammoth Lakes. It boasts some of the […] Industry News Riley McDonald | October 26, 2022 0 Comments
Prehistoric Cheetahs Once Called Colorado Home Imagine driving down I-70 only to look out your window to see a cheetah racing after a pronghorn. Impossible right? Just 13,000 years ago, these highspeed cats’ relatives ruled the western plains. Many called the regions of Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, and Nebraska home. They are known among archeologists as “false cheetahs” due to the similar bone structure of fossils. These […] Brains Aunika Skogen | April 4, 2022 0 Comments
Prince Charles’ Ski Disguise From 1980 Skiing provides an outlet for many people, no matter class, race, or gender. Even British Royals have been photographed enjoying the mountains with some time on the slopes. Recently, images from 1980 resurfaced of Prince Charles skiing in Klosters, Switzerland. The Prince would occasionally dress in disguise to avoid attention from photographers and paparazzi. Prince Charles has a history of […] Industry News Aunika Skogen | January 12, 2022 0 Comments
History of Breckenridge: The 4th Largest Ski Resort in Colorado Happy New Year SnowBrains readers! I got to ring in 2022 by exploring the slopes in Breckenridge – the 4th largest ski resort in Colorado. While I was there, I was taken aback by the natural beauty of the massive resort. Located at an elevation of 9,600 feet, the mountain encompasses an impressive area of 2,908 acres with five amazing […] Haleigh Hafner | January 4, 2022 1 Comment
The Evolution of Ski Patrol: Dogs, Tech, and Love for the Mountains Ski patrol has been part of the ski industry from the very beginning. From ancient monks rescuing travelers in the Alps to drones joining the Aspen Mountain Rescue, the desire to keep each other safe in the mountains is tried and true. Ski patrol today strives to keep up with the ever-changing ski industry. This had led to advanced avalanche mitigation and high […] Avalanche Katy Shipley | August 26, 2021 0 Comments
A History Lesson on Denali, AK: North America’s Tallest Peak History Standing at 20,310 feet above sea level, Denali is the highest point in North America. Although the indigenous Koyuknons have referred to it as Denali for hundreds of years, the United States government acknowledged it as Mount McKinley from 1917-2015. The name Mount McKinley originally came from a gold miner that wanted to express his support for William McKinley, […] Climbing Jesse | July 7, 2021 1 Comment
VIDEO: Made in the Mitten | Never Before Seen Footage of the Birth of Snowboarding. In Michigan. [arve url="https://vimeo.com/460666206"] SnowBrains | December 8, 2020 Likes Tweets 0 Comments
Origins: U.S. Avalanche Mitigation In this week’s edition of Origins, we will take a look into the history of how avalanches have been avoided in and out of ski resorts. If you missed last week’s Origins on the Freeride World Tour you can check it out here: Related: Origins: Freeride World Tour Avalanches are extremely dangerous and fatal events. Avoiding them at all costs is […] Avalanche Ryan Flynn | October 9, 2020 1 Comment
Eruption Of An Alaskan Volcano Linked To Extreme Cold In Ancient Rome An eruption of Alaskan Volcano over 2,000 years ago is being linked to extremes cold in Ancient Rome. A new study from the Desert Research Institute demonstrated through the analysis of volcanic ash found in the Arctic ice cores that a period of extreme climate in the Mediterranean was provoked by the eruption of Alaska’s Okmok Volcano in 43BCE. Early […] Brains Sebastian Opazo | June 26, 2020 0 Comments
How the Spanish Flu Pandemic Impacted Park City, UT 100 Years Ago & What Has Been Learned Since A little over a century ago Park City, Utah, the United States, and the rest of the world were overwhelmed with a horrible pandemic that killed more than 50 million people worldwide. Now, with the current COVID-19 pandemic, historians in Park City, Utah look to the past about how a ski town like theirs dealt with a similarly challenging situation […] SnowBrains | April 11, 2020 0 Comments
Brains
Avalanche
Industry News
Climbing
