When Saving the Planet Meets Intellectual Property: Why Patagonia Is Suing Queer Climate Activist Pattie Gonia For more than half a century, the California-based outdoor apparel giant Patagonia, Inc. has carefully cultivated a corporate identity that is less about retail commerce and more about planetary survival. Under the radical ethos of its founder, Yvon Chouinard, the multi-million-dollar company transformed its corporate structure into a trust dedicated entirely to fighting climate change, popularizing the definitive mantra that […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | May 28, 2026 8 Comments
Sugarloaf Ski Resort, ME, Locked in $150K Financial Dispute With County Over Canceled Dam Project Franklin County is seeking the return of approximately $150,000 in taxpayer money that they allege was improperly billed by Sugarloaf, Maine’s largest ski resort, for a long-abandoned infrastructure project. According to reporting from the Bangor Daily News, the financial disagreement is currently straining the relationship between county government and one of the region’s primary employers. Related: Tragic Shooting Near Sugarloaf […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | May 20, 2026 0 Comments
Bluewood Ski Area, WA, Files Lawsuit Over Delayed High-Speed Quad Installation This article is a follow-up story to a story that was published on September 1, 2025. Just days after confirming its new Skyline Express lift would not be ready for the 2025-26 ski season, Bluewood Ski Area has announced it is taking legal action against companies it says are responsible for the delay. In an August 29 press release, WGSKI, […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | September 3, 2025 0 Comments
Is Marijuana Skiing Safety a Myth? What Search and Rescue Teams Want You to Know When Canada legalized marijuana in October 2018, pushback came from an unexpected place–search and rescue. Marijuana skiing safety became a genuine concern for mountain rescue teams, and it’s easy to see why. Not long ago, marijuana was still considered a bad drug mostly used by hippies and stoners. These days, it’s becoming legal, socially accepted, and even used for its […] Mike Lavery | April 20, 2024 3 Comments
Inside the Legal Battle Between Wasatch Peaks Ranch Private Resort and the Residents of Morgan County, UT Morgan County, Utah, is a 611 square mile, lush, wooded valley surrounded by the beautiful Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah. The Weber River bisects it and nearly a third of the county is forested and undeveloped and provides fertile farming grounds. With a mere 12,295 total residents as of the 2020 census, it epitomizes a rural, small, western town atmosphere. […] Industry News Brent Glogau | January 3, 2024 0 Comments
Recreational Marijuana Sales Have Already Surpassed $5 Million in First Week in New Mexico If you’re driving through Taos, NM any time soon, expect to see some new stores opening up with some… let’s call them relaxing products. Recreational marijuana sales were recently legalized in New Mexico, and businesses were given the OK by state officials to sell and distribute their products starting last week. On Friday, April 1st, New Mexico officially allowed […] Haleigh Hafner | April 15, 2022 0 Comments
Do Waivers Grant Ski Areas Complete Immunity From All Lawsuits? It May Appear That Way in Colorado Do waivers grant ski areas complete immunity from all skier injury-related lawsuits—even the ones where it’s the ski area’s fault? It may appear that way in Colorado. The Colorado Supreme Court will not hear a case that questions the use of waivers at ski areas to protect themselves from lawsuits filed by injured skiers. According to The Colorado Sun, attorneys […] Industry News Martin Kuprianowicz | September 9, 2021 0 Comments
Analyzing the Effects of Legal Cannabis in Colorado On November 6, 2012, Colorado citizens voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Since the first recreational dispensaries began opening in 2014, more than $10,940,865,212 worth of cannabis sales have been reported. Colorado was one of the first states to legalize medical and recreational marijuana and has served as an effective template for states that want to follow suit. Overall, public opinion […] Brains Jesse | July 26, 2021 0 Comments
Hucking Highways: Teton Pass Stunt Brings Authorities Together to Discuss Legalities of Sending Road Gaps The ski film The Warmest Moments, which dropped last week, shows skiers sending it over Highway 22 on Teton Pass, causing authorities to come together to discuss the legalities of hucking highways. Related: VIDEO: How Not To Do A Road Gap | Massive Faceplant The Wyoming Highway Patrol and Teton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office came together to determine whether it […] Industry News SnowBrains | September 26, 2019 0 Comments
9-Year-Old Boy Saves Winter, Gets Snowball Fights Legalized in Severance, CO If there were one winter activity enjoyed by almost everyone it would have to be a good old-fashioned snowball fight. You don’t need expensive equipment, you don’t need mountains, heck you don’t even need snow, sleet will work. Given the ubiquity of snowball fights, it is almost incomprehensible to believe that until recently snowballs were illegal in Severance, Colorado. You […] Friday Fun Curtis Weller | December 14, 2018 0 Comments
Man Hit By Chairlift Sues Mount Hood Meadows James P. Meagher was injured while trying to load onto a chairlift at Mount Hood Meadows on March 27, 2014. The safety bar was down when James went to load the chair, and Meagher was struck and dragged by the chairlift. Meagher suffered a partial tear of his meniscus and other injuries and is suing Mount Hood for a total of $316,990 […] SnowBrains | April 4, 2014 2 Comments
Vail Resorts Makes Surprise Offer to Buy Park City The latest news in ongoing wranglings between Vail Resorts and PCMR, Vail Resorts has offered to buy Park City Resort’s base facilities. The offer comes in the form of a 5-page letter from Vail CEO Rob Katz, who says that Vail Resorts will buy Park City’s holdings for what he described as “…a fair price for both for both parties…” This is just the latest in a disagreement between Vail Resorts and PCMR […] SnowBrains | March 26, 2014 1 Comment
Breckenridge, CO Blows Up the Best Smoke Shack in USA & More Well, this is unfortunate. The TV show “Inside Edition” did a show highlighting the smoke shacks of Colorado this month. Nearly every ski resort has secret smoke shacks. These are small shacks that people hang out in and smoke marijuana. They’re very cool, full of soul, always eclectic, and they speak deeply to our inner fort-building child. Anyone who strolls into one of these shacks […] Miles Clark | February 27, 2014 6 Comments
Can You Buy Marijuana Legally in Stores in Colorado Tomorrow? Yep, you’ll be able to legally buy marijuana in stores in Colorado on New Year’s Day, 2014. The ski industry in Colorado will be changed forever. Think of all the college kids who ski in Colorado. In case you didn’t know it: college kids on vacation at ski resorts smoke weed. Now, they aren’t going to have to worry about getting the stuff. […] SnowBrains | December 31, 2013 5 Comments
“Will Legalized Marijuana Bolster Ski Tourism in CO and WA?” | by Freeskier Magazine “I smoked a joint before just about every competition I did.” – Tanner Hall Tess Weaver of Freeskier Magazine just wrote up a great piece about legal marijuana in Washington and Colorado and how it will be a boost to those state’s ski tourism economies. There’s no denying it that it will be a economic advantage. Amsterdam […] Featured Article SnowBrains | November 19, 2013 5 Comments
How To: Smoke Marijuana @ Colorado Ski Resorts | A-Basin Pulls Passes, Wolf Creek Doesn’t Care… Marijuana is now legal in the snowy state of Colorado. Thanks to Colorado’s amendment 64, any person over 21 years of age and older can legally posses up to one ounce of marijuana and use said marijuana in private. This law does not make it legal to smoke marijuana at ski resorts nor on chairlifts. Colorado ski resorts are split on how to regulate this new legal marijuana use. “Already I have kicked several people out of here and taken their ski passes for smoking [marijuana] in […] SnowBrains | November 6, 2013 7 Comments
“Colorado Ski Towns Get Ready for Legal, Recreational Marijuana Sales” – Huffington Post The Huffington Post just published this article about how Colorado is getting ready to make big money off Marijuana sales this upcoming ski season. They’re getting ready to go green. Colorado Ski Towns Get Ready For Legal, Recreational Marijuana For The Upcoming Season Forget the shot-skis, thanks to the passage of Amendment 64, Colorado ski towns are bracing for pot-skis. Ski […] SnowBrains | October 2, 2013 2 Comments
Industry News
Brains
Friday Fun
Featured Article
