North America’s 11 Most Influential Ski Resorts That Have Shaped the Industry Today Although North America was not the birthplace of skiing, many of its resorts have had significant influence on the sport. From the rugged peaks of the Rockies to the powder-filled bowls of British Columbia and the icy slopes of the East Coast, North America’s ski resorts have done far more than offer a place to carve turns—they’ve helped shape the entire […] Brains Brent Thomas | April 9, 2025 0 Comments
Slopes App Update Provides 2,000+ Interactive 3D Ski Maps in the Palm of Your Hand Researching trails, topography, and other aspects of resorts can be a valuable strategy for planning days on the mountain, and a new app called Slopes offers a way to map out the best possible day at the resort. Slopes provides users with a globe that includes ski resorts from North America, Europe, Australia, Japan, and others and spans across IKON, […] Industry News Quinn Brophy | December 2, 2024 0 Comments
Navigating the Chaos: The White Ribbon of Death You either love it or hate it. The snowy strip of snowsport survivalism. The pitiful path of piss-drunk plankers. The frozen freeway of flailing fools. The White Ribbon of Death! Some see it as a trap to be avoided at all costs. Some see it as a chaotic opportunity to start their season before most others. In my opinion, the […] Jon Roubik | November 1, 2024 2 Comments
Oregon Ski Resorts Opening Dates for 2022-23 An unseasonably warm fall in the Pacific Northwest has quickly changed to colder weather. Recent snowfall in Oregon and much of the western U.S. has many riders thinking about opening day. Typically, resort opening days in Oregon are around Thanksgiving, although I did ski a powder day at Mt Hood Meadows on November 1st one year. Many enthusiastic riders have […] Industry News Brent Thomas | October 28, 2022 0 Comments
Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz Says Key to Growth is Reducing Crowds As winter 20/21 approaches its natural end, in sharp contrast to the abrupt end of the 19/20 season, resorts will begin looking back at the successes, and failures, of the ski season that almost never was. All resorts introduced operational changes to enforce face-covering compliance, socially distanced lift lines and skier capacities, many closed restaurants, and on-mountain lodges, and ticket […] Industry News SnowBrains | April 14, 2021 20 Comments
Just 1 Resort Remains OPEN in North America for You to Ski This Week… Warm weather is gradually bringing an end to the North American ski season as snowpack across the country is slowly melting away. Crystal Mountain in Washington managed to stay open for a week, a week shorter than they advertised. Beartooth Basin, WY/MT announced recently that due to snowmelt and rocks showing through they are taking it one day at a time. […] Industry News SnowBrains | June 24, 2020 2 Comments
Colorado Ski Resorts Wanting to Reopen Blocked by Governor Ordering They Remain Closed Until at Least May 23rd A number of Colorado ski resorts have recently been making noises about reopening, but Governor Jared Polis dashed those hopes late last night, ordering that all ski areas remain closed until May 23rd – at least. The owners of Aspen Snowmass had announced that they would try to reopen Highlands in May and Arapahoe Basin admitted that although they will […] Industry News SnowBrains | May 1, 2020 0 Comments
Ski Resorts in Austria Reopen As Heavy Snowfall Hits the Alps When they closed for the season on April 7th, staff and officials at resorts near Vienna, Austria were waiting for the remaining snow to melt and began thinking and planning for the summer. But after recent cold temperatures and heavy snowfall, summer was put on hold and resorts decided to fire up the lifts again, offering May skiing for the first time […] Industry News SnowBrains | May 24, 2019 0 Comments
When to Score in the Land of the Rising Sun Japan continues to become an ever more popular destination for powder hounds seeking out waist deep turns and it’s easy to see why. With 600″ average annual snowfall for some areas, the likelihood of scoring multiple powder days while on a trip becomes nearly a guarantee. In fact, some locations have been said to have seen snowfall in the range of […] Weather Jon Roubik | November 16, 2018 0 Comments
Land Swap in the Central Wasatch, UT: Conservation, Expansion, and Grizzly Gulch The Central Wasatch National Conservation and Recreation Area Act is up for discussion in Central Wasatch Commission meetings. After being introduced in 2016, the bill was never enacted and has been debated for the past two years. While the conservation act encourages protection of pristine land in higher elevations in the canyons, there are underlying suspicions about the future of the Cottonwoods. Central Wasatch National […] Industry News Katy Shipley | July 13, 2018 1 Comment
Boyne Resorts to Acquire Ownership of Six Mountain Resorts Across North America In a press release yesterday, Boyne Resorts announced an agreement with Ski Resort Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of Oz Real Estate, to acquire six mountain resorts and a scenic chairlift attraction currently leased by the resort company. As operator of the assets and owner of additional resorts, Boyne Resorts has a 70-year history of ski industry innovations and is the […] Industry News Steven Agar | March 13, 2018 1 Comment
A Pair of Skiers Survive 52 Hours in the Colorado Backcountry Completely Unprepared Dillon, Colorado native Kelsey Malin and her friend spent 52 hours in the backcountry unprepared after accidentally leaving the boundary of Monarch ski resort in Colorado. The pair were skiing Monarch for the first time on the 25th of January when they exited the resort boundary by accident and dropped into a perfectly fresh powder run down the backside of the resort. According […] Backcountry Dylan Cautela | February 7, 2017 0 Comments
One Skier Dead After Falling into a Crevasse in Chamonix A pair of skiers from Russia fell into a crevasse while on the Vallée Blanche in Chamonix. The two skiers were a father and son skiing the Géant Serac sector on Saturday when the son fell into a crevasse. During an attempt to rescue his son the father also fell into the crevasse. On Sunday, Search and Rescue authorities were notified of the […] Dylan Cautela | February 6, 2017 1 Comment
California’s January Storm Cycle Provided Much Needed Improvement to Historical Drought From late December through early January California has been getting pummeled by winter storms in the form of atmospheric rivers. This month long parade of storms has significantly helped the historical five-year drought that has been plaguing California, but it doesn’t mean the state is in the clear. “Early in the January storm cycle, lower mountain elevations received some rain, but […] Dylan Cautela | January 31, 2017 0 Comments
Australian Family Survives Freezing Night Just Outside Japanese Resort Boundaries A family of four Australians spent the night in a snow cave just outside the Japanese resort of Nozawa Onsen this Monday. On Tuesday morning around 9, the mother and three sons were rescued by emergency ski patrol who were alerted of the missing persons by a distraught friend. The friend of this Australian family had noticed a distress message on […] Backcountry Dylan Cautela | January 18, 2017 0 Comments
Fatal Skier Triggered Avalanche in Austria Yesterday Yesterday around noon a group of three men skiing in Lech-Zurs, Austria triggered an avalanche, which caused the burial of a single skier from their party. The group consisted of one guide and two Dutchman who were skiing off-piste on the Trittkopf Gamsmulde (2720 meters). One of the Dutchman, 33-years old from Amsterdam, was caught in the avalanche and buried completely. The avalanche danger […] Avalanche Dylan Cautela | January 17, 2017 0 Comments
Squaw Alpine Conditions Report: Soft Snow and Plentiful Sun Christmas Day 12/25 at Squaw Valley Good weather kept the valley and upper mountain at Squaw nice and cold after Friday’s storm, even when the beautiful California sunshine came out. With a daytime high of mid-twenties for Sunday everything that had been skied on Saturday was still skiing relatively well. Nice and soft, almost chalky, with the occasional patch of rain […] Dylan Cautela | December 26, 2016 2 Comments
The Annual Tahoe Adventure Film Festival | December 10th It’s no secret that the Lake Tahoe area creates some of the finest adventure sports athletes out there thanks to plentiful snow, killer granite slabs, beautiful loam, and soaring skies all with the backdrop of a stunning lake! But what many do not know is its also home to one of the raddest film festivals celebrating many of these Tahoe locals amongst […] Backcountry Dylan Cautela | December 7, 2016 0 Comments
Probability of a White Christmas Where You Live With the holiday season well underway and winter solidifying its grip all across the US, many folk are planning their vacations in order to enjoy a white Christmas. It will come as no surprise then that much of the western mountains- the Rockies, the Cascades, and the Sierras- are areas with an almost guaranteed chance of a white X-mas, while the […] Weather Dylan Cautela | December 6, 2016 0 Comments
Mad River Glen Snow Report: Winter Has Sprung! While it has been a slightly slow start to the season in the northeast, the weather has turned to winter and resorts are quickly making up for it. Vermont has been the center of attention as of late with many resorts picking up snow totals well into the double digits over the past week. The forecast is looking bright too […] Weather Dylan Cautela | December 5, 2016 0 Comments