At Arctic Man, skiers and snow-machiners unite for one of skiing's weirdest races. There are busted bones, burning couches, and hopes of seeing Todd Palin. Surviving the 4.5-mile race is the easy part. We have helmet cam footage and in-depth account from last spring's race in Alaska.
If Michael Jantzen’s vision is realized, the next all-in-one ski hotel will include solar panels, wind turbines, and a four-season slope that starts at the rooftop and brings skiers down to ground level. He shares the inspiration behind his concept North Slope Ski Hotel, a 95-room, eco-friendly luxury hotel. By Olivia Dwyer
Finally, winter is arriving in full force, with a massive storm blowing through California (dropping up to 10 feet by Friday) then sweeping east with predictions of up to 18 inches in Utah and 35 inches in southwest Colorado. Welcome to the white room.
We understand: The economy may be affecting your ski-travel budget this winter. But don't fret. We've put together a handy map of travel and resort deals—where to find discounts on lodging, lift tickets, and more, at your favorite resorts around the country, including links to our guides on how to ski those resorts once you're there. We'll be updating the map regularly—so bookmark this page and check back before you plan your next trip.
Stop shivering and start shredding
We know, you think Lindsey Vonn’s a good bet to win the women’s downhill at Whistler Blackcomb. And, of course, we agree. But what about the other alpine events? Take a stab at picking the winners, and log back in periodically until the Olympics to see if other readers agree.
A-Basin helps you tackle the backcountry safely at the eighth annual Beacon Bowl and Avalanche Awareness Day on Saturday, Feb. 6. The day will include an avalanche transceiver competition, various avalanche-related demonstrations and clinics, a raffle, silent auction and après ski party.
If you listen closely to the commentators at an alpine World Cup race, you'll likely hear talk about course injection, a process during which water is injected into the snow in order to make a harder surface. While the practice is often discussed, the injectors themselves are seldom seen. Here's an up-close look at what they are and how they work.
Pro skiers Ingrid Backstrom and Jessica Sobolowski share tips during their recent freeskiing camp at Squaw Valley to teach women how to tackle big-mountain skiing, from scouting lines to self-arrests. By Olivia Dwyer
Advice from an MIT engineer who broke into the ski industry.
We spoke to Glen Plake, a pioneer of extreme skiing and the spokesperson for January as “Learn a Snow Sports” month, as he was boarding a flight to Moscow, Russia, about Midwestern ski areas, high school ski racing, and why skiing isn’t a sport just for the filthy rich.
JT Holmes, a Tahoe-based big-mountain skier and BASE-jumper (recently featured on 60 Minutes), gets himself a new sponsor.
We chatted with pro skier and photographer Drew Stoecklein about his raft-assisted ski trip in Idaho last spring, consuming alcohol out of rubber booties, and what he'd do with a dead bear.
Academy Award nominated director Brett Morgen chronicles the U.S. Ski Team's challenges and triumphs in a new film titled, Truth in Motion: The U.S. Ski Team's Road to Vancouver. Check out the trailer here.
A helicopter dropped 27 U.S Freeskiing competitors on top of Mt. Mackenzie for the final day of the Canadian Freeskiing Championships at Revelstoke Mountain Resort on January 10, 2010. Using helmet cameras, Zack Giffin captures the crowd’s enthusiasm along with some powder skiing.
I thought I knew about going fast on ice. I’ve skied the east, after all. But when Audi invited me to go to Austria to drive their cars on ice, I realized I had a lot to learn. Here are some driving tips I picked up while spinning donuts on Austrian ice. —Niall Bouzon
January is "Learn a Snow Sports" month. So why not pick up Nordic jumping? As the 2010 Olympic athletes gear up for their trip to Vancouver in a few weeks, you can fine tune your own skills at Olympic events in Park City, the site of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. They've got introductory courses in nearly all Olympic disciplines, from bobsledding to curling to slalom skiing.
Only 28 days let until the 2010 Winter Olympics head to Whistler and Vancouver. This video podcast from Whistler Blackcomb looks at some local Whistler-area athletes, including ski cross athlete Julia Murray, daughter of famous Canadian downhill skier Dave Murray, Maelle Ricker, a snowboard cross athlete, and halfpipe snowboarder Justin Lamoureux, who reflects on his experiences at the last Winter Olympic Games in Torino and what it means for him to compete on home soil.
Meet our online columnist Tom Winter. He'll be covering everything from powder days to ski-town bars from Colorado to Austria. Check back here for regular updates from him throughout the winter.
Bear Valley Ski Resort, located in the Central Sierra Nevada Range in California, hopes to remain quaint despite plans for major renovations this spring, including village developments, a new lift, and the addition of 400 skiable acres.
Every local has their favorite watering hole and every ski town has some great ones. While we can’t guarantee that a visit to one of these bars will give you that warm fuzzy, “I’m home, mom” feeling, we can say that if you’re looking for a warm place with cold beer to end up when your day is finished, these fine establishments should be at the top of your list. And if your favorite isn’t here, don’t be shy, let us know by posting your recommendations in the “comments” section below. —Tom Winter
A five-step process to search for and recover an avalanche victim.
The Ski Area Citizens' Coalition, an organization that ranks ski resorts' environmental practices, calls Colorado's Silverton Mountain a "little ski area that rocks." The mountain has one lift—which services over 1,800 acres of expert-only terrain and accesses over 3,000 feet of vertical drop—no grooming, no snowmaking, no cut trails, and no beginner runs. We spoke to co-owner Aaron Brill while riding the chairlift about Silverton's reuse and recycle motto.
Red Bull's innovative backcountry freestyle competition, Linecatcher, is back for 2010. Frenchman Candide Thouvex, back in his first competition since breaking his back in 2007, took first place at the first stop in Vars, France. Check out his winning run.
SilvertonFinalCut
Dan Sheridan, a singer-songwriter in Aspen, was fired then rehired after performing a song about Aspen's shift from a ski bum town to a luxury resort village.
SKI Mag sends a blogger, Hillary Rosner, to do our dirty work: Get in shape for ski season. She joins a CrossFit gym, which is reputed to be the best—and most brutal—way to get strong fast. It may be painful, but the good news is that now Rosner has a backup job...as a brick layer. Or jackhammerer. Or contestant on that reality TV show where they pull trucks of cement. Here's how she pays—and dearly—for holiday excess.
Lindsey Vonn says an article that claimed she has a size advantage over smaller racers helped motivate her to win three consecutive races last weekend. “If all it took to be good at ski racing was weight then we all would be stuffing our faces," she said during a conference call with reporters on Monday.
A new thriller looks at what happens when ski trips go wrong.
Not that you needed any. But here are the six best things about booking a trip to CMH’s Cariboo Lodge in BC. By Kelley McMillan
For the third year in a row, photographer Jordan Manley has won Whistler's Deep Winter Photo Challenge, which ran through January 10. Paul Morrison earned second place and best-in-show photo, and Nicolas Teichrob, in his debut at the contest, placed third. Here are a few shots from Manley.
Whislter's Peak to Peak Gondola opened in December 2008. The largest construction project of its kind in North America, the gondola connects Whistler to Blackcomb so that if you want to take turns in Symphony Bowl and Seventh Heaven in the same hour, you can. The gondola spans 2.7 miles in 11 minutes—three times longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. With the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler just around the corner, here are some shots of the gondola being constructed.
Check out The Editors's author page.
Bollé athlete Jen Hudak plays host to “Twin Tips,” a series of entertaining and educational videos designed to help you ski safer and stronger.
Americans Arne Backstrom and Jessica McMillan take the top honors at this weekend's Canadian Freeskiing Championships at Revelstoke. We spoke to McMillan about the competition.
The Powderchaser doesn't have great news for us this week—not much snow in the forecast, sadly—but the long term forecast (the next seven to 14 days) is looking more promising for the intermountain West.
Whislter's Peak to Peak Gondola opened in December 2008. The largest construction project of its kind in North America, the gondola connects Whistler to Blackcomb so that if you want to take turns in Symphony Bowl and Seventh Heaven in the same hour, you can. The gondola spans 2.7 miles in 11 minutes—three times longer than the Golden Gate Bridge.
Check out Susan Reifer Ryan's author page.
Check out Susan Reifer Ryan's author page.
50 years ago, Whistler was founded on the outlandish claim that someday it would host the Winter Games. The resort finally delivers its destiny—and a whole lot more.
Check out Peter Oliver's author page.
Check out Peter Oliver's author page.
Check out Peter Oliver's author page.
The freeskiers who invented it don’t have to like it, but skiercross—make that ‘ski cross’—is now an official, FIS-controlled Olympic event, and former World Cup racers like Daron Rahlves are among the favorites. Burning questions remain, like how baggy should your clothes be, what exactly are the rules, and who’ll win the first gold medal.
High-country chefs nourish body, mind and spirit with a new spin on comfort-food favorites.
Montanya Distillers, Silverton, Colo.
Kids Fly Free airfare promotions at several regional Colorado airports score your 2- through 12-year-old a free roundtrip ticket with purchase of an adult fare.
The most important thing to remember when planning your day at this Idaho resort? Follow the sun, of course.
Check out The Editors's author page.
For girl-meets-boy skiing, there was no better place than Quebec’s Gray Rocks.
The sporting life prospers on- and off-slope in this Wasatch town.
Racing cars on a frozen lake in Colorado isn’t the safest—or smartest—off-slope activity. But it sure is fun.
Check out Samantha Berman's author page.
Lately some pro skiers have been using their influence to start nonprofits. We take a look at SheJumps, an organization co-founded by pro skier Lynsey Dyer, that aims to get girls into the outdoors. We also check out Alpine Initiatives, started by a group of skiers, that helps developing countries in need.
Innovators
A new book tells the story of the deadliest avalanche in ski-resort history—which happened 28 years ago. We spoke to the book's author and the slide's lone survivor, a woman who spent five days buried in a building collapsed by the avalanche. By Megan Michelson.
Your favorite place to be on the mountain is out in the open bowls arcing huge high-speed turns. But when the clouds move in and the wind is screaming, you can’t see a thing in front of you. You can’t tell which way is up or down, your stomach is turning, and you’re starting to feel dizzy. This can be an intimidating situation and stops even the most seasoned experts dead in their tracks. But you’ve got to keep on moving. Don’t let whiteout situations ruin your day. Here’s how to get down the hill safely and have a little fun in the soup while you’re at it.
This week, the first North American stop of the Freeskiing World Tour takes place in Revelstoke, BC. We'll be covering the event from a competitor's point of view. But before we get to the actual skiing, here's a look at the kickoff party that took place on December 26 at Green Street in Salt Lake City.
SKI Mag sends a blogger, Hillary Rosner, to do our dirty work: Get in shape for ski season. She joins a CrossFit gym, which is reputed to be the best—and most brutal—way to get strong fast. It may be painful, but the good news is that now Rosner has a backup job...as a brick layer. Or jackhammerer. Or contestant on that reality TV show where they pull trucks of cement. Here's how she gets through 200 jumping lunges.
There are several legendary inbounds bootpacks in the Western U.S., places where the resort's toughest skiers hike for their turns. Take the Ridge at Bridger Bowl, Taos' Kachina Peak, Jackson Hole's Headwall, or Aspen's Highland Bowl. We spoke to ski patrol at Highlands to find out the best technique for carrying your skis up the bootpack.
SKI Magazine, Where Is It? Sweepstakes
Oregon's Wallowa Avalanche Center opened this fall as the Wallowa Mountains' first-ever avalanche forecaster. If only it'd been open one year ago, it could have saved one man's life.
This born-and-bred Vermonter thought he knew a little bit about Maine. But a road trip to the ski areas in the heart of the pine tree state—Sunday River, Sugarloaf and Saddleback—made him realize just how big—and beautiful—the state really is.
Four deadly slides at U.S. ski areas last season—the most since 1982—highlight a grim truth: Avalanches know no boundaries.
If your New Year's resolution is to finally ski Jackson Hole, we are here to help. Check out our goals for 2010 (including carpooling to the ski hill and buying powder skis) then tell us what your ski-related New Year's resolution is and you can win a four-day trip for two to Jackson Hole, Wyoming (including airfare, lodging, and lift tickets!).
Ski racer Lindsey Vonn was just named Female Athlete of the Decade by NBC's Universal Sports. After months of waiting for an interview, we finally managed to get Vonn to answer some of our questions. But instead of asking her about the Vancouver Olympics coming up in February, we spoke to the two-time World Champion about what it's like being hounded by the press.
A report from a 10-inch day at Grand Targhee, and updates and predictions on where the snow is falling across the country.
Check out The Editors's author page.
Scott Markewitz is one of the best ski photographers in the business. And from February 4-7, he's teaching the inaugural Scott Markewitz Photography Workshop at Snowbird, Utah. It's a three-day instructional workshop for all levels of photographers who want to learn to take better action and scenic shots. Here is a gallery of Markewitz's work and more info on the workshop.
Just in time for 2010, California's Alpine Meadows Ski Area is getting hammered with snow and is debuting a high-tech snow cat turned mobile entertainment system with a 210-square-foot stage. The machine will be unveiled at noon on December 31.
Known for their ski porns, Teton Gravity Research has released an award-winning new film about climate change's impact on skiing. We spoke to producer Steve Jones about the simple things you can do to cut your carbon emissions and what TGR is doing to offset all that heli time.
Are you a believer in the wisdom of the masses? We invited anyone who was willing to come be our ski testers for a weekend. And here’s what they told us.
A year and a half ago, American ski racer Caitlin Ciccone quit racing for good. Or so she thought. Now with the 2010 Vancouver Olympics around the corner, she’s trying to make the U.S. Women’s Ski Cross team. That is, if she can raise enough money to go to the Games.
After two weeks of dismal snowfall in the West, the Powderchaser blog is calling for light and heavy snow in the seven-day forecast for Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and California.
Plus some surf action video of her in Hawaii.
Are you stoked on skiing? Of course you are. Now all you have to do is say why and you'll enter to win a three-day trip to Telluride, Colorado, for two (with the possibility of heli-skiing) and a pair of Wagner Custom skis made just for you.
In March, we'll be conducting our annual ski test, where we test and review hundreds of new pairs of skis in preparation for our annual Gear Guide. Here's a sneak peak at how last year's test went down.
The accidental 1988 Olympic hero on learning to ski jump in five months, the conspiracy to keep him down, and plastic surgery.
Elevation Hotel & Spa