The Buzz: Ski Area News
it's just like getting stuck on the lift with a know-it-all

2/3/2012 -- Finally seeing more snow in the Rockies; this morning Arapahoe Basin cranked up the Pally chair for the first time this season. No word yet on Montezuma Bowl. I'm thinking they need about another foot to get that ready for the public...Down the road Vail did one better, dropping the ropes on the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin...new snow over the past couple days in the Pac Northwest is equally welcome; plenty of events scheduled this weekend at places like Schweitzer and Stevens (jumping around a bit there, I know)...wicked cool banked slalom snowboard race scheduled for Mt Baker...fact is this coming weekend has taken on a life of its own in the Pac NW, with most ski areas hosting some sort of festival or fun event...in the east, Blue Mountain of Pennsy has all sort of stuff going on, including a luge event in which you ride a luge...in Vermont, Stratton had some snow guns on last night...speaking of snow guns, in New Hampshire, Attitash announced last week that they were done making snow for the season. Oddly enough, they had guns on through last weekend and they still do as I type this...exciting World Cup mens action in Chamonix this morning, where Austria's Klaus Kroell edged Bode Miller by 1/100th of a second in downhill competition. The irrepressible Didier Cuche was 3rd, still leading the downhill title points in his farewell season...bit of friction in Michigan, where the rising popularity of snowshoeing is causing problems on XC trails. Seems the newbie shoers aren't aware of proper trail etiquette, which dictates that the clompers stay out of the tracks and off the skate area in the center, and many Michiganders are up in arms...backcountry Montana skier killed Wednesday by an avy in the vicinity of Jewel Basin and Camp Misery in the Flathead region. He was skiing with his brother and wearing a locator beacon, but perished nevertheless, body found yesterday...speaking of irrepressible, how about Hannah Kearney? Yes, I know it doesn't carry the glamor and prestige of Alpine competition, but darn, that girl won her 13th straight FIS freestyle competition on the moguls yesterday at Deer Valley. That must be some sort of record. And you could argue that moguls are every bit as tough as slalom, if not tougher. Go Hannah!

Lift Tickets at Discount: This is a "clearinghouse" of sorts that many ski areas use to raise cash by selling discount tickets in advance, called Liftopia . If you haven't used this service, it is important to know for certain that you are going on a specific date. The deeply discounted tickets must be purchased in advance; generally up to two days out. The sticking point is that some ski resorts only make a limited number of tickets available to Liftopia for any given day, so they might be sold out if you wait too long...so, as soon as you are absolutely, positively sure that you will be skiing on a certain day, click this link to get deeply discounted tickets . I've used this service many times, but again, ONLY when I am absolutely certain I will be skiing on a specific date. You need to have access to a printer to print out your receipt, and you have to take identification with you to the mountain. I've knocked a third off the price of some tickets. Not every area participates, but it's well worth checking if you've got a date nailed down.

2/1/2012 -- That groundhog is due tomorrow, and if ever we needed more winter, this is the year...speaking of weather, much of the northeast boiled in a relative wave of sunshine yesterday, but I can tell you that the ski areas in the northern White Mountains and western Maine fared very well. With a 20º F temperature difference between North Conway and Boston, and 30º F colder than New York City, places like Wildcat, Black Mountain and Cranmore received snow. I personally saw it at Attitash, where an inch of fresh had fallen by 10:00 AM and US Route 302 was decidedly snow covered. So, all is not horrid in the northeast this winter...the Banana Belt is another story; places like Mountain Creek and Mt. Southington were absolutely baked yesterday...interesting news from Montana; the US Forest Service has re-read the United States Constitution (unlike the Associated Press) and determined that the Free Exercise clause will allow the war memorial statue to remain atop Whitefish Mountain; some folks protested the statue because it represents a religious figure...woman died after a fall from the High Meadow beginner chair at The Canyons Sunday morning...and some happy lift news from Sunday afternoon, a little boy was somehow left dangling from a chair at Hidden Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Wisconsin, he was about 20 feet off the ground. A group of rescuers gathered beneath, and the decision was made to tell the boy to let go and drop -- where he was caught safely.

1/25/2012 - Finally have good news from the Golden State; snow has fallen on the Sierras and a few of the non-snowmakers are finally -- finally -- opening for the season. Dodge Ridge is most notable, spun the lifts yesterday with a 2-3 foot base enabling them to drop the ropes on 80%of their terrain...Yosemite's terrific Badger Pass opens today for its 77th season with 2' blanket the slopes...Bear has been open, but 3' of fresh will give them two more chairs by the weekend...and when you start to head north, it gets even better: Kirkwood added three feet, now spinning chair 10...three ski centers are opening today for the first time this season in the Tahoe area, they are Donner Ski Ranch, Royal Gorge XC and Tahoe Donner, which is also opening its XC offerings. A fourth area, Homewood, will reopen Friday...Boreal, Squaw Valley USA and Alpine Meadows are all coming up with more terrain, and Heavenly has 21 of 30 lifts going after getting smacked with three feet...the east, meanwhile, is trying to recover from a January mini-thaw; more rain due for the Banana Belt Camelback, Mountain Creek etc. but much of New England is looking for this to be in the form of snow...Need to tell our friends in the NY metro area that Catskills throwback area Plattekill is open today and tomorrow; they're normally closed midweek. It's skier appreciation week, and they're offering dirt cheap tickets...speaking of New England, this coming Monday (Jan 30) at Berkshire East is Food Pantry Day, bring a can of non-perishable food and get a $30 lift ticket. I happen to like that mountain, and also recommend their $10 Thursday night ticket all month long...hey we've been moaning about the lack of snow in the Sierras, but in fact the back of the Wasatch XC areas had been in rough shape until recently; snow fell over the weekend and as of yesterday morning, Mountain Trails Foundation reports that Quinn's Loops, Matt's Flat/Cammy's/Seventy 101, Two Pines, Lower RV Express, S.S. Connector, Silver Quinn and Ability Way were all groomed...and in Park City, White Pine Nordic Center added its 5K loop, while nearby Soldier Hollow has about 3 miles of manmade...every now and then I report XC in miles, just to piss off all the skinny people...Aspen hosting those nutty "Winter X Games" starting tomorrow, glad to report that they are planning a special tribute for Sarah Burke...Canadians are a bit stunned by the medical bills her family was facing; fortunately their online fundraiser efforts seem to have everything covered. Not so for the 700,000 American families who file bankruptcy each year due to healthcare costs. Meanwhile the politicians say, "well we don't want socialized medicine like Canada has!" to which I say, uh, they seem a lot better off with it...yesterday FIS slalom night racing action in Schladming Austria, where homeboy Marcel Hirscher won top spot. American Ted Ligety posted a respectable sixth place, and we saw family scion Seppi Stiegler make a decent, but non-qualifying first run...ladies meanwhile are gearing up for a downhill in St. Moritz. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl fastest in this morning's training run, which is virtually meaningless...Hopefully this will wrap up this week's on-mountain tragedies: and as yet un-named man died on the slopes yesterday afternoon at Taos, no details other than he was a long-time Taos skier...and sad to report that 32-year-old Aaron Easter, son of former University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Easter, died yesterday after a snowboarding accident at Steamboat on Monday...and lastly, Austin TX resident Donald Hinckley, 51, was skiing slowly at Copper last Friday when he collapsed and smashed his helmeted head on a tree stump. The helmet failed. Hinckley perished from a combination heart attack, traumatic brain injury, and broken neck...let's be careful out there.

1/23/2012 - Well I hate to keep beating this drum but Powder Mountain continues to see the snow fall, another foot yesterday. If this place had the trappings and shnizzle-shnazzle of a Sun Valley or even Snowbird it would be the number one ski area in the country...otherwise you'll do well to head for Washington's Crystal Mountain; a foot of fresh in the last 48 hours has this big resort showing absolutely awesome conditions...midwesterners are seeing great things in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this morning; Iron River's Ski Brule reports 8" of fresh and still falling...Michigan Tech's Mont Ripley, currently at 95% open, may go to 100% with this...fabulous snow in the mid-Atlantic Banana Belt; about 6" at Southern New York's small but mighty Mount Peter, unfortunately this is being washed away by today's rains throughout the northeast...speaking of the northeast, we mourn the loss of legendary Joe Paterno. In that neighborhood we visit Central PA's Tussey Mountain; find out the winter has been warm and rainy but they somehow are maintaining two routes down...elsewhere in Pennsy we have reports that the major Pocono resorts ("major" and "pocono" might be an oxymoron) are at or about 100% open, specifically, Jack Frost and competitor Camelback...also in the northeast, the "other" Black Mountain, properly known as Black Mountain of Maine finally opened to the summit this weekend. Cool thing about the folks in Rumford is that their first priority is to make snow in the woods by the base lodge. Huh? Yep, the cross-country trails. Place is a mecca for XC competition, and it keeps the area afloat. A lot of small ski areas could take a cue from this; growth opportunity in winter sports right now is in XC, not alpine. Yeah, snowshoeing is "easier" but I think it's just a little too dull for most. XC is the growth opportunity...Speaking of Black Mountain of Maine, (that's not something I write every day) it was the site of the latest "Carnival" for big-time northeast collegiate skiing this past weekend, well, at least the XC action. Alpine racing was held on Barker Mountain down the road at Sunday River. University of Vermont dominated, followed by Dartmouth and Middlebury...speaking of Vermont, what a difference a bit of snow makes; Mount Snow went to virtually 100% open almost overnight; the only things missing are legendary Ripcord and a few odds and ends...loss of Sarah Burke continues to send ripples through the ski world. Medical bills were originally reported at a half-million dollars, but the hospital apparently revised things and it dropped to $200K. Still a hefty thing for her family. Well the upside is some friends started a fundraiser site on GiveForward and there's already enough pledged to cover the bill...and the halfpipe skiers continue to fly higher; if you happened to see this weekend's Killington "Dew Tour" coverage on NBC you saw guys almost 4 stories high, doing the impossible, and we wonder how many more will be maimed and mangled before things get toned down. Indy 500 officials put restrictions on horsepower long ago, and the ski organizers should look at that. Once these skiers figure out that if they wear competition style clothing instead of baggy pants falling around their knees like some wannabe gangstas, they'll fly higher and spin even further...snow has been falling steadily in the Tahoe region, but the snowpack is still only a fourth of normal. Checking around the Lake, Squaw Valley has 8 of 170 trails, Alpine Meadows is about 5% open, Boreal has about a third of its terrain. Down by Mono Lake, Mammoth Mountain reports 51 of 150 runs open...Colorado this weekend we had a 13-year-old boy die on a closed run inbounds at Vail, and a tree-skier killed by a small but deadly avalanche in Winter Park...and the New York State Police report that New York state police say that Daniel McGovern, 25, from Carle Place, N.Y. lost control on the Excelsior trail at Whiteface last Friday, crashed 30 feet through trees and died. He was wearing a helmet...well the annual circus in Kitzbuehel didn't come off quite as hoped thanks to some inclement weather and cancellation of the men's Super G event, but the disappointment fell by the wayside when popular Swiss speedster Didier Cuche won the downhill in spectacular fashion Saturday, beating a whole bunch of disappointed Austrians. Croatian great and overall leader Ivica Kostelic won the Combined yesterday, ahead of Swiss Beat Feuz and Silvan Zurbriggen. Ted Ligety garnered a respectable 5th, and Ted the Shred is hanging on to 4th place overall, just ahead of Norse god Aksel Lund Svindal. Italian Christian Deville won the slalom yesterday, ahead of Austrian Mario Matt and the aforementioned Kostelic. The ladies meanwhile were in Kranjska Gora; French star Tessa Worley won the GS Saturday. Italy's Federica Brignone was second followed by German Viktoria Rebensburg, and then the points hungry trio of Lindsey Vonn, Tina Maze, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch in positions 4-6. In the slalom yesterday, Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser topped the podium, followed by Finn Tanja Poutiainen and Slovakia's Veronika Zuzulova. Maze racked up points with a 4th, but Lindsey powered her way to 7th place and seems like runaway freight at this point, leading Tina by almost 300 points in the overall. To add to the overall weekend excitement, turns out that Austrian ace Marcel Hirscher straddled a gate during his winning slalom run in Zagreb earlier in the month, and a hubbub has ensued. Good stuff...yesterday not the best day to be at Colorado's popular Copper Mountain; some sort of electrical SNAFU snarled lifts and stranded riders, requiring emergency generators to spin the bullwheels...remember rising British ski racer Chemmy Alcott, who mangled her leg in a horrible crash a couple years ago? She's starring on a popular British ice skating television programme, similar format to our Dancing with the Stars.

1/19/2012 update

Sarah...We'll miss you with all our hearts.

1/19/2012 - Utah is the place to be, specifically, at underrated Powder Mountain where 14" of fluffy fell overnight. Webcam over there on the left...Washington got the goods; Summit at Snoqualmie has 7" of fresh...and in Oregon, snow to beat the band. Mt. Ashland has indeed reopened, spinning the lifts at 10 am for the first time since January 2nd. They've got over 6" of fresh, right now serving up excellent conditions...they are about at the end of their patience in Tahoe, where we find Squaw Valley serving up Pacific plate subduction from the Paleozoic era on KT-22. Down at Heavenly the batholith is interspersed with nice remnants of ancient marine rock, which almost looks like snow if you've downed a few pops and really squint when the sun hits it just so. Take heart, snow is on the way, finally...A quick look at that cam on the SkierNet homepage shows that 3-4" fell at Arapahoe Basin, but we regret to report that Pallavacini, East Wall, and the Montezuma backside are still too thin to open. I've seen East Wall closed this late in the season, but I can't recall Pally being shuttered after mid-January....over the hill at Loveland they got a little bit more, but only the core lifts are running...Let's look at New England...interesting that Mount Snow hasn't put any guns on the South Bowl or Ego Alley trails yet...in New Hampshire, Loon continues to impress and they're talking 97% open for the weekend...also have to give credit to Stratton, they have everything open except the natural snow trails, which is darn impressive. I guess they gotta do something to justify those ticket prices...somebody might want to point that out to the folks in West Dover...skier apparently seriously hurt at Sunapee yesterday afternoon, whisked to Dartmouth-Hitchcock but no further details...No more details yet on the allegedly wacky ambulance ride at Sugarloaf, in the aftermath of the poor gentleman from Nova Scotia who died there a week ago. But we are pleased to report that another Sugarloafer, 24-year-old Nicholas Jones of New Hampshire, will make a full recovery after his life-threatening crash Saturday on the King's Landing Trail. No, he wasn't wearing a helmet...Pinheads in the Carolinas are gearing up for a Telefest scheduled for Beech on Saturday...World Cup action, further training for the Hahnenkamm cancelled; promoters want to protect the snow on the Streif course...hold the phone, word from the race world is that popular downhill veteran Didier Cuche announced that he will retire at the end of the season. We're going to be sorry to see him go...local resident 30-year-old Gabrial Hilliard died yesterday while boarding at Aspen Highlands when he went off the Canopy Cruiser run and impaled his chest on a tree branch. For those helmet people who always ask: yes, Hilliard was wearing a helmet. In a separate incident, 42-year-old Keith Ames of Snowmass Village was killed by an avalanche while skiing backcountry on Burnt Mountain near Snowmass. Companions got him out within 10 minutes but were unable to revive him.

1/18/2012 - Big news of the day is from Duluth of all places, where municipally-owned Spirit Mountain received city council support and authorization of a $6.975 million in city-backed bonds to build a new chair and base lodge. Spirit already has both, but the lodge is not at the base (upside down) and the chair is old. New facilities will also be used to facilitate mountain biking in the off-season. If all goes well the bonds will be paid back with operating revenues and tourism taxes...finally some snow in Colorado; Wolf Creek almost 20" overnight. Aspen areas raked in over a foot, Steamboat just under a foot, and the front range players like A-Basin and Loveland got 3-4 inches. Elsewhere in the state Monarch got 7" and Ski Cooper tallied 5. More on the way...Don't look for our indemnified binding list today; the popular page is dark in protest of the SOPA/PIPA legislation...so glad to report that the wayward Mt. Rainier snowshoe guy was found yesterday; Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma stayed alive by moving around, building snow tunnels and burning stuff to stay warm...good news continues from Glacier National Park where cross-country skiers Mark & Signe Brust, of Kila MT were found yesterday after becoming lost overnight near Bowman Lake. Kudos to the volunteers on the Flathead County Mountain Rescue team...elsewhere in Big Sky country, we hear that University of Montana-Western and Dillon native Cory Birkenbuel recently completed the Montana Sweet 16, skiing all 16 state areas within 16 days. His quest was completed monday at Maverick Mountain, which is one of the great underrated ski areas in the country...Didier Cuche fastest in this morning's training run on the Streif course...American rookie Wiley Maple crashed but was unhurt in his first crack at the famed course...Swiss star Dominique Gisin will be out for a while; knee surgery revealed injury worse than expected...ditto for Swedish star Maria Pietilae-Holmner, tore some ligaments while training for the upcoming events in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia...Underwear update: following the Swiss protest of Slovenian Tina Maze's second-place finish at a World Cup super-G in Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria, ten days ago, FIS bigwigs are set to re-write the rules concerning underwear. Apparently Tina's skirted the existing rules and of course the FIS claims to be doing this for athlete's safety...neglected to report that David Morse, 41, of Nova Scotia died at Sugarloaf last Thursday when he skied off Lower Timberline into some trees. He was wearing a helmet. Rumors are swirling about some sort of oddity with the ambulance that transported Mr. Morse to a hospital in Farmington, we'll hold off comment until more is learned. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family...as they are for Sarah Burke and her family.

1/17/2012 - Ski world waits, no update yet on Sarah Burke...Good news in southern Oregon, where Mt. Ashland is in the sights of a potential two-foot dump, planning to re-open Thursday. Ashland has been closed since January 2nd, no snow. Groomers will be on the hill tomorrow to build a base as the pow falls...western Montana also eyeing this system, calling for 20" at higher elevations...in New York, public officials in Hamilton County are trying to sell throwback Oak Mountain ski area, which they've been operating since a contracted operator couldn't. Located in Speculator, the mountain parcel includes some 200 acres, ski lifts and (small) structures, and income from a cell tower...getting some feedback on the new 6-pack lift at Mount Snow Vermont, word is the lines were a bit long, but the neighboring HSQ was ski-on...World Cup men at Kitzbuehel for the Hahnenkamm this weekend, competing in Super G, DH, SL, and a combined. In case you aren't familiar with it, "the 'buehel" is to ski racing what Indianapolis is to auto racing, and "the 'kamm" has the feel of Mardi Gras and the Super Bowl rolled into one. Even the training runs have crowds larger than most full-fledged events; a cacophony of cheers & cowbells awaits even the slowest no-name competitors at the end of each run. First training run this morning, a downhill on the legendary 2-mile Streif course, had Austrians Klaus Kroell and Mario Scheiber turning in the fastest times. They were followed by Didier Cuche and Bode Miller, and naturally the crowd went bonkers...New York metro area skiers looking for open terrain will find the best close-in offerings at Camelback and Shawnee right now...San Francisco had more street skiing last summer. It was broadcast last night on prime-time reality program The Bachelor, and featured leggy young ladies skiing in bikinis. Not a great moment in the history of our sport, but at least it was "easy on the eyes" if I may...and today we salute David S. Larrabee, retiring after 53 years on the volunteer ski patrol at Dry Hill in Watertown, NY. And what does a good volunteer ski patroller do in retirement after a half-century of service? In Mr. Larrabee's case, he's already volunteering to help on the cross-country trails, naturally. So here's to you David Larrabee, to a long and healthy "retirement".

1/16/2012 - Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today...one of the few winter holidays that does not see a crush of people on the slopes, simply because not everyone has the day off...place to be this morning is the Pacific northwest; Crystal Mountain has 7" of fresh, giving it 19" of new snow in the last 48 hours. Similarly, White Pass is rocking a powder day with 6" fresh and 17" in the past 48. Also we know The Summit at Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass both report about 5" of pow...place to be this past weekend was southern Vermont, no question. Skiers enjoyed fresh powder (that's right) and short lift lines at Bromley...in Maine, weekend started off great with snow at Sugarloaf, then turned less friendly with some icing and wind holds. But that's the northeast, and the Sugarloafers are quite used to that, thank you very much...in Pennsylvania Snö Mountain formerly Montage, just announced $10 Tuesdays for the balance of the season. Doesn't apply holiday weeks, but still, that's giving it away...World Cup action this weekend with the men in Wengen, had Croatian star Ivica Kostelic win the slalom, followed by Swede Andre Myhrer and German Fritz Dopfer. The downhill, on the famed Lauberhorn course, saw local Swiss star Beat Feuz top the podium, followed by Austrian Hannes Reichelt and Italian Christof Innerhofer. Bode Miller scored a respectable 5th place...the women were in Cortina, the downhill had Italian speedster Daniela Merighetti ahead of Lindsey Vonn by just 2/10ths, followed by reigning overall champ Maria Hoefl-Riesch; Slovenia's Tina Maze finished 4th. Pleasant surprise was American Stacey Cook in 6th, and Swedish legend Anja Paerson with a top 10. Yesterday's Super G action had Vonn, Hoefl-Riesch and Maze going 1-2-3. This put Ms. Vonn ahead of Austrian great Renate Götschl into 3rd place on the all-time win list...back to the northwest, the Paradise area at Mt. Rainier is closed today; rescuers are on day 3 of a search for lost snowshoer Yong Chun Kim, 66, of Tacoma. Mr. Kim was snowshoeing with a group when he inadvertently fell down a slope. He shouted up that he would walk ahead and meet the trail, rather than climb back up the slope...planned news conference today at University of Utah Hospital for injured Canadian star Sarah Burke was cancelled; doctors are running more tests and have no new news. Hospital statement: "The family wants to express their deep appreciation for the overwhelming support Sarah has received from all over the world. They ask that everyone continue to keep Sarah and Rory in their prayers"...In New York's Adirondacks, finally enough snow for Big Tupper to open. They're doing so today, and it's a ski for free day as a thank you to patient customers...in Colorado we're watching the weather closely, looking for more than a foot in parts of the state.

1/12/2012 - Huzzah! Snow! Across the midwest, it's falling heavy at humble Mt Crescent in Iowa, but they're closed due to high winds...on the opposite side of the state, near Dubuque, Sundown Mountain Resort is virtually 100% open and getting snowed on right now...don't say we don't cover Iowa skiing! And believe it or not that just scratches the surface of the Hawkeye State's lift-served opportunities...similar story out of Sioux Falls SD where Great Bear Ski Park has closed for the day due to extraordinary winds, but they got the snow guns cranking...In Upper Michigan Bohemia reports 5" and still falling, they're now 100% open on Mining, Haunted Valley, and Pirates Cove...New England finally getting that cold, white stuff that we've heard so much about but seen so little of. Big-time benefit to places like Berkshire East, which actually closed today due to the storm...Dumping like crazy at Bromley and Okemo...Outer Limits is now open at Killington...and in NH snowmaker Loon is being augmented by this natural stuff, and is looking to be just shy of 100% for the weekend...and it seems that it's finally worth buying a ticket at Attitash...in Minnesota, Lutsen grabbed a couple inches and is 75% open...Indiana's Paoli Peaks has no new snow, but those tower fan guns are cranking right now...hoping things turn around in Colorado, Vail Passis usually a haven for XC skiers and snowmobilers, but not today; go instead for great recreation opportunities like frisbee golf, hiking, and lawn mowing...getting bad, folks: about an inch-and-a-half fell up around the Eisenhower Tunnel this morning, and Loveland is acting like it's a powder day...in Tahoe, I'm told Heavenly might start offering rock collecting tours...just kidding...I hope...let's talk about the World Cup, Lindsey Vonn fastest in downhill practice at Cortina no surprise there, but noticed that fading Swedish great Anja Paerson was among the top five, perhaps she does have something left in the tank...back to the northeast, conditions have been pretty good for a few days now up at Sugarloaf in Maine...New Yorkers are finding a mix of weather at Belleayre, supposedly opening the west side lift but requiring shuttle service...ghastly weather in the banana belt, not sure how operations like Hidden Valley NJ are going to fare this winter; some of the junior race action has been shifted up the road to small but mighty Mt. Peter in NY...update on Sarah Burke, today underwent an operation to repair a torn vertebral artery. The operation was termed a success, but doctors say it's too soon to provide a prognosis.

1/11/2012 - As expected yesterday, while we were reporting allegations by a former USFS bigwig, the National Ski Areas Association filed a lawsuit in Denver. Suit claims the Forest Service has told employees to put wording in permits that allows the agency to seize resorts’ privately owned water rights at ski areas on USFS lands. The trade association is seeking an injunction to set aside the clause, claiming it exceeds the agency's legal authority...Ghastly turn of events yesterday at Park City when Canadian star Sarah Burke biffed a trick in halfpipe training, smacked her head and reportedly had to be resuscitated on the hill. She's in a coma in serious condition, and we're praying for her...same halfpipe where Vermont up-and-comer Kevin Pearce suffered a similar incident a few years ago. Pearce is back on a snowboard again, but by no means will he ever compete...coming up this weekend, World cup men are doing all sorts of contests in Wengen, while the ladies are doing a downhill and super G in Cortina. I'll go way out on a limb here and forecast good scores for Lindsey...another wayward chairlift rider yesterday, this time at Massachusetts' Nashoba Valley in Shrewsbury. 7-year-old girl leaned over to wave to a friend, fell 17' to the ground. Fortunately no apparent damage other than complaints of back pain, and the young lady was hospitalized as a precautionary measure...this year's International Paralympic Nordic Skiing World Cup will be held Jan. 23 - 30 at Telemark Resort in Cable, WI. Event will feature about 180 skiers from 15 different countries...tired of the lack of snow? If you got the funds, a visa, and a snorkel, head for the Solang Valley in Manali, India where the powder is the best in recent memory...you've no doubt heard that part of the Alps are in great shape; snow depth in the town of St. Anton is about 80"....snow depth in North Conway? Not so much...can you name the location of the only halfpipe in the northeast presently open to the public? You guessed it, North Creek Ski Bowl in upstate New York. Huh? North Creek what? I saw it Saturday; it's legit. Kudos to the NY Development Authority, or whatever it is, that runs Whiteface and Gore and built this thing. Kids were taking the shuttle down from Gore to make a few laps on the Village chairlift. With snow, you can ski between the two. I don't normally make pitches for specific destinations, but easterners would be smart to add the Gore/North Creek complex to their list of ski vacation destinations. It isn't glitzy, but damn, the ski/ice skate/tubing facilities are outstanding, with an underrated XC complex nearby, snowmobiling, ice fishing. Lodging and lift tickets are decidedly cheaper than you'll find at Stowe. As soon as winter arrives, it'll be great.

1/10/2012 - Big news rumbling in Colorado where former USFS ski area program head Ed Ryberg sez the ski industry used its tentacles in the Bush administration to make regulatory changes that were done without the required public input or review. We want to support ski areas, we really do, but we kinda want them to operate within the laws of the land...Unfortunately the Arizona Snow Bowl isn't as powerful as those Colorado resorts with their Potemkin villages; they're being dragged through yet another court case over the use of reclaimed water on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff. This time, a circuit court of appeals or some such thing, coincidentally in San Francisco, California. Also coincidentally, the native peoples who are fighting the Snow Bowl aren't saying anything about the reclaimed water used at their own casino ski resorts....Devoid of snow, the northeast continues to to crank out the white stuff and wait for winter to arrive. It's a good news/bad news kind of thing. Good news at New York's Whiteface is that they just dropped the upcoming holiday weekend pricing if you buy through Liftopia ; the bad news is they still only have about half the terrain open...New Englanders will find the "most routes down" this weekend at Killington, and they'll also find the most bodies on the hill...place to be, no question is Taos right now, and I suppose this weekend at Mission Ridge in Washington State will be decent. Also skiing fairly well at the Mt Hood areas like Timberline...also bad in Europe, where next weekend's womens World Cup races slated for Maribor (Slovenia) have been canned due to lack of snow and warm weather to boot...Swiss great and former overall mens champ Carlo Janka is pondering a mid-season rest to relieve back pain...weekend's womens race in Bad Kleinkirchheim had Fabienne Suter of Switzerland atop the podium, followed by Tina Maze and Anna Fenninger, but the Swiss or the Austrians (one of those teams) filed a protest, saying Maze's suit didn't comply with the rule. No word yet. It's said that Lindsey Vonn wasn't feeling well, yet still put together an 18th place finish in the event. With Maria Hoefl-Riesch having an up-and-down season (mostly down) it looks like it might come down to Maze or Vonn for the overall...Well last week I said it was great to hear that Swedish all-timer Anja Paerson would be competing this weekend, I'm going to retract that because her effort was kind of like watching an old boxer take one punch too many long after he should've hung up his gloves. Yes it's an honor to see Paerson on the snow, but I'm afraid it's just too troubling to see how she skis these days. Here's hoping she realizes this, and enjoys a long and happy retirement with the accolades she deserves...Colorado's iconoclast Silverton mountain is practically giving away heli-skiing this weekend, just $50 a pop...Michigan DNR just announced it will groom 15 cross-country ski trails in various state forests this season, mostly by volunteer efforts...sad to report that Salt Lake City resident Adam Lawton, part of a group of backcountry skiers, was killed by an avy in British Columbia this past weekend, at a place called "Molars Bowl".

1/6/2012 - Colorado continues to be largely devoid of snow, however if you look south to Wolf Creek, 100% open and skiing well; Purgatory or Durango or whatever they call it now is 95% open, and even up in Leadville our favorite hidden gem Ski Cooper is skiing 100% of terrain. Places like Steamboat, however, the picture remains bleak for now...Huzzah! It is snowing this morning at Sugarloaf in Maine. I just wanted to say that, especially after all my doom and gloom the past few days...world cup quiet today as the final training session for the ladies' downhill in Bad Kleinkirchheim Austria has been cancelled due to high winds. They did complete a training run yesterday, so the DH will go on as scheduled tomorrow, followed by a super G on Sunday. Hometown speed ace Anna Fenninger was fastest in practice, while reigning overall champ Maria Hoefl-Riesch skied out. Her camp announced later that Maria is suffering from the flu and will sit out this weekend's events. Last time the girls skied on this course was 2006, when Swedish great Anja Paerson topped the podium. Pleased to report that Anja will be competing this weekend, and although she's not likely to be a factor, it does the sport well to have one of the all-time greats on the snow...did I mention that it is snowing at Sunday River this morning? YESS!....also in the northeast Killington continues to do an outstanding job getting terrain open under adverse conditions, now expanded to Bear base, which is open...Cherry Peak, that ski resort planned for the Richmond, Utah area, got no decision on its conditional use permit from the Cache County Planning Commission. Richmond is north of Logan, near the Idaho line. Yeah, I had to look it up also...did I mention that it is snowing at Gunstock in NH's lakes region...word from Ski Ward following the death of a young man two days ago is that Mass Department of Public Safety inspected the lift chair after the accident and found no problems. We didn't expect them to; the lift is in tip top shape and from what we hear, there was some sort of medical situation or seizure up on the chair. Very sad, and I don't like to dwell on this, but am compelled to report the State's findings re. the lift...The planned $250 million upgrade at Tahoe's Homewood Mountain Resort hit another stumbling block yesterday; The Sierra Club and Friends of the West Shore filed a federal suit against the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and Placer County for approving what the suit calls "an ill-conceived, inadequately studied, and environmentally-disruptive development." The enviro groups also contend that it will have an adverse affect on US 89 traffic. If you haven't been on it, trust me, the road can get pretty snarled...happy to report from Wisconsin that free beginning and intermediate cross country ski lessons for children and adults, classic and skate, will be offered tomorrow at the Afterhours Ski Trail in the Brule River State Forest. Some discounted rental stuff will be available for those who need it. Kudos to the Brule Valley Ski Club, the Brule River State Forest and the Brule Lions Club!

1/5/2012 - For what it's worth, our unofficial 2011-2012 Indemnified Binding List is finally ready, with absolutely no help from the retailers association, thank you very much, and little or no help from the manufacturers. How stupid can these people be! Imagine the backlash if automobile warranties were trade secrets. Imagine if you tried to buy a used car with no published information, and only after you take it to the dealer they say, "we can't work on this car, it's no longer safe to operate." Uh, why didn't you make that information available before I bought it?!? And then because this took you completely by surprise, wouldn't you think that particular car brand must really suck? But that's the day to day reality with the ski industry, and as a result, people have no clue about the current usefulness or functionality of their skis. So they go to a ski shop, and get smacked upside the head. That's a great way to build repeat business! And what a fantastic pitch; the uneducated consumer hears it this way: "Hey those Markers you used twice are no longer safe to use, now you need to buy these Markers." No wonder sales are down, growth is flat, and when the average American father and mother finally do go to a ski retailer with their old skis and get hit with the cleaver, they say "screw this" and sign the kids up for junior hockey. The ski industry is coming off the rails, and somebody is sleeping at the switch. Fortunately for the manufacturers, sales are so dismal that the Chinese aren't interested. Otherwise they would start selling high volume, low-cost skis with mediocre performance, and the industry will contract even further. But like I said, there's no volume...this really pisses me off. Alright, on to the report...sad to say a young man suffered a seizure riding a chair at Ski Ward in Massachusetts last night; 18-year-old John Street of Upton fell 30' and died. Street was a senior on the Nipmuc Regional High School ski team. Looks like the lift is closed this morning for an investigation. Our prayers are with his friends and family...world Cup men are doing that night slalom shindig in Zagreb Croatia today (tonight there) and no surprise that Austrian Marcel Hirscher is in the lead after the first run, with hometown ace Ivica Kostelic in third. Ted Ligety is top ten...if you needed any further idea just how grim this season has been, we need only to check the magics. Magic Mountain Vermont is open with a white ribbon of death, while Magic Mountain Idaho has yet to spin the lifts this season...after a brief tease of cold the past couple days, northeast is looking ahead to a warming trend over the next week. It appears that winter will arrive for real sometime around the 15th...in Michigan, gnarly Mt. Bohemia still needs more snow but it will indeed open Saturday -- both chairs, but no tree skiing yet...where does it actually look like winter? Well, Holiday Valley in western New York, and Seven Springs in western Pennsylvania...Tahoe? Fuggedaboutit. Heavenly looks more like late October than early January. Gondy out of South Lake Tahoe doesn't cross a single snowflake on the lower mountain...so we might as well end with some happy news, two teenagers got lost on the Castle Creek side of Aspen Highlands yesterday, found themselves rimrocked on a cliff below the area. Quick work by Mountain Rescue Aspen and the Aspen Highlands Ski Patrol had the kids safely rescued, none the worse for wear. As bad as the ski manufacturing business is, it's my pleasure to say that -- nationwide -- the ski patrol and mountain rescue people are just the opposite. They keep getting better and better at what they do.

1/4/2012 - Finally some good news for St. Louis area skiers as Hidden Valley Ski Resort finally received a blast of cold air and will open this afternoon for the first time this season...Likewise, temps in the northeast have finally dropped again, resorts are looking for some sort of weather to hit this weekend. Small but mighty Ski Sundown in northwest CT is said to be the only resort open side to side...based on what I see, good option for the NYC skier this weekend will be Windham...conditions suck and blow in parts of the west as well; Skico has gone so far as to have the company President tweeting and tumblring that things aren't as bad as everybody says at Aspen. Sadly, he's an army of one, and Aspen was charging $108 for lift tickets over the holidays. OK, the resort has 3600 acres open -- I guess that's if you add up all the open terrain at Snowmass, Highlands, Buttermilk and Ajax? Not sure about that. Still, it ain't worth $108. Trying to justify the usurious ticket prices, Skico brass is doing their best impersonation of Oddball from Kelly's Heroes, telling local bloggers to "quit with the negative waves"...truth be told the snowpack in much of Colorado is at 40% of the annual average for this time of the year. The season started with snow at 70% of average, and I don't suppose you need a trend line to figure that out...rumour is that Winter Park actually had frustrated vacationers lined up -- at the tubing lift. Yikes...sad news out of Skowhegan ME where Eaton Mountain will not open this season after owner David Beers was run over while repairing a groomer back in December. Beers is recovering, and we wish him the best. The Beers operated a tubing lift last year, and were set to do so again while continuing to make strides toward eventually reopening a double chair for alpine skiing...report from Lake George NY area West Mountain is finally encouraging with more terrain set to open this weekend, after the first Christmas week in the area's history that they had zero natural snow...yesterday predicted that Marlies Schild would win the slalom shindig in Zagreb Croatia yesterday, or last night, or the night before last, or whatever it was since I get a bit befuddled by the whole time difference/international dateline thing. Anyway Schild easily scored her fifth consecutive slalom victory, becoming the first skier to win five straight World Cup races in one discipline since Lindsey Vonn won the first five downhills back in 2009-10. Schild smoked runner up Tina Maze of Slovenia by 1.40 seconds. Also interesting that Austria’s Michaela Kirchgasser garnered her first career podium in the technical discipline. Vonn for her part showed some amazing stuff by finishing 9th. Lins had DNF'd the Zagreb slalom for three straight years, and then appeared headed in the same direction after hacking and gacking her way down the first run following an all-night bout with a stomach bug. Somehow she managed a 24th in that first run, then positively aced the second to land in the top ten. The points have her 100 up on Schild for the overall, but remember, Marlies doesn't compete in the speed runs. Vonn's real competition for the overall is defending champ Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who left Zagreb with no points after skiing out in her second run yesterday. Or last night. Whatever...Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources usually holds some 30 candlelight XC ski events per season, 5 of them scheduled for this weekend. The DNR is reporting that these may be coverted to hiking events. I don't care what you believe; PRAY FOR SNOW.

1/3/2012 - Happy New Year! Conditions continue to suck through most of the nation, at least the east coast is getting some cold and has the hardware to blow snow and deal with this disaster...worse off is the Tahoe area, where Donner Ski Ranch was closed for the holiday week...Boreal seems to be the best option in that region, until the real stuff falls...southern Oregon stalwart Mt. Ashland closed until further notice yesterday. That notice will be in the form of lots of snow, when it arrives...better news out of the mid-Atlantic; temps have allowed VA biggie Wintergreen to pump snow like Ullr, and some of the real stuff has fallen in WV at Canaan Valley, Timberline, Oglebay, Snowshoe and Winterplace...World Cup ladies are racing slalom this morning in Zagreb. Actually it's night there, and they are under the lights. US up-and-comer 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, who had her first podium over the Christmas break, DNF'd. Early leader is -- you guessed it -- Marlies Schild followed by Tina Maze. Race ain't even over but it's over...sad news out of Cook City Montana where 44-year-old David Lee Gaillard was skiing with his wife this weekend when he was killed by an avalanche...in Colorado a backcountry skier was buried Sunday by an avy in Berthoud Pass, fortunately managed to survive the ordeal with a few broken ribs and whatnot...we'll end with happy news out of New York's southern tier, where lake effect magic is welcome news at Kissing Bridge, which has snow and snow guns blazing, Peek 'N Peak in Clymer got about 10 inches yesterday, and Holiday Valley had near white-out conditions yesterday afternoon! Let's hope Ol' Man Winter spreads the love.

Archival News

News from January thru December 2011 is located here. News prior to January 2011 is located on the Oct/Nov/Dec 2010 page. Previous season and earlier news has been deleted and moved to the skiernet news archive from 2009-2010, or for 2008 and older seasons click here.

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