Snowboarding

Snowboarding

A warm midweek pattern delivers mostly light, high-elevation snow, then a cooler weekend storm brings the best new powder potential, especially in the Park Range near Steamboat. Snow levels run high early with marginal temperatures for lower elevations, keeping midweek accumulations modest and favoring upper-mountain terrain in the San Juans and along the Continental Divide.

Early snow levels generally hover around 6,000-7,500 feet, meaning lower bases near Tahoe can mix with rain at times early in the event, while mid and upper mountain stays mostly snow. Snow quality in this opening phase will be on the dense side, with SLRs commonly in the 4-9:1 range at Tahoe and the Central Sierra, and closer to 9-11:1 at Mammoth, so expect heavier, more supportive storm snow rather than blower.

Big Sky has been working over the past three summers to complete the Explorer Gondola, a state-of-the-art Doppelmayr lift system. The new gondola transforms the site of the old chair into the world's fastest gondola at 7.1 m/s (15.9 miles per hour), with a 9-minute ride from the base to the Bowl. Explorer Gondola has 10-person cabins with ergonomic heated seats, indoor/outdoor ski bins, and an all-glass enclosure. This gondola also features Fatzer performa-DT haul rope, which reduces vibration for a smoother, more comfortable experience.

While weather and snowpack obviously influenced snow and terrain quality, they also directly control crowd distribution. The most obvious example is early season when coverage is thin and only a few front side runs are open. Every person on the mountain ends up lapping the same narrow footprint of snow. Once the snowpack sets and resorts move into the core winter, different issues arise.

For Mt. Hood Meadows, the December 23 opening marks the latest opening day in 30 years, just edging out the previous record of December 22, 2014. In its opening announcement, Meadows mentioned it would have limited terrain open, including its Ballroom Carpet, Buttercup, and Easy Rider lifts, with the possibility of Daisy as well. The early season limitations extend to operating hours as well.

Kelly Brush is a former collegiate ski racer whose life changed in an instant after a ski racing accident left her paralyzed while competing for Middlebury College. Instead of stepping away from the sport, Kelly helped build one of the most impactful non-profits in the outdoor world. The Kelly Brush Foundation supports people with spinal cord injuries through adaptive sports grants and by funding cutting-edge research aimed at curing paralysis.

“We are thrilled to be opening! Our mountain operations team is working hard to get and keep as much terrain open as possible, and all of our restaurants will be open to the public. We know how special the holiday season is for our guests, and we're especially focused on delivering a memorable experience for everyone who visits our mountain,”

SkiWelt Wilder Kaiser-Brixental in Austria, one of the largest and most modern ski areas in the entire world, is officially home to a pretty unique lift. The EibergBahn is the world's highest-capacity detachable 8-seater chairlift. Not only that, but it's the world's highest capacity chairlift, transporting up to 4,570 passengers per hour. The new lift replaces two 4-seater chairlifts that transported well over one million guests every season.

SNL has its ups and downs but there are always the classics we can go back and rewatch to remember when the various casts was stellar and the entire nation tuned in to see live sketch comedy at its best (not clips on Monday). Chevy Chase delivering the Weekend Update, Chris Farley dishing out sloppy joes as the The Lunch Lady, Will Ferrel nailing a deadpan James Lipton, the list goes on.

The A.I. Global Forecast System and the A.I. Global Ensemble Forecast System will now be routinely offered alongside its other weather model products. These new weather models offer slight increases in accuracy, but can be computed roughly 1,000 times faster than traditional numerical weather prediction models. NOAA is also offering a hybrid ensemble forecast, the HGEFS, which incorporates predictions from both the AIGEFS and the conventional GEFS.

Above treeline ski terrain is generally a western thing, with the tall mountains of Colorado, California, Washington, Oregon, and beyond featuring a lot of the bald terrain. The Eastern half of the United States is more focused on tree skiing and cut runs, rather than open bowls, but there is one resort east of the Mississippi that features some above treeline skiing: Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine.

World renown speedrider (paragliding skier) Valentin Delluc couldn't help himself from using his unique combination of skills to spread Christmas cheers from the skies above Avoriaz Ski Resort in France. Valentin donned a Santa suit and wicker basket while buzzing the towns rooftops and tossing packages. He couldn't help himself but to get a little bit naughty and went in for a railslide on a chairlift haul rope. Wishing everyone a very merry and very rad Christmas!

By western New York standards, Bristol is a respectably sized ski area. Offering a vertical drop of 1,200 feet, 139 skiable acres, 100 percent snowmaking capabilities and 97 percent-night skiing, on paper, Bristol has everything a local mountain needs. What it lacks, however, is reliable weather. Over my 10-plus years of skiing Bristol, I can count the amount of true powder days on one hand and couldn't even begin to estimate the number of days I've skied in rain.

The mountain wore the murky morning fog like a scarf it hung around her tight neck still and thick; she wagged it back and forth luring us to join her in the dance of clouds that were wrapped around Snowbird like a python on prey. We took the ride. Up Gadzoom; an iron ship with a course set to the mountain's mid-line, knifing through the fog full-steam ahead.

California is in for a prolonged, increasingly wintry stretch, with the biggest mountain snow piling up from late Tuesday through Christmas and then continuing in waves into next weekend. Early in the period, snow levels run high and snow quality is generally poor to fair, but a midweek cooldown drops snow levels into the mid-mountain zone and boosts SLRs for much better powder potential, especially at higher Sierra and Eastern Sierra resorts where totals can reach 56″-100″ (Kirkwood) and 44″-81″ (Mammoth) by Sat night (12/27).

In its latest move to make skiing and riding more accessible, Vail Resorts announced a new discount averaging over 30% off lift tickets at 12 of its top destination resorts for guests who purchase four or more weeks in advance. Guests can save $100 or more per lift ticket and up to $175 of lift ticket cost can be applied to an Epic Pass for the following season.

The United States has some very high-altitude skiing when compared to the rest of the world, especially in Colorado. With some resorts featuring hike-access terrain above 13,000 feet when the conditions are right, beating Colorado's altitude can be tough. However to find the highest ski lift in the world, you'd have to travel to India. 5 Highest Lift Access Skiing In The World

Breckenridge Distillery set a new record for the world's longest shot ski on Thursday, marking the 13th time the distillery has claimed the title. The lineup included 1,420 participants, 507 skis, and stretched 2,489 feet along Main Street in Breckenridge, Colorado. The record attempt opened the 62nd annual Ullr Fest, the town's long-running winter celebration honoring Ullr, the Norse god of snow.

While Austria offers charming, traditional villages with historic centers, France tends to offer more purpose-built resorts that are more functional. France also has more ski-in/ski-out accommodations and cheaper simple apartments. In both countries, resorts tend to be very international with English widely spoken.

Switzerland's uniquely talented Marco Odermatt snatched his 50th World Cup victory on Thursday, December 18, at the Downhill in Gröden/Val Gardena, Italy, delivering a formidable run on the iconic Saslong in some of the trickiest conditions the circuit has seen this season. Racing through fog delays, snowfall, and a shortened course, Odermatt once again proved why he remains the benchmark in men's skiing.

Each Santa, having pre-registered for the event, sported the classic attire: a red Santa hat with a white pompom, a matching Santa jacket and pants, and of course, a fluffy Santa beard. For their support and holiday spirit, Sunday River provided each Santa with a lift ticket for the day and an extra lift ticket to be used for a future visit before January 31, 2026.