Following a three-day resort closure due to treacherous snow and road conditions, operations resumed, and what waited on the other side was nothing short of historic. A sincere thank you to the teams who kept everyone safe during the storm cycle.
Thursday night through Saturday trends warm and mostly quiet, and guidance is converging on that timing and lower-impact intensity. Expect only spotty lingering snow showers early, then long dry breaks with mountain temperatures generally in the upper 20s to lower 40s and snow levels often around 8,000 to 10,500 feet.
As of February 24, 24 people had died in avalanche accidents during the 2025-26 winter season. Much of the statistics provided by ÖKAS in the report were based on this number, however two additional fatalities were reported by Wednesday afternoon, bringing the new total to 26. ÖKAS states that in the last 10 years, an average of 11 people had died by the end of February each year.
Two skiers at Palisades Tahoe, California, spotted the tips of skis protruding from deep snow on February 18 between KT-22 and Olympic Lady. They stopped and dug out a skier found upside down and buried in the deep powder, saving his life. The intense video of the rescue was shared on Threads to stress the need for skiing with a buddy.
On Monday, February 23, Pierre Denambride, the 51-year-old head of slope safety at Flaine in Haute-Savoie, France, was killed while working on the mountain. One day later, on Tuesday night, a 41-year-old resort worker died in a separate quad accident in Flims, Switzerland, part of the Flims Laax ski area. The back-to-back tragedies have drawn attention to the use of quad bikes-often fitted with tracks or crawler systems-by ski patrol, slope safety teams, and mountain operations staff across Europe and North America.
You don't have poles, and it's going to be really, really, F*ing hard for you, man. The patroller questions the decision, pointing out the obvious logistical flaw: without poles, how exactly is this skier planning to get out of a flat section?
The True West Pass is a limited-availability, premium daily add-on—similar to First Tracks—that provides valet parking, dedicated line access at select lifts, a concierge service and a lounge experience. Availability is capped, with users expected to represent less than 0.5% of lift capacity on peak days at lifts offering priority lanes.
From Saturday through Monday, guidance is converging on a Hokkaido-focused wave with the best overlap in timing, while snowfall intensity still varies from run to run. The practical ski takeaway is that Hokkaido has the strongest near-term signal for consistent refreshes, with storm-cycle totals in the 20 cm to 60 cm class and locally higher pockets in favored zones.
The sport is unique in that it asks for prolonged endurance on the uphill, then explosive strength and stability on the way down. Most gym routines do not train both. This one does. The five exercises Bell recommends are the single leg Romanian deadlift, the standard and multiplanar step up, the renegade row, the deep split squat, and the single leg hip flexor raise with band resistance.
Pemberton RCMP said they were notified of a missing skier at about 2 p.m. on Tuesday in the backcountry east of Pemberton, in terrain near Mount Matier and the Anniversary Glacier by Joffre Peak. RCMP Insp. Robert Dykstra said an avalanche occurred in the area where the skier was believed to be travelling, prompting a search-and-rescue response.
Records that are likely to never be broken again were set on Mount Washington, such as a 98 inch storm total, and 49 inches of snow in a singular day on February 25. This same season, the Mount Washington Observatory measured a total of 566 inches of snow, a record that still stands to this day.
The Bridgeport Winter Trail System is a new winter recreation area in the region. Anyone hoping to explore scenic new routes and possibly take a dip underneath a natural thermal waterfall should add this groomed winter trail to their list.
With over 3,800 ski lifts across approximately 828 ski resorts in North America, these engineering marvels come in various types. They range from high-speed quads flying up impressive mountain peaks to vintage rope tows chugging along at small hills.
A full ski rack on a busy day at a New Jersey resort has tens of thousands of dollars worth of value, skiers simply hope and trust in the good faith of others to not take their precious equipment. This good faith was betrayed on February 11, 2026 at Mount Peter Ski Area when at least seven skis and poles worth between $4,000-7,000 were stolen amidst a school ski race.
Located just 15-20 minutes from downtown Banff, the adventure begins at the Gondola Base. Eight passengers at a time ascend 1,650 vertical feet over roughly three miles in about 20 minutes. Along the way are stunning views in every direction. There are three stations along the way - a mid-line directional change, the Goat's Eye offload, and finally the upper village terminal.
Images on social media show snowed-in cars, mountains of marshmallow powder, and landscapes buried under deep midwinter snow. In many of these areas, one would need to look back to 1999 to find thicker snow cover in February. In other words, this is an unprecedented post-2000 snow situation in most of France. However in 2018, the historic "Beast from the East" storm cycle delivered extraordinary totals to resorts in the south of France. Still, for much of northern Savoie and Haute-Savoie, February 2026 stands out as one of the most impressive snow periods in nearly three decades.
I parked in a big underground garage and popped up out of the ground like a rabid squirrel right at the lifts. This was the first and only day I've skied alone the entire trip (I've been out here since Feb 3). I had absolutely no idea where to go. I jumped on the Olympique tram-gondola because I'd never seen a setup like that before. Each cabin was massive, holding maybe 40 people or more, with tons of seating. Everything is so civilized here.
Last week alone, parts of western Switzerland were buried under 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) of snow. Another meter fell this week in some regions, pushing fresh storm totals to as much as 2.5 meters (8 feet). The new snow has helped erase what had been a snow-poor winter in the west, with snow depths in some areas now well above seasonal averages.
For decades, women's figure skating has been framed by rivalry, pressure and narrow expectations - from the tabloid saga of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan to the devastating Olympic unraveling of Kamila Valieva. The sport often rewarded compliance as young girls were molded early, pushed hard, and expected to fit a certain aesthetic: dainty, delicate, waif-like, compliant, and quiet. Liu has broken that mold at nearly every turn.
Clearly, it's the snowboarder's fault. Just kidding, the answer here is pretty clear: it's the skier in the orange coat. The skier in the red coat was well in front of him, and the orange coat, who was the uphill skier, didn't slow down at all until he collided with the other guy. In addition, the guy in the red coat is skiing in complete control and is laying down some nice turns.
The story of the event was the snow conditions, as well as questions about judging. Livigno received multiple inches of snow in the days leading up to the final, even forcing the qualifying round to be moved up a day to compete before the snowstorm. The new snowfall made the course run slowly for the finals, with riders struggling to go fast enough for big tricks.
Better Up There | The Story of Léo Slemett is an intimate documentary portrait of French freeride skier Léo Slemett that goes far beyond competition highlights and powder footage. Directed by alpinist-filmmaker Mathis Dumas, the film traces Slemett's journey from a talented Chamonix kid to a Freeride World Tour standout, while focusing less on results and more on the personal struggles that shaped him along the way.
Whitetail Resort is located in Central Pennsylvania and is a legit hidden gem for skiers and snowboarders in the mid-Atlantic region. This ski resort gets seriously underestimated by many. I was travelling from one resort to another, and Whitetail was on the way to my next destination. I almost didn't go because I was on the road for two weeks straight, but I'm so glad I did-it's way better than I expected.
