Skiing news

• AccuWeather's Winter 26/27 Forecast Says Super El Niño Will Bode Well for Some Skiers

  14-10-2026 18:58 via powder.com
  Somewhere, in an alternate universe far away, a metaphorical Paul Revere is riding down the cobblestone streets of Boston yelling, “El Niño is coming! El Niño is coming! El Niño is coming!”
  As the Pacific Ocean continues to warm, a strong, or even “super” El Niño seems all the more likely this winter. NOAA says a “strong to very strong” El Niño has an 83% chance of taking shape in January-March of 2027; California Governor Ga
  
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• Killington Mountain Announces $200M In Upgrades Over the Next Decade

  16-10-2026 21:33 via powder.com
  It’s been just over two years since Killington Mountain, along with Pico Mountain, was purchased by local investors from POWDR Corp.Since Killington Independence Group, as the cohort named their venture, took over ownership, they’ve made significant investments in infrastructure and maintenance across the mountain.
  More than $80 million has been invested in projects across Killington over the last two years, including $35 million on lifts, $20 million on facilities, and $13 million o
  
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• After Long Legal Saga, Closed NY Ski Area Has New Owner and Reopening Plans

  16-10-2026 21:29 via powder.com
  After a twisty tale of legal action and a prolonged closure, the Syracuse, New York, area Toggenburg Mountain has a new owner and is set to reopen for the 2027-28 season. 
  As part of a settlement announced by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), the ski area, shuttered since 2021, was sold to local business owner Douglas Wheeler and his family.
  “Our intention for Toggenburg is and has always been the same. To acquire Toggenburg Ski Center and return it to its former glory while m
  
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• The Best Freeride Skis of 2027

  16-10-2026 19:36 via powder.com
  There’s no clear answer as to where and when the term “freeride” skiing got started, but without sounding too poetic, I’ll say it clearly got started in the hearts of skiers looking to have a good time. On snow, there’s not much that’s more fun than chasing your friends through whatever terrain you feel like, jumping off things, spraying each other with snow, and skiing with reckless abandon. Whether you’re deep in the backcountry riding proper big mount
  
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• New NOAA Forecast Provides Early Look at El Niño Winter

  16-10-2026 19:09 via powder.com
  Each month, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issues a series of seasonal outlooks that provide a broad look at the temperature and precipitation expected in the months to come.
  Normally, these outlooks interest skiers. That’s even more true this year with a very strong El Niño set to shake up the season. 
  The latest update doesn’t differ dramatically from the last and still aligns with the El Niño pattern: a band of moisture stretching through the Southwest.
  
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• The 5 Best Ski Bags of 2027, Tested on Trains, Planes, and Ski Trips

  16-10-2026 18:04 via powder.com
  In almost every skier’s life, at least if you have your priorities straight, opportunities will arise that demand you acquire a ski bag. So, on top of all your other ski gear investments, it might be time to pony up for another bag to stuff it all in so you can drag it around the world. In this, don’t be complacent, and don’t cheap out: your choice of ski bag is a serious endeavor. 
  I have had the good fortune to drag skis through airports, bus stations, and dirt roads all
  
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• Whitefish To Open Two New Glades This Season Thanks To Wildfire Mitigation

  16-10-2026 12:22 via powder.com
  How do you make an old mountain feel new? Give it a haircut!
  POWDER’s Ian Greenwood covered how Sun Valley opened 90 acres of new terrain last season thanks to wildfire fuel mitigation efforts, and Whitefish Mountain Resort, Montana, is following suit with new glades of its own.
  “Throughout summer 2026, Whitefish Mountain Resort and the U.S. Forest Service undertook the Big Mountain Fuels Reduction Project, which involved felling trees on roughly 200 acres of terrain,” wrote a
  
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• Ultralight Avalanche Shovel Maker Gets In Hot Water With Pro Athletes

  15-10-2026 23:48 via powder.com
  Earlier this year, a small, honest discussion erupted into a full-blown online argument between the maker of the PurePeak avalanche shovel, Matic Meza, and athletes Nikolai Schirmer and Cody Townsend. Schirmer and Townsend, perhaps two of the most respected and accomplished skiers in the industry right now, called out the fact that they had been sent the product (an ultralight carbon fiber avalanche shovel) for testing on an expedition to Alaska, and managed to both break theirs on the trip usin
  
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• U.S. Ski Team Announces It's First-Ever Freeride Roster

  15-10-2026 21:24 via powder.com
  It hasn’t worn off yet and probably won’t wear off until the 2030 Olympics have come and gone. Freeride is headed to the biggest stage and, duly, U.S. Ski and Snowboard has put together a team. 
  The roster includes regular Freeride World Tour contenders and some skiers who rip but have only recently returned to the competition scene, like Kai Jones. The names were based on the team’s selection criteria, which account for FWT performance and qualification for last winter&rs
  
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• AIARE Introduces New One-Day Avalanche Education Refresher Course

  15-10-2026 21:10 via powder.com
  Like all hard skills, those learned in an avalanche course can be perishable. In an effort to preserve those learned in Avalanche 1 courses, the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, more commonly known as AIARE, has introduced a new course offering ahead of the 2026/27 winter.Backcountry users who have completed their AIARE 1 or an equivalent avalanche education course, such as the American Avalanche Institute’s (AAI) Avalanche Level 1, will be able to take the new one-
  
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• The Race To Open Is On as Colorado Ski Resorts Start Snowmaking

  15-10-2026 21:03 via powder.com
  In Colorado, it’s officially snowmaking season. 
  Arapahoe Basin and Keystone Resort, two mountains known for being among the first to open, have turned on their snow guns.
  As a surge of colder weather and snow passed through Colorado Wednesday night, Keystone began its first snowmaking push. 
  “The start of snowmaking is always one of the most exciting milestones of the year because it signals that winter is just around the corner,” said Kate Schifani, senior director
  
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• Norwegian Star Aleksander Aamodt Kilde Tears Achilles In Chile Training Session

  15-10-2026 18:45 via powder.com
  It’s been a rough few years for Norway’s 21-time World Cup champion ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
  Kilde returned to the World Cup circuit last year after an injury and subsequent infection in 2024, but he opted to sit out the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.He was making a push to return to full racing shape this summer with extensive training in Chile, but the Norwegian Ski Federation announced today that Kilde tore his Achilles in a training accident yesterday, October 14,
  
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• How Bracelayer Is Changing The Game for Skiers With Knee Injuries

  15-10-2026 17:33 via powder.com
  Sponsored StoryThere was a time, not too long ago, that a torn ACL or other knee ligament meant the end of a skier’s career. That’s changed with advancements in surgery and rehabilitation, but as any skier with a knee injury knows, the journey doesn’t end after the last physical therapy appointment.
  Many skiers wear bulky, oftentimes wrong-for-the-job knee braces over their base layers, but these braces are more about peace of mind than performance. Plus, does anybody like the
  
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• Meet the Rossignol Ski Purpose-Built for Buyers Who Can't Make Up Their Mind

  15-10-2026 13:30 via powder.com
  The term “quiver-killer” gets thrown around a lot these days, but having one ski to do it all—and do it well—is perfection worth striving for. Rossignol entered the scene in recent seasons with the Soul 102, taking cues from both their hard-charging freeride Sender line and the now-retired cult-classic Soul line to create a modern flat-tailed all-mountain freeride ski that will make a lot of skiers very happy. This year, the ski remains unchanged (aside from losing the &l
  
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• Review: 2027 Salomon QST 106 Skis

  15-10-2026 13:03 via powder.com
  If you’ve heard of Salomon, you’ve heard of its QST line of freeride skis. 
  The skis have evolved in waist widths, construction, and lengths, but the core purpose of the QST has not wavered. These are skis made for the common man that work equally as well under the feet of bona fide freeride pros such as Mike Douglas, Cody Townsend, Josh Daiek, Delia Quinn, and even ski racer Alice Robinson.
  The QST 106, in particular, feels like the most approachable ski in a line of very appro
  
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• Why a New Ski Lift at Whistler Blackcomb Looks Like It's Floating in Space

  15-10-2026 12:18 via powder.com
  Partway through your first ride on Whistler Blackcomb’s new Showcase lift, you might, depending on your tolerance for out-there engineering contraptions, start to feel nervous. Why? The lift’s fifth tower looks like it’s hovering in space, held up by a metal arm that juts out of a rock face. 
  In one comment below Whistler Blackcomb’s post explaining the funky-seeming construction, one person wrote, “Bar will be going down on this one.” We feel similarly.
  
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• Snow Has Arrived at Silverton Mountain, Colorado and Skiers Are Making Powder Turns

  14-10-2026 21:55 via powder.com
  Have you heard the good news? Snow is falling in Colorado, and Silverton Mountain, the Centennial State’s big mountain and backcountry hotbed, is scoring.
  The ski area known for its lone chairlift and expansive heli-skiing isn’t planning to open until December 31, 2026, but that hasn’t stopped Mother Nature from dumping snow. And while an official snowfall total hasn’t been reported, it looks like the snow is stacking up by the feet, not inches.
  Some of Silverton’s
  
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• Arizona Snowbowl Fires Up Snowmaking as Temps Drop and El Niño Approaches

  14-10-2026 20:57 via powder.com
  This is not a drill. Arizona Snowbowl is blowing snow.
  The resort announced that, starting at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, it fired up its snow guns from the top of the Arizona Gondola down to Agassiz Lodge. The resort said it’s “seen solid temps through the night and well into this morning” and asked skiers to “keep your fingers crossed for cold temps!”
  Courtesy Arizona Snowbowl
  While the skies are now clear and the temperatures are expected to crest just a
  
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• Alta Ski Area Adds Pricey Fines for Skiers Who No-Show Parking Reservations

  14-10-2026 20:21 via powder.com
  Alta is far from the only ski area to implement weekend and holiday parking reservations, but a new rule for Winter 26/27 is being celebrated among the Alta faithful.
  Parking is limited in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and while Alta’s parking reservations have mitigated some overcrowding and traffic woes in recent years, many skiers have been frustrated by the number of no-shows on a given weekend.Alta skiers, it seems, have a tendency to book a scrupulous amount of parking reservations for w
  
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• The Best All-Mountain Skis of 2027

  14-10-2026 19:55 via powder.com
  There are skis you dream about for those once-a-season days, and then there are skis that actually make sense to own. We get it. Big, fat powder skis are dreamy, and what we all wish we could be riding most days of the season. They’re exotic and aspirational, and really really fun. And that’s fine. But, sometimes you’ve got to think about the rest of your days on the mountain. In fact, let’s be real, if you ski a lot, that ends up being most days on the mountain.And for a
  
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• Stunning Photos Show Alta Ski Area's First Major Snowfall of the Season

  14-10-2026 19:16 via powder.com
  Fall colors. Plenty of white. This is October at Alta Ski Area, Utah, where a recent storm produced the most coverage the resort’s seen so far this season. 
  As of 4:15 p.m. on October 13, the resort was measuring 13 inches of settled snowfall, a number that, per the snow report, hasn’t grown so far but may have increased by the time you read this. Either way, just over a foot was more than enough to transform the slopes of Alta.
  Other resorts benefitted, too. Alta’s neighb
  
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• Review: 2027 Ellis Sabr 100 Skis

  14-10-2026 14:16 via powder.com
  There’s a reason restaurants have a menu of food options. Variety is cool. One day, you might be craving a burger, when the next, you might really want healthy salad. Even small ski brands play into that psychological phenomenon, like Colorado’s Ellis Skis, who only offer three models as part of their portfolio. At first glance, the three options may look very similar—progressive twin tip freeride skis—but on snow, the three create an extremely well-rounded collection.The
  
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• Test After Test, Rossignol's Freeride Ski With "Point-and-Shoot" Performance Still Hits the Mark

  14-10-2026 13:32 via powder.com
  True quiver-of-one freeride skis are hard to find, especially since their usability largely depends on where you spend most of your time skiing and what your definition of “fun” might be on skis, but Rossignol’s Sender Free 110 might be the one. Unchanged from last year, the Sender Free 110 retains its hard-charging yet approachable and friendly design.
  One of the most approachable freestyle powder skis ever made, the Sender Free 110 bridges the gap between high-speed crud-bust
  
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• Markus Eder Dusts Off His Park Tricks in New Edit

  14-10-2026 11:47 via powder.com
  Markus Eder’s dipped his toes in just about every ski discipline. He ventured to Russia for freeskiing’s inaugural Olympics slopestyle competition in 2014 and, five years later, won the overall Freeride World Tour title. And if you throw in big mountain shred flicks The Ultimate Run and Circle of Madness, he’s got the video side of the equation covered, too.
  Despite all the receipts, though, his versatility always comes as a bit of a surprise, as evidenced by his latest short e
  
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• Mountain Bike World Cup at Mount van Hoevenberg

  14-10-2026 00:40 via nyskiblog.com
  I was at Mount van Hoevenberg for two days for the final UCI mountain bike World Cup weekend. I didn’t make it over to Whiteface for the downhill races. On Friday, I was a volunteer, and on Saturday, I returned as a spectator. Why volunteer at ORDA events? It can be fun, and every day that you volunteer, you get a voucher that’s good at any of the ORDA venues. When my kiddo visits from NJ, there will be free » Read More »
  The NYSkiBlog: NYSkiBlog.com
  
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• Rumors Spread That Keystone Is Opening Next Weekend, but Hold Your Horses

  13-10-2026 21:27 via powder.com
  The conditions look promising. The track record is there. And, as some avid skiers noticed, tickets are on sale for Saturday, October 24, 2026. Is that opening day for Keystone Resort, Colorado?!
  Maybe. Maybe not. We can’t say quite yet.
  A representative from Keystone clarified in an email to POWDER that the resort does not have an official opening day aside from its previously shared plan to open “as early as possible” when conditions allow.
  “The ability to buy a single-
  
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• Utah's Ski Resorts Tally Multiple Inches of Snow With More on the Way

  13-10-2026 20:26 via powder.com
  In Utah, winter’s showing out. 
  All across the state, from Brian Head to the Cottonwood Canyons, resorts clocked snowfall, some of it serious. Snowbird’s snow stake is sitting encouragingly around the ten-inch mark, with some flakes still falling.The upper reaches of Alta Ski Area are covered in a pristine, white coat. At the top of the Crest lift, Brighton’s webcam is all fogged up, in a good way.
  Alta’s Sugarloaf Peak webcam on Tuesday afternoon.Alta Ski Area
  A win
  
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• Deadlines to Purchase Ikon and Epic Passes Are Quickly Approaching, Get Yours Before the Season Starts

  13-10-2026 19:59 via powder.com
  Snow is falling in states like California, Colorado, Utah, and Montana, and everybody here at POWDER is freaking out. The ski season is quickly approaching, and we can’t wait.
  We don’t know when the first ski resort will open yet, but Arapahoe Basin on the Ikon Pass and Keystone on the Epic Pass have both said they intend to open “as soon as possible”.With potentially feet of snow in the forecast and ample snowmaking temperatures, our guess is that Coloradans will be slid
  
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• Widespread Winter Storm Brings First Snowfall to Colorado's Ski Resorts

  13-10-2026 19:27 via powder.com
  Somewhere, someone must have been doing their snow dances. Across Colorado, ski resorts like Keystone and Crested Butte just reported their first flakes of the season. 
  The snowfall was largely modest but more than enough to get the juices flowing. Colorado, as ski bums know, is home to a high concentration of resorts that aim to open as soon as they can. Depending on the weather, that could mean lift-served skiing before the end of the month.
  At Vail Mountain, the iconic Back Bowls sign go
  
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• Ski In Jeans Day Is Back at Jackson Hole, Lift Tickets Are Just $35

  13-10-2026 19:24 via powder.com
  Do you like cheap lift tickets and skiing in denim? Well, good news! Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s (JHMR) annual ‘Ski in Jeans’ day is back for a fourth consecutive year.
  Taking place on December 4th this season, skiers and snowboarders who show up wearing denim can score a $35 day lift ticket, and three-day lift tickets valid December 4-6, 2026, are just $199. Translation: You can ski Jackson Hole for three days for less than the cost of one. Just make sure you pack that deni
  
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