Table of contents for Fall 2024 - Vol.53 #2 in Ski Canada

SHORT TURNS_ UTAH, AGAIN It’s back to Utah in 2034 for the Olympic Winter Games—estimated cost just shy of $4 billion. But this time Snowbasin will host all downhill skiing events, including downhill, GS, slalom and super-G. Deer Valley will be home to freestyle’s moguls and aerials. Utah last hosted in Winter 2002. If you’ve been delaying your dream ski trip because you’re worried about keeping up with friends, it’s time to switch the script. Multi-day adult ski camps on both coasts are designed to help you conquer your limitations with leaders who have mastered the art of getting you in the right mindset. Camps cater to all levels so you can break free from old habits fast. For skiers in the Atlantic region, high-performance training used to mean loads…

POWER BUYER'S GUIDE 2025 POWDER SKIS Not that long ago, powder and backcountry skis were specialized tools that did one thing well. We loved them for it, but that narrow utility necessitated owning two or three other pairs. Things are beginning to change. At our ski test last winter we were repeatedly shocked by the versatility of supposedly specialist skis. We would pick a ski that on paper was purpose-built for tours or deep snow. It would even look and feel the part. But once we got it sliding outside its supposed comfort zone it didn’t fall apart. Again and again we were surprised by a ski’s composure in all kinds of conditions and terrain. This trend has been emerging for a few years, but it really stood out this year.…

The thumping of a helicopter rotor means it is time to leave the remaining celery sticks where they lie on the welcome platter. Fifteen aspiring cat-skiers file out of the staging hut and mill around what will soon serve as a landing pad. Air traffic control is the job of a middle-aged man working a radio and dividing baggage into heli loads. His jeans, and his hands, are well worn. Dishevelled would be too strong a word, but he looks like he spends more time working hard than grooming himself. When the chopper lands he sprawls over the first load of baggage so nothing gets blown away, then loads bags while the first five skiers climb in. My mood lifts with the A-Star as we climb over hills that become…

SHORT TURNS_ The wildfire that destroyed nearly a third of the buildings in Jasper, Alberta, in July left the nearby Marmot Basin ski area untouched. The resort plans to open on schedule in November. “Marmot Basin is very fortunate not to have sustained any structural damage… and we are now focusing on getting everything ready for an incredible season ahead,” the resort posted on their website August 28. On July 22, several wildfires started in Jasper National Park, mostly south of the resort town of Jasper. The fires quickly grew out of control, combined to create the Jasper Wildfire Complex and were moving north toward Jasper. By the next day, 20,000 people had been evacuated from the town and national park, and on July 24 the fire entered the town.…

Canada’s Grade 4 & 5 Snow Pass has been making skiing more affordable for families for 29 years. Kids aged 9 and 10 have been able to ski free for two days at nearly every ski hill in the country for a $30 processing fee. This season, the CSC is replacing the Snow Pass with the Snowstart Kids Pass. The $39.99 pass now provides three free days of skiing for kids in grades 1 through 6. “We’re pumped to bring this out,” says Paul Pinchbeck, president and CEO of the Canadian Ski Council (CSC). “After turmoil over the last four years, I think there are a lot of families looking for ways to get into snow sports at an early age and I think the ski areas are excited to…

SHORT TURNS_ Revy’s Selkirk Tangiers Heli Skiing is partnering with Wildcat Helicopters in Kelowna, B.C. Called “a game-changer” by STHS general manager Dave Pehowich, the collaboration gives the heli-op access to Wildcat’s Airbus H125 and twin-engine Bell 212 to increase safety and capacity. “We’re excited to offer even more reliable access to the untouched powder that has made Revelstoke a world-renowned destination,” Pehowich says. selkirk-tangiers.com…

SHORT TURNS_ SLOPE ANGLES Nestled in the undulating ridges of B.C.’s Okanagan highlands, SilverStar Mountain Resort’s charm is a nod to a Victorian mining past that never existed. Over five decades have passed since its modern inception as a four-season destination resort. As for the resort’s future? That’s another story; one that won’t be written until SilverStar finds a buyer to take it into the middle of the 21st century and beyond. Back in August, Utah-based Powdr corporation—owners of bigname mountains such as Copper and Snowbird— announced that SilverStar would be put up for sale along with Killington/Pico in Vermont, Mt. Bachelor in Oregon and Eldora in Colorado (see Short Turns, page 14.) Killington and Pico will be sold to a group of local investors, and a local group in Oregon…

Imagine, if you will, a tree-covered mountainside on Japan’s north island of Hokkaido in summertime: telltale Japanese white birch, betuna platyphylla, stand tall. The deep green leaves making up the broad canopy search for every photon they can get, soaking them up before summer ends. The canopy is so dense that little light penetrates. Each tree forms a ring of shade that pushes against that of its neighbours, though those neighbours can be 10 or more metres away. The birch have no lower branches and ground cover struggles to establish itself. The lack of understorey in Japan is an undertold story. Autumn comes hard and fast. By October the green is gone and gold predominates before the leaves disappear altogether, being whisked away in the first gales of early winter.…

Raven’s / Skewk’ / Yecwlào7: as tongue-twisting as it is lip-smacking, it’s the name of Whistler Blackcomb’s new Indigenous-run restaurant. A spin-off of the Thunderbird Café located in the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, traditional ingredients meet modern appetites at the top of Whistler’s Creekside Gondola. Tuck into skier-friendly venison chili or salmon chowder with baked bannock, a candied-salmon Caesar salad with bannock croutons, or perhaps a simple elk or venison sandwich. Wash it down with a glass of award-winning vino from Indigenous-owned Osoyoos Indian reserve Nk’Mip Winery, or a beer from Ravens Brewing. Fortified once more, head for the hills—perhaps in the direction of Black Tusk, known as Q̓elqámtensa ti Skenknápa in the St’at’imcets language and as T’ákt’akmúten tl’a Ín7inyá⨱a7en in the Sḵw⨱wú7mesh language. Here, according to lore, Thunderbird caused…

As autumn leaves turn crisp in the Adirondacks, one skiing family is marking not just the start of another season, but another century. The Mirror Lake Inn has hosted visitors to Lake Placid, New York, since 1924. Skiing has been a focus for most of those years. Back in the 1930s it set up a rope tow on the hill behind the inn. It even installed snowmaking in the 1940s. The family that has owned and run the inn since 1976 has shown a similar dedication to the sport. Andrew Weibrecht has taken over day-to-day management of the inn from his parents, but before becoming an innkeeper he won multiple Olympic medals, climbing the Super-G podium in 2010 and 2014. Today he steps out from behind the front desk to…

Utah-based Powdr Corp has announced the sale of Vermont’s Killington Resort and Pico Mountain to local investors. The ski area consolidator also put Eldora in Colorado and Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor up for bids, along with B.C.’s SilverStar, which it has owned since 2019. “To strategically manage Powdr’s portfolio in alignment with our founder’s and stakeholders’ goals, we aim to balance our ski business with new ventures in the [U.S] national parks sector,” said Powdr VP of communications Stacey Hutchinson, referring to Powdr’s recent appointment to manage lodging, food services and retail in Zion and Death Valley national parks. “Until the sales of these four resorts (including Killington) are finalized, we will remain dedicated to our current operations at those ski resorts, plus Copper and Snowbird, which we are retaining.” Days…

IKON IN CALI Ikon Pass just added Sierra-at-Tahoe to its 2024/25 California line up. Also on the ticket: Palisades Tahoe, Mammoth, June Mountain, Big Bear and Snow Valley. What’s the inspo behind the new graphics on Black Crows’ 2025 ski collection? The bold chevrons—a.k.a. steps—on Black Crows’ big mountain skis “represent the vertical dimension of the snow, embodying the grace and power needed to traverse deep powder with confidence,” says the Chamonixbased company. On its all-terrain skis, tapered chevrons evolve into arrows that symbolize “the precision and agility required to navigate varying snow conditions.” www.black-crows.com…

Can the right gear shrink the gap between expectation and reality? It’s an especially pertinent question to ponder when equipping ourselves for skiing powder, because that’s when the disappointment trap is at its widest. We skiers have always geared up dreaming of waist-deep snow. These days that usually means 120mm-wide powder skis or uber-light touring boots and barely-there bindings. Meanwhile, the reality is that competition for first tracks is fierce, consequential terrain demands gear you can trust, earning turns is hard work and waist-deep quickly becomes wind-hammered choss or 11 a.m. hummocky leftovers. There will always be a time and place for specialized tools, but, as you’ll see over the next 13 pages, skiers are getting savvy to the truth: often the best tool for powder is the one that…