#groomed-trails

#groomed-trails

Enzo attempted a double front flip at Alaska's Hilltop Ski Area. He comes pretty close to landing it, nearly getting his skis all the way around, but he just didn't quite get it.

Visually inspect skis, bases, and edges. If any damage, get a full tune to fix the damage, grind the bases, and sharpen the edges.

Having settled on where to ski in Norway, I found myself packing up the Kvikk Lunsj wafers and sweet brown brunost cheese sandwiches at the glassy Juvet Landscape Hotel, deep in the Sunnmøre Alps. Then the slow ascent, with skins on our splitboard skis, up to the peak at Mefjellet: torturous in some ways, looking at all that glinting Care Bear snow all the way up, but also a deliciously tantric act of meditation and delayed gratification.

After skiing every open blue run and black diamond at Appalachian Ski Mountain in about 20 minutes, my thoughts were that it isn't a ski area for everyone. If you're accustomed to long, wide groomers that wind for miles or resorts known for their powder, vertical drop, and off-piste terrain, you're not going to be impressed with what this historic hill has to offer. But by the end of the morning, my perspective shifted.

Both avid and casual skiers know that winter requires preparation. If you want to ski as many days as possible, you must have a game plan. After all, skiing is an expensive sport, so budget is typically one of the top considerations. But before you book flights, hotels, and lift tickets, or decide if you want to invest in an Epic Pass or Ikon Pass, you'll need to identify which ski resorts you want to explore over the course of a few months.

Tell your peeps to watch for sheep! Share the range with the Tetons' original mountaineers. Bighorn sheep have worked hard to survive the winter at high elevation. By late winter, their fat reserves are running thin and every bit of energy counts. Giving them space will help them make it through the final weeks of winter.

Every morning at the lodge I don't want no one around me. Just me myself and nobody else, I'm just here to ski.

Mt. Baker is the PNW's snow vacuum. It's close enough to the Pacific to get storm after storm, and the North Cascades do what they do best: force moist air straight up, wring it out, and bury everything in sight. Maritime storms roll in wet and heavy, then pile up fast when they hit terrain.

As Colorado's first formalized ski area it marks many significant point in state's mountain sports history including the first resort to allow snowboarders on chairlifts. There are many factors that led to its ultimate demise but the addition of nearby Winter Park Ski Resort played a major role as it ended up being the preferred resort in the area.

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.

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.

Being a snow groomer can be seen as a thankless job at a ski resort; however, it is one of many jobs that must be done and is vital to operations. It involves long nights, being alone in a snowcat, and pushing snow around the mountain for eight or more hours. However, for the right person, it has also been described as one of the best jobs on the mountain.

Part of the opinion here might stem from growing up in Colorado. Where, up until this year, the snow was always good and skinny skis made up a nice decoration in the garage. When snow days would come by during my high school days I would always be ecstatic to strap on my 118 underfoot skis and ride from first chair till last.

If you grew up in a region that received snow, you're probably familiar with the multitude of skiing superstitions. Whether it was wearing your pajamas inside out or flushing ice cubes down the toilet, every kid had their preferred method of playing with fate to force a snow day. Skiers, however, have taken snow superstitions to the next level. A common superstition in the skiing world is the refusal to call the last run, as doing so can apparently heighten your risk of getting injured.

When winter takes hold in the Eastern Sierra, the Bridgeport Winter Recreation Area (BWRA) becomes a popular destination for backcountry enthusiasts. Powderhounds flock to this area during the cold winter months, usually with snowmobiles. Shortly after you turn onto Highway 108 (Sonora Pass), the snow starts, and the journey begins. Located seven miles up the snow-covered highway, the BWRA is the gateway to remote and technical terrain in the heart of the Sierra.