Erin Spong

Kendall Goodman may be a rookie on the Freeride World Tour (FWT) this year, but his creative and aggressive style is that of a seasoned veteran. Hailing from Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, Alta and Snowbird have been this young phenom’s training grounds for years, like many past and present FWT competitors, including mainstay Andrew Pollard.

“News Flash” is FREESKIER’s online column designed to keep you up-to-date with snippets of outdoor news you need to know about. This article is published weekly on Wednesdays.

The phrase that I hear thrown around in the ski industry the most that I truly believe has no validity to it is “No friends on a powder day.” You either need to find friends who are better skiers, or you need to lighten up a bit because if there’s no one to hear you hootin’ and hollerin’ as you fly in and out of the white room, did you really have the best powder day of your life? Let’s be real, the best memories are those that are shared with the ones you love.

Here you will find a brief assessment of the current snowpacks across the Mountain West, according to each region’s avalanche center.

“News Flash” is FREESKIER’s online column designed to keep you up-to-date with snippets of outdoor news you need to know about. This article is published weekly on Wednesdays.

It should go without saying ski boots are the most crucial part of our entire ski system. Sure, the actual skis we ride on and bindings we click into play a huge role in performance, but if the boots aren’t right, it doesn’t matter what’s under them. While ski length is often overestimated because of ego, Nordica’s North American Product Marketing Director, Ethan Korpi, argues that most skiers are actually in too soft of a ski boot.

The Faction Collective has been on a tear for the last few years, producing thought-provoking and beautifully made films featuring the plethora of talented athletes on the brand’s roster. One of those is adaptive freeskier Vasu Sojitra. While Sojitra is more than competent on a ski and a skateboard, it’s his effort to disrupt the social norm, particularly in the outdoors, that has solidified him as one of the most prolific adaptive athletes in our industry.

“News Flash” is FREESKIER’s online column designed to keep you up-to-date with snippets of outdoor news you need to know about. This article is published weekly on Wednesdays.

Amie Engerbretson is no stranger to ski films. The Tahoe-based professional skier has been starring in Warren Miller and Teton Gravity Research (TGR) flicks for the better part of a decade. More recently, Engerbretson has stepped up her athletic career by diving into the snowmobile world for access to bigger ski lines while simultaneously getting involved with Protect Our Winters (POW). If that sounds hypocritical to you, you’re not the only one.

Most of a ski resort’s glory shines when the sun is up and the lifts are spinning, but the unsung heroes of your ski day aren’t nestled in their beds at night. They are the one’s willfully exposing themselves to the frigid overnight temps to ensure snowmaking operations complement nature’s offerings for premium shredding, day after day. At Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, these brave souls are called Gunrunners and they are the experts when it comes to making artificial snow.