Top Five Fridays: April 5, 2024
Lead Image: Typically a staple of Whistler's Horstman Glacier each summer, Momentum Camps, as well as every other camp on the mountain, sadly won't be returning this summer. More on that below. Image: Momentum Camps on Facebook
#1: Come to Vermont and Get Weird with Us Next Monday, as We Experience a Once in a Lifetime Celestial Event:
Image: Ski Vermont
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the April 4, 2024 edition! It’s officially the offseason here on Top Five Fridays, as all FIS events have concluded for the year - including alpine, cross country, freestyle, and freeride competitions. As such, we’re turning the page to spring and summer, which means that in the coming months we’ll be discussing plenty of industry wide topics and themes, offseason training, long range weather forecasts, mountain upgrades, alternative contests, and plenty of other fun ski industry news! To be fair, we kind of take what the news gods give us this time of year, so we hope you’re prepared to learn about a wide variety of topics in the coming months. Fortunately, to help make that transition, we were blessed with several interesting stories this week, highlighted by one happening in our own backyard.
This coming Monday, as at least some of you are well aware, a strip of America will be in the perfect position to witness a total solar eclipse. As luck would have it, that “strip of America” just so happens to include our exact location here in Vermont, as well as several of our neighboring resorts. Ultimately, what that really means is, Monday is going to be one of the most unique ski days ever, as the last time our region bore witness to such a rare celestial event was way back in 1932. At that time, as you might guess, Stowe wasn’t operational, as lift access didn’t begin until 1937. Keeping that in mind, Monday will truly be a historic day here, as no one has ever experienced lift serve skiing here during an eclipse.
It also means that neither Stowe nor our surrounding areas have any idea what to expect. While neighboring cities such as Burlington are expecting approximately 75k visitors, we ultimately have no idea what to expect here in Stowe. Other mountains in our area, including Smuggs, Bolton, Sugarbush, and Mad River are in similar boats. Under guidance from the state of Vermont, we know that ski areas will be forced to pause lift operations for roughly an hour surrounding the time of totality as it will be too dark to ski. We also know that most ski areas and businesses are planning watch parties, hosting bands, and generally creating a party-like atmosphere for the big event. Heck, we’re even having a massive sale at our brick and mortar store, Pinnacle Ski and Sports here in Stowe. All told, regardless of what actually happens on Monday, we can guarantee that it will be one of the most memorable ski days you’ll ever have if you can make it to a ski resort in the path of totality. To see a list of seven of the ski areas that find themselves in that path, check out this report from SkiMag.com.
Editor’s Note: On a closing note here, I personally want to take a moment to selfishly promote the festivities planned for Mad River Glen on Monday. Not only will the mountain itself be an amazing venue for the unique event, but they’ll also be selling commemorative tee shirts designed by yours truly. So if you’re able to get to our area, find lodging (which could prove to be impossible), and take the day off to go ski - I’d recommend taking a trip to Mad River Glen, and buying an eclipse shirt while you’re there!
#2: Alternative Contest Season is Officially Underway. Here’s the Latest from a Slew of “Different” Competitions:
Highlights from this year's Red Bull Cascade event.
In other news, now that the “official” competition season is over, we’re getting the feeling that “alternative competition season” is just starting up. This seems like a bit of a new trend in snowsports, but one that we’re most certainly here for. That is, the uptick in one off events that offer some sort of quirky take on the competition scene. To start off our coverage of this new genre, we want to quickly revisit a competition we recently shared: the Silver Belt Classic at Sugar Bowl Resort. That contest, as you might recall, paired freeskiing with freestyle skiing, a la the Nendaz Invitational. Just like in that event, the Silver Belt Classic put skiers down a freeride style venue, chock full of jumps and natural features. At the end of the day, the competitors were judged by their peers and winners were chosen. While the event itself didn’t necessarily feature the top names in the sport, what we love about it is that it gets athletes involved in a competition like this just a step further down the freeski/freeride pipeline. In other words, it’s the type of event that upcoming skiers can use to make a name for themselves, while also proving to themselves that they have what it takes to push their skills to a higher level. All told, we love the event, and hope to see more like it pop up in the future.
In other alternative event news, we have two Red Bull events to recap and preview. First, a recap of this year’s Red Bull Cascade event. If you’ll recall, that event made its successful debut last year, and is actually somewhat akin in spirit to the Nendaz Invitational and Silver Belt Classic events. Just like those two events, the Red Bull Cascade competition asks athletes to ski a complete run, packed with numerous jumps and features. Unlike the aforementioned events though, Cascade takes a much more park-centric approach, featuring massive machine built jumps and rails. In other words, if the Nendaz Invitational and Silver Belt Classic events take cues from freeride venues, the Cascade event takes its cues from slopestyle courses. This year, it was “Team Mando” that took home the gold, a team consisting of Bobby Brown, Jedson Blue Waters, Colby Stevenson, and Rell Harwood. Overall, this event seemed like another excellent one in its second year, particularly for athletes who were involved in “serious” competitions all year, and who enjoyed the opportunity to compete in one that was simply fun.
In addition to the Cascade event that was just successfully held, we want to share two more upcoming events with you. The first is the return of Jesper Tjader’s Unrailistic Event, which also debuted last year. As you’ll recall, that event takes the wild imagination of Jesper Tjader and manifests his visions into a ludicrous rail line for top athletes to compete on. Last year that meant features like a double X rail and a double S rail. This year, it could mean anything, and you’ll have to check back after April 26th to know for sure.
The other upcoming event that we’re psyched to see each year, is the annual Swatch Nines event. This is one you’re likely all familiar with as the park build is always iconic - featuring things like castle like park jumps, snow spheres, or last year’s volcano/bowl combo. That event is scheduled to start next week, and you can preview the course build right here.
#3: After a Dismal Snow Year, Whistler Blackcomb Announces the Cancellation of Summer Camps on the Horstman Glacier:
The typical lay of the land on Whistler’s Horstman Glacier when Momentum sets up camp for the summer. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case this time around. Image: Momentum Camps on Facebook
Those first two highlights were pretty fun, huh? Well, unfortunately we have to come back to earth a bit for our third topic, as we caught wind of some disappointing news coming out of Canada. As you likely know, Whistler is one of the very few locations in North America that offers summer skiing, courtesy of the Horstman Glacier. Most years, when the main mountain shifts its focus from skiing and riding to mountain biking, the upper mountain turns into a hub of winter sports activity as several ski camps are held, providing crucial off-season training for a wide variety of athletes. From ski racing, to bumps, and of course freestyle skiing, the Horstman Glacier has become a vital part of not only the Whistler Blackcomb community, but of North American skiing as well.
Unfortunately, we learned this week that the Horstman Glacier will be closed for summer camps this winter, forcing every camp that’s held on it to cancel its season. It’s a devastating blow to be sure, as it leaves just Mt. Hood and possibly Beartooth Basin as the only on-snow summertime training facilities in North America this offseason. As for the reason for the cancellation of this year’s activities? You guessed it: low snowpack. While there doesn’t seem to be a public press release available, news has spread by way of an email correspondence between the mountain itself and Powder Magazine. In that email, Whistler Blackcomb communications manager Dane Gergovich said, “Whistler Blackcomb is unable to host camps during the 2024 summer on the Horstman Glacier. This decision was not made lightly – we know these camps, and this experience, have a long history at our resort. Unfortunately, the conditions related to this season’s snowfall prevent summer camps to safely operate this year.”
Now, if you’re like us, you probably immediately think about the bigger picture. In this case, the question that comes up is: what does this do to the long term viability of summer camps at Whistler in general? It’s no secret that global snow conditions and glaciers in general are trending in the wrong direction. And yes, it was an El Niño year in which Whistler received below average snowfall. But here’s the thing: running a seasonal business is tough. Especially for a summer ski camp, when that “season” is a total of 5 weeks, as is the case for Momentum Camps - one of the several ski camps on the glacier each year. Now, cancel a year. Suddenly that 5 weeks of business has to span two years. Of course, Momentum’s business model is pretty unique from an overhead standpoint, but still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that five weeks of business every two years is a tough ask for any business owner.
Despite our concerns around the long term viability of summer camps at Whistler, we did come across a message from Momentum Camps in the comments section of a post on Newschoolers.com, which very directly posed the question of whether or not this would be the end of Momentum Camps. In that comment, Momentum reassured readers that they have no plans to close. Additionally, they reframed the reason behind this year’s cancellations. Rather than citing low snowpack as the primary reason for the cancellation of summer camps, they shared the perspective that the real reason is due to the fact that the Showcase T-Bar which accesses their terrain, “needs to be re-engineered to operate on a lower snowpack.” In their comment, Momentum says that Whistler Blackcomb has plans to complete that process this summer so that it’ll be ready in time for next season. This subtle update could be big, if true. To learn more about this week’s announcement, click here. To see Momentum’s comment sharing a little more insight, check out this post on Newschoolers.com.
#4: Another April Fools Day, Another Round of Skiers Who Just Can’t Help Themselves from Making a Joke:
Fact or fiction: Walt Disney has announced its plans to buy Vail Resorts, ultimately turning each one into its own theme park. Image: Walt Disney Vail Image on Unofficial Networks
Finally, let’s get a little silly. This past Monday represented one of the greatest holidays that exists: April Fools day. While the true origins of this holiday are unknown, we can say with near certainty that it’s the most laughable holiday that exists, particularly within the ski industry. Skiers, being the way we naturally are, seem to always be keen to pull a good practical joke, regardless of the date on the calendar. With a penchant for tomfoolery though, it means April 1st is always chock full of internet jokes from within our industry, and this year was no different. As such, we’d like to round out this week’s highlight reel with a few of our favorite April Fools jokes from this year.
J Skis x Tesla Electric Skis:
The king of April Fools jokes, Jason Levinthal, came back yet again with another one. This year, J was more excited than ever to announce the long awaited J Skis x Tesla electric skis. These skis, complete with Tesla logos and alleged battery packs, promise to propel skiers uphill with on effort at all. As is always the case with J’s practical jokes, a combination of commitment to the bit and quality trick filmography resulted in an edit that made you look twice, even if you knew it was a joke.
Mountain Creek Bans Bluetooth Speakers:
On April 1st, Mountain Creek made a post on Instagram declaring a ban on bluetooth speakers. Complete with two professional grade photoshopped images, Mountain Creek announced that the mountain had become a “speaker-free zone”. What’s most amusing about this joke though is how well received it was. Whether or not the commenters were aware of the date, by and large the response was supportive, leaving us to wonder if this could actually become a legitimate policy in the future.
Unofficial Networks Broke the News That the Walt Disney Corporation Had Acquired Vail Resorts:
Finally, our favorite joke this year came from one of our siblings in news reporting: Unofficial Networks. Over on their blog, they posted an article sharing the news that Walt Disney had purchased Vail Resorts, and is looking forward to bringing a more amusement park vibe to the mountains. For us, this joke takes top honors because it really hit the sweet spot of being just real enough to be uncomfortable, while also poking fun at one of the more sensitive spots in the industry: the amusement parkification of ski resorts.
Of course there were several other jokes made on the internet on Monday, such as Arapahoe Basin’s hike to water park or Newschooler’s joke that the Saudi Government had launched a Seven Wonders big air tour. To see even more jokes, we’ll send you over to Powder.com. If we missed any that you think we should know about, definitely let us know in the comments below!