Top Five Fridays: August 1, 2025
Whether you plan on attending Burning Man and want to ski, or just feel compelled to support the cause, the team behind the Lake Lahontan Ski Resort could use your help. More on that below. Image: Lake Lahontan Ski Resort's Official GoFundMe Page
#1: After a Year of Stories from POWDR Mountains, We Finally Hear From Their CEO:
In addition to pursuing more opportunities in the National Parks concessions space, POWDR has also identified their Woodward brand, which focuses on bringing action sports opportunities to the youths, as a key part of their growth strategy. Image: Woodward Tahoe on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the August 1, 2025 edition! This week we’ve got a true summertime grab bag, with topics ranging from Italian ski helmets, to ski resort permits in British Columbia, and even Burning Man. Yes, you read that right: Burning Man. We’ll fill you in on everything you need to know regarding those topics and more, but before we do, we want to start with a company that’s been in the news all year long: POWDR Corp.
Weekly readers already know, ever since selling Killington and Pico Mountain late last August, POWDR has done an excellent job of staying in the news. From follow ups to that initial article, to coverage regarding the coming and going of the Mt. Bachelor locals’ effort to buy the resort, to the most recent news regarding the potential sale of Eldora to the town of Nederland, there’s hardly been a week in which we haven’t mentioned POWDR or one of their portfolio resorts. One thing that all of those stories have had in common though, is that they’re told from the resort’s perspective. This week, we finally have a chance to hear POWDR’s side of the story, courtesy of a KPCW public radio interview with POWDR CEO Justin Sibley.
In this wide ranging interview, we finally get to pull back the curtain and learn more about some of the strategies occurring behind the scenes over at POWDR. Last August, when the Killington news broke, there was a certain amount of shock as it was widely unexpected news. That shock quickly led to the question of, “what’s going on at POWDR?”. The quick and easy answer at the time was that they’re getting involved in concessions at National Parks while reducing their ski resort portfolio. While that was helpful information to have in mind, it hasn’t been until this week that we’re finally learning the actual reasons and details behind POWDR’s strategy.
In this KPCW radio interview, Sibley starts by sharing a key piece of information that ultimately lays the foundation for POWDR’s entire ethos: the company is a private, family owned company, comprised of generations of shareholders and stakeholders who all love the outdoors in different ways. In other words, while the family members involved in the business are outdoor enthusiasts, it doesn’t mean they all love skiing and snowboarding. As such, when it comes to strategy, POWDR is led by the group's collective ideals which extend beyond winter.
Taking this a step further, Sibley also points to the value that venturing into National Parks concessions and other summer-based experiences provide to POWDR’s extended family: their employees. Prior to venturing into summer business ownership, POWDR employees were relegated to seasonal positions without benefits. Now, with more summer-centric businesses, those same employees can work for POWDR year round, earning consistent wages and benefits. One specific example of this is in Bend, where POWDR bought a rafting company called Sun Country Tours. In the early days, only a “handful” of employees worked at both the rafting company and at Mt. Bachelor. Now, a decade later, it’s “most” of them.
With that perspective and employee-focused strategy in mind, it makes sense that POWDR is looking to divest a few of its ski resorts in favor of adding more summer experiences. At present, POWDR owns the concession rights to Utah’s Zion National Park, as well as the Stovepipe Wells Village in Death Valley National Park. In this interview, we also learn that this is an avenue in which POWDR is actively pursuing growth. As Sibley explains, National Parks operate on long, sometimes 25 year contracts, meaning it’s possible to tell which National Park contracts are coming up for renewal. According to him, POWDR has a list of these dates and is actively pitching for more concession contracts.
Finally, the last intriguing highlight from this conversation that we want to be sure to share is that POWDR is actively pursuing the expansion of its Woodward brand. For those who aren’t familiar, Woodward is an “Action Sports Experience” company. Or, in common terms, it’s specifically made up of seven locations across the United States that have terrain parks, skateparks, foam pits, and more - all supporting youth in action sports through access to freestyle features and coaching. What struck us in this interview is that not only is POWDR looking to expand Woodward to more locations, but the importance they place on it in terms of growing their connection to the youth demographic. It’s no secret that skiing’s demographic has been consistently aging, and so Woodward is POWDR’s way of engaging youth in an effort to create lifelong recreationalists and potential customers.
All in all, it’s an excellent 16 minute interview that covers far more than we can touch on here. If the world of ski resort business is at all interesting to you, we highly recommend giving it a listen.
#2: Italy Announces Ski Helmet Mandate for All Ages:
Two helmeted skiers descend the slopes of Italy’s Val Gardena Ski Area. Next season, a lack of helmets could result in fines or the loss of ski passes in the country.Image: Val Gardena on Facebook
In other somewhat topical news this week, we also caught word coming out of Italy that the country has just mandated helmets for all skiers and snowboarders. Or, so we think anyway. To be perfectly honest, it’s a bit challenging to get to the bottom of this one from our outpost here in Vermont. The way we understand it though, is that Italy’s Chamber of Deputies' Culture Committee approved an amendment to their Sports Decree on 7/21 that would require all skiers and snowboarders to wear CE certified helmets. According to this report from ItaliaOggi.it, that approval was expected to move to the Chamber of Deputies two days later, on 7/23. Without a deep understanding of Italy’s legislative system and a lack of actual confirmation, we can only suspect that this means the measure has been approved 10 days later. Keeping all of that in mind, let’s take a look at what this law means for Italians and those visiting the country.
Prior to last week’s approval, the law in Italy since 2019 had been that minors under the age of 18 were required to wear helmets. Now, everyone will be required to wear a helmet, regardless of age. For those who don’t, there will be consequences. While it’s unknown how repeat offenders will be tracked, we do know that they’ll face both penalties and the loss of their ski pass for up to three days. If this amendment is approved (or if it already has been), Italy will be the first country in the world with such a law.
For most of our regular readers, this new law is unlikely to affect them in any way. So why bring it up? Well, first of all, we like to think that some of our readers might be lucky enough to ski the Italian Alps someday, and if they do, it’s helpful to know that helmets will be required. In a bigger picture sense though, we thought it was an interesting story to discuss alongside this summer’s conversations regarding liability and insurance in Oregon, as well as the discussion regarding safety bar culture in the western United States. In relation to the latter story, it’s interesting to note the distinct difference between safety concerns in Italy and the American West. There, it will soon be illegal to ski without a helmet. Here, some chairlifts don’t even have safety bars. Mix in Oregon’s insurance and liability issues, and suddenly we have a very interesting conversation brewing regarding the balances between freedom, safety, and lawsuits. We’ll leave it at that for now, but you can read more about Italy’s latest amendments via this story from ItaliaOggi.it, or this one from PlanetSki.eu.
#3: Backcountry Focused Ski Area Planned for British Columbia is One Step Closer to Becoming a Reality:
Next up this week is an update coming to us out of West Kootenay, in British Columbia, Canada, where the proposed Zincton Ski Resort has cleared another hurdle on its quest for approval. Now, if you’re not familiar with Zincton, we don’t blame you. Looking back in our archives, we’ve only discussed it here once, and that was back in 2022. In the broader ski news world, there also hasn’t been a tremendous amount of coverage regarding the project as it remains early on in the proposal stage. So, with that in mind, allow us to re-introduce you to this intriguing concept.
The Zincton All-Season Resort is a backcountry focused ski area being planned on the outskirts of a remote former mining town called New Denver. In the mountains outside of New Denver is a vast, popular, and public backcountry area known as, you guessed it, “Zincton.” Back in 2022, local business owner and avid backcountry skier David Harley began stirring up controversy with his proposal to create a backcountry-focused ski area in the region. In his envisionment of the “resort”, Zincton would have approximately 80% untouched backcountry and 20% lift access. For Harley, the concept of the ski area would be to bridge the gap between resort skiers and those venturing out into the backcountry. Noting the knowledge and experience required to make that leap into backcountry exploration safely, Harley dreams of a ski area in which people can learn in lower consequence side-country zones, further develop their skills in Zincton’s backcountry, and then ultimately make the leap into full on backcountry missions. As such, “Zincton All-Seasons Resort” wouldn’t be much of a resort at all - it would be more like a small ski area with tremendous backcountry and sidecountry access.
Given this low-footprint proposal, you might suspect that the environmental process for this plan would be somewhat smooth sailing. If so, well, you get partial credit as in some ways it is, and some ways it isn’t. When the plans for the resort were initially announced, they received significant pushback from multiple groups who expressed concerns regarding the environmental impact of the ski area. Specifically, both the Sinixt Confederacy (who are the indigenous tribe that’s recognized as having rights to the land), as well as the environmental group known as Wildsight, have shared concerns regarding habitat and wildlife disruptions, contamination to local water sources, the impact on the local community, the carbon footprint, and other cumulative effects. In other words, regardless of how limited the “resort” aspect of this project is, there are groups adamantly against any development of what is currently pristine wilderness. Understandable.
Unfortunately for those groups, they were dealt a bit of a blow this week as the British Columbian Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), ruled that Zincton will be allowed to forgo a full environmental assessment. The conclusion, which took 18 months to come to, is based on a law stating that developments planning for 2,000 or more beds are subject to a full assessment, carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Parks. Zincton however, is planning to develop just 1,700 beds, putting it 15% below the threshold. As such, the EAO ruled that the planned all-season resort would not need to move into the review phase of its journey, and can instead move to the third of five steps: the master plan review phase. While a long journey lies ahead for Zincton, this week’s decision was a massive victory as environmental reviews can be long, daunting processes. For opponents of the resort, it was certainly a blow, although plenty of opportunity remains to derail the project. To learn more about the latest from Zincton, check out this report from the Vancouver Island Free Daily.
#4: Burning Man’s Only Ski Resort at Risk of Closing:
Going to Burning Man, wanting to ski, but don’t want to bring your own equipment? No worries! Lake Lahontan Ski Resort has you covered with their own rental shop! Image: Lake Lahontan Ski Resort's Official GoFundMe Page
Finally, rounding out ski news this week is the highly anticipated Burning Man ski resort story. Looking back through our previous coverage, we have to apologize: for the last two years, Burning Man has been home to its own “ski resort”, and we’ve never told you. Going by the name of “Lake Lahontan Ski Resort”, which is located within the Black Rock City Snow Club, is a double pitched scaffolding setup covered in dryslope material. Measuring in at 14 feet tall and 62 feet long, it may not seem like much, but given the circumstances and the environment, the Lake Lahontan Ski Resort BRC Snow Club has become quite a hit since its inception. So much so that in its third year, event organizers have decided to relocate it to a premier zone called the “Esplanade”. While this update is exciting to Lahontan Ski Resort’s founders, it also means they’re responsible for the cost of relocating it. In addition to annual maintenance costs, the “resort’s” owners estimate that they’ll need $20,000 to store and transport their creation. Enter: GoFundMe.
Along with this week’s exciting news of the resort’s promotion, also came a GoFundMe, asking the ski area’s patrons to financially support it for the first time ever. With a current ask of up to $20k, the resorts founders are looking for support to not only store and transport their resort, but also to re-open its rental shop this year, as well as add additional apres-ski accessories like a dancefloor, sound system, and lighting. At the moment though, the future of the resort is at risk, as it remains far from its goal, with just $3,384 raised so far. If you’re feeling charitable, or are planning on attending Burning Man yourself and would like to ski, you can check out their GoFundMe campaign and make a contribution to keep the dream alive.
#4.5: Wachusett Gives an Extremely Accurate Play by Play of its New Lift Construction:
Before we round things out this week, we want to give a quick tip of the hat to the social media team over at Wachusett, who have finally figured out how to do something that we’ve never been able to do: make chairlift installation updates interesting. Over on their Instagram, Wachusett has been sharing construction updates from the perspective of one of their employees who seemingly knows absolutely nothing about construction. While it’s not quite newsworthy, it is pretty hilarious, and definitely something you should know about. You can check out the first update of the series right here.
#5: And Now, Your Edits of the Week: You’ve Likely Seen Some of These. Now Watch All of GoPro’s Lines of Winter Together:
A Quick Shoutout to Hank Stowers for Filling Our Summer with POV Footy:
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Honestly, This is the Best Use of Zoa That We’ve Seen Yet. Watch and Learn:
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