Chris Davenport. DPS Skis. A match made in heaven? We think probably yes. More on that in highlight #4! Image: DPS Skis

#1: Nendaz Invitational Rebrands as “Backcountry Invitational”, Announces Global Events:

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Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the August 22, 2025 edition! This week, we’ve got another total grab bag of ski news, with four highlights coming from four entirely different areas of our sport. From news from Nendaz and Neom, to updates from Eileen Gu and Chris Davenport, as well as word of a new East Coast multipass, this week’s news is truly all over the map. We’ll explore each of these topics further by the end of this weekly report, but let’s start by talking about the latest from the Nendaz Backcountry Invitational, which has just gone global.

If you’re a regular here, you might remember when we covered the Nendaz Invitational back in January 2024. At that time, the event was in its fourth year, but new to us. Having received incredible snowfall for that year’s event, the footage that results from it catapulted it onto our radar and it quickly became one of our must watch events. For those who remain uninitiated, the Nendaz Invitational is essentially what would happen if you took a slopestyle event and put it on natural terrain on a mid-size big mountain. In other words, there are man made features like jumps and rails, but they’re in an ungroomed backcountry setting with a moderate freeride pitch. If you’re familiar with the now annual Silver Belt Classic at Sugarbowl, CA - it’s a lot like that.

This week, we learned that the event is beginning to experiment with the idea of making it a global circuit, similar in a sense to the Freeride World Tour. Prior to this week, the Nendaz Invitational has always been a singular event, held at Nendaz resort in Switzerland and taking place within a one month weather window. This week though, we learned that event organizers are hoping to rename their creation the “Backcountry Invitational”, with the intention of making it a recurring, global series. Before diving head first into that however, they first want to determine if it’s something that they can feasibly replicate. As such, they’ve announced two additional trial locations: Ushuaia, Argentina, and Treble Cone, New Zealand.

Earlier this week, the first ever Backcountry Invitational event was held in Argentina, and all in all, it seems to have been a success. According to former FWT athlete Kendall Goodman, it was one of the “coolest contest experiences” he’s ever had. That’s encouraging to hear, as judging by the footage from the event, conditions were looking pretty firm. Still, you can see the vision. While Nendaz iterations have always waited for perfect weather, that might not be possible if the event were to include multiple venues and locations each season. In that case, there must be another unifying thread. That thread, it would appear, is the use of manmade jumps in natural terrain to create something akin to a slopestyle course. In this setting, athletes are forced to be able to ski challenging terrain, land on natural snow, and optimize their use of transitions to find a way down the mountain. To the untrained ear, the distinction between this event, a slopestyle event, or a Freeride World Tour event may sound subtle, but when you watch the accompanying video, you get it. This is a slopestyle contest on natural terrain.

While we don’t know all of the details regarding future plans for this event, we do know that Treble Cone’s weather window starts on 8/25, so we can expect to see another Backcountry Invitational update shortly. From there, we’ll have to see if they have any more tricks up their sleeve for the winter ahead. For now, you can know what we know by checking out this report from Powder.

#2: For Casual New England Skiers, the New Snow Triple Play Pass Might Be the Ticket:

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Next up in ski news this week is the announcement of a brand new multipass. As you know, here on SkiEssentials, we tend to talk a lot about how there’s a perfect ski for each skier’s “ski personality”. On Chairlift Chat, we’ve discussed a similar concept in regards to multipasses, noting how we’re entering an era in which niche pass options create more choices for consumers, making it possible to find the perfect pass option for each skier’s specific needs. This week, we expand on that topic with the news of the Snow Triple Play pass - a multipass that’s set to go on sale September 1st, providing access to 15 partner resorts across New England and Eastern Canada.

Before we get into the details of this particular pass, we want to quickly revisit a conversation we were having last week in regards to Vail’s new Epic Friend Tickets. This new ticket program, which allows Epic Pass holders to buy a daily lift ticket for a friend for 50% off the window price, is in part an effort by Vail to introduce new skiers to the sport. While the ticket leverages a social component, it also aims to tackle the issue of price, lowering the cost of entry to first time skiers. Keep that concept in mind for a minute while we share details of this new Snow Triple Play pass.

When this new pass goes on sale, it’ll be available for $199.00. For that price, pass holders will have access to 15 resorts scattered across the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Here’s the catch though: unlike traditional multipasses like Epic or Ikon, the Snow Triple Play pass offers a total of three days of skiing, with up to two at the same mountain. In other words, this pass is a great option for skiers to pre-pay for 3 days of skiing for a price of $66.33 each, accessing any 2-3 of the 15 resorts.

Bringing this back full circle, it’s important to note that this pass most likely isn’t in strong consideration for a majority of our readers. If you’re reading Chairlift Chat in August, chances are you ski more than three times a year. But, that doesn’t mean this pass doesn’t stand to serve a valuable purpose in the ski world. Keeping the new Epic Friend Ticket in mind, it’s worth noting that both pass options aim to do the same thing: encourage new or occasional participation in the sport. While there will likely be some who buy the Snow Triple Play pass because they only want to ski three times a year, it’s equally likely that the pass will be something of a gateway for some currently recreational skiers to deepen their love for the sport. Of course being a brand new product, we don’t know for sure what the market response will be like, but from our vantage point, it certainly seems like a concept that could work.

If you’re interested in learning more about this new pass, or know someone who might benefit from it, you can learn more from their official website.

#3: The Inevitable is Happening: Saudi Arabia’s Grandiose Ski Area Trojena is Hitting Serious Complications:

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Moving right along, our next topic this week is an update from Trojena, the artificial ski resort being built in Saudi Arabia. Now, it would be pretty easy to get lost in the backstory of this one as it reads like a work of science fiction based in a dystopian future. Rather than rewrite the novel that is Neom, we’ll spare you and just cover the highlights here.

Way back in 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a $1.5 trillion project called “Project Neom”, which would be a series of construction projects making up a grandiose new megacity. Within this new city were plans for 5 “regions”, amongst which were a floating city, a 660’ wide x 110 mile long x 1,600 foot tall city called “The Line”, and Trojena - an artificial ski resort to be built in the desert mountains. At the time of the announcement, we focused on the Trojena portion of the plan as it directly pertains to skiing, and while we remained unbiased, it was hard not to think that the plan was overly ambitious. Then, in October 2022, it was announced that Trojena had been selected for the 2029 Asian Winter Games, despite remaining completely unbuilt. Again, our skepticism and intrigue rose simultaneously.

Fast forward to this week, and we’re finally catching wind of some news that feels all but inevitable: Trojena is facing challenges. At first the news trickled out this week, but it’s become a full on deluge of details. Taking center stage in the development issues is the estimated $5 billion, 2.8 km artificial lake being built for the resort. Aesthetically speaking, this lake is meant to serve as a hallmark of the resort, creating a futuristic and iconic setting for the base of the resort. Practically speaking, the lake is also meant to serve as the snowmaking reservoir for the ski area which will need to rely almost entirely on artificial snow. Unfortunately though, it seems as though constructing this massive lake is a bit more challenging than expected. In addition to the costs of building the lake itself, engineers are finding the process of filling it to be more costly and complex than originally anticipated.

In addition to struggles surrounding the creation of the mandatory water reservoir, the core concept for the mountain village itself is also lagging way behind schedule. Being called, “The Vault,” the concept for the core of Trojena’s mountain village was to quite literally bore out a portion of a mountain, and fill the core with a city. More specifically, to build the mountain village, engineers have to first hollow out the equivalent of 3,600 olympic swimming pools worth of stone. Then, they have to stabilize the man made cavern with roughly 3,000 tension cables. Only then can they begin constructing the village itself. Again, much like with the artificial lake, engineers are lagging behind projections, with currently just one tension cable being installed per day. At that rate, it’s estimated that completion of The Vault could take at least another decade. Some quick napkin math shows that this would put its completion well beyond 2029, suggesting that it won’t be anywhere near ready in time for the Asian Winter Games.

This, of course, is where the tension in this story happens. As you might guess, winning the bid for the 2029 Games was a massive success for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who wants to use Trojena as a highlight piece to show the world the incredible engineering that his country is capable of. The trouble is, there’s a very real chance that the ski area won’t be ready by then. Initially expected to be completed by 2026, there currently isn’t a realistic timeline in place. While the Saudis are adamant in hosting the games, they’re also currently working through a number of contingency plans and scaled down versions in hopes of finding a way to make it happen. As has always been the case, we’ll continue to follow this story with healthy amounts of intrigue and skepticism. For now, you can learn more about the latest in Trojena by checking out this report from MEPMiddleEast.com, or this one from LuxuryLaunches.com.

#4: Athlete Update Double Header: Eileen Gu Leaves Hill on a Stretcher & Chris Davenport Joins DPS Skis:

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Finally, we’re rounding out ski news this week with a quick double header highlight featuring updates from two big name athletes in the sport. Between the two updates, there’s some bad news and some good news, so to keep things traditional, we’ll lead with the bad news.

Earlier this week, freeski superstar Eileen Gu took a serious fall while training in New Zealand. At the moment, we haven’t heard much in terms of details regarding the injury, but we do know that the crash was severe enough that she was taken to the hospital in a stretcher. Fortunately though, despite the severity of the rescue, she appears to be in decent shape and decent spirits. Later that day, Gu reportedly said that she hoped to return to snow soon, but was waiting on clearance from her team. As for the cause of the fall itself? Again, we don’t know the details, but in the announcement Gu posted to Chinese social media site Weibo, she requested that fans give her space while training, saying that interactions interfere with her mindset. So, at the end of the day, we don’t know too much about this incident, other than Gu went down hard enough to require a medical evacuation, but that she’s hopeful to return. To learn more about this incident, check out the report from South China Morning Post.

In other professional skier news, we caught a more uplifting update from Chris Davenport, who recently lost the support of his ski sponsor, Peak Skis. As you’ll recall, Davenport was one of several big names who signed major contracts with Bode Miller’s ski brand. Unfortunately though, Peak Skis closed up shop back in June after seemingly overextending themselves in the marketing and inventory departments, leaving Davenport in the lurch. This week though, we learned that he’s quickly found a new home, and one that seems quite fitting: DPS Skis.

Earlier this year, Davenport independently decided to start skiing DPS skis. We’re not exactly sure what led to that decision or what conversations followed, but we do know that Davenport has now joined the DPS team in a pretty substantial capacity. More than just another team rider, Davenport has signed on to become the brand’s Head of Ambassador Relations and Field Testing. In other words, he’s in a role that combines that of team manager with brand relations and community building efforts. Mix in the role of field testing and ultimately what Davenport’s role is is what any veteran skier’s role should be: share extensive ski knowledge with the engineering team, while also ensuring good relationships between the brand, their athletes, and their customers. All in all, while it may have been a tumultuous year for Davenport, we can’t help but think this update will prove to be an excellent match for both parties. You can learn more about this story via the press release from DPS Skis.

#4.5: Our Brand New Gear Finder Just Launched!:

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Before we wrap things up this week, we want to quickly sneak in a bonus highlight, just letting you know that we’ve just launched a brand new gear finder on the site. This new feature’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally brought it to fruition. This new tool, used in conjunction with our Ski Test results, comparison articles, and reviews, will make it easier than ever to find the perfect ski for you. Once you’re done taking in these upcoming edits, we highly recommend heading over to the gear finder page and giving it a whirl!

#5: And Now, Your Edits of the Week: Preseason is Officially Back, Now That the Trailer For TGR’s 30th Film, “Pressure Drop” is Here:

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MSP Has Also Joined the Preseason Party, With the Release of Their Trailer for “After the Snowfall”:

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If You Don’t Go Searching for Snow in the Tetons in August, “Are You a True Die Hard Skier?”:

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For Those of Us Who Have Ever Called a Small Ski Area “Home”, This Blue Hills Mini Doc is Sure to Bring out the Feels:

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Finally, Check Out Sammy’s Editor’s Cut From Kamase:

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*** Some Explicit Language in Soundtrack ***

Written by Matt McGinnis on 08/22/25