Top Five Fridays: December 29, 2023
Lead Image: Another year into her already record setting career and Shiffrin is showing no signs of slowing down, as evidenced by back to back wins this week. More on that below! Image: Mikaela Shiffrin on Facebook
#1: FIS Alpine Updates - Shiffrin Proves She’s Still in Her Prime:
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the December 29, 2023 edition! Being a holiday week, traditional ski news was a bit slow this week, so rather than our typical industry news, we’re bringing you a trio of highlights this week that have a bit of a different feel to them. You’ll see what we mean shortly, but first, let’s talk about ski racing.
This week, the women’s schedule was short and sweet compared to last week, with just two races held in Lienz, Austria: a giant slalom on Thursday, and a slalom race earlier today. As you know, some weeks we like to build suspense as we share race results. Other weeks, like this one, we prefer to cut right to the chase: it was a big week for Mikaela Shiffrin. In both the giant slalom and slalom race, Shiffrin took home the gold, marking her 92nd and 93rd career wins. While these wins didn’t necessarily have an immediate impact on Shiffrin’s pursuit of any new records, the races were exciting regardless - particularly the slalom race. In that one, Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan finished the first run in first and second places respectively, with Shiffrin holding a full one second lead heading into finals. In the second run, Moltzan was skiing beautifully, being just a tenth of a second behind Shiffrin’s time heading into the final pitch. Unfortunately, she straddled a gate on the home stretch, resulting in a DNF. With Moltzan out, Shiffrin took over with the final run of finals, and absolutely dominated. When all was said and done, Shiffrin won the race by a ridiculous 2.34 seconds. In other words, in her 14th season of World Cup racing, Shiffrin is still absolutely in her prime. Before rounding out the women’s race highlights, we do want to take a quick second to acknowledge AJ Hurt and Paula Moltzan for taking home 11th and 16th places respectively in the giant slalom race.
On the men’s side of racing, the circuit started the week in Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy for a slalom race, in which no U.S. athletes made it past the first run. From there, the circuit moved onto Bormio for a downhill and super g race. In the downhill, Wiley Maple led the U.S. Team with a 12th place finish, followed by Jared Goldberg in 27th and Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 31st, just missing the points. A day later, in the super g, the results were equally as impressive, with four athletes finishing in the top 30. In that race, it was Jared Goldberg leading the charge with an 18th place finish, just .09 seconds ahead of Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who finished in 19th. Behind them were Sam Morse in 26th, and Kyle Negomir in 27th. All in all, it was a modestly successful weekend in Bormio for the men.
Looking ahead, it’ll be a quiet week for both circuits as the holiday season continues. When they return, it will be for a giant slalom and slalom race on the weekend of January 6th and 7th, with the women competing in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and the men taking the courses in Adelboden, Switzerland. That means we won’t have any results to share next week, but we’ll do our best to track down some ski racing type news regardless!
#2: Aspen Skiing Company Sues British Luxury Fashion Brand for Shooting Photos at Their Resort and Printing Them on Clothes:
An image of the Perfect Moment model squad on a recent trip to Aspen. Image: Perfect Moment on Instagram
Alright, now let’s shift gears a bit and talk about some headlines we caught this week that are a bit different than what we normally discuss here on Top Five Fridays. For example, consider this headline: the Aspen Skiing Company is suing high-end British ski wear designer Perfect Moment for shooting photos at their exclusive ASPEN X Beach Club, with the intention of using them in the creation of apparel. Now, this story is a bit of a two parter, and it’s about a slice of the ski industry that isn’t necessarily in our wheelhouse, but bear with us, because we’ll have a point to make by the end of all this.
First things first, let’s talk about the issue that came to light this week. Essentially what happened was, Perfect Moment sent some of its models to Aspen, and paid for their access to the ultra posh ASPEN X Beach Club. At that on-mountain club, which features beach style chairs to create a unique beachlike vibe on the mountain, Perfect Moment shot photos that they later printed onto a line of jackets and leggings. Those products are ultimately at the center of this lawsuit as Aspen is suing the brand, saying, “Perfect Moment’s attempt to trade on ASC’s reputation and goodwill deceives consumers into believing that Perfect Moment is affiliated with or endorsed by ASC, causing ASC both monetary and reputational damage.” In other words, Aspen is claiming that Perfect Moment shot photos at their iconic club in an effort to leverage their branding to sell more products.
In researching this topic, we also learned that the beef between Aspen and Perfect Moment didn’t start with this incident. Rather, it goes back to March 2021, when the ski company sent the fashion brand a cease and desist letter for images it shared of their models wearing Perfect Moment apparel on Aspen’s lifts and at the mountains. In other words, in this incident, Aspen essentially told a company that it couldn’t share photos that were taken at its resort. For us, this is where the story gets interesting.
While the initial issue here never escalated into a lawsuit, a cease and desist is still a legal action, and it begs the question, “do ski resorts have the right to prevent other businesses from shooting marketing content at their resort?” In this case, it’s reasonable that Aspen could demand that images of their iconic club not be produced on products made for sale. But, is it reasonable to say that that same brand can’t shoot images at their mountain to post on social media? What about a different brand, like a college kid in a dorm selling hats to their friends? Could they get a cease and desist letter for taking a photo of a beanie at the mountain? Or what if it’s an athlete - someone who gets paid by sponsors to share their brand on social media? Could an athlete like Mikaela Shiffrin potentially be sued for posting an image and tagging Atomic in it? What we’re trying to get at here with this line of questioning is that the concept of sending cease and desist letters for social media posts feels like a slippery slope. But, now we’ve reached the point in this highlight where we ask for your opinion. Would a ski resort be justified in issuing a cease and desist for any brand or individual profiting off of content produced at their ski area? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
#3: With its New Ski Resort Failing, North Korea Looking to Invite Russian Tourists to Increase Revenue:
One of the few images available of North Korea’s Masikryong Ski Resort. Image: Wikipedia
Next up this week is another piece of global ski news regarding a topic that’s both complex and intriguing as it highlights one of the many ways that the ski industry finds itself a silently significant influence on world events. First, let’s start with the headline: this week, it was announced that North Korea is courting Russian tourists to its relatively new ski resort, Masikryong, through a slew of discounts and proposed travel routes. There’s a lot to unpack here, obviously, but let’s begin with looking at the resort itself. Constructed back in 2013, Masikryong is already facing significant financial challenges. The last time we reported on the resort was back in February 21, 2020, when we shared that North Korea’s leader Kim Jung Un was looking to create more ski resorts in an effort to bolster tourism to the area. At that time, we knew that Un was courting Chinese and Russian tourists in particular, and that climate change was already having an impact on Masikryong’s financial struggles. Still, at that time, the discussion centered around Un’s plans to build more resorts.
Three years and a global pandemic later, and the trajectory of that story’s changed a bit. Now, instead of talking about building new resorts, we’re focusing on North Korea’s strained efforts to attract any tourism to the resort that they can. Noting the limited number of countries that are even allowed to travel to North Korea, the country has recently doubled down on enticing Russians to the country. On the flipside, since the war in Ukraine began, Russians are also limited where they can travel to. As such, travel agreements between the two nations make perfect sense. So while the story itself is focused on increasing tourism to a struggling ski resort, it’s impossible to ignore the political backdrop as leaders of both North Korea and Russia are seen as something akin to villains. Now, with both countries facing opposition from a majority of the world, they’re turning to each other for support. While this particular story is simple on the surface, it’s hard to ignore its small but significant role in strengthening the bond between two of the world’s most problematic countries. To learn more, check out this coverage from The Sun.
#4: Imagine: a Product That Lets You Ski an Endless Run. Now, You Can, Thanks to The Snow Tunnel:
Finally, we end this week with a highlight that’s just plain fun. Unfortunately we didn’t catch this one in time for Christmas, but we wanted to share this unique new product regardless. Introducing the Snow Tunnel: a giant rotating tube that you can ski or snowboard in, resulting in a never ending slope. To be sure, this is a bit of a wild idea, and the concept of skiing in what’s essentially a massive hamster wheel brings up endless questions. For example: what happens if you fall? Do you ever stop, or do you just fall endlessly until the operator makes it stop? How fast does it go? How does it work? It’s marketed as having a “snow surface made from real frozen water”, but in watching the video, it’s hard to tell just what the surface is, or how it sticks to the tube when it’s upside down - seemingly defying gravity. In some of the shots, the Tunnel also has a box attached to its outer edge, allowing riders to attempt to slide it.
Despite all of our skepticism and amusement, we have to admit, there probably are some practical applications for this product, especially as its creators continue to develop the concept. For example, in other images, the Tunnel is seen with beginners holding onto a bar, enabling them to learn how to get a feel for their edges and balance. For learning purposes, this could prove to be a useful tool, particularly when you consider its ability to be installed just about anywhere. Just imagine: Vail decides to install a handful of these in a city like Los Angeles, convincing city goers to get a feel for skiing before ever heading to the mountains. Will it happen? Probably not. But, maybe! Anyways, we always love seeing unique and novel products like this one, and figured you might as well!
And on that note, we end our coverage for 2023! Have a happy and safe New Years everybody, we’ll see you in 2024!