Top Five Fridays: July 7, 2023
Lead Image: After a challenging few years filled with setbacks, U.S. Ski Team Athlete Alice Merryweather is aiming for a resurgence in 2023. Check out her full story below! Image: U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team
#1: Sweden Suddenly Emerges as the Most Likely Host for 2030 Winter Olympics:
Members of Sweden’s Winter Olympic team, who may finally play host to the games in 2030, over a century after their last hosting duties. Image: Are's Skistar Village on Facebook
Hello, and welcome back to Top Five Fridays for the July 7, 2023 edition! I’d like to start off with a quick apology to my co-hosts for my absence last week. As they hypothesized in the weekly video recap, there are, in fact, absolutely no word processors in Europe and it would have been impossible for me to recap the ski news. Had I known this prior to going on vacation, I certainly would have never left. That’s my bad. But, I think we can all agree that they did a swell job of covering the news last week, and now I’m back to resume my role for the foreseeable future. Now on that note, let’s jump right into this week’s topics!
First things first, we finally caught wind of a headline that’s been bubbling up for a few weeks now: Sweden is drawing ever closer to entering its bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics. This update comes as the result of a four month feasibility study that the country began back in February, which ultimately found that Sweden has “the opportunity, know-how, and will to arrange the Winter Games in 2030.” Should the country win the bid, it would be the first time they’ve hosted since the 1912 Summer Games, although not for a lack of trying. Over the course of the last century, the country has submitted nine bids to host the games, all without success. Now, on its tenth attempt, it looks like the nation might finally land the games as there may not be any other viable bids.
The last time we checked in on this story, the dynamic was slightly different. At that time, the U.S. was making a push to host the games in Salt Lake City in either 2030 or 2034, while Sapporo, Japan was also showing interest for 2030. Vancouver, British Columbia was also in the running, but a lack of support from the government made the bid unlikely. Since then, Japan’s bribery and integrity issues during the 2020 Olympics have forced the Japanese Olympic Committee to push their potential bid back to 2034 while Salt Lake City organizers also decided to push their bid campaign back to 2034 so as not to compete with Los Angeles’s attempts to host the 2028 Summer Games. Ultimately, what this all amounts to is that if Sweden enters a bid to host, they’ll likely win as there may not be any other options. For what it’s worth, the nation is also clearly well suited to host the Olympics, with Are ready to host mountain events, and facilities in nearby Latvia ready to host bobsled, skeleton, and luge events. All in all, this would be an exciting location for the games, while also clearing a path for the U.S. to potentially host in both 2028 and 2034. As always, we’ll be sure to keep you posted as this story develops. For now, check out this recap from ABC News.
#2: Jury Dismisses $15 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Mt. Bachelor:
A shot from Mt. Bachelor, where liability lawsuits have been of growing concern for the resort. This week, a $15 million lawsuit against the ski area was dismissed. Image: Mt. Bachelor on Facebook
In other news this week, we’ve got a story that moves the needle in regards to a really difficult subject. Last week, a jury in Bend, Oregon dismissed a $15 million wrongful death lawsuit against Mt. Bachelor, in which a father was suing the resort for the loss of his son. The incident in question occurred on a powder day at the resort back in March of 2018. On that day, both Alfonso Braun and Nicole Panet-Raymond passed away after falling into tree-wells. In a joint lawsuit filed by the parents of Braun and Panet-Raymond, it was alleged that Mt. Bachelor failed to monitor snow conditions and allowed dangerous terrain to remain open. Ultimately the lawsuit was separated into two cases, with Braun’s being dismissed this week while Panet-Raymond’s is still pending.
Mt. Bachelor’s defense to both cases revolves around the inherent risk disclaimers that skiers and riders agree to when they recreate at the resort. In the state of Oregon, a number of lawsuits have popped up in recent years which have called the validity of these disclaimers into question, while causing resorts to live in a world of uncertainty, never knowing if they’re a lawsuit or two away from being forced to close. Prior to this week’s news, we’ve shared a number of stories on this topic. Back in May of 2022, we shared the news that Mt. Hood Skibowl had decided to close its mountain bike park indefinitely as the result of losing a $10.5 million wrongful death lawsuit. Shortly after that, we shared news of another wrongful death lawsuit at Mt. Bachelor in which the father of a child who died skiing at the resort was seeking $49 million in damages. That lawsuit is still pending. About a month later, we shared yet another story from Mt. Bachelor, where the resort decided to offer a discounted rate for guests willing to sign an additional waiver, clearing the mountain of responsibility in the event of an incident. Ultimately, the culmination of all of these stories is that in the wake of the ruling at Mt. Hood Skibowl, resorts are finding themselves in uncertain waters, where it’s hard to know whether their liability waivers will hold up in court, or if they’re constantly at risk by enabling guests to participate in downhill recreation. With this week’s ruling, the needle moves slightly in favor of waivers holding up in court, but with multiple cases still pending, it’s too soon to know for sure. To learn more about the outcome of this particular case, check in with KTVZ.
#3: Stowe / Smuggs Connecting Gondola Still Very Preliminary, Smuggs Owner Asks for Additional Business Ideas:
A view from Smugglers Notch, looking out at terrain accessed via Stowe’s Fourrunner Quad. Connecting access to this terrain via gondola has been a dream for Smugg’s management team for a number of years. Image: Smugglers Notch on Facebook
Moving right along, our next highlight this week is a follow up to some huge regional news that broke here at the start of June, when it was revealed that Smuggler’s Notch and Stowe have been in secret discussions for years regarding the potential for connecting the two resorts via gondola. For Smugg’s the local response to the news was swift and definite: Smuggs had lost their trust, and they feared the erosion of culture at their independent resort. This week, we caught an article from Powder.com that led us to some insights from Smuggler’s Notch owner Bill Stritzler that we think are worth sharing with our audience. Starting with that Powder article, we learned that in the aftermath of the story breaking, Stritzler reached out to Smuggs faithful in the type of way that only an independent ski resort operator would: by asking for additional suggestions.
In an Email sent to Smuggs pass holders this week, Stritzler addressed the split reactions amongst those who call the resort home, noting that the more local a skier or rider was to the resort, the more passionate their disapproval for the plan was. From there, Stritzler briefly pleaded his case, pointing out the need to remain competitive in the current ski resort climate, before ultimately opening the floor for feedback and suggestions. While we’re not sure how open Stritzler and Smuggs truly are to outside ideas, it’s at least noteworthy that the option has been made available.
Finally, before wrapping up this story, we also want to point out that in the aftermath of the revelation, Stritzler spoke with both StormSkiing.com and the Stowe Reporter to share additional insights into where Smuggs is at with this decision, and why they weren’t forthcoming about their discussions with Stowe. First and foremost, as we briefly mentioned, Smuggs has found itself at something of a “do or die'' moment, where management feels as though they have to do something in order to avoid being swallowed up by resort conglomeration. To them, this concept is exactly that: a way of piggybacking off of Stowe to ensure a constant stream of visitors to Smuggs. As for talk of a Vail acquisition, or even combined lift tickets to access both? It’s far too soon for that. At the moment, all that this gondola plan amounts to is an exploration of the feasibility of the idea. If, and only if, it gets approval, then talks between Stowe and Smuggs will continue in regards to how this partnership might come to fruition. Until then, we recommend checking out StormSkiing’s discussion with Stritzler here, as well as their coverage of his open Email to the Smuggs community, here.
#4: After Two Years of Trials and Tribulations, the U.S. Ski Team’s Alice Merryweather is Ready For a Return to Racing:
After having the best season of her life cut short due to Covid, a series of incidents have kept Alice Merryweather from competing. Now, with all that behind her, she looks to make her resurgence this coming season. Image: Alice Merryweather on Facebook
Finally, we round things out this week in our preferred manner: by sharing a profile piece on an interesting figure within the ski world. This time around, it’s a profile on U.S. Ski Team athlete Alice Merryweather, brought to us by SkiRacing.com. If you’ve only begun following alpine ski racing in the past couple of years, the name might be new to you. Just before the pandemic though, in February of 2020, the then 23 year old was just starting to turn heads and her career appeared to be on an upward trajectory. In a race on February 23, 2020, Merryweather earned the best result of her career: a 5th place finish in a Super-G at Crans-Montana. Then, incident by incident, her world started to change.
As we all know, March 2020 was the month in which the world at large came to a screeching halt. Just as she was starting to see strong results, the FIS World Cup Season came to end and Merryweather’s progress was put on hold. Simultaneously, she was dealing with an eating disorder that became dramatically worse over the course of the summer. As a result, Merryweather opted out of the 2020-2021 season, and instead enrolled in a treatment program. Several months later, in the Spring of 2021, Merryweather re-emerged, ready to move past the disorder and share her story with the world. She appeared to be on the verge of a comeback. Unfortunately, life had other plans for her as she suffered a devastating injury during a downhill training run in Switzerland in September 2021. Now, instead of feeling ready to return to the FIS circuit, Merryweather was forced to rehabilitate a torn MCL and ACL, as well as a brutal compound fractured tibia. Needless to say, the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons were a wash for Merryweather.
Now, more than two seasons removed from her last race, Merryweather is finally prepared to retake the slopes. After fully rehabilitating her injuries, and finding herself mentally stronger than she’s been in over half a decade, Merryweather feels focused and ready to give this thing another shot. While it’s anyone’s guess as to what her performance level will be when she finally returns to racing, it’s safe to say that she’s shown enough fortitude to suggest that the sky’s the limit. If Merryweather can return to her peak, and be a consistent top 10, if not top 5 finisher, the U.S. Women’s ski team may once again be the best in the world between Shiffrin, Moltzan, and Merryweather. Only time will tell what happens in the season ahead. For now, go give the profile piece a read and get yourself excited for Merryweather’s return.