Top Five Fridays: March 20, 2026
This week, we heard the results of the first ever NST Ski Super Sessions. Amongst the winners was Hannah Epsteyn, one of the future faces of Freeskiing. Image: Natural Selection Ski on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the March 20, 2026 edition! This week’s ski news roundup comes with mixed emotions as the end of ski season slowly draws near. On the competitive side of things, this time of year means we have plenty of exciting finals & championship action to look forward to. For us regular skiers though, this week’s weather has brought a significant hit to the season in several locations out West, ultimately leading to unexpectedly abrupt closures. We’ll share that news and more, but first, we want to quickly share an update of our own: this week, we held the 10th annual SkiEssentials Ski Test.
#0.5: Our 10th Annual Ski Test Has Officially Been Conducted:
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re well aware that at about this time every year, we spend three days testing a massive number of skis and snowboards as dozens of testers help us collect data for our annual Ski Test.
This year was no different as we once again invited a fleet of testers to spend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at Stowe, testing over 400 skis and snowboards across 20+ brands. While each iteration of the Ski Test comes with some certainties, like knowing that there will be some incredibly exciting new skis, and that we’re guaranteed three days of nonstop skiing and riding, there’s also a guaranteed uncertainty this time of year: the weather.
This time around, our Ski Test featured an array of conditions. Day 1 brought incredibly firm conditions that allowed us to put frontside skis to the ultimate test, while day 2 presented sunny skies, and day 3 saw the introduction of light snowfall. Across this classic East Coast March weather pattern, we were able to adequately test everything except the widest of powder skis.
From here, the content team will continue bringing reviews to finish up the regular season before hunkering down for the summer and grinding through literally thousands of photos, video clips, and tester reviews - eventually bringing it all together to present the 10th Annual SkiEssentials Ski Test sometime next Fall!
When we release it, you’ll know, and you won’t want to miss it.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
#1: FIS Recap: The World Cup Regular Season is Wrap. Now, it’s Finals Time:
Kicking things off as per usual this time of year, is our second to last FIS Alpine ski racing update of the season. This past week, both the men’s and women’s circuits competed in their final regular season races of the year, marking their last chance to qualify for finals prior to the cut line. On the women’s side, that meant slalom and giant slalom athletes had one more chance to qualify for finals, while the men were scheduled to have a Downhill and a Super G. Unfortunately that didn’t quite go to plan, but we’ll circle back on that in a moment. For now, let’s recap the latest action on the ladies’ side of things.
For the final two races of the regular season, the women’s circuit gathered in Are, Sweden for a Giant Slalom and a Slalom race last Saturday and Sunday. As it turns out, they found success in both. In the Giant Slalom, the women’s team was led by Paula Moltzan, who finished in 2nd place. For Moltzan, it was yet another strong result, and one that solidified her stated goal for the season: to become a consistent podium threat. While it could have been argued during the first half of the season that she had already achieved that goal, her results in the second half make it indisputable. Over the course of the 8 FIS World Cup races that took place in 2026 this season, Moltzan podiumed in 4 of them, good for 50%. When you focus in on just Giant Slalom races, her speciality, the stat gets even more impressive: in the 4 World Cup GS races so far in 2026, Moltzan has podiumed 3 times, good for 75%. In other words, no matter how you look at it, Moltzan has absolutely achieved her goal for this season.
Of course as is always the case with the U.S. Women’s team, Moltzan was far from the only athlete earning points. Just three spots back in the GS was Mikaela Shiffrin who took 5th place, followed by AJ Hurt in 9th, and Nina O’Brien in 15th.
The following day was the final Slalom race of the season, and while Mikaela had already locked up the crystal globe for the season, she entered the race anyways, likely in an effort to stay ahead in the overall standings race. Fortunately for Shiffrin, that plan worked out as she took home yet another World Cup Slalom victory, her 8th in 9 races. As a reminder, in the one race that she didn’t win this season, she took home second. Joining her in the points this race were Paula Moltzan in 5th and AJ Hurt in 14th.
On the men’s side of things, it was a slightly disappointing end to the season as both of the planned Super G races had to be cancelled. For U.S. athlete Kyle Negomir, the double cancellation was a particularly painful pill to swallow as he was trending up throughout the season and ultimately became the first athlete to miss the cut line, having finished the season in 26th.
Still, despite the disappointing end to the Super G season, Courchevel did successfully host the final Downhill race, and a few Americans took the opportunity to earn some extra points. Leading that charge was Ryan Cochran-Siegle who took 12th, followed by Wiley Maple in 21st, and Erik Arvidsson in 23rd.
Looking ahead, the top 25 athletes from each discipline across both the men’s and women’s divisions are now in Lillehammer, Norway for the World Cup Alpine Finals. Over the course of the next 4 days, each division will compete in each of the 4 disciplines as athletes look to finalize their scores in the season long cup races. To see a breakdown of what titles are still up for grabs, check out SkiRacing.com’s coverage of the men’s and women’s finals. We’ll be back next week with a full recap.
#2: The Freeride World Tour Returned Last Week With an Impressive Event in Haines, Alaska:
Next up in competitive ski news, is a recap from Haines, Alaska, where the Freeride World Tour finally was able to hold their third event of the season. As you’ll recall, it’s been a tricky season for the Tour as their first two events and the first World Championship event all went off according to plan, but were subsequently followed by three straight event cancellations. Ultimately, that meant athletes faced a two-event cut line this season, frustrating those who were unable to qualify for finals based on just two results. Still, despite the tough start, the Tour has always had two incredible venues lined up for finals in Haines, Alaska and Verbier, Switzerland. Last Saturday, the Haines event was held, and it absolutely lived up to the hype.
On a massive, dreamy venue with seemingly excellent snow conditions, the 6 ski women and 13 ski men who made the cut for finals put on a heck of a show. Unfortunately, that didn’t always mean perfectly executed runs. In fact, on the women’s side, 4 out of the 6 athletes fell, with 3 of them losing a ski. For the men, it was a similar story, with 6 out of 13 riders losing a ski. Still, despite the high DNF rate, the level of skiing was insanely high - even amongst those who crashed.
While the crash reel from this comp would include some jaw dropping moments, so too would the highlight reel. Of the top 3 ski men athletes, it could be argued that any one of them could’ve taken the top spot, with their points being separated by just 1.67. Ultimately, in third place, was Ross Tester who debuted a new zone that allowed him to show off everything from ultra smooth Alaskan powder turns, to technical doubles, and multiple 360’s. Coming in second was Ugo Troubat, whose run was certainly one of the faster ones as he found himself straightlining not only the midsection of the venue, but also a massive double towards the bottom. Above that, he linked multiple large 360’s with technical zones, ultimately impressing the judges quite a bit. In first place, however, was Toby Rafford, who had undoubtedly the move of the day as his first air featured a massive 360 in which the landing required a lightning quick slalom run through a tight, steep couloir. From there, Toby kept the pace up, linking a couple of drops before finally sending one of the biggest windlip 360’s of the day, and arguably the smoothest landing. For his efforts, Rafford was awarded the top spot.
From here, there’s just one event left on the schedule: the always thrilling Verbier Xtreme, featuring the iconic Bec des Rosses. That weather window runs from 3/28 - 4/5. Should all go to plan, we’ll look to recap that event as well as the whole FWT season in the first week of April!
#3: The Winners of the Natural Selection Tour Super Sessions Have Been Announced, Finalizing the Roster for the Haines Event:
The NST Super Session crew hiking their way to the top of Granite Chief. Image: Natural Selection Ski on Facebook
Keeping with the Freeride ski theme going, we also feel compelled to share the latest news from Natural Selection Ski, who just announced the results of their first ever ski qualifier event. With that event all wrapped up, the roster for the main event in Haines, Alaska is finally set.
Now, because the NST is a bit unique in how it forms its roster, let’s take a second to review how we got here. Ultimately, there are three pathways for an athlete to be invited to the NST stop in Alaska. First, some athletes auto-qualified for this year’s event by making semifinals at last year’s event. Next, there are those who were given wildcard invites at the discretion of the event’s advisory council. Finally, we have this last group of invites, which consists of athletes who qualified via the recent competition at Palisades. With the first two rounds of invites already known, let’s dig into the Palisades Qualifier and see what went down.
As we’ve come to expect from the NST, the Palisades Qualifier event didn’t follow a standard competition format. Rather than having a specific judging criteria or even scores, the event was labeled as a “super session,” and the event took on something of a jam format. That is, each rider got 4 runs down Palisades’s iconic Granite Chief peak. Across those runs, it didn’t necessarily matter if an athlete crashed, what mattered most was the overall impression that they made on the judges. With that in mind, athletes felt free to open things up a little more, taking more chances knowing that they didn’t need to stomp a full run in order to earn an invite.
Based on the highlight reel from the event shared by Red Bull, it looks as though the venue offered plenty of opportunities for athletes to showcase everything from technical chutes and doubles, to massive airs and freestyle tendencies. Ultimately though, after a day full of antics, two winners were announced. On the men’s side, it was Jonah Williams, a freeskiing specialist who has recently shifted his skillset to the backcountry. For the women, it was Hannah Epsteyn, a current IFSA Junior Freeski athlete who is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in the sport.
With the roster for the NST finals set, the athletes are currently in Haines, Alaska awaiting their competition day. While we may not know exactly when the event happens, we do know that the broadcast of the event is scheduled for April 14th, meaning you can expect a full recap in our April 17th edition of Top Five Fridays. Until then, we recommend giving Red Bull’s recap of the NST Ski Super Sessions a watch.
#4: Record Breaking Heatwave Threatens to Prematurely Early End Ski Seasons Across the West:
Chris Tomer's daily mountain forecast from earlier today. It's not looking good.
Finally, we’re rounding out this week with some depressing, but important news: the ski season is starting to come to an unceremoniously early end in many locations out west. As you likely know, it’s been a pretty tough season for just about every region north, south, and west of Denver, CO. While each region has had its moments of glorious snowfall, such as last week’s storm that rolled through the Pacific Northwest, or the storm that delivered over 100” to the Tahoe region over the course of 5 days back in February - the fact of the matter is that these blessings from the snowgods were often bookended by warm weather and/or rain. As a result, base depths have remained low at most resorts for most of the season. Now, with a heatwave making its way into the continental U.S., many resorts are beginning to call it a season.
Prior to this week, numerous ski areas across the west announced closing dates that come well ahead of schedule. While most of these ski areas are on the smaller side and don’t share the same high elevations as the large resorts in their area, the sheer number of closures in mid-March says all you need to know about the snowpack.
And then, this week’s news came. Starting in the middle of this week and continuing onto next week, much of the west will experience record setting temperatures. In areas like Phoenix, AZ, temperatures have already hit 110 degrees - normal in July, but unheard of in March. Taking a look at this map provided by Powder Magazine, you can see that almost the entire Rocky Mountain and Wasatch Mountain regions were forecasted to hit between 15-20 degrees above average temperatures this week. The impact of that is starting to be felt beyond just the smaller, lower elevation ski areas.
Case in point: just yesterday, we caught word that Snowbasin, Utah has decided to throw in the towel after this weekend, marking the first closure of what we’d consider a “major” ski area. In the report from Powder, it’s cited that the resort received just 124” of snow this season - roughly 38% of its average of 325”. If all of this has you down, it’s worth keeping this in mind: while this was a historically bad year for Snowbasin, just three years ago the resort had the most snow it had ever had. The positive spin on this situation is that it means this year could prove to be a fluke and the West should be able to bounce back next season. The pessimistic version is this though: erratic winters are the new norm, and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen each season. For now, all there is to do in most places is accept that 25/26 was a forgettable year, while holding out hope for 26/27.