Top Five Fridays: October 10, 2025
After a tumultuous season, Shiffrin seeks slalom redemption at the upcoming Olympics. Image: Mikaela Shiffrin on Facebook
#1: Shiffrin to Eliminate Downhill Races From Her Schedule, Opting to Focus on Giant Slalom and Slalom Races Ahead of the Olympics:
With 15 World Cup seasons, 101 wins, and 3 Olympic appearances under her belt, Mikaela Shiffrin is entering the 2025/2026 season with the type of laser focus that only a veteran athlete can have. Image: Mikaela Shiffrin on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the October 10, 2025 edition! While it might seem hard to believe, we’re coming up fast on the start of ski season and the early signs are everywhere. Ski movie premiers are being held at theaters, colleges, and bars across the country. Yard signs for ski swaps are popping up in public spaces everywhere. Ski areas are firing up their snowguns for testing. Mountaintop after mountaintop is being dusted with snow. Perhaps most telling though, is that the official start of the FIS World Cup Alpine season is just over two weeks away, with the annual Soelden slalom races scheduled for October 25th - 26th. Our first topic this week is indirectly related to that race, while the next three each tell their own unique stories. From the ski industry’s new challenges with the U.S. Forest Service, to more updates from the insurance situation in Oregon, and goats in Vermont - this week’s news has a little something for everyone. And, if somehow it doesn’t, don’t worry - the edits this week are particularly good. With all of that in mind, let’s get things started with a familiar name: Mikaela Shiffrin.
This week, the Associated Press shared an article in which they shed some light on Shiffrin’s plans for the upcoming season. As we all recall, last year was a tough one for the top skier in women's alpine racing, as a crash in the giant slalom race at Killington left her sidelined for a majority of the year. While that crash left her with a physical injury that needed plenty of rehab to work through, it also left her with a mental injury as well. Back in May, she revealed to the world through a self-penned article in The Players Tribune that she’d been working through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well. While this condition can come about and present itself in an infinite number of ways, for Shiffrin, it manifested itself as a cocktail of confusion. In the article, she recalls feeling everything from a lack of focus, to fear, to disinterest, and even a full disconnect between her athletic mind and body. All of this is to say, for a period of time, Mikaela was down bad.
In the update from the AP this week, we’re starting to learn more about what that experience means for Shiffrin moving forward. First, the good news: after a full offseason of training, including plenty of time on snow in Argentina, she’s reportedly feeling like herself again. After spending a considerable amount of time focusing on GS training, Shiffrin’s mind-body connection is back and she’s feeling good ahead of the season. This time around though, there’s a bit of a catch: she’s announced that she will absolutely not be racing in any Downhill events, and participation in Super G events is yet to be determined.
Not to dwell too heavily on the more challenging periods of Mikaela’s career, but it’s worth noting ahead of this Olympic season that Shiffrin’s last Olympic showing was hugely disappointing to herself and her fans. As such, the 2026 Olympics in Milano Cortina signify not just a bounce back from physical and mental injury, but also a chance at redemption from her last appearance at the Games.
With all of this in mind, Shiffrin’s announced her intentions to focus solely on slalom and giant slalom to start the season. For her, the primary objective is to remain focused on her two best disciplines in order to be ready for the Olympic events. In doing so, she also aims to reduce her workload by lessening the number of races ahead of the event. Of course, being the competitor that she is, she hasn’t completely closed the door on the idea of Super G races as well, saying that her plan is to race in the Super G in St. Moritz, Switzerland on December 14th. If that race goes well, she’ll consider adding it to her roster ahead of the Olympics. If not, she’ll simply defer until after the games.
At this point in Mikaela’s career, she’s already accomplished more than quite literally any of her competitors, with a few niche exceptions. As such, years like this aren’t necessarily just about adding more medals to her record-holding totals. Instead, years like this are about her legacy, and it appears clear that she’s well aware of that. With a lot on the line in 2025-2026, we’re excited to see Shiffrin embrace her veteran era, taking a sound, strategic approach to accomplishing the goals that matter to her most rather than chasing wins at every opportunity. To learn more about Shiffrin’s latest plans, check in with the Associated Press.
#2: Ski Resorts Facing Serious Development Delays as a Result of DOGE Cuts to the U.S. Forest Service:
Interested in learning more about what was shared at the 2025 Ski Area COO Summit? Clear 2.5 hours off your schedule and give the full replay a watch!
Next up this week is a potentially contentious topic that we’ll do our best to navigate: due to recent cuts made to the U.S. Forest Service by DOGE, ski areas are having a much more difficult time getting projects approved. Now, there’s a lot to unpack from this seemingly simple statement, so bear with us while we take this story from the top.
As well educated readers of Top 5 Fridays, you’re already aware of the lengthy environmental approval processes required for the alteration of U.S. Forest Service land. In the ski industry, where 116 ski areas operate entirely or partially on federal land, that means there are countless development efforts every year that need to go through an in depth environmental approval process. From significant updates like new trails, buildings, and lifts, to even seemingly minor ones, like expanding parking lots in a base area - all of these efforts need to undergo environmental impact studies, followed by an approval process before they can move forward. This, in turn, means that ski resorts and the U.S. Forest Service offices in ski resort territory find themselves working closely together on a wide variety of concurrent projects.
Enter: the DOGE cuts.
Last Friday, at Summit County Colorado’s 2025 Ski Area COO Summit, the Chief Operating Officers from Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper, Keystone, and Loveland gathered in front of an audience to discuss news and plans from their respective resorts. As a part of this summit, there was also a Q&A session, in which former Breckenridge COO John Buhler asked the panel if they’ve been impacted by cuts to the Forest Service. Based on the quotes, it almost seems as if this was a planted question as the response was unanimous and straight to the point. In the words of Copper Mountain’s COO Dustin Lyman, “It’s been pretty horrible honestly.”
In coverage from the Summit Daily, we learn a bit more about the specifics behind the frustrating situation. According to their report, roughly 3,400 U.S. Forest Service employees were laid off as a direct result of DOGE cuts. Additionally, hundreds more employees have resigned, a number that includes top officials at the White River National Forest, which is home to 11 ski areas. As a result, the agencies that the ski resorts rely on in order to continue to grow and develop their businesses, are working with skeleton crews. This, as you might guess, has greatly impacted the way that ski resorts and forest service employees work together.
To bring this shifting dynamic into perspective, consider this quote from Keystone COO Shannon Buhler, “The conversations have gone more from ‘Hey we need this and this and this,’ to ‘How are you doing?’ And, ‘What do you need from us as ski areas to help and support?'”.
In other words, while ski resorts used to see the agency as a means to an end at best, or an annoyance at worst, there’s been a shift in perspective as the ski resort operators realize how bad of a position the U.S. Forest Service employees are in. In the words of Arapahoe Basin COO Alan Henceroth, these employees are, “a dedicated group of people that are just trying to do the best they can… I feel really badly for them because they are having a tough go.”
Again, our purpose in reporting this isn’t to dive into contentious politics, but rather to report on how specific actions have had a direct impact on the ski industry. In the current landscape, ski areas operating on U.S. Forest Service Land need environmental studies and approvals before they can move forward on any developments - big or small. Also at the moment, understaffing issues have led to extremely long lead times in resorts receiving these approvals, resulting in an inability to move forward with projects. Without proper approvals in place, new developments at ski resorts could slow to a trickle in the coming years. Ultimately, this would mean that not only would the ski areas be at a developmental standstill, but all of the industries that benefit from these developments, from construction crews to service workers, would also be negatively impacted.
As is the case with many things in the ski world, it’s another excellent example of how one issue can have a ripple effect that impacts a variety of industries. What started as a decision to lay off U.S. Service employees is now threatening to impact construction workers. To learn more about this, check out the report from Summit Daily.
#3: With Insurance Prices Through the Roof, Timberline Lodge Forced to Increase Pass Prices:
Image: Timberline Lodge on Facebook
Speaking of stories that our regular readers are well aware of, our next highlight covers the next logical step in the story unfolding in Oregon, where the inability to enforce liability waivers is wrecking havoc on the ski industry. Now, just in case you tuned out over the summer, here’s a lightning fast recap:
Back in June, Oregon’s legislature failed to act on a bill that would have given liability waivers more power in terms of protecting businesses like ski resorts from lawsuits. By failing to act on that bill, Oregon has put the ski industry in a very difficult position as there is currently just one insurance company left that’s willing to operate in the state. While that company remains active in Oregon, the fate of the state’s ski industry remains in a perilous place, as should they decide to pull out, it would all but shut down the state’s ski industry.
Keeping that in mind, we bring you the next chapter in this story: Timberline Lodge has announced that it will be increasing prices on, “peak time lift ticket pricing, tier 2 season pass pricing, and summer ski products.” In a post made on their social media accounts, the ski area transparently explains that the price increases are a direct result of increased insurance costs. Specifically, now that Timberline has a new policy with the last remaining insurer in the state, their premium has increased more than 2.5x, resulting in a 166% increase. For perspective (using very simple but certainly inaccurate figures), this would mean that if the resort were paying $1,000 a month for insurance last year, their cost would be $2,660 this year. Additionally, their deductible is up 1,000%, while their premiums are up 586% over the last 5 years. Going back to our example, that would mean a $1,000 premium in 2020, would now be $6,860.
As a result of these dramatic increases, the resort has announced that they have no choice but to pass on at least some of these additional expenses. In their social media posts, the resort specifically cites the need for action on the liability waiver issue, reminding its followers that it’s not just the ski area that’s at risk, but also, “rural communities, jobs, and families who depend on tourism.”
Of course if you look really hard, there is one tiny silver lining to this story. When the second to last insurer pulled out of Oregon, fears rose as it meant the future of the entire state’s ski economy hinged on the last insurer continuing to offer coverage. With this week’s update, we see that as long as there’s money to be made, there will likely be an insurance company offering coverage. That is, while the cost of insurance might sky rocket, and those costs will come at the detriment of the resort, local skiers, and local businesses, at present it seems unlikely that a day will come in which there are no insurance options available. It’s a miniscule piece of silver to be sure, but sometimes, all you can do is hunt down whatever positives there are to be found. For more on this, check out coverage from the StatesmanJournal.com, or the post itself from Timberline Lodge.
#4: "Chew Crews" Take Over the State of Vermont as Mountains Turn to Herd Power to Prepare Their Trails For Winter:
Finally, we’re rounding things out this week with a story that’s a bit more fun than our last couple of highlights. While it’s not exactly new news, it’s a story that’s slowly grown in volume over the last couple of months, with publications like Smithsonian Mag and the Boston Globe finally getting in on the action. As such, we wanted to be sure to share it with you, in case it comes up in conversation this weekend. That news, of course, is that ski resorts in our great state of Vermont are slowly turning to goat power. Allow us to explain.
About a year ago, a small but incredibly fun ski area in southern Vermont called Magic Mountain teamed up with Slippery Slope Goats LLC to employ a fleet of goats that was tasked with grazing their trails in an effort to get them ready for winter. While it may seem like a classically Vermont thing to do, the practice was actually made possible by technological advancements as the herd of goats were equipped with GPS collars that effectively act as electric fences. With these collars, sheep “herders” can set up boundaries using an app on their phone while also monitoring the location of each sheep. Should one of them wander off course, the collar first emits an unpleasant, high pitched sound which typically convinces the sheep to return to the trail. If the buzzing doesn’t work, they’re hit with a quick zap which does the trick.
Last fall was the first we’d heard of this innovative new method of pasturizing a ski area, and to be quite honest, we didn’t think much of it. But then, this year Jay Peak joined the movement, becoming the second ski area in the state to utilize goat power to graze their mountain ahead of winter. Interestingly enough, along with this second location of goat grazing operations, comes more business and more innovation. For starters, it’s worth noting that Jay Peak’s trails are being herded by a second farm that’s adopted the new collar technology: Cloud Brook Grazing, in nearby Barnet, VT. That in and of itself is worthy as a story, as it suggests that there’s potential for a new niche industry as a result of these collars. For our part though, what we found interesting was the fact that Jay Peak isn’t just using goats, but they’ve added sheep as well. Leaning on their experiences, Cloud Brook Grazing has learned that while goats are great at some of the sturdier overgrowth, like goldenrod and small trees, sheep are better at handling the grass. As a result, mixing the herd has proven to be the best way to eliminate all types of overgrowth.
At the moment, this cottage industry is undeniably in the proof of concept stage. So far, early learnings indicate that employing a flock of animals to chew through overgrowth is a much slower solution than utilizing machines to handle the task. But, there are benefits too, such as the elimination of pesticides to manage overgrowth, a reduction in noise pollution, and of course, a reduction in the reliance of fossil fuels. Interestingly enough however, the report from the Smithsonian Magazine does point out that the use of sheep and goats doesn’t completely eliminate the environmental footprint of the activity. Both of these animals are known to produce gratuitous amounts of methane which is released into the atmosphere in the form of farts and burps. Still, their gassy contributions are far below the footprint of what the production and consumption of fossil fuels would be.
So, will grazing replace heavy duty machinery at ski resorts in coming years? Probably not entirely, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it became more common. In fact, now would likely be a great time to start a grazing business of your own if you happen to have a herd of sheep and/or goats around. If you’d like to learn more about how this cutting edge technology is being used at Jay Peak, click here. To learn more about the initial season at Magic Mountain, click here.
#5: And Now, Your Edits of the Week: Local Legends Adrian Hayden & Will Miemis Show Us What it’s Really Like to Ski the Adirondacks in “Pirates of the Carabiner”:
*** Rated PG For Language ***
Like what you see? “Pirates of the Carabiner” is part of Trew Gear’s “Trew to You” film contest. If you’d like to cast a vote in Adrian & Will’s favor, click here!