Top Five Fridays: October 27, 2023
Lead Image: And just like that, it's ski season! Last weekend, the U.S.'s first ski resort opened, and this weekend marks the first FIS races in Solden. Judging by this photo, the early season course looks to be in great shape. Image: Skiweltcup Solden on Facebook
#1: Come Visit Us Next Weekend at the Snowbound Expo in Boston!
Come hang out with us at the Snowbound Expo next weekend! Image: Snowbound Expo on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the October 27, 2023 edition! We’ve got a bit of a weird one for you this week, as a trio of headlines were made that don’t fit neatly into one of the many ongoing themes we tend to follow here on Top 5 Fridays. We’ll show you what we mean shortly, but before we dive into that, we want to start by sharing a bit of personal news: next week is the annual Snowbound Expo in Boston, and SkiEssentials will be there in a big way. As long-time exhibitors at the event, we decided to step up our involvement this year, becoming the official retail partner of the Snowbound Expo. What does that mean, exactly? Well, quite a few things really. For starters, it means that when you order from our website, you can choose Snowbound pickup as a delivery option. It also means that when you visit the SkiEssentials Retail Zone at Snowbound, you’ll be able to place orders online, often with an exclusive Snowbound discount. We’ll also have ski packages on hand, as well as a wide range of ski boots to be able to try on. We’ll have discounted gift cards. The list goes on and on. Perhaps the most exciting part for us however, is the fact that you’ll be able to place orders directly from the brands we carry, and we’ll ship them directly to you. Whereas in previous years, the Expo provided an opportunity to go talk to brands and meet reps, our partnership this year will allow you to have those conversations, and then actually be able to buy the gear from them that you’re excited about. In previous years, the conversation with brand reps would inevitably end with “cool, I love the sound of that ski, I’ll go find it online or in a shop somewhere.” Now, you can simply make the purchase right from their booth. We think it will elevate the Expo experience from a show and tell, to show, tell, and shop.
Ultimately though, the coolest part of the Snowbound Expo for us is that it presents the rare opportunity where you can show up, walk the floor, and get the most expert knowledge from both the brands themselves, as well as our team of expert reviewers. Have a question for the team at Volkl, K2, Nordica, etc? Great, go to their booth and talk to them! Have a question for Bob about what he made of the Ranger 96, for Jeff about the Playmaker 101, or Emily about the Armada ARW series? Great news - they’ll all be there! Speaking of talking to cool people, it’s also worth mentioning that this year’s Snowbound Expo also has an incredible lineup of speakers, including everyone from Dan Egan and Ted Ligety, to Alex Hackel. Sounds exciting, right? We hope so, because we’d love to see you there! To learn more about next weekend’s Snowbound Expo, visit their website.
#2: The U.S. Ski Season is Officially ON as the Nation’s First Lifts Started Running Last Sunday:
In an actual photo from October 15th, a groomer at Ski Ward irons out a pile of snow made possible by their new Latitude 90 snowmaking machine. With its help, they became the first U.S. ski area to open, on October 22nd. Image: Ski Ward Ski Area on Facebook
Alright, moving onto the “weird” ski news. First up on that list, we finally have an answer to the annual question, “Which mountain will open first?” Typically, resorts like Arapahoe Basin, or Wolf Creek in Colorado are strong contenders for this title, although over the last few years, it’s been a few midwestern feeder hills that’ve stolen the award. In 2021-2022, it was Wild Mountain, MN, and Trollhaugen, WI that opened first, and last year it was Andes Tower Hills, MN. Keeping that in mind, we’re excited to announce that this year’s award goes to *checks notes* - Ski Ward Ski Area, in Shrewsbury, MA? *Double checks notes*. Yeah no, that’s correct - Ski Ward Ski Area in Shrewsbury, MA is officially the first ski area in the U.S. to open its lifts, having accomplished the feat on Sunday, October 22nd!
Now, if you’re in the area, you know that it got a little chilly last weekend, but it didn’t get that cold. So, how did they do it? Well, when things like this happen, there’s typically two answers: snowfarming, or one of those all temperature snowmaking machines. In this case it was the latter, as Ski Ward purchased a Latitude 90 snowmaking machine over the summer that allows them to produce snow in any temperature. As a reminder, these machines are essentially climate controlled shipping containers, allowing snow to be made inside of it before being blasted out into the great outdoors. The result of course, is that snow can be produced at any temperature, although it’ll still be subject to melting once it’s outside obviously.
The other result of the proliferation of these machines is an interesting shift in the future of skiing. On one hand, this technology is a game change for ski areas that haven’t been able to rely on mother nature to provide either reliable snow or snowmaking conditions in recent years. On the other hand, are the obvious environmental concerns, particularly as it pertains to energy and water usage. We won’t pretend to be experts on this front, and are actually eagerly waiting for the day when a publication with more resources dives deeper into researching the resources that it takes to operate these machines. When they do, we’ll absolutely share their findings. Fow now, let’s simply enjoy and marvel at the fact that the 2022-2023 ski season is officially underway in the United States, and it got started in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.
#3: Update: FIS and POW Feud Heats Up as Both Camps Issue Responses to POW’s Social Media Posts:
The initial post that started this whole controversy, posted by Protect Our Winters's Instagram. Image: Protect Our Winters on Instagram
In other news this week, we have an update to a story that we first brought to you last week, that feels like it’s starting to spiral out of control a bit. Remember our second highlight last week, when we shared the news that the Solden races scheduled for this weekend got the greenlight? Well that’s still the case, nothing has changed there, but the second part of that highlight illuminated the fact that Protect Our Winters (POW) had been sharing images of event organizers tearing into the Matterhorn glacier in an effort to prepare for the upcoming races there. This week, that story continued to grow.
Starting the escalation of that story this week was the FIS’s official response to POW’s online petition and semi-viral post that shared images of excavators tearing into a glacier. In a strongly worded press release, the FIS pushed back against POW with one very simple claim: the images being shared were incredibly misleading as they weren’t taken from either the Zermatt glacier or even this year. In fact, the images being shared, and passed off as if they’re part of ongoing work being carried out by the FIS, were actually taken of an entirely different glacier (the Pitztal Glacier) in 2019. In other words, POW began a social media campaign targeting the FIS’s lack of environmental stewardship in preparation for the upcoming Zermatt races, by using photos taken nearly 4 years ago, and from an entirely different glacier. In the FIS’s response to POW, they’re clearly furious with the organization for what it calls a “shallow and attention-grabbing campaign”, and expresses disappointment that POW is taking actions that divide the organizations when they should be teaming up to tackle the issue of climate change together. If you only read the FIS’s response to POW’s post last week, you’d think it’s game, set, match. Winner: FIS. But here’s the thing: POW wasn’t done.
After hearing the FIS’s response, POW went on to once again post on social media, advocating for the FIS to adjust its schedule and to stop fighting against climate change. This time, they posted two photos taken very recently, showing the current status of preparations in Zermatt. In the first image, they show the finish corral for the race, which has clearly been constructed of artificial snow and possibly relocated glacier snow as well. This image isn’t the dagger though - the second one is. In the second shot shared to their social media, two excavators are shown tearing into the Theodul Glacier, in exactly the same way that caused outcry last week. In other words, the story has become this: POW posted damning images of FIS race preparations, which the FIS then debunked as being misleading and taken from another place and time. POW has now followed that up with a nearly identical photo taken from the exact place and time in question: Zermatt, this week. At this point, it’s becoming a bit of a finger pointing contest, but underneath it all, POW is making an argument that’s becoming increasingly difficult to counter: the FIS should stop fighting mother nature and make adjustments to its calendar, pushing it later into the season to prevent these early season, resource intensive scrambles to prepare for upcoming races. As always, we’ll keep you posted as we learn more. For now, check out the press release from the FIS, or the latest post on Instagram from POW here.
#4: New Hampshire Man Fined $75,000 for Clear Cutting State Forest Abutting His Property:
A mid-summer view from Hazen's Notch. Image discovered on VTDigger, originally provided by the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Finally, for our fourth highlight this week, we have a story that’s not as clear cut as it initially seems. As it happens, the story is from our own backyard, where a homeowner in Westfield, VT thought it would be fun to cut a small ski run in his backyard, which abuts Hazen’s Notch State Park. While this is perfectly legal, trouble began for Thomas Tremonte when a game warden received a report from a park guest who had heard a chainsaw. Investigating the issue, the game warden found himself at Tremonte’s property, where he confessed that he, “may have cut too far,” while clearing a backcountry ski run. As a result of this confession, state officials returned to Tremonte’s property to inspect the area, ultimately discovering that he’d trimmed 839 trees on state land, in the course of making a 300-400 foot wide, 100-130 foot long trail. As a result of the transgression, the state fined him $75,000, which Tremonte’s insurance will agree to pay as part of a settlement finalized this week. So that’s that, case closed right? Well, not exactly.
As a result of this week’s settlement announcement, the story itself is being revisited by the court of public opinion. As a part of that unofficial process, Paul Hannan, a former commissioner of forests, parks and recreation, and director of conservation programs for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, penned a letter to VTDigger offering his thoughts on the matter. As someone who has a history of being opposed to these types of transgressions, Hannan actually sides with Tremonte in this case. Taken at face value, the concept of cutting 839 trees on state land is simply unacceptable. In reality though, this particular case isn’t quite so black and white. For starters, the property that Tremonte owns and cut upon hasn’t had its boundaries marked since at least the 1960’s. As a result, it’s nearly impossible to know exactly where Tremonte’s property ends and where the state forest begins. Furthermore, when the state officials inspected the area, they simply fanned out and began counting any stump they saw. This led to a high possibility of double counting, not to mention a lack of consideration was made as to whether or not the tree that was cut was alive or dead when it was cut. The real kicker though, is that of the 839 “trees,” Hannan contests that the vast majority were hardly trees at all. Of the 839 “trees”, 358 had stems no wider than a finger and were likely shrubs, while another 453 were under 6” in diameter. The one 22” tree that was cut, which incurred the largest fine, was both dead when it was cut, and likely on Tremonte’s own property. All of this amounts to what Hannan would refer to as an overstep, in an effort to make Tremonte a poster child, and a reminder that cutting glades on public land is a series no-go in the state of Vermont. So what’s the takeaway here? Well, definitely don’t get any crazy ideas about cutting trails on state land, for one. And for another, if your property backs up to state land and you want to trim some glades, really just make sure you know where your property line is. For more on the latest from this story, click here. To read Paul Hannan’s letter to the editor, click here.