Top Five Fridays: October 30, 2026
It’s a bit unclear to us how so many people can just cancel all plans on a Wednesday morning at 8 AM, and be taking their first laps of the season by 10:45 AM - but that’s exactly what happened this week at Arapahoe Basin as the resort became the first to open in North America. More on that in highlight #2! Image: Arapahoe Basin on Facebook
Hello, and welcome to Top Five Fridays, the October 30, 2026 edition! This week, we have a lot to talk about, between the first FIS Alpine World Cup race results of the season, a sudden season opening from Arapahoe Basin, and the newly released Freeride World Tour calendar, there is plenty to be excited about this week. That said, as exciting as those things are, here at SkiEssentials, we’re even more excited about two things happening in our own world. First, we’re currently in the running for USA Today’s Best Ski Shop in America, and second we’ve just finalized multiple partnerships between ourselves and multiple local junior freeski and teams in our area! Trust us, there is plenty to talk about this week, so let’s dive in.
#0.5: SkiEssentials is Currently Winning a USA Today Poll For the Best Ski Shop in America. We’d Love Your Help in Keeping it That Way!:
Before launching headfirst into the news this week, we want to take a moment to ask for your help with something. Right now, at this exact moment, USA Today is running numerous winter themed voting contests as we collectively get excited for the season ahead. One of those competitions is a “Best Ski Shop” category, and amongst the nominees are, you guessed it, SkiEssentials. Now, this contest has been running for a little while now, and at first we thought it would be cool if we won, but didn’t find ourselves stressing it. But then, something happened: the votes started coming in and we suddenly found ourselves duking it out for first place.
Over the past week, we’ve been back and forth between first and second place. At this moment, we’re currently leading the contest, but would absolutely love your help keeping it that way. With 10 days left, it’s still anyone’s competition to win. So, with that said, if you’re one of our countless customers who’ve had an excellent purchasing experience with SkiEssentials, or even if you just love our content and use it to help you decide what gear is best for you, we’d love to get your vote in this unexpectedly exciting contest!
If you’re feeling inclined to help us out, you can cast your vote here. The contest ends on Monday, November 9th at noon, east coast time. If you really like what we’re doing here, you can vote once per day. Once again, we appreciate all of the help we can get on this!
Oh, and one last thing: if you’re on the fence about it and need just one more reason to cast a vote, go ahead and jump to highlight number 4 this week!
#1: In the First World Cup Race of the Year, Moltzan Stakes Here Claim to the Gold Medal. Meanwhile, River Radamus Shows He Means Business This Season:
Alright, enough about us (for now), let’s get into some ski news! Last week, as you’ll recall, was 50% full of FIS news, as we previewed last weekend’s opening races in Soelden, covered some of the intriguing storylines to watch out for this season, and finally shared the news that the FIS had found a way to provide full livestream and replay coverage here in North America. This week, that anticipation has turned to reality as the season got off to a tremendous start for Team USA.
Early last Saturday, the 2026-2027 FIS Alpine season officially got underway with a women’s Giant Slalom race in Soelden, Austria. Leading up to that event, we were keeping an eye on three storylines: Mikaela’s renewed focus on the GS discipline, U.S. Ski Team Katie Rowekamp making her World Cup debut at just 17 years old, and Paula Moltzan’s progress towards becoming a consistent podium threat at any event. This week, we have updates on all three storylines.
Starting with the most exciting of the bunch, we were absolutely thrilled to see the results from the women’s GS race come in early Saturday morning as Paula Moltzan pulled off a stunner of a race, ultimately taking home first place, finishing just .01 seconds ahead of Albania’s Lara Colturi. For perspective, Germany’s Emma Aicher finished in third, .53 seconds behind Moltzan. In other words, this was a thrilling two-person race for first, where just the tiniest fraction of a second separated the top two athletes. Regardless of how close it was, the outcome is the same: Paula Moltzan has officially won her first ever World Cup race. If you read along with us last season, then you know that Motlzan’s quest to be a constant threat was a major theme of the season. Looking back at her results from last year, in which she landed in the top 5 in 12 of her 23 races, it’s easy to buy into the narrative that she did, in fact, complete that goal. Now, having won her first race of the 2026-2027 season, it seems as though Moltzan has picked up right where she left off, giving us plenty of hope and excitement heading into the season.
In addition to Moltzan’s victory, the second biggest storyline we were watching was Mikaela Shiffrin. As we know, Shiffrin’s season is set to look a little different this year, as she’s reducing her interest in slalom and expanding her efforts into Giant Slalom and Super G. As such, Soelden was the first race in which we got to watch a version of Shiffrin in which a discipline other than Slalom was her priority. In last weekend’s race, Shiffrin took 7th, finishing .83 seconds behind Moltzan. Honestly, there’s not much to take away from that result, other than the fact that she appears to be right in the thick of things, having started the season with a top 10 finish. We’ll have to see how things play out from here, but for now, intrigue remains high.
Beyond Moltzan’s gold medal and Shiffrin’s top 10 finish, there were three other U.S. women who finished with impressive results. Taking home 13th was AJ Hurt, followed by Elisabeth Bocock in 14th, and Nina O’Brien in a tie for 16th. Finally, we also want to quickly give a shout out to Katie Rowekamp, who unfortunately did not qualify for finals in her debut race. Despite what may feel like a disappointing result for Rowekamp, the future remains incredibly bright for this young World Cup athlete, and we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for her name throughout the season.
Switching over to the men’s side of our Soelden coverage, we have some somewhat unexpectedly exciting news to share. Again, if you read along with us last season, you know that the storyline for the men’s team has been a lot of consistent results, but not very many podium finishes to celebrate. This week, while that narrative wasn’t outright broken, River Radamus’s 4th place finish gives us plenty to celebrate and be excited for, as a top 5 finish in the first race of the year is an excellent way for the men’s team to start the season. While he was the only U.S. man to qualify for finals, it should be noted that the start list suggests that the U.S. Team's presence was intentionally light at this event.
Looking ahead, there’s now a two week break before the next events: a pair of Slalom races which are set to occur in Levi, Finland on November 14th and 15th. You can check out the schedule for those events here.
Finally, before rounding out this highlight, we want to very quickly mention that the first week of full FIS coverage has been simply amazing. In years past, those looking to watch the races we’ve just discussed would be limited to either a 5 minute replay, or using a complex system of VPNs and pirated broadcasts. This year though, you can simply head over to fthe new FIS Ski and Snowboard World Cup YouTube channel, where full replays are available for both run 1 and run 2, in both the men’s and women’s races. Finally, full coverage is here.
#2: It’s Here! Arapahoe Basin Stunned the Ski World This Week, Becoming the First Ski Resort in North America to Operate, Just Hours After Announcing Their Plans to Open:
As exciting as the news in highlight #1 was this week, we have a feeling that highlight #2 might be even more exciting for many of you. That’s because this week, the 2026-2027 ski season officially got underway, with Arapahoe Basin becoming the first ski resort in North America to begin spinning its lifts.
On Wednesday, October 28th, at 8 AM Mountain Time, Arapahoe Basin COO Al Henceroth published one sentence on the Arapahoe Basin blog: “We are going to open today at 11 AM with Black Mountain Express and High Noon.” Less than three hours later, the resort welcomed the first guests of the season, ultimately deciding to start spinning lifts at 10:45 as a line had formed and there was really no reason to keep the eager skiers and snowboarders waiting.
Now, if this extremely short noticed opening seems a bit unconventional to you, the context of the situation might help explain things. As the Colorado Sun reports, Keystone, Loveland, and Arapahoe Basin have been in a friendly competition for nearly two decades to be the first ski resort to open each year. This season, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin fired up their snowguns on the same day, meaning the race was neck and neck. On Tuesday of this week, the operations staff at Arapahoe Basin - the groomers, snowmakers, lift crew, ski patrol, etc - all met and decided that their piece of the puzzle was good to go. Then, less than 24 hours later, Henceroth made the announcement and locals began the mad scramble to get to the mountain within a matter of hours.
Despite the short notice, opening day celebrations were in full effect on Wednesday. Those who have been to Arapahoe Basin will know that their parking lot is fondly referred to as “the beach”, reflecting the tailgating vibe that can be frequently found there. Wednesday was no different, as at least one group took it upon themselves to cook up and serve up roughly 80 breakfast sandwiches in the parking lot for whoever showed up, setting the tone for the season right out of the gate.
Now that Arapahoe Basin is open, and with cold, snowy weather in the forecast for Colorado, it’s likely that more resorts will follow suit. Hot on their heels of course, is Keystone, who opened just hours ago. From here, it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s next, but we’re sure it won’t be long. For those of you who’ve been eagerly awaiting the start of the season, it’s time to celebrate. The 2026-2027 ski season is officially here!
#3: Snowbird Marks its Return to the Freeride World Tour This Season, as the Full Schedule Has Just Been Released:
Next up in ski news this week, we’re circling back to the competitive side of life as the Freeride World Tour has just announced their calendar for the upcoming season. Much like the FIS Alpine calendar, the FWT calendar doesn’t tend to change too dramatically from year to year. Unlike the Alpine schedule though, one small change to the FWT calendar can have a significant impact. Afterall, the full freeride season consists of just 4 “regular season” events, followed by two invite only finals events. Keeping that in mind, let’s jump into the schedule.
Kicking things off this year, the Freeride World Tour will once again start in Baqueira Beret, Spain for the first event of the year, scheduled to take place from January 16th - 21st. From there, athletes will travel to Val Thorens in the French Alps to compete some time between January 25th - 30th, followed by events in Georgia between February 20th - 26th and in Fieberbrunn, Austria from March 3rd - 9th. Up until this point, all of the venues should be pretty familiar to athletes as they’ve all become staples of the tour in recent years.
After the fourth stop though, things get a little more interesting. For starters, it’s worth remembering that after the 4th event, the Freeride World Tour has a cut line in which only the top 60% of each field is invited to move on. Determined by the best three results to that point, athletes who don’t make the cut will be forced to requalify for the tour via the challengers series in either region 2 (the Americas) or region 1 (everywhere else). Those that do make the cut will move onto two final events, where they’ll have a chance to earn higher point values based on their finishing position.
Arguably the most exciting announcement from this year’s calendar is the return of Snowbird, Utah, set to be held from March 16th - 22nd. While many will lament the removal of Haines, Alaska, which provided one of the most insane venues in recent memory when it returned to the tour last year, an equal number will likely celebrate the return of Snowbird, Utah. One of the original venues of the tour, having hosted freeride events going all the way back to 1998, Snowbird has been left off the schedule since 2014. Now, for the first time in over a decade, the continental United States will once again host a FWT event, giving audiences here a chance to fully engage in a sport that’s seen significant evolution in recent years. Notably, with the 2034 Winter Olympics set to be held in neighboring Salt Lake City, Utah, and with Freeride hoping to make its second Olympic appearance at those games, the inclusion of Snowbird in this year’s calendar feels like an intentional effort to drum up local interest as well as to test run the Snowbird venue. While those games are still 8 years away, the Freeride World Tour, as well as the FIS for that matter, appear to be getting ahead of things by scouting venues early in an effort to make sure an Olympic event runs smoothly. Regardless of how much that played into the decision to add Snowbird to this year’s calendar, many athletes and North American spectators are thoroughly excited by the announcement.
Finally, the last stop of the tour is, as always, the Xtreme Verbier event. While the Snowbird venue is set to offer plentiful cliffs and transitions, the Verbier venue is iconically steep, providing opportunities for athletes to mix technical abilities with massive airs. That event is always a showcase in the pinnacle of the sport, and is much watch TV for even the most casual fans of competitive skiing. You can expect to see coverage of that sometime between March 27th - April 4th. For more on this, check out the official announcement from the Freeride World Tour.
#4: SkiEssentials is Partnering With Several Junior Ski Teams in an Effort to Keep Competitive Skiing in Vermont Accessible to All Incomes:
In just two weeks, we’ll be co-hosting a showing of Chris Benchetler’s “Mountains of the Moon” with the Mad River Glen Freeski team. If you’re in the Waitsfield area on November 14th, grab a ticket and stop by! More information here.
Finally, rounding things out this week we have a highlight that we’re extremely excited to share with you as it’s the culmination of significant offseason effort, as well as an exciting new initiative that we hope will help support youth skiing here in Vermont. That news is this: SkiEssentials is excited to announce partnerships with several local youth freeride and race teams this season in an effort to provide access to more affordable travel, equipment, and tuning services.
Now, before diving into this, a moment of disclosure: I (Matt) have been coaching the Mad River Glen Freeski team for several years now, having been talked into it by SkiEssentials Hall of Fame content producer and former MRG Freeski coach Emily Rossman. Since taking that leap of faith 6 years ago, my role with the team has grown to a point where I’m now traveling with junior athletes as they compete in the IFSA junior circuit all over North America. Despite training here in Vermont on mountain peaks that top out at just over 4,000’ and are absolutely riddled with trees, our athletes do incredibly well even on the largest of Western venues. While we may be from Vermont, our team is as competitive as they come, as evidenced by having 7 junior athletes in the last 7 years invited to the Junior Worlds event in Austria.
There is, however, just one problem: with the current points system at the junior level, our top athletes are all but required to take multiple trips to the West Coast in order to remain competitive at the highest level in what is now an Olympic sport. While the growth of freeride is incredibly exciting for our community, it’s brought some very real challenges to our team. Challenges, which SkiEssentials is helping us solve this season.
In what we believe is a first of its kind partnership in junior freeride, SkiEssentials has signed on to become the official shop partner of the Mad River Glen Freeski team, as well as the Green Mountain Academy Freeride team. In addition to helping these teams through in-kind product donations, SkiEssentials is also offering these junior athletes a discount to help cover the cost of equipment such as skis, boots, googles, etc. This, as it turns out, is hugely beneficial to freeride athletes in particular, as they tend to be absolutely brutal on their gear. Afterall, there’s no guarantee that every competition day will be a powder day, meaning east coast freeride athletes are often hucking themselves off cliffs into an icy field of moguls.
Beyond the donations and discounts, SkiEssentials is also helping the Mad River Glen Freeski team host a fundraising premiere of Chris Benchetler’s “Mountains of the Moon” in Waitsfield, VT on November 14th. This event will mark the culmination of off season efforts, and provide a significant push in the team’s fundraising efforts. Ultimately, this is a key part of Mad River’s concerted effort to provide financially viable opportunities for junior freeride athletes. As we all know, skiing is an expensive sport, and the idea of an athlete not being able to fulfill their potential purely due to economic status sits very poorly with us here at SkiEssentials, as well as with the Mad River Glen Freeski team. This new partnership is an effort to provide more opportunities to more athletes, so that nobody feels like their finances are what limits their potential.
But, that’s not where SkiEssentials support for youth skiing stops.
In addition to our partnership with the Mad River Glen and Green Mountain Academy freeski teams, SkiEssentials is also supporting race teams at Mount Mansfield Academy and at the Smuggler’s Notch Ski Club. Like our partnership with Mad River and Green Mountain Academy, our goal with these new programs is to alleviate some of the financial burdens associated with competing in an expensive sport, primarily by providing athlete discounts and event support.
Beyond the financial side of the picture, athletes in these programs will also have our support in all things gear related. From protective gear and top of the line skis, to professional boot fitting to help the dial in the perfect balance between comfort and performance. Most notably for these race programs though, is access to our world class tuning facility. Helmed by former US Ski Team World Cup Technician Mike Beers, athletes in these programs will have access to, quite literally, world class level ski tunes. As you saw in our first highlight this week, in which Paula Moltzan won the Soelden GS by just .01 seconds, an elite level tune can make a world of difference in a race, and we’re extremely excited to be able to offer these junior race teams access to this level of tuning.
Taking a look at the bigger picture, we can’t help but point out that roughly 20% of the medals won by Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics came from athletes with ties to Vermont. While winning most certainly isn’t everything, and these programs don’t necessarily exist specifically to produce the next Olympian, our hope is that throughout all of these partnerships, be it freeride or racing, we can at the very least inspire youth athletes to continue chasing their dreams without limit. If this is a cause you also feel strongly about or would like to share your thoughts on, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment!