Tabla de contenidos para Fall 2020 en Powder

WHILE MANY WESTERNERS FLOCK TO JAPAN each winter to make chest-deep trenches in powder, Yu Sasaki did the opposite. Born in Sapporo to casual-skier parents, Sasaki moved from the promised land of powder to Whistler, B.C., when he was 19, looking to spend some time in nature and learn English. Along the way, he picked up skiing again—which he hadn’t done much of since his youth—and got really damn good at it. The 34-year-old holds the distinction of being the only Japanese male skier on the most prestigious competitive forum in big-mountain skiing, the Freeride World Tour. In the offseason, he operates a Japanese food truck in North America. After falling in love with park skiing in Whistler, Sasaki worked to land Canadian residency in 2010, when the Olympics came…

WHEN THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC was first published in 1792 as a seasonal digest for farmers, George Washington was running for reelection. Vermont had become a state only the year prior, and Colorado wouldn’t enter the union for almost another century. The advent of American skiing was even further in the future. Despite its anachronism with the sport, in more recent years, this almanac—which, by definition, is an astronomical calendar—has become an iconic prognosticator of ski season stoke. Want to know where the best early snow will be? Check The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Wondering if your favorite place to ski will suffer a January thaw? Look in the Almanac. Scoping out powder days well before the season even begins? The Almanac can help. “I’m not seeing the word ‘ski’ show…

IN 20 YEARS OF SKI PATROLLING AT ALTA, and 19 on Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, Dave Richards can’t remember how many bodies he’s pulled from the Utah mountains. “Quit counting,” he says. “A lot.” One gruesome incident—an excavator rollover in 2016 that killed a construction worker installing a Gazex avalanche-control system near Alta—proved to be a tipping point. In the aftermath, Richards says, he spent two weeks in his office staring at the wall until finally his boss, Alta’s director of operations, Greg Bell, insisted he get help. That night, his best friend found him in his room, sobbing, holding a loaded handgun; in his words, “There was only one thing in the room to shoot at. That was me.” He was taken to the University of Utah Hospital for his…

I COUNTED 117 SKIERS, each on a different pair of skis, clustered on the summit of one of North America’s oldest ski areas: Red Mountain, B.C. Gradually, we moved into position, spacing ourselves 6 feet apart down a steep, seemingly endless groomer, home to Canada’s first World Cup race in 1968. As the first few skiers got into place—dressed in green fairy wings, a cowboy hat, stretch pants ready to burst, and soggy denim—the rest of us began to weave in between them, treating each skier as a race gate before stopping below to form a gate ourselves. The human slalom course gained speed, repeating itself over and over. We carved a snake of deep trenches from top to bottom until the mishmash of skiers collapsed at the base in…

RENOUN Earhart 88 $849 D: 27-88-111mm R: 14.5m At 88mm underfoot, the Earhart is the narrowest ski we tested, and the Powder Union found that it nailed its intended use: carving. Renoun developed a core construction using a non-Newtonian polymer, which changes stiffness under stress. When you bend the ski, it stiffens up, strengthening your effective edge and making it quick and responsive in changing terrain. This will give you the confidence to lean into your turns and ski harder than ever before. The Earhart is not a pow ski, nor a versatile out-of-bounds option, but for laying trenches on fresh courdoroy, the Union found nothing better. —Heather Hansman LINE Blade $900 D: 154-95-124mm R: 13.5m The Blade incorporates a focused pattern of titanal across the width of the ski…

COMMODITY FOR THE COMMODE I’ve been a Powder subscriber for most of my life. Being out of the ski bum scene for a decade now, I’ve balked on several occasions to renew my subscription, on the justification of the declining number of days I spend on snow and skiing’s overall relevance in my life. Yet, come December, issues of POWDER work their way to the top of the stack of seed catalogs and hunting magazines piled on the back of the commode. Upon easing into the images and articles, I’m reminded of where I’ve been and who I am. I’m welcomed into a community with its own language, dialect, sensibilities, passions, and lifestyle, and I have a thorough sense of belonging to this unique culture. I am a skier. And…

CONNOR RYAN sat in the back seat of a black Subaru Outback, tuning out what was happening around him and within him. He wore headphones; he didn’t feel much like chatting. It was a weekend in mid-March, and the beginning of an intense low-pressure storm in the West was showing. The snow had been heavy since Ryan and his ski partner left home in Colorado en route to Custer, South Dakota, to pick up a third skier. The trio planned to ski the tight, steep, rocky canyons and gullies peppered with deadfall near Spearfish Canyon, located in the Black Hills—Paha Sapa in the language of the region’s Lakota people. But somewhere near Lewellen, Nebraska, on what was once Lakota land, Ryan began to feel conflicted. On Sept. 2, 1855, 600…

LISA VAN SCIVER ISN’T AFRAID of new terrain. The Jackson-based snowsport polymath was part of the first female team to ski the Grand Teton, and now she’s the first-ever snow ranger in Grand Teton National Park. Three years ago, when the Grand Teton National Park Foundation teamed up with the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center to create a snow ranger position in the park—a job that includes forecasting, snow science, and education, and spans different government offices and land-management groups—she jumped at the chance to do something new on snow and to connect the dots. “Essentially, the way I think of my job, I collect data and information, trying to share it with users,” she says. Like a lot of people in ski towns, her path to the park had been a…

BLIZZARD Black Pearl 97 $840 D: 136.5-97-118.5mm R: 15m This ski is proof you don’t need a massive, um, tip to impress people. The Union loved the Black Pearl 97’s versatility and said the ski makes every turn shape beautifully. It transitions easily from steep trees, to groomers, to soft chop. Edge to edge, it rips on firm snow and doesn’t deflect in bumps. This ski maintains energy coming out of the turn so you don’t lose speed. Its wood core constructiongot some small tweaks this year that smooth out the flex pattern and the geometry. This makes the ski even more fun, especially for those who spend time on firmer snowpacks. —Heather Hansman ARMADA Declivity 102 Ti $875 D: 135-102-125mm R: 18m Armada expanded on the Declivity X from…

FACTION Agent 3.0 $849 D: 134-106-124mm R: 20m At 1,720g, the Agent 3.0 is uniformly stiff throughout the ski, making it easy to control and pivot through tight trees. Made with a karuba core and carbon weave, but with the same shape and dimensions of the stalwart Faction Dictator 3.0, these skis are meant to make long approaches to steep lines worth it. Want to tour in the morning and then ride lifts in the afternoon? Paired with a beefier touring boot and binding, these skis will heed the call. The ski’s construction handles well regardless of the mogul, lip, or knuckle. They are still a lightweight touring ski, built with a tinge of straight line. —Jeff Colt FACTION Agent 3.0 X $849 D: 134-106-124mm R: 18m The Union found…

BIG SKY, MT THE SKI PATROLLERS AT BIG SKY call the tiny, 180-square-foot shack atop 11,166-foot Lone Peak the penalty box because it’s the least desirable shift when you’re working patrol. You’re stuck inside. You’re not skiing. And you have to deal with people. Lots and lots of people. To ski Big Sky’s classic rowdy line, the Big Couloir, a 1,400-vertical-foot chute that tops out at about 50 degrees, or the steep, menacing shots off the North Summit Snowfield into Moonlight Basin, you need to be wearing a beacon, have a partner, and sign in with patrol to get a time slot. Although ski patrol controls both zones for avalanches, the idea is to keep the number of skiers in those lines at any one time to a minimum. This…

MAINTAINING A CONSERVATIVE MINDSET is tough when most of your days are spent ski mountaineering in the hazardous environs of Chamonix. Now add clients from all over the world who expect the experience of a lifetime. No one handles this combination like Margaret Wheeler, a decorated guide, who has spent over a decade guiding in the French Alps. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1997, Wheeler left New England with a one-way plane ticket to Chamonix. Unsure of where she wanted her life to go, Wheeler pointed her skis toward the birthplace of alpinism. “I had friends who knew what they wanted to do their whole lives, and I was just mystified by that. I never got it,” she says. The winter of 1998 was pivotal for Wheeler, merging her climbing…

AMID PLYWOOD LOCKERS ADORNED with with stickers of ski resorts and brands, memorials of fallen patrollers, and thermoses full of coffee, the Squaw Valley Patrol Team discusses the morning forecast and the day’s assignments. Matt Calcutt is sitting relaxed, diligently listening to a bleak forecast of what has been thus far a dry season. When the meeting ends, Calcutt introduces me to the team and jokingly to one of the “fossils,” an old-timer who chuckles and shakes my hand. At 50, Calcutt is slowly working his way into that category. He is a 28-year veteran of the Squaw Valley patrol who carries himself with an air of humility, kindness, and precise intelligence—only a few traits in a long list that have helped him gain local notoriety in an ever-changing outdoor…

NORDICA Enforcer 100 $850 D: 133-100-121mm R: 18.5m Four years after introducing this ski to the world, Nordica redesigned the Enforcer 100. It retained the full wood core and two sheets of metal, and now comes in more lengths. Nordica reduced the weight by a third by improving the carbon chassis. Little differences led to big gains in performance. What stood out to the Union is how much more quickly the new ski pivots, making the burly mid-turn feel more palatable in dicier conditions. The Enforcer 100 still prefers a traditional technique, but for skiers who thought the OG was a little too much business in the front and not enough party in the back, this is your ski. —Wally Philips BLACK CROWS Justis $960 D: 138-100-123mm R: 21m The…

Hailing from across North America, the 31 Union members are many things, but first and foremost, they are skiers. Skiing is what makes them whole. Collectively, they spent more than 300 hours analyzing 123 skis this year to help determine the very best. Their styles are as varied as the terrain at Red Mountain, so choose your favorite player and follow their lead. There’s something here for everyone, no matter who you are or where you’re from. HEATHER HANSMAN, 36 Stats: 5’9” | 135lbs Home hill: Arapahoe Basin Top ski: Blizzard Rustler 11 JEFF COLT, 29 Stats: 5’10” | 160lbs Home hill: Aspen Top ski: Salomon QST106 ANDREW PLOUDRE, 23 Stats: 6’3” | 185lbs Home hill: Killington Top ski: Salomon Stance 102 CHRISTIE CUNNEYWORTH, 32 Stats: 5’6” | 135lbs Home…