Earlier this season, that rookies would continue pushing the envelope on the Freeride World Tour in 2023, citing an explosion of young talent emerging from the qualifier series. This prediction panned out during the first stop of the , with 21-year-old American rookie Addison Rafford securing first place in the women’s category after a spotless run.

Before the event started in the morning, competitors were thrown a curveball when an avalanche ripped down the center of the Baciver, the competition face. The already nervy atmosphere, replete with pre-comp jitters, turned darker, and many wondered if the event organizers should postpone the competition. “All the riders got pretty scared and wanted to cancel the comp,” said , winner of this year’s and last season’s Baqueira-Beret competition in the men’s category.

However, Rafford, who’s come-up required skiing notoriously questionable conditions in the Freeride World tour qualifier competitions, was too excited to ski an enormous big mountain face to worry about the avalanche.

“I was just so stoked to finally be able to ski something with no traverse tracks in the landings,” she said. Plus, she knew that “it wasn’t gonna slide when I was skiing it because they [the event organizers] were ski cutting it, and they were definitely following all the right safety precautions. They aren’t gonna send us on a face that still had stuff that needed to slide.”

Rafford kept it simple during her run, lining up a few quick drops on the skier’s right side of the venue before charging into one final cliff, which she stomped. The judges scored her at 72.67, allowing her to eke out a narrow lead over Molly Armanino, another American rider. 

Watch: Addison Rafford’s winning run at FWT Baqueira-Beret 2023

“It felt super good, like so great, but not what I was expecting at all,” said Rafford of her winning run.

While the American skier’s already carved out a niche as an athlete, nabbing sponsorships from big names like Smith, Sturtevants, and Black Crows, the Baqueira-Beret FWT stop was her first time on the world stage. Unlike many younger riders on the Tour, Rafford took to freeride later in life. She grew up skiing in Sun Valley, eventually joining the local mogul team. She competed in moguls until 11th grade when her coaches were let go. With her favorite coaches gone, and older friends graduating from the team, Rafford decided it was time for something new.

Briefly adrift, she eventually joined her mountain’s freeride team and started entering big mountain competitions. After graduating high school, she battled through one frustrating season of crashing on the Qualifier circuit before racking up enough points to earn a ticket to the big leagues. 

As the 2023 Tour unfolds, Rafford hopes to push herself further, taking on challenging new lines and throwing tricks. “Now I’m confident with line selection,” she said, “I know next time I go out to compete, I can feel a little bit more confident in my line choice and then hopefully pick definitely some bigger features and add some more things into it.”

On the men’s side, Sweden’s Palm, who needs no introduction, proved that his win at Baqueira-Beret last year wasn’t a fluke. While his skiing was more reserved this past weekend (no double backflips this time), the judges appreciated his precision and fluidity, handing him the day’s highest score. Palm found it reassuring “to be able to win with a run that I don’t have to be at my limit.”

Watch: Max Palm’s winning run at FWT Baqueira-Beret 2023

The 20-year-old skier has reported in multiple interviews that he rarely gets nervous before competing. However, he did note that his run at Baqueira-Beret had one close call, which gave him a scare. Early in his run, he nearly crashed into a rock wall when he overcooked his first 360.

“That was the only part I was scared of,” said Palm. “I went a little bit bigger than I was expecting, so I almost jumped straight into the rock. But I managed to like land with my ski and bounce back. When you see it on the GoPro, it’s insane. Like I came so close.”

Both Palm and Rafford represent a generational shift taking place on the Tour. The old guard—the Aymar Navarros, Kristofer Turdells, and Reine Barkereds—are suddenly struggling to meet the explosive talents of the younger riders who spin and flip their way down the mountain. These freestyle-oriented athletes haven’t foregone the discipline of pure freeride, which emphasizes fluidity and technical line selection. Instead, they marry freestyle and freeride in an awe-inspiring reinvigoration of the sport.

“It’s weird because I didn’t even think of myself as a part of it [the next generation of freeriders] until literally like the past 24 hours,” said Rafford. “The past like three or four years, there’s been so many new young guns coming up. And even if you like, look down the qualifying circuit and the junior circuit like the young kids 
 the level of skiing is insane.”

This shift is bittersweet. While we viewers were treated to an unprecedented spectacle this past weekend, we also had to say farewell to Navarro, who announced his departure from the Tour after years of throwing down gnarly big mountain lines. The hometown Baqueira-Beret crowd roared when Navarro skied into the finish corral, and after he removed his goggles, he brushed tears from his eyes.

“Never in my wildest dreams this kid from a small town called Les (Val d’Aran) would have imagined me competing in my house in front of 5000+ people screaming my name,” wrote Navarro in an Instagram post after the competition. “Thank you thank you and thank you for all these years and for all the love you gave me yesterday at the Baciver.”

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Faction Skis, a Swiss company, continues demonstrating its commitment to sustainable and ethical business practices. The company announced this week that it—along with its parent company Full Stack Supply Co—has qualified for a B Corp certification.

B Lab, the nonprofit that provides is focused on positively shifting the “behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism.” It issues certifications to qualifying companies as part of accomplishing this goal. Notable B Corp certified brands include Cotopaxi, and Klean Kanteen.

“As a B Corp, we are committed to using business as a force for good, to catalyze change in the outdoor industry and beyond,” said Alex Hoye, Faction’s co-founder.

Getting the Certification

Faction partook in a B Lab assessment that reviewed consumer, employee, and environmental impacts. The company’s final assessment score was 93.5, nearly 25 points over the minimum score of 80 required to qualify.

Preparation for meeting B Lab’s standards began in earnest about four years ago, according to Sara Asmoarp, Faction’s global head of supply chain and ESG. “We wanted to do something that is not only profitable financial-wise but something that really can contribute to a more sustainable future,” she said.

Achieving B Corp status meant Faction needed to review its operating procedures. For Asmoarp, whose job revolves around sustainable business practices, that involved addressing questions like “What energy are you using when you’re producing products?” and “Where do you source your materials from?”

These considerations are only a small slice of the factors B Lab evaluates when issuing certifications. The B Corp assessment deploys over 400 questions to gauge a company’s commitment to ethical business factors. Their criteria address five categories: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.

Asmoarp noted that managing these criteria meant taking a ground-up approach. “We didn’t want to just drop down all the processes and just say that everything is great. We wanted to really integrate [ethical and sustainable business practices] into the core of the company.

Unique Challenges for Ski Companies

B Corp certification can be particularly difficult to achieve for snow sports manufacturers. First, the production of ski gear, which often entails shipping products overseas, can be carbon intensive. Second, the continuation of skiing as a sport hinges on preserving winters. These truths are at odds, creating a significant ethical dilemma.

Faction isn’t blind to this challenge. As part of meeting B Lab’s criteria, it pursued a sustainability-first approach to manufacturing. The company’s factory, located in Austria, is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Producing its equipment at a carbon-neutral factory allows Faction to cut the emissions of each ski by 50 percent.

Despite these measures, it’s unavoidable to produce some carbon while shipping skis across the globe. Faction offsets these emissions by working with Climate Partner, an organization that provides companies with carbon-offset tools. Together, Climate Partner and Faction have offset 618,000 kilograms of carbon via a wind farm in Brazil.

Another Area of Focus: Internal Governance

In preparation for pursuing a B Corp certification, Faction shareholders agreed to update the company’s articles of association—a type of legal framework that guides a business’s mission. Now, according to Faction’s social values webpage, its articles of association ensure that its decisions “aren’t just led by profits” and “always take into account people and the planet first.”

B Corp will give Faction another assessment in three years. These reassessments confirm that a company is continuing to meet B Corp standards. If a company doesn’t pass the reassessment, its B Corp status will be revoked.

Asmoarp doesn’t seem worried about Faction re-qualifying. Her goal? Improve on Faction’s previous score during the next reassessment. To Asmoarp, receiving the initial certification is just one step toward greater sustainability. “It’s definitely not that the journey stops here,” she said. Instead, “the journey starts here to be part of the B Corp community.”

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This week the Utah Department of Transportation took a step toward its goal of reducing congestion on State Route 210, which provides Salt Lake City residents access to both Alta and Snowbird resorts via Little Cottonwood Canyon. UDOT’s solution: The world’s longest gondola. 

The proposed gondola will sit at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and carry passengers to stations located at the base areas for both resorts, approximately eight miles up the canyon. By contrast, New Mexico’s Sandia Peak Tramway is 2.48 miles in length, and the Peak2peak Gondola at Whistler, Canada is 1.7 miles long. The is 5.59 miles in length. 

Each cabin of the proposed Utah gondola would carry 32 passengers and arrive every two minutes. A 2,500-car lot will provide parking at the base of the canyon. The ride will take 30 minutes to Snowbird, and 36 to Alta. UDOT hopes that the gondola will alleviate traffic in the canyon. 

The gondola was one of several solutions that UDOT was considering, alongside an uptick in busses, a train, and the widening of the highway. The gondola won. “It’s most reliable mode of public transit in variable weather conditions and best meets the reliability goal of the project’s purpose, while taking into consideration environmental impacts, public input, and overall life-cycle cost in comparison to the other four alternatives,” UDOT said in a press release. 

The gondola initiative is not yet set in stone. The project will enter a public review phase on September 2, ending on October 17. Residents are encouraged to voice their opinions of the project

UDOT plans to make its final decision sometime this winter, as this week’s announcement only indicates that the gondola is the agency’s preferred choice.

Via a press release, the Department noted that “it may take years to secure federal, state and/or private funding for full implementation [of the gondola].” In the meantime, UDOT intend to bolster bus access to reduce traffic. Tolling on State Route 210 is another solution under consideration.

The announcement comes after years of deliberation. In 2017, Utah’s state legislature passed Highway General Obligation Bonds Authorization, a bill that contained additional funding for state transportation projects. The Commission in charge of deploying the bill identified ski traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon as an area of high priority. In 2018, UDOT began investigating the potential environmental impacts of transportation improvement alternatives. Four years later, the Department arrived at its current gondola-oriented opinion.

The Highway General Obligation Bonds Authorization commission isn’t alone in noticing Little Cottonwood Canyon’s seasonal gridlock. If you ask any SLC resident about the Canyon’s traffic situation, they’ll likely tell you the same story.

One skier, who chose to remain anonymous, grew up skiing Alta by commuting from SLC. He saw firsthand as Little Cottonwood Canyon’s two-lane highway failed to keep up with increasing skier demand, succumbing to frequent traffic jams, particularly on busy weekends.

 

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The skier estimates that the drive to Alta, which once took roughly 25 minutes from his home in Cottonwood Heights, can now take up to two hours when the snow starts to stack up. His anecdotal experience aligns with the data— for ski-resort visitation this past season. He feel that the gondola presents the most efficient solution.

“There’s no going back to Alta in 2000,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that the demand [for skiing] is so high now, and we don’t have the infrastructure to support it.”

The gondola isn’t without controversy. Several local organizations, including the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance (WBA), oppose the proposal. In May of 2022, the WBA ran an article entitled The article denies the veracity of many of the proposal’s supposed benefits, including the reduction of carbon emissions.

Rock climbers are , because the gondola could impact popular crags. In a statement on Instagram, the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance said: “The fight is not over!” and asked members to .

The Backstory:

Brad Rutledge, WBA board member and co-founder, stands with his organization in viewing the gondola as a potential misstep. He believes that the gondola will be less convenient than driving, carpooling, or taking the bus. “It’s hard for me to imagine from a convenience standpoint people doing it [riding the gondola],” he said. If the gondola proves to be an undesirable option for skiers, Rutledge worries that the project will be an enormous waste.

Another of Rutledge’s critiques revolves around the visual impact of the gondola. “When you look around, you truly feel solitude,” he says, citing the experience of backcountry skiing in the Little Cottonwood Canyon area. In his eyes, the presence of a large artificial structure would damage one of the Canyon’s greatest resources, its natural beauty.

indicates that Rutledge and the WBA’s position isn’t isolated. The poll stated that roughly 60 percent of SLC residents oppose the installation of a gondola, preferring an improved bus system instead. Another 20 percent of respondents favored the gondola, and the remaining 20 percent opted for “another option” or no change.

Many local skiers seem to agree on one thing: The traffic problem in Little Cottonwood Canyon needs to be addressed. For Rutledge and the WBA, that looks like an increased emphasis on community carpooling and bussing initiatives. Gondola proponents see it differently, hoping the Swiss approach could distribute skiers more evenly throughout the canyon.

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If you thought reservations were a thing of the past as we head into our fourth (!!) pandemic winter, think again. Last season, a few Ikon Pass resorts—Snoqualmie, Wash., , N.M., and , Wyo.—implemented reservations systems. All three will do so again this coming winter. And skiers were pleased. So much so that another four Ikon resorts are following suit: , Colo., Big Sky Resort, Mont., , N.H., and Brighton Resort, Utah.

Reservations

While the reservation system is a carry-over from the pandemic season initially designed to help resorts promote social distancing by reducing daily skier traffic, certain resorts are relying on reservations to abate overcrowding.

Skiers have mixed feelings about the re-implementation of reservations. One skier commented on announcing the addition of new Ikon Pass reservation resorts that “I wish they [resorts] all would, and that they’d add competent maze masters on busy days.” Other responses to the tweet were less enthusiastic, with one commenter saying, “I don’t think it is right to announce this AFTER passes have already gone on sale.”

Crystal Mountain, Wash., one resort bogged down by the influx of Ikon Pass holders to the point that the resort changed its access from unlimited to five or seven days on the Ikon Pass, faced blowback when they unveiled the reinstitution of reservations via a in December 2021.

Updated list of partner resorts managing capacity through reservations next season: (New) (New) (New) (New)

— Lift Blog (@liftblog)

Ìę“Many people bought passes based off of spontaneity of mountain riding and the word ‘unlimited.’ Please revoke this, immediately,” said one commenter. Another  frustrated skier posted a link in the comments section of the post to aimed at removing the newly announced reservation system. The petition encouraged signers to file a consumer complaint with the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.

Also Read:

Amidst a deluge of vitriol, Crystal , slashing the lift reservation system and supplementing it with a parking reservation plan for the rest of the 2021-’22 season. It’s unclear if they will use a lift reservation system for this upcoming winter.

Vail Resorts, home of the Epic Pass, also tangled with an unruly combination of staffing troubles and crowded slopes last season. The company swam in public backlash as a petition titled made the rounds in January 2022. “Lift lines are out of control to the point where the majority of a day of ‘skiing’ is spent standing in line at one of the few lifts open,” wrote Jeremey Rubingh, who initiated the petition. Despite these criticisms, Vail has yet to announce if they’ll institute reservations at their resorts next season. , a skiing blog, speculates that such a measure could prove popular with locals tired of their haunts getting overrun.

It’s unlikely that the challenges associated with overcrowded resorts will disappear without intervention. According to (NSAA), the 2021-’22 season saw more skiers than ever before. Resorts across the U.S. tallied up 61 million total visits this past winter, a visitation record, and a 3.5 percent increase over the 2020-’21 season. More than half of these skiers were pass holders, which suggests that growing Epic Pass and Ikon Pass sales are contributing heavily to resort congestion. Lift reservations, while controversial, could present a solution.

This story originally appeared on Skimag.com. 

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