Midwest Ski Journal likes to highlight a few pieces of skiing internet worth your time in LINKing Turns. Find the best, most important, least important and otherwise links here each week.
This week we look at Crystal’s new groundbreaking walk-up ticket policy, how to lose your lip balm and how climate change has changed everything for resorts in the alps.
TURN 1: Crystal Closes its Doors to Walk-up Lift Tickets (Jake Stern/Powder Magazine)
Mark my words: This is a groundbreaking move that will be a trend at major resorts going forward.
The gist is that Crystal, outside Seattle, will no longer accept walk-up lift tickets on weekends and holidays in an effort to combat crowds.
Making guests buy tickets in advance will allow the resort to cap its daily skiers, free up parking for those that are there and help curb traffic in the region.
I’m sure there was some pushback to the announcement, but passholders and the riders at the resort should experience a better product because of it.
I would be interested to see if other major resorts, especially the overcrowded ones in Summit County, Colorado would consider something similar.
TURN 2: 7 Techniques to Never Have Lip Balm While Skiing (Brendan Leonard/Outside Magazine)
This is another hilarious piece by Semi-Rad, who is also a must follow on Instagram (@semirad).
This one is seven ways to ensure that you never have your lip balm when you need it. I’m a lip balm aficionado, so this really hit home. I think, in total, I’ve finished two lip balm sticks in my lifetime. This rang very true.
Sure, lip balm is great for keeping your lips moisturized during the winter, especially when you’re doing a lot of skiing. But what if you want authentically chapped lips, dried out, rough, with maybe some cracks and minor bleeding? Here are a few tips on how to achieve that.
Brendan Leonard/Outside Magazine
TURN 3: Climate Change Is Killing Alpine Skiing as We Know It (Catherine Bosley and Boris Groendahl/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg doesn’t often take on skiing as a topic, but this is a stellar look at how climate change is hurting skiing in the Alps.
In classic Bloomberg style, the writers take a look at the economic impacts of climate change and how seasons are getting shorter, causing resorts to lean on snowmaking, which is also at peril.
Also of interest is the fact that these resorts are focusing more efforts on summer. They invest in hiking, dining, biking and lodging for summer visitors, where some areas are making up to 60 percent of their revenue or more.
In the Midwest, we’ve seen that, too. Later-starting seasons have hurt some ski areas, which are now investing in mountain biking infrastructure, which is surging in popularity and has a longer, more predictable season.
Already, the summer generates 60% of the tourism intake, according to Garmisch Mayor Sigrid Meierhofer. That’s a development seen elsewhere. In Switzerland, summer overnight hotel stays were a third higher than the winter of 2018-2019.
Catherine Bosley and Boris Groendahl/Bloomberg
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