TCR | April 17, 2026 — The Ones Who Stayed

April 17, 2026

The Forecast

The Ones Who Stayed

Friday morning and the resorts that closed last weekend are already fading from memory — but the people still out there aren't thinking about them. Natural Selection Ski just wrapped in Alaska with a venue change that scrambled everyone's game plan, and the results are worth your attention. Out West, the sensor data is grim — zeros across the board for base depth at most reporting stations — but that doesn't tell the whole story. A-Basin is still running laps. Mammoth's holding on. Killington's Superstar is doing what Superstar does, grinding moguls into May like it's a personal vendetta. Jay Peak is carving corn through the trees this weekend and loving every second of it. Meanwhile, California's snowpack just hit what CAL FIRE is calling a "new record low," which is less of a headline and more of a slow-motion emergency. The season hasn't ended — it's just narrowed to the people who know where to look.

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Fresh Tracks

◆ Teton Gravity Research

NST Ski 2026: Stevenson and Loschi Take the Crown in a Scrambled Field

A last-minute venue change threw out the playbook in Alaska and turned NST Ski into a contest of pure improvisation. Stevenson and Loschi read the new terrain better than anyone — the full breakdown is worth your time.

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◆ Teton Gravity Research

Delila Quinn Is Back Where She Belongs

The road back to the Freeride World Tour isn't a highlight reel — it's a loop through burnout, near-misses, and the kind of reset that either breaks you or brings the joy back. Quinn chose the latter.

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◆ The Inertia

California's Snowpack Hits a 'New Record Low' — And the Numbers Are Ugly

CAL FIRE's chief isn't mincing words. The April 1 snowpack measurement was abysmal, and the numbers have only gotten worse since. This is the kind of story that ripples far beyond ski season.

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★ TGR / @alloinjulien

Speedriding a No-Fall Zone Like It's Nothing

Julien Alloin threading a line that's half ski descent, half paragliding run, and entirely committed. Some people ski lines. Some people fly them. This maniac does both.

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The Edit

Set along British Columbia's remote Dean River, "Oly's Dean" follows 9-year-old Oly Hickman as he moves through his family's fishing lodge in the heart of steelhead country. It's not a ski film — it's a Patagonia film about a kid growing up on a river where bears roam the banks and fly fishermen come from around the world, and it captures something quieter and harder to hold onto than any cliff drop: the way a place shapes a childhood. Beautifully shot, unhurried, and the kind of thing that reminds you why you go outside in the first place.

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@Patagonia Films

Off-Piste

🔹 2,000 ski instructors are suing Vail Resorts. Former and current instructors filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Fair Labor Standards Act violations. The consent forms hit federal court on April 10 and the number keeps climbing. This one's going to get loud. Powder Magazine

🔹 Palisades Tahoe village plan gets unanimous recommendation. Placer County's Planning Commission gave the green light to the Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan, which includes on-site workforce housing for up to 296 employees. The plan now heads to the Board of Supervisors. A genuine effort at solving the mountain-town housing crisis, or at least a step. SnowBrains

🔹 Want to own a piece of Tahoe history? Homewood's Madden Triple Chair — a Yan triple that's been running since 1982 — is hitting the auction block as the resort makes way for new infrastructure. One of California's oldest operating chairlifts, and now it could be your lawn ornament. Powder Magazine

🔹 The Uninvited Invitational returns. Whitelines has the recap of one of snowboarding's best grassroots events — rider-organized, no industry strings, just the kind of session that keeps the culture alive when the corporate events wrap. Whitelines

Dropping

Summer Ski Storage — The Backcountry Magazine Playbook. Not a product per se, but a gear-care guide that'll save you hundreds. Backcountry Magazine broke down exactly how to put your skis, boots, and bindings away so they come back alive in November — from base prep and edge treatment to binding release and boot buckle management. The least glamorous thing you'll do all spring and the most important. Bookmark it, do it this weekend, thank yourself in six months.

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Conditions Check

Pacific Northwest closed

Zero snow on the ground at Baker, Crystal, and Whistler with temps hovering around freezing and no new snow in the forecast — the PNW season is done at the majors. →

Rockies thin

Colorado picked up 7cm in the last 24 hours with cold temps (-11°C to 1°C), but base depths are negligible; Utah is dry and cold with no new snow expected — A-Basin holdouts only. →

Northern Rockies / Interior BC thin

Jackson and Big Sky saw 23cm over the past week but bases are near zero; Revelstoke has 2cm on the ground with cold temps and no new snow in the forecast — backcountry-only territory with a narrow window. →

Northeast spring

Warm temps (4°C to 14°C) and no new snow, but Killington's Superstar is still grinding moguls into May and Jay Peak is carving excellent spring corn through the trees this weekend — don't sleep on the East. →

Europe thin

Minimal base across the Alps — 1cm depth in Chamonix, Verbier, and St. Anton with temps above freezing and no new snow expected; high-altitude glaciers like Zermatt and Stubai are your only play. →

Japan closed

Zero snow on the ground across both Hokkaido and Honshu with temps climbing to 10–17°C — the Japanese season is over. →

Wax your skis. Store them right. And remember — the mountains will be there in November, even if you won't be the same person by then.

The Conditions Report

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