TCR | April 27, 2026 — Blackcomb's Steepest Race and the Art of Not Dying

April 27, 2026

The Forecast

Blackcomb's Steepest Race and the Art of Not Dying

Monday morning and here's a question for you: when was the last time you raced down a 50-degree couloir with fifty other people? Because Blackcomb just did exactly that, and the footage is the kind of thing that makes your palms sweat through a phone screen. Meanwhile, the federal government quietly made ski instructor tips tax-free, which is either the most niche policy win in American history or long-overdue recognition that the people teaching your kids to pizza are criminally underpaid. On the snow side: Utah picked up 10 centimeters in the last 24 hours and Colorado grabbed 8 with another 6 in the three-day forecast — A-Basin and Snowbird are still earning turns in late April. Scandinavia is the quiet hero of the week with 24 centimeters in the last seven days and 12 more expected, all under the midnight sun. And in Hokkaido, the spring park season gets its final exclamation point with HiPOS 2026 at Nakayama Pass on Wednesday. The Northern Hemisphere is running on fumes and stubbornness, and honestly, it's never looked better.

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Fresh Tracks

◆ Powder Magazine

The Saudan Couloir Race Is Skiing's Most Unhinged Tradition

Named after extreme skiing legend Sylvain Saudan, Blackcomb's annual couloir race sends competitors down one of the steepest inbounds runs in North America — and the footage is equal parts inspiring and terrifying. This is spring skiing at its most deranged and we are here for every second of it.

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◆ SnowBrains

Ski Instructor Tips Are Now Tax-Free — Yes, Really

After years of envelope cash and hastily folded twenties pressed into gloved hands, the IRS has officially stepped aside. Ski instructor tips are now tax-free — a quietly massive shift for the people who make this industry actually function.

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★ TGR

Sage Cattabriga-Alosa Outruns an Avalanche on His Heels

From the TGR vault: Sage triggering a slide on an AK line and staying composed enough to ski out of it like it's a Tuesday. Nothing quite like watching one of the best in the game make a full-pull avy encounter look like a minor inconvenience.

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◆ STEEP Magazine

HiPOS 2026: Hokkaido's Spring Park Season Gets Its Grand Finale

Nakayama Pass in Hokkaido hosts the spring park contest HiPOS on April 29, with a stacked judging panel and three competition tiers for skiers and snowboarders. Entry closes today — if you're in Hokkaido, this is how you end it right.

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The Edit

Matchstick Productions dropped "Confidence Over Skill" — a satirical take on the gap between ability and ambition that will hit uncomfortably close to home for anyone who's ever pointed it into terrain they had no business being in. Framed as an infomercial for "Disafear™," a fictional supplement that deletes your self-preservation instinct, the edit features MSP's pro roster demonstrating exactly what happens when confidence outpaces technique. It's funny, it's well-produced, and it's the kind of ski film that's actually about something — the culture of send-it-or-regret-it that runs through the sport like a fault line.

Watch →

@Matchstick Productions

Off-Piste

🔹 Eileen Gu topped the Snow League's Season 1 earnings list at $135,000. The full money list is out, and it's one of the first times competitive freeskiing has published transparent pay — which is either a sign of maturity or proof that $135K for being the best freeskier alive is still criminally low. Powder Magazine

🔹 More than half the U.S. is now in drought. The latest Drought Monitor report shows conditions worsening nationally, which has direct implications for next season's snowpack — and the water supply it feeds. Worth watching. Unofficial Networks

🔹 Banff Sunshine is throwing a 1980s hotdogging event on May 1. Billy Bunny's Hotdog Day celebrates the sport's most flamboyant era with retro aerials, spread eagles, and one-piece suits. Spring skiing at its most gloriously unserious. SnowBrains

🔹 Laax spring laps are still delivering. Downdays dropped a short from the Not Now Support crew that captures exactly what late-April European park skiing looks like when the snow is soft and nobody's in a hurry. Downdays

Dropping

ZAG Ubac 95 ('26-27) — ZAG's bestselling backcountry ski just got its second consecutive update after a full model overhaul last season. The Ubac 95 has always been the sweet spot for tourers who want a ski that climbs like it weighs nothing but actually holds an edge on the way down. For '26-27, ZAG refined the construction while keeping the intuitive feel that made the original a cult favorite. If you're already thinking about next season's touring setup — and at this point in April, you should be — this is the ski to watch. Made in France by a brand that does nothing but freeride and touring, which counts for something.

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Conditions Check

Pacific Northwest closed

Zero snow depth and no snowfall in the last 7 days across Baker, Crystal, and Whistler — the PNW season is done at lower elevations, though glacier ops will return later. →

Rockies mixed

Utah picked up 10cm in the last 24 hours and Colorado grabbed 8cm with 6cm more in the three-day forecast — thin coverage overall but A-Basin and Snowbird are still making turns on what's coming down. →

Northern Rockies / Interior BC thin

Jackson saw 24cm in the last 7 days but base depth sits at just 1cm with no new snow in the forecast; Revelstoke is similarly minimal — touring windows may exist but lift-served terrain is at its limit. →

Northeast spring

No new snow and temps ranging from freezing to 13°C, but Killington's Superstar is grinding into May on man-made and natural coverage, and Jay Peak served excellent tree corn this past weekend — the East isn't done yet. →

Europe mixed

The Alps are warm (2–8°C) with minimal base across France, Switzerland, and Austria, but Scandinavia is the standout — 24cm in the last 7 days with 12cm more expected under midnight sun and temps around -5°C. →

Japan closed

No snow on the ground in Hokkaido and just 1cm base in Honshu with temps of 6–10°C — the season is over at lower elevations, though Nakayama Pass holds enough for HiPOS on the 29th. →

The best day of the season is always the one you almost didn't go.

The Conditions Report

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