TCR | October 16, 2026 — U.S. Ski Team Launches a Freeride Squad, TGR Goes Full Send in Haines, and Western Snowpack Is Already at 15,300%

October 16, 2026

The Forecast

The U.S. has a freeride team now

U.S. Ski and Snowboard just announced its first-ever freeride roster — a legit national team, built for the FWT and the 2030 Olympic stage, and stacked with names who've been earning it on the qualifying circuit for years. That's not preseason noise, that's a structural shift in how America treats big-mountain skiing. Meanwhile, TGR dropped its Haines, Alaska segment from "Actually, It Is Rocket Science" — Colter Hinchliffe, Tim Durtschi, and Anna Tedesco threading massive spines between chess games and snowmobile river crossings — and early-season snowpack numbers out West have gone fully unhinged: one Colorado basin is sitting at 15,300% of median. That's not a typo, that's October flexing. LINE Traveling Circus just rolled Episode 19.2, Ride Snowboards dropped "Red Ceiling" with Jed Anderson, and Newschoolers kicked off Season 5 of NS Originals with Wrecka himself. Film season is wide open. Friday has range.

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Fresh Tracks

◆ Powder Magazine

The U.S. Finally Has a Freeride Team — And It Changes Everything

With freeride headed to the Olympics in 2030, U.S. Ski and Snowboard has assembled its first-ever freeride roster — FWT regulars alongside skiers who rip but haven't had the institutional backing until now. This is the sport growing up.

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◆ SnowBrains

Western Snowpack at 15,300% of Median — Yes, in October

One Colorado basin is reading at 15,300% of its year-to-date median snowpack. The number is meaningless without context — early-season medians are tiny — but the raw totals are real: multiple feet on the ground across the West before Halloween.

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◆ Snowboard Mag / Ride Snowboards

Red Ceiling — Jed Anderson and Jacob Krugmire Come Out Swinging

Ride Snowboards' new street project has everything: travel, spots, and a shot timed perfectly from a moving train. Anderson and Krugmire deliver the kind of urban snowboarding that makes you want to go find a handrail.

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★ TGR

Colter Hinchliffe Goes Full Cowboy in Haines

There's a new sheriff in Haines, and he's skiing spines in a cowboy hat. Colter Hinchliffe from TGR's latest Haines segment, distilled into one perfectly absurd clip.

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The Edit

TGR's Haines, Alaska segment from "Actually, It Is Rocket Science" is the kind of big-mountain filmmaking that reminds you why you watch ski films in the first place. Colter Hinchliffe, Tim Durtschi, and Anna Tedesco set up camp in a parking lot, cross rivers by snowmobile, and commit to lines where hesitation isn't an option — all between chess games and riffs on quantum physics. The terrain is enormous, the riding is fully committed, and the whole thing has that unmistakable Haines energy: raw, remote, and entirely earned. This is TGR doing what TGR does best.

Watch →

@Teton Gravity Research

Off-Piste

🏔️ NOAA released its updated winter weather outlook for 2026-27 and it's a mixed bag for skiers — above-normal temps favored across much of the U.S., which means individual storm cycles will matter more than ever. Read the breakdown: https://unofficialnetworks.com/2026/10/15/noaa-updated-winter-weather-prediction/

⛏️ Powder Magazine dug into the PurePeak ultralight avalanche shovel controversy — the maker got into a public dust-up with Nikolai Schirmer and Cody Townsend over safety claims. When two of the most respected names in backcountry skiing call out your shovel, you listen: https://www.powder.com/gear/ultralight-avalanche-shovel-purepeak-statement

🎿 Shaun White's Snow League is bringing Season Two to Park City, January 21-23, with tickets starting at $25. World champions on the roster, freestyle format, and they're betting big on making competitive freeski and snowboard watchable: https://thesnowleague.com/news/world-champions-headline-the-snow-league-park-city-tickets-now-on-sale/

🧢 Coal Headwear turns 25 this year. Whitelines has the full oral history of how a ball of yarn and a dream turned into one of snowboarding's most enduring accessory brands: https://whitelines.com/snowboard-culture/fueling-the-fire-25-years-of-coal-headwear.html

Dropping

The North Face Summit Nuptse / Reversible Nuptse — For its 60th anniversary, TNF is reimagining the most iconic puffy in the game. The new Summit Series version is built for actual alpine performance — think technical insulation for real mountain use — while the reversible edition gives you two jackets in one. The Nuptse has been a sidewalk staple for years, but this is TNF pulling it back toward its roots. Worth a look whether you're heading to basecamp or the bar.

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Conditions Check

Chile spring

Valle Nevado holding at 706cm base with lifts still spinning into late October — the deepest, longest Andes season in memory. Portillo at 361cm, La Parva at 249cm. →

Argentina mixed

Las Leñas still sitting on a 221cm base as the season winds down; Chapelco has melted out completely. →

New Zealand thin

Treble Cone technically open on a 3cm base — that's spring-season stubbornness more than skiable depth. The NZ season is functionally over. →

Australia closed

Perisher and Thredbo at 0cm, season done. Falls Creek shows open but with no base — the Aussie winter is in the rearview. →

Oregon / Summer thin

Timberline shows open with 0cm reported base — Palmer Snowfield may have limited summer laps available, but don't expect much. →

Alps — Summer thin

Zermatt and Hintertux both open on glacier terrain with 0cm reported base — high-altitude laps only, waiting on the first real autumn dumps. →

Fifteen thousand percent of median is just October clearing its throat.

The Conditions Report

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