On Monday, February 23, Pierre Denambride, the 51-year-old head of slope safety at Flaine in Haute-Savoie, France, was killed while working on the mountain. One day later, on Tuesday night, a 41-year-old resort worker died in a separate quad accident in Flims, Switzerland, part of the Flims Laax ski area. The back-to-back tragedies have drawn attention to the use of quad bikes-often fitted with tracks or crawler systems-by ski patrol, slope safety teams, and mountain operations staff across Europe and North America.
Italy's finest ski resorts are often overshadowed by their French and Swiss equivalents. Pity really, as their piste-side rifugi lunches are a divine alchemy of Mediterranean and Alpine cuisine, their hotels, chalets, sunny terrace lunches and ski passes sit at a more civilised price point than the wildly expensive Swiss and French resorts, and their well-connected ski areas wiggle across great swathes of map.
Vonn started skiing on glaciers in Austria when she was just 9 years old. Most of the glaciers that I used to ski on are pretty much gone, 41-year-old Vonn said Feb. 3 in response to a question from The Associated Press at a prerace press conference in Cortina before she crashed on the Olympic downhill course. So that's very real and it's very apparent to us.
Switzerland's men have dominated the ski slopes of Milano Cortina. Not since the super-G and the team combined were added to the Olympic programme in 1988 has one country won four of the five events a feat achieved with Loic Meillard's victory in the slalom on Monday. Only Brazil managed to stop them in these Games. Franjo von Allmen has been their undisputed star, heading home with three golds in his hand luggage.
Martin Bochatay is the drone cam pilot for the money shots inside the iconic Tofana schuss, the narrow chute between two walls of Dolomite rock. He is part of a team in control of the buzzing machines that are flying right behind Olympians as they go for gold at the Milan Cortina Games, offering stunning and high-pace visuals to TV viewers back home.
The alpine terrain is pure diesel. Jagged peaks, spires, massive couloirs, tons of snow, and hanging platforms all accessible via tram, gondola, and chairlift. I skied a small couloir I spotted under the gondola, then gawked at the terrain attached to the Saulire tram. I was gobsmacked. I zipped up the tram, crossed the "Closed" signs (these are to keep folks out who don't have the gear and training), and delved into the unknown.
Shiffrin will ski for the first time at this Olympics in the women's team combined event, which is making its Olympic debut. She will ski a slalom run, and teammate Breezy Johnson -- who won gold in downhill Sunday -- will ski a downhill run. The pair won the world title in this event last year. Team USA will take on longtime rival Canada in women's hockey with both sides so far undefeated in Milan.
Aicher told German broadcaster ZDF that the course had been aggressive over every jump, and that she had initially not been able to work out how good her performance had been. "It just felt absolutely wild. Every jump kind of tore me apart," she said. "To be honest, I didn't think it would work out after the run." After learning about the medal, Aicher at first expressed frustration at narrowly missing gold before realizing the scale of her achievement.
From the fashion capital of Milan to the dramatic peaks of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Milano Cortina Games the first to be co-hosted by two cities will stretch across northern Italy blending world-class winter sport with a strong sense of history and ambition. Sixteen sports and more than 110 gold medals await, from the raw speed of alpine skiing and bobsleigh to the tactical endurance of biathlon and cross-country.
3-time Olympic alpine skier Tommy Ford sat down with Condé Nast Traveler to discuss the different types of snow conditions you find around the world, from the Beaver Creek in Colorado to Ushuaia, Argentina, and Lake Takapō in New Zealand. The discussion was mostly surrounding the snow conditions while racing or training, not the off-piste or regular trails that most skiers are riding, but he does touch on some other forms of snow.
That was exciting! This is insane how many people are here. It's so cool! Thank you for coming. This crowd tonight was... I mean you can see the footprints all the way up the side of the slope. That was special.
One of alpine skiing's most iconic night races is officially on the calendar: the International Ski Federation (FIS) has approved snow conditions at Madonna di Campiglio, clearing the northern Italian resort to host the Men's Alpine Ski World Cup Night Slalom on January 7, 2026. The announcement follows a routine pre-race inspection known as "snow control," which is conducted 10 days before the event for tech races.
Olympic gold medalist and ski legend Deb Armstrong met up with 15-year-old ski racer Wilson Walker to run through his dry land strength training workout to help build strength for alpine skiing. Walker uses an app that allows his coaches to set up a workout for him, but that doesn't mean you can't learn a bit from his experiences. His lifting workout consisted of deadlifts, squats, RDLs, core, and much more.
