Gary Tennenbaum remembers the first time he first spoke with the new owners of a long-dormant coal mine up the Crystal River Valley, near Redstone. It was a few years ago and the owners, grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, offered a plan unlike any other to the longtime director of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails had seen before.

When the snow melts and all that’s left of Colorado’s ski resorts are the seemingly endless trails, rushing mountain water, bright green aspen glades and wildflower-covered meadows, what is there to possibly do?

As Seattleites languished in hotels and lined their windows with foil during last week’s historic heat wave, Trevor Kostanich and Scott Rinckenberger reached a mountaineering milestone. They climbed, summited and skied down the state’s five volcanoes in five days.

It’s summer, but that doesn’t mean heading to the ski hill is out of the question. Eleven of Idaho’s ski areas offer lift-served mountain biking and North Idaho’s resorts offer plenty of options.

A new cogeneration system at Snowbird Resort is set to go online next month and will have the ability to make energy production more efficient and produce up to 90% to 100% of the resort's power needs depending on the season.

Areas in South America are opening for their 2021 winter this week, as the last area known to be still open for winter 20-21 in Asia, Gassan in Japan, nears the end of its 2021 run.

Chelsea Clapham and her family began snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain four years ago. They enjoyed it so much that they return to the resort year-round. “We like summer and fall up there almost as much as winter,” said Clapham, who lives in Santa Clarita with her husband, Shaun, and two kids. “We have family friends who let us use their condo, so we’re hooked.”

The U.S. Forest Service has greenlit a terrain expansion at Loveland Ski Area.

Last year, mountain resorts were overrun by travelers in search of space and fresh air. The visitors are expected back, but now the towns have expanded activities and plans in place to deal with the crowds.

Ski areas across the United States experienced a strong rebound this winter despite public health restrictions put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For a Northeast Kingdom hamlet with just 1,700 residents and two stores, East Burke is a busy place these days. Burke's small ski area, Burke Mountain Resort, has welcomed visitors for half a century. But now the town's Kingdom Trails bike trail network is gaining renown; it attracted about 135,000 visitors in 2019. The rural area has drawn more newcomers than usual during the pandemic.

Travelers are starting to make plans for a post-vaccination summer and Colorado resort towns want them to fill hotels in the coming months.

Known for intimidating steeps, bounteous snowfall, and gobsmacking Grand Teton views, Jackson Hole looms near the top of every skier and snowboarder’s tick list. World-class runs like the South Hoback and Corbet’s Couloir keep starry-eyed visitors and grinning locals alike enthralled all winter long. Only recently, however, has Jackson Hole Mountain Resort been able to generate a similar buzz come summer.

Calling all mountain bikers — your time to ride the trails is nearing.

After one ski season under his belt, Sleeping Giant Ski Area owner Nick Piazza is looking to get ahead of the curve by further investing in his mountain this summer.

“In my businesses, I know things are running well if we’re not talking about things for tomorrow or next week, but we’re talking about things for two months from now,” he said.

Piazza is forgoing the summer zip line season in order to focus on construction efforts for the mountain. Although the zip line has traditionally been the mountain’s biggest money-maker, he said it only makes sense to take a season off and come back in 2022 in a more prepared state.

“It never really got big enough to really solve the issues of the ski season,” he said of the zip line. “So we had to make kind of a bet, and our bet was we really care about the ski season, so why don’t we try to make that the best it can be rather than operate a whole other business and try to learn that again.”

Mt. Bachelor ski resort is moving forward with plans to build a new 5.5-mile hiking and mountain biking trail that will loop from the mountain’s base to the summit.

Soldier Mountain opened its new mountain bike park this past Friday, after a raging wildfire last summer prevented the park’s 2020 grand opening. 

The snowpack is quickly dwindling, bike trails are drying out, and the long adventurous days of summer are top of mind. It’s hard to say goodbye to ski season when your favorite resort finally stops spinning lifts, but let’s be real—your aching feet could probably use a break from the harsh reality of being crammed in ski boots all winter. 

The Beast of the East is here to stay for a little while longer. As per usual. 

High-elevation ski areas in France and Austria, largely shuttered due to the pandemic, plan to reopen for a summer ski season.