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NOVEMBER 10, 2026

Irv Naylor, Founder of Snow Time and a Pioneer of Mid-Atlantic Skiing, Dies at 91

Irv Naylor, one of the most influential figures in the history of Mid-Atlantic skiing, died October 20, 2026, at age 91. As founder of Snow Time, he spent more than five decades developing and expanding ski resorts, including Roundtop Mountain Resort, Liberty Mountain Resort, and Whitetail Resort. His continuous investments in snowmaking, infrastructure, and resort operations helped build a thriving regional ski industry despite the challenges of unpredictable Mid-Atlantic winters. DCSki looks back at the life and accomplishments of this pioneering entrepreneur.

1 comment

NOVEMBER 5, 2026

The Long Run: How a Baltimore Engineer Helped Reinvent the Ski

DCSki's new Long Run series traces how Baltimore-area aircraft engineer Howard Head's experiments helped usher skiing from wooden skis into the era of composite design.

2 comments

NOVEMBER 4, 2026

Tussey Mountain Clears Major Hurdle for Lodge Expansion

Tussey Mountain has cleared a major regulatory hurdle for its planned lodge expansion, bringing the Pennsylvania ski area closer to significant upgrades.

NOVEMBER 3, 2026

Snow Guns Roar to Life as Ski Areas Across the U.S. Prepare for Winter

Snowmaking is underway across the country, and several resorts have opened, while the Mid-Atlantic awaits colder temperatures.

NOVEMBER 2, 2026

Snowmass Replaces Chairlift Diesel Generator with Battery Backup

Snowmass is using a 900-kilowatt battery to back up its Elk Camp chairlift, replacing a diesel generator and supporting the local power grid.

NOVEMBER 1, 2026

DCSki Resort Profiles Updated for the 2026–2027 Winter Season

DCSki has completed its 2026–2027 Resort Profile updates, refreshing information on 30 Mid-Atlantic ski areas. Explore detailed mountain statistics, interactive maps, weather forecasts, driving directions, and tools for comparing resorts and planning ski trips.

OCTOBER 31, 2026

Whatever Happened to the Halfpipe?

Once a familiar sight at Mid-Atlantic ski resorts, halfpipes have largely disappeared. DCSki looks back at their heyday, the challenges of maintaining them, and a recent revival at Seven Springs.

1 comment

OCTOBER 30, 2026

The Economics of Making Winter: Does Snowmaking Pay Off?

A Canadian ski area's $2.5 million snowmaking investment raises a familiar question for Mid-Atlantic resorts: Does making more snow make financial sense?

OCTOBER 29, 2026

Priority Lift Lines: Winter Park Tries a New Approach

Winter Park is rewarding early-season passholders with priority lift access, adding a new angle to the debate over bypassing regular lift lines.

3 comments

OCTOBER 28, 2026

From Controversy to Commonplace: How Ski Helmets Became the Norm

DCSki looks back at how helmets went from a source of heated debate to standard equipment for more than nine in ten skiers and snowboarders.

2 comments

OCTOBER 27, 2026

Three Big Changes That Reshaped Mid-Atlantic Skiing

DCSki examines how megapasses, improved snowmaking, faster lifts, and year-round investments have changed Mid-Atlantic skiing since the turn of the century.

1 comment

OCTOBER 26, 2026

A History of High-Speed Chairlifts in the Mid-Atlantic

From Whitetail’s pioneering high-speed quad to today’s six-passenger lifts, explore the history of detachable chairlifts at Mid-Atlantic ski resorts.

OCTOBER 25, 2026

Road Trips “R” Us

Jim Kenney recounts the beautiful, crazy, scary, lucky, and tasty moments gathered during decades of ski road trips across North America.

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Updated 22 hours ago by Scott

Pro-Fit Ski Swap This Sunday (November 15, 2026) in Leesburg

Scott announces Pro-Fit Ski & Mountain Sports’ November 15 ski swap in Leesburg, featuring new and used gear and benefiting the Whitetail Ski Patrol.

1 post 1 participant 136 views

Updated Yesterday by TheCrush

Moment Meridian 107 comments from big brains plz

TheCrush shares his enthusiastic purchase of Moment Meridian 107s, factory mounting experience, and plans to put the full-rocker skis to work at Mt. Rose.

10 posts 3 participants 868 views

Updated 2 days ago by TheCrush

Indy Pass 2026-27

marzNC outlines Indy Pass’s expanded 2026-27 lineup and new Destination Upgrade option, while members debate its sales model, resort partnerships, and value for regional and destination skiers.

15 posts 5 participants 2,029 views

Popular

Updated 3 days ago by TheCrush

A question for readers

Scott asks readers to weigh names for a potential broader ski news site, with SlopeWire emerging as a favorite and replies expanding into debates over competition, journalism, business models, and experimentation.

17 posts 10 participants 660 views

Popular

Updated 3 days ago by Scott

Irv Naylor, RIP

Members remember Irv Naylor as a local ski-industry pioneer and generous steward of Liberty, Roundtop, and Whitetail, while Scott shares a letter and publishes a tribute to his lasting legacy.

5 posts 4 participants 472 views

Updated 3 days ago by Scott

Emergency server upgrade - please report any glitches

Scott describes DCSki’s emergency security patch and server upgrade, asks users to report glitches, and later discovers a PHP compatibility issue that halted site emails for 19 days.

12 posts 5 participants 1,045 views

Visit the Forum for all discussions →

Mountain Weather

Mid-Atlantic Skiers' Forecast

Updated 33 minutes ago

A wintry start favors the higher mountains, with light snow already falling around Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain and snow or mixed precipitation possible tonight across the Poconos and central Appalachians. The best natural-snow potential comes Saturday into Sunday in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, where Timberline, Canaan Valley Resort, Wisp, Seven Springs, and Laurel Mountain have recurring snow-showers or rain/snow chances. Wind may add an operational concern, especially Saturday.

Lower-elevation areas near Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia should be mainly dry and milder, with highs in the mid-40s to low 50s this weekend. Colder mountain locations stay near or below freezing Saturday, then most of the region turns sunny and steadily warmer Monday through Wednesday. Overnight lows generally return to the 20s and low 30s, offering potential snowmaking windows, especially Sunday night into Monday morning, before the warmer pattern takes hold.

Weather Fact of the Day

When cold air pools in an Appalachian valley, a nearby ridge can sometimes sit in warmer, drier air above it -- but the reverse can occur during a storm. Moist air riding over a shallow valley cold pool may produce freezing rain below while snow falls just a few hundred feet higher, creating abrupt precipitation changes along a single ski-area access road.

DCSki regional outlook based on National Weather Service forecasts for Mid-Atlantic ski areas.

From the Archives of Skiing

Ski History Fact of the Day

In 1961, seven ski instructors and leaders founded the Professional Ski Instructors of America, creating a national organization to establish common teaching standards and professional training. Among them was Max Dercum, a longtime instructor who believed skiing could be taught systematically without losing its sense of fun.

PSIA’s work helped replace the patchwork of regional methods with a shared American instructional language. Its manuals, certification programs, and clinics gave ski schools a way to train instructors consistently as resort skiing expanded rapidly after World War II.

That influence remains visible whenever a lesson progresses from balance and braking to linked turns and more advanced technique. What began as an effort to professionalize ski teaching became one of the institutions that shaped how generations of Americans learned to ski.

Around the Ski World

Elsewhere on the Web

Fresh ski and snowboard stories from around the web, selected daily for DCSki readers.

Updated 11 hours ago

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

Indy Pass Adds 15 New Resorts, Welcomes Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre to Allied Program

Indy Pass added 15 alpine and Nordic destinations for 2026-27, including new access arrangements at New York’s Whiteface, Gore, and Belleayre. The expansion broadens options for independent-resort skiers and will allow some wait-listed customers to buy passes beginning November 13.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

Oregon Ski Resort Is Burning Wood To Cut Carbon Emissions, And It's Not as Crazy As It Sounds

Mt. Bachelor has fired up a biomass heating facility that will use forest-restoration waste to heat resort buildings and melt snow near the base area. The project is expected to replace about 150,000 gallons of propane annually while creating a local use for wildfire-mitigation debris.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

Taxpayer-Backed $18 Million Project Aims to Bring Chairlift Skiing Back to Iowa Ski Area

Sleepy Hollow Sports Park in Des Moines is undergoing an $18 million redevelopment intended to restore chairlift skiing and snowboarding. Plans include new lifts, snowmaking, additional winter recreation hills, and a modern lodge.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

Big Sky Resort Prepares To Open New Beginner Learning Center At Explorer Gondola Mid-Station

Big Sky has completed a new beginner learning center at the Explorer Gondola’s mid-station, moving introductory terrain away from the congested base area. The facility includes a 540-foot conveyor and is designed to improve skier flow while giving beginners a dedicated mid-mountain setting.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

New NOAA Forecast Gives 60% Chance Of Historic El Niño This Winter

NOAA says the developing El Niño has a roughly 60% chance of reaching historic strength, with more than a 79% chance of persisting through January–March 2027. The pattern could influence snowfall across North America, though regional ski-season outcomes remain uncertain.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

NOAA Issues Winter Storm Warning as Up to 2 Feet of Snow Targets California Mountains

A Sierra storm is expected to deliver up to two feet of snow at the highest elevations near Tahoe and Mammoth, with strong winds and difficult travel conditions. The snowfall could provide a useful early-season base at several California resorts, although lower elevations may see much less.

Read at Unofficial Networks

FIS Nov 12

Signs set for spectacular men’s Slalom season as kick-off approaches in Levi

FIS previews Sunday’s men’s World Cup slalom in Levi, where a wide-open field follows a 2025-26 season featuring seven different winners in 11 races. Defending champion Loïc Meillard and a deep group of challengers headline the season’s first men’s slalom.

Read at FIS

Unofficial Networks Nov 12

Winter Park Resort Announces November 13 Opening Day

Winter Park announced a November 13 start to its 2026-27 season, joining the expanding group of Colorado resorts operating before the weekend. Early operations will be limited, but lessons, rentals, retail, and selected food-and-beverage services will be available.

Read at Unofficial Networks

Links open external websites. Story summaries are generated from publicly available reporting and are refreshed once daily.

OCTOBER 24, 2026

You Had to Do What? Skiing’s Little Annoyances That Technology Left Behind

DCSki looks back at the snow phones, paper tickets, film cameras, fixed-grip lifts, and other ski-day inconveniences that technology has largely left behind.

3 comments

OCTOBER 23, 2026

Mountain Matchup: Liberty vs. Whitetail

DCSki compares Liberty and Whitetail, weighing longer runs and faster laps against varied terrain, short steeps, and a different mountain personality.

5 comments

OCTOBER 22, 2026

Colorado Drought Raises Questions About Snowmaking’s Water Demands

Colorado’s severe drought is raising questions about snowmaking’s water demands, an issue that also affects Mid-Atlantic ski resorts.

1 comment

OCTOBER 21, 2026

Doppelmayr Expands U.S. Ski Lift Manufacturing with New Utah Headquarters

Doppelmayr’s new Utah headquarters doubles its U.S. manufacturing capacity and adds domestic production of lift towers and other components.

OCTOBER 20, 2026

New Study Examines the Future of Mid-Atlantic Snowmaking

A new study finds that Mid-Atlantic ski areas could face fewer reliable snowmaking windows as winter conditions change.

1 comment

OCTOBER 19, 2026

Snow Farming: Could Preserving Winter Snow Work in the Mid-Atlantic?

Snow farming allows ski resorts to preserve snow through the summer for use the following season. A successful experiment at Colorado’s Snowmass raises an interesting question: Could the technology work at Mid-Atlantic ski areas?

OCTOBER 18, 2026

Killington Fires Up 165 Snowguns as Eastern Ski Season Draws Closer

Killington has begun large-scale snowmaking ahead of the Stifel Killington Cup, but an opening date remains weather-dependent.

OCTOBER 18, 2026

The Curious Case of Laurel Mountain’s Hybrid Ski Lift

Laurel Mountain's 1955 hybrid lift combined T-bars and single-passenger chairs to carry skiers, including injured guests, back to its summit.

2 comments

OCTOBER 17, 2026

Mountain Matchup: Timberline vs. Canaan Valley

DCSki's Mountain Matchup series heads to West Virginia, comparing neighboring Timberline Mountain and Canaan Valley Resort to see what each offers skiers and snowboarders.

5 comments

DCSki Spotlight