First chair, Alta — 6:42 a.m. The rope dropped, and so did 14 inches of cold smoke onto a field that nobody had ridden yet.
The week the West got buried: 18 resorts, 47 inches, one verdict on where to point the truck.
Filed from the lift line in four states over six days, this week's Snow Report tracks which storms actually delivered, which forecasts oversold, and the single corridor our editors are driving toward before the next cycle closes.
Five desks, one forecast, one archive worth your time.
-
Where the base is actually holding — a 14-resort check-in from the interior West
New snow, open lifts, and the locals-only verdict from each mountain. Updated Thursday mornings from the chair.
-
42 days, 11 resorts, 1,840 vertical miles — the 2025 splitboard field, ranked
Every board in this year's RDC leaderboard was ridden at minimum 25 days before it was scored. Here is what surfaced.
-
Carving at 45 degrees: AASI-level drills you can run on a green groomer
Our in-house AASI-certified instructor breaks down the four edge-control movements that separate a clean carve from a skidded turn.
-
The early-season tour you actually want: 6 AIARE-credentialed objectives for December
Low-angle, high-reward lines from guides who've toured them this month. Avalanche context included, with the disclaimer our lawyers insist on.
-
This Thursday's Snow Report lands at 6 a.m. Mountain — subscribe to get it
Conditions, snowfall totals, the week's most over- and under-reported forecasts, and what we're riding next. One inbox, once a week.
-
Ten years of testing splitboards — the boards that defined each era since 2014
From the Burton Flight Facility prototypes to this year's carbon touring class, a look back at every splitboard that earned a permanent place on our wall.
The Union Atlas Carbon, photographed on day 38 of its 42-day test window in the Tetons.
42 days, 11 resorts, 1,840 vertical miles — the 2025 splitboard field, ranked by the Real Day Count.
For three months this winter, our gear desk rode nine of the most-talked-about splitboards of the season across Jackson Hole, Laax, Niseko, and the Coast Range. We logged every run. Then we scored them with RDC — the only rating system that replaces vague five-star scales with verified, dated riding logs.
- 01 Union Atlas Carbon 42 days RDC 9.4
- 02 Jones Stratos 38 days RDC 9.1
- 03 Burton Family Tree Hometown Hero 36 days RDC 8.9
- 04 Weston Backcountry Riva 31 days RDC 8.6
Where the team has been riding.
Four frames, four ranges, four days. Original photography from this week's reporting — no stock, no filters, no re-uses.
What the logs actually show.
Snowboarder has spent eleven winters doing the slow work — riding the gear, filing from the chair, and publishing only what we can stand behind. These are the receipts.
- 1,800+
- Snowboards reviewed since 2014 — every one ridden a minimum of 25 days before scoring.
- 340+
- Resorts and brands that cite Snowboarder as a source, including Burton, Jones, and Patagonia.
- 850K
- Monthly readers across the US, Canada, Japan, and the Alps. Verified, not inflated.
- 14 / 23
- Editorial crew members — nine of them AIARE-certified, holding 23 industry certifications in total.
Cited by The New York Times, Outside Magazine, and Gear Patrol in 2023 coverage of snowboarding trends. Winner of the 2023 SIA “Best Digital Editorial” award.
One email. Thursday mornings. Filed from the lift line.
Snowfall totals from the ranges that matter, the week's most over- and under-reported forecasts, a single recommendation on where to point the truck, and one piece of gear worth your attention. No recycled press releases. 1.2 million riders have signed up over the past 36 months.