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Good morning groovy people. Good morning, Sugar Poppppp,” Brian Hughes says into his camera phone, making a popping sound as he says, “Pop.”

Snow guns are ready, chairlift inspected, and snowcats ready to go as the New Mexico 2020-2021 ski and snowboard season begins to open in late November.

This week, we’ll see a much needed wetter and colder pattern develop for the west, while the east remains a battleground between autumn’s warm and cold snaps.

The COVID pandemic has some in the cross country ski industry projecting a coming boom similar to the bicycle industry, which saw such a surge of sales and activity last spring.

Wild Mountain, about an hour northeast of the Twin Cities along the Minnesota/Wisconsin border, has opened the Front Stage terrain park with four to six terrain park features and rope tow uphill access.

For years, there's been a friendly competition among a trio of high-elevation Colorado resorts to see which Northern American resort opens first. But Covid-19 has cancelled that "race" for this season -- pushing opening dates back.

Skier and riders in the Northeast have another reason to grab a 2020-21 Indy Pass as Vermont's Jay Peak has announced that it will join more than 50 resorts in North America, including 10 in New England, for the upcoming season.

In what promises to be a most unusual ski season in Colorado due to COVID-19, it might also be an unusually late kickoff.

Every autumn, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) releases their season outlook, with projections of what we can expect (weather-wise) into the winter season. This isn't your daily weather forecast; It's probabilistic insight into the longer term temperature and precipitation patterns on the scale of months. The outlooks are based on global weather patterns, which decades of research have proven that weather on one side of the globe, can impact weather thousands of miles away.

Since the global coronavirus pandemic began, sports that lend themselves to outdoor social distancing (golf, cycling, hiking, fishing, etc.) have been red hot, and skiing and snowboarding hold the same appeal as cold weather sets in. Several new hotels are debuting at major ski resorts around the country, and while it is too early to say whether travel from outside the regions will be safe or advisable this ski season, it is worth begin informed if the travel landscape takes a turn for the better.

One of the stickier points in managing the spread of COVID-19 in Colorado’s resort towns involves what to do when a guest falls ill during their stay and can’t leave.

Crystal Mountain is Michigan's first ski resort to give up metal wickets and sticky paper for chairlift access with the installation of a radio frequency identification device (RFID) ticketing and gate system.

The focus for cold and snow this week stretches from British Columbia, down the Northern Rockies to the Great Lakes, bringing the potential for base-building snow. In the east, a mainly soggy storm mixes with snow in the colder peaks of New England. 

Pre-purchase requirements? Reservations? Social Distancing? The 2020-21 ski season is shaping up to be very unique as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues. As the industry's number one resource for snow conditions information, skiers will also be able to turn to SnoCountry.com for the industry’s most comprehensive COVID-19 mountain resort information for planning their on-snow adventures. 

The standard Covid-19 precautions are in place for this ski and snowboard season in the Gem State. Regional and local conditions may change, prompting changes in restrictions, but here's a look at some of the resorts' plans.

Traditionally, the skis you want to carry you into and out of the isolated and unforgiving backcountry is not the pair with algae on it. Or in it.

The winter 2020-21 snow season is quickly approaching. Although skiing and snowboarding are naturally socially distant activities, the social experiences that come with the snow community — such as striking up a conversation while congregating in line to wait for a lift, or grabbing a well-earned apres-ski drink after a long day on the mountain — are shaping up to look different this year. 

The good news is that Vermont’s ski resorts plan to be open this winter. Offering the fun of skiing and snowboarding is still the focus, but the mountain experience will look different due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

With snowflakes already falling at high elevations and lifts scheduled to open just weeks from now, many of us are dreaming of mountain escapes, imagining that first run of the season.

Oregon's ski and snowboard resorts have unveiled how they plan to deal with COVID-related concerns this winter, and the options are all over the lot -- depending upon seasonal variables and local habits.