The holiday season is upon us and, despite the headwinds of Covid-19, thousands of skiers and snowboarders have been aiming toward the mountains for welcome relief.

As the winter ski season gets underway, Square now powers payments, e-commerce, and point of sale at nearly a dozen renowned ski resorts across the U.S. and Canada in partnership with POWDR, owner of Killington Resort, Copper Mountain, Eldora and Mt. Bachelor.

Killington Resort is launching a program to feed the local community as well as offer grants to local businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, Park City-based Powdr announced it has acquired SilverStar Mountain Resort. SilverStar is Powdr’s first mountain resort in Canada.

Although the Beast of the East is known for its snowmaking muscle, the little sister of legendary Killington Resort, Vermont’s Pico Mountain, will see major upgrades to its snowmaking system next season.

The parent company of Vermont’s Killington and California’s Boreal, POWDR, has partnered with Danny Davis, X Games Gold Medalist, Grand Prix Winner, Dew Tour Champion and U.S. Snowboard Olympian, to launch Woodward Peace Park. 

Copper to cut season pass price for next season. (Copper Mountain/Facebook)

The season pass battles are officially on for 2018-2019, and Copper Mountain has fired its salvo with an early-season pass priced about 25 percent lower than this season's top price.

More steep and deep with new trails at Eldora Mountain this season (Eldora/Facebook)

Work is underway to clear three black-diamond runs at Eldora Mountain Resort that are slated to be open when the Colorado mountain opens in December.

The day-trip Front Range ski and snowboard area is undergoing its first major upgrades in several decades, thanks to infusion of capital by new owners Powdr Corp. after the U.S. Forest Service gave its OK to a master plan.

The trio of trails will run between Corona and Indians Peaks chairlifts, in what is called Brian’s Glades and Placer Glade areas in the Corona Bowl section of the mountain.

The longest run at 2,600 feet is named Alpen Horn. The steepest will be Wolf Tongue, while the third called Red Trail has an intermediate section at the top before plunging into black-diamond steeps.

Snowmaking will cover the entire 15 acres that the runs encompass, the resort says, to supplement what is often 300 inches of natural snowfall a years.

Now that Eldora has been cleared to build the new trails, ownership is setting sights on a new high-speed quad to replace the dual fixed-grip chairs Cannonball and Challenge on the front side. Completion is scheduled for the 2017-2018 season.

Eldora joins Copper Mountain in the Colorado portfolio of resort chain Powdr Corp., which has eight resorts total.

“Colorado’s Front Range is one of the best ski markets in the world,” said John Cumming, CEO and owner of Utah-based Powdr at the time of the purchase last June. “Expanding our footprint here with now two of the most accessible resorts to serve those passionate skiers is an enormous honor. Eldora is admired as a leading entry point and training ground for children and beginners."

After two decades as Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort, the closest winter resort to Las Vegas has returned to its original name, Lee Canyon, to both acknowledge the past and forge into the future.

Powdr Enterprises, the sports marketing and entertainment division of Powdr, has announced a strategic brand partnership with Boyne Resorts. This alliance brings together the corporate partnership rights of the two largest privately-owned and operated companies in the mountain sports industry.

A Utah district judge heard oral arguments Thursday (April 3) in the litigation between the owners of Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort.

Six Powdr Corp. resorts have hooked up to give youngsters more reason to hit the slopes – and to hone their terrain park skills during the offseason.