The Canyons Resort is pioneering one of the biggest innovations in skier comfort since Gore Tex, a heated capsule that completely shields riders from the elements. The orange, Plexiglas bubble wraps up, from the footrests, over the safety bar, then behind the back of the bench.

Without the nuisance of piercing winds, it’s possible to enjoy the heated seat that charges for 7-seconds as it rounds the base of the terminal and reaches a temperature of about 55 degrees.

On a clear day, according to The Canyons communications coordinator, Hannah Bowling, “the views will be unmatched. It will feel like you’re in a pair of sunglasses.”

This added protection will also allow operators to raise the lift speed, moving riders from the Grand Summit Hotel to the mid-mountain Lookout Peak, then to the Sun Peak Lift, a change of 3,190 feet, in just nine-minutes. Increasing the lift speed inherently raises uphill lift-capacity; projections are as high as 47% more riders per hour.

The first of it’s kind in North America, this chairlift design originated in Austria and is expected to start a new trend at resorts around the nation, according to Bowling.

“It’s our goal to find the newest and most advanced technologies, this is just the start,” said Bowling.

By any standard, Sugarloaf’s announcement yesterday of plans for a huge, trail-less “sidecountry” skiing preserve is notable—no matter how you define a resort’s skiable acres. Would the three-phase project eventually make Sugarloaf a bigger ski area than Killington? Well, if you count patrolled, gladed, inbounds terrain as part of your skiable acreage—as most resorts do these days—then yes, it will. Killington boasts 752 acres; Sugarloaf will exactly double in size, from 655 acres to 1,310. Like we said: big news.

Expansion onto neighboring Burnt Mountain has been talked about since the beginning at Sugarloaf, and resort officials yesterday made it official. There won’t be any new lifts in the immediate future, and of course, local powder hounds have been skiing much of it for years. The area is known for its deep snow, deposited there by prevailing winds. The final phase, furthest from the existing area, would include the north face of Burnt, an area where few locals have ventured, and where the deepest pockets of sun-shaded snow are likely to exist.

Starting Monday, with all permits in hand, crews will begin glading the first third of the three-phase project, a 270-acre parcel. Skiers will access it from the top of the existing King Pine quad, traversing easterward (skier’s right) into the new terrain. The ski experience in the new terrain will include tight trees that have been only moderately thinned, as well as more aggressively thinned areas.

“We haven’t ruled out the possibility of some sort of low-impact lift over there, maybe a T-bar or a fixed double or something like that,” said Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin. “I don’t think you’ll ever see a high-speed quad over there. You might also see some catskiing over there, something that would get you to the summit of Burnt Mountain and the snowfields up there, which you’d have to hike to now.”

“It’s really interesting terrain,” says Austin, who has skied it numerous times. “There’s some really steep stuff, some moderate cliff bands with up to 20- and 30-foot drops, and there’s some low-angle stuff too. The best part is how it holds snow. The prevailing winds dump everything over there and just buries it. The locals have always known that trails like King Pine and Cant Dog, over on the east side, always have the deepest snow on a powder day. This is the same thing, only further east, and the third phase is actually north-facing.”

Because the new terrain will be inbounds, it will be patrolled. Sugarloaf will strongly recommend that skiers have at least one partner and will otherwise encourage smart backcountry safety procedures. “There’ll be some signage, and we’ll have different safety procedures over there. It’s definitely a little different than a groomed trail inbounds, but yeah, if you get into trouble, it’s inbounds and patrolled, so we’ll come and get you for sure.”

As far as the “biggest in the East” crown, Austin admits, “it’ll be nice to have bragging rights. … But the important part is that it’s killer terrain, we’re listening to what Sugarloafers have told us their looking for, and we’re doing it right.”

Read Sugarloaf's press release here.

In response to rising numbers of snow sport related head injuries, the California Senate recently voted the bill, SB 880, into enrollment. This is the last step before it becomes a law, and if it passes, it will require “a person under 18 years of age to wear a properly fitted and fastened snow sport helmet while operating snow skis or a snowboard while participating in the sport of downhill skiing or snowboarding.” Proposed by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), a licensed child psychologist, the law is intended to reduce the amount of unnecessary injuries and deaths on the ski slopes.

Only enforced if police are at the resorts, the law is meant to help parents persuade their children to wear their helmets. A $25 fine for violators is the same penalty as California’s bicycle law and will hopefully deter children from riding unprotected.

“It’s supposed to be used as leverage,” said Adam Keigwin, Senator Yee’s chief of staff. “Parents can tell their kids to wear their helmets because it’s the law,” he said.

A second skier safety law, AB 1652, backs up SB 880. Proposed by Assemblyman Dave Jones (D-Scaramento), this bill requires “ski resorts to prepare an annual safety plan, make the plan available to the public, and produce a monthly report with specified details about any fatal incidents at the resort which resulted from a recreational activity."

At Bear Valley Community Hospital, near Big Bear Mountain Resort, the emergency room often sees 75 to 100 snow related injuries per day from the middle of December to the first week in January.

“These young ones think they’re bulletproof,” said Mark Kaliher, an ER nurse at the hospital. “There’s a lot of head trauma coming in, it only takes a blow at 11MPH to cause a concussion,” he said.

California is pioneering this new trend in snow safety, but they’re not alone. The New Jersey Senate recently approved a similar helmet law, S130, which says, “a person under 14 years of age engaged in the activity of downhill skiing shall wear a securely fitted protective helmet.” Voted in by an overwhelming vote of 33-2, violators face the same penalty as California, a $25 fine.

There are plenty of parallels between Aspen and New York—celebrity spotting, exorbitant real estate prices—but this weekend, there’s a connection between the two cities that’s a little less obvious: barbecue.

The first annual Big Aspen Barbecue Block Party kicks off tomorrow at noon at the base of Aspen Mountain. An offshoot of New York City’s long-running Big Apple Barbecue it’s coming West for the first time.

Admission to the event, which includes cooking demos music from bands like Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials, is free. You’ll be able to sample multiple styles of barbecue, and see how local Aspen pitmaster stack up against champion barbecuers from Kansas City, North Carolina, and Texas.

Food is $8 a plate and proceeds from the event benefit the Aspen Community Foundation.

Find out more.

The Norwegian Government approved the expansion of the Tryvann Vinterpark resort arena, with no changes, which will guarantee the venue to host the event.

File: Gold medallist Jasey Jay Anderson of Canada races through the last gate during the Men's Freestyle Skiing Snowboard Giant Slalom finals at Cypress Mountain during the Vancouver Winter Olympics, north of Vancouver on February 27, 2010.

Betty Fox says the spirit of her son lives on in so many people who are the unsung heroes of the Terry Fox Run.

Built in Denver, tested in the Rockies, and ridden by some of the most brand-loyal snowboarders on the planet, Never Summer is a true shred institution amongst the Coors mountains.

Police in southern Switzerland say a teenage member of the Russian national snowboard team has died at a training camp in the Alps.