Photo above shows the remains of overnight snow at Big Sky MT, winter can’t be far off now…Vermont’s Sugarbush Resort has announced plans to turn the guns on November 1st. The ‘bush gets more or less the same upslope snow that Mad River Glen virtually relies on to open, so if the weather cooperates we expect they’ll have a decent offering by the second weekend in December…don’t like to hawk deals here but part of our mission is to make people aware of the myriad ways to save a few dollars, Michiganders will do well to pay attention to Caberfae Peaks‘ pass prices. You’re looking at $119 for a midweek pass, $229 for what I believe is an unlimited pass but not 100% sure on that. Worth looking at as the prices go up at the end of the month…New Yorkers in the Hudson Valley should be aware of ski swap at Potter Brothers Kingston store this weekend…snow expected in Washington State, Mt. Baker looking to get a start today on their usual colossal season totals. Central cascade stalwarts Stevens Pass, Summit-at-Snowqualmie, and Alpental may even get a dusting…FIS World Cup season is less than ten days away, kicks off as usual with giant slalom competition on the glacier in Soelden. Defending winners are Lara Gut and Alexis Pinturault…working on this season’s version of the Indemnified Bindings list. As usual the industry does its best to keep people in the dark; I know of no other business that goes to such great lengths to avoid telling its paying customers whether or not the products they’ve paid serious money for are still viable. With that in mind, we’re doing our best to uncover the information and PUBLISH IT. What we’ve got so far is available here. If you have any concrete information, please send it directly to me, rickskibum.net