First up, tough news from the US Ski Team, superstar Mikaela Shiffrin is sitting out training right now due to an aching back. Shiff sez it’s not the same injury that sidelined her for a bit last season, but she feels that it’s related. Regardless, doesn’t plan on missing the tech events at Killington later this month, but is iffy on whether she’ll be on the hill in Lake Louise. That photo above, incidentally, was taken in October in Soelden and is courtesy the US Ski and Snowboard Team…odd news from New Hampshire, venerable Gunstock Resort looking to expand into terrain once occupied by Mount Rowe, which later became Alpine Ridge, which folded sometime in the 1980s. Anyway this and other terrain are being eyed for a bang-up expansion totaling some 194 acres. Plans also include a slopeside hotel, a mountaintop restaurant, as well as new lifts and expanded snowmaking. Now we have no idea if this is even possible, let alone affordable, but it would be a step on the road to the overall area’s former greatness when it was the Belknap Ski Region. At one time Belknap was a go-to winter recreation area with all sorts of ski hills, surface tows, and Gunstock as the centerpiece. Add in a couple of skating rinks, weekend barn dances, sledding hills, toboggan runs, lodges — it was the happening winter place in the 1940s and 1950s. Interesting to see more of what they have in mind…More down-to-earth news, let’s turn to Colorado, A-Basin spun the Lenawee Chair yesterday so they’ve got top-to-bottom skiing…working on updates for the indemnified binding list. If you can help, drop me a confidential email at sticker@skibum.net. On that note, if you’d like one of our free stickers, do the same…back to New Hampshire, pleased to report that Wildcat fired up their snowguns at the end of last week, they’re plugging along. Still no word on whether or not Vail Resort Inc. has enough bodies to open the hill to full capacity this season…and finally some sad news out of the Granite State, fans of southern NH Crotched Mountain were shocked to hear of the passing of Paul Remillard. “Remski” was a local fixture who worked tirelessly to maintain gladed terrain at Crotched, and the skiing world lost one of its best promoters.