The idea that hiking trails are a tool for conservation is based on a simple premise: people protect what they know. That requires making conservation areas accessible. There's no point telling people you only protect what you know, if you don't give them the tools to know. The trail is this tool. People who hike, people who camp, these people often become defenders of the environment.
BASIN Glacial Waters to function as both architectural frame and sensory mediator, a space where the physiological effects of thermotherapy meet the raw power of protected wilderness. With an opening last September at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, this marks the first thermal bathing facility in North America to fully integrate European sweat culture traditions with glacial-fed hydrotherapy at this scale.
Tell your peeps to watch for sheep! Share the range with the Tetons' original mountaineers. Bighorn sheep have worked hard to survive the winter at high elevation. By late winter, their fat reserves are running thin and every bit of energy counts. Giving them space will help them make it through the final weeks of winter.
Although these attractions are beautiful, the crowds they drew during my trip put a damper on the experience. I preferred sights like the Lagazuoi Tunnels, Monte Civetta, and Cinque Torri, all of which were less touristy but still had equally showstopping views and hikes.
I'd been stopped maybe 2 seconds and the slope started to move. I pivoted to straightline but was swamped-no speed, no chance. The impact was like stepping off a curb in front of a 40 Tonne truck doing 60 mph.
in the Swiss backcountry. They're young men, both seemingly carefree and indestructible. During their run down the mountain, the pair notice an inn, remove their skis, and step inside for a drink and some apple strudel. There's an old stove throwing off heat; cigarette smoke wafts through the place. After Nick orders wine for both of them, he turns to George and says:
From Sunday afternoon through early Tuesday, guidance converges on timing but diverges on intensity, so confidence is highest in a light event rather than a strong storm. Snow should be most persistent Sunday evening into Monday night, then taper Tuesday morning. The conservative near-term expectation is light accumulation for many resorts, with localized higher-terrain totals near 7 cm in the western and southern Alps.
The body is a shifting landscape transformed by surfaces and sensations. Each look captures a different tactile world: the heat of blood, the cool weight of metal, the yielding drift of water. The result is a sculptural study of how the elements carve, shield, and release the self. The materials we embody become the emotions we carry, and the body becomes a materialised exhibition of our emotions, from the pulse of Blood to the discipline of Metal to the surrender of Water.
Studio Stipfold designs AltiHut Cottage as part of first sustainable high-altitude hospitality ecosystem, combining a compact layout, fiber- architecture, and panoramic glazing to minimize impact while maximizing experience. At 3,014 meters above sea level, AltiHut stands as more than a mountain . It is a statement of responsibility, vision, and care for the planet. The project challenges the idea of adventure tourism by uniting comfort, awareness, and respect for nature. Every element, delivered by helicopter and powered by the sun, reflects a belief that hospitality can exist in balance with the environment.
Images on social media show snowed-in cars, mountains of marshmallow powder, and landscapes buried under deep midwinter snow. In many of these areas, one would need to look back to 1999 to find thicker snow cover in February. In other words, this is an unprecedented post-2000 snow situation in most of France. However in 2018, the historic "Beast from the East" storm cycle delivered extraordinary totals to resorts in the south of France. Still, for much of northern Savoie and Haute-Savoie, February 2026 stands out as one of the most impressive snow periods in nearly three decades.
Standing among the Alps, it's easy to believe that they will last forever. They seem too big to fail, too old to change. This illusion of permanence has long entranced travelers who have visited to experience the intoxicating feeling of being daunted and dwarfed by a landscape's authority. But even mountains move: This past May an avalanche of ice and rock tore through the Lötschental Valley, erasing the village of Blatten in less than a minute.
Last week alone, parts of western Switzerland were buried under 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) of snow. Another meter fell this week in some regions, pushing fresh storm totals to as much as 2.5 meters (8 feet). The new snow has helped erase what had been a snow-poor winter in the west, with snow depths in some areas now well above seasonal averages.
Many of them were built for purposes that no longer exist - cattle drives, mining prospecting, early U.S. Forest Service fire patrols - while others were packed by the footprints of the Chumash people well before the colonization of North America. Sections of trail cling to steep slopes that seem to barely resist gravity, shedding soil and stone with each winter storm.
Snowfall in France this week has been huge, with some resorts seeing more than 2 meters (6.6 feet) in the last five days. A massive winter storm hammered the French Alps from February 10-13, unleashing monster snowfall that has buried resorts and reshaped the mountain landscape just days before Valentine's Day weekend. Across the Northern Alps - including iconic resorts in Haute-Savoie, Savoie, and Isère - weather stations reported extraordinary snow totals.
BackcountryFor most skiers, "all-inclusive" means a lift ticket and a buffet. Forrest Schmidt means something very different: a hot titanium stove in a tipi, filet mignon next to a steaming hot spring, and ancient araucaria trees holding cold smoke over a perfectly set skintrack. Schmidt, a 44-year-old "East Coast kid" from rural New York, runs APEX Andes (Andes Puro Exploraciones) out of Malalcahuello in Chile's Araucanía region. His guide service is small by design with
Industry News is once again at the center of the para alpine skiing world this week as it hosts the FIS Para Alpine Skiing World Cup from February 2-6, welcoming many of the sport's top athletes to the French Alps. The event serves as a critical competitive checkpoint on the road to the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and shows Tignes' decades-long commitment to inclusive winter sport.