#1: World Cup Ski Racing Recap:

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This week, let's start off with a recap of last weekend's World Cup Events. As you likely know, Killington Resort here in Vermont put on quite the show as it played host to a pair of women's slalom events. As we mentioned in last week's Top 5 Friday, the lady to watch was Mikeala Shiffrin as her impressive results from last year's event (first place in slalom, fifth place in giant slalom) meant she had both a gold medal to defend and room for improvement. As it turns out, Shiffrin did both of those things as she recaptured the slalom gold medal and improved to a second place finish in the giant slalom. All in all, it was an impressive showing from one of the hottest names in women's ski racing.

On the men's side, World Cup Ski racing kicked the season off in Lake Louise, Canada after the first scheduled races were cancelled due to weather. Unfortunately for us American Gringos, there weren't any significant results for the U.S. ski team, but it's still nice to see the men's season finally get started. For a recap of last weekend's events, check out this writeup from the US Ski Team. To see a comprehensive list of results from past events, check out the official FIS results page here.

#2: Jerry Blann, Jackson Hole's President of 22 Years, Set to Retire:

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Alright, we'll be honest: typically we wouldn't bother covering news regarding the retirement of a ski resort's president. That said, the news that broke this week wasn't about just any ski resort president, it was about Jerry Blann, the man who's been at the helm of Jackson Hole Resort over the past 22 years. That in and of itself is an impressive feat, but as we learned more about the successes of his tenure we became even more impressed. As it turns out, Mr. Blann can be largely credited for making Jackson Hole the recognizable destination resort that it is today. According to Buckrail.com, a Teton County news source, annual visits to the resort in 1995 were right around 200,000. While many would still consider summertime the busy time of year for the region (due to its location in Yellowstone National Park), Mr. Blann was able to even the scales by increasing skier visits to nearly 600,00 each winter. In other words, he nearly tripled the amount of visitors to the resort. The result of course, is that the area's economy became more viable year round and lessened the struggles related with the seasonal boom and bust model. Obviously there are tons of other accomplishments that we could talk about at length here, but we're supposed to be sticking to the highlights. To get a full rundown, we suggest giving this article from Buckrail.com a read. Lastly, a huge congratulations goes out to Jerry Blann for a job well done. The Jackson Hole and ski communities alike thank you.

#3: Burnt Down and Vandalized, the U.K.'s Sheffield Ski Village Has a New Owner:

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Long time readers of Top 5 Fridays may recognize the name "Sheffield Ski Village" as it's a topic we've covered a few times over the years. For those uninitiated, the Sheffield Ski Village was once the U.K.'s premier dry slope destination featuring an impressive terrain park, intermediate level dry slope runs, and even a chairlift. Then, in 2012, the entire ski area fell victim to a fire. Since then, its been on the receiving end of multiple instances of arson and vandalism, while also remaining a lost gem of the community. Over the course of the last 5 years, there have been multiple community driven efforts to reopen the ski area, showcasing the love that locals had for the place.

This week, it looks like we can finally bring some good news to this ongoing saga as it was announced by the BBC that Sheffield Ski Area has been purchased and will be redeveloped by Extreme, a British leisure company. As a part of the new development plan, Extreme will look to not only revive the ski slopes at Sheffield, but also to add a number of other "extreme" activities such as mountain biking, rock climbing, and indoor skydiving, as well as a number of amenities such as restaurants and lodging. All in all, this is great news for all of those hoping to see the reopening of Sheffield Ski Village. For more on this, check out this article from the BBC.

#4: The BBC Gives Us a European Take on the Ski Industry:

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You know what? While we're discussing skiing in the U.K., let's also talk about another article published by the BBC this past week that takes a look at some of the larger trends in the ski industry. Now, you probably realize that that's something we're constantly doing here with Top 5 Fridays, but the reason why the BBC article is worth discussing is because it gives us the unique perspective of European skiers who can't readily access classic European ski destinations. As such, we get something of an "outsiders" perspective that allows us to see all of the world's skiing communities as more equal in that visiting any of them would require a plane ticket.

So what insights does this unique perspective give us? Well, a lot of the concepts touched on in this article are things we've also covered (consolidation, aging ski population, etc.), but there are also two totally new ideas. First, is their local issue of how Brexit could affect European currency rates, thereby raising the cost of a European ski vacation. While this could certainly have an impact on the number British skiers choosing to travel to North America, for the most part it's a localized issue so we won't spend a ton of time breaking it down. The second concept that caught our attention in this article though, is how much emphasis is being put on the growing ski culture in Asian countries such as China. Again, this is something that we've discussed, but from our North American perspective we've mostly considered the growth of the Chinese ski industry as a side note or a momentary reaction to their hosting role during the 2022 Winter Olympics. In this article though, the growth of the ski industry is given much more weight as its seen as a future contender in the global ski landscape. All in all, the article's an interesting read and a great opportunity to gain some new perspective on the global ski industry.

#5: And Now, Your Edits of the Week:

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Eye-Popping, Impressive, Etc.:

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#Vibes:

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Written by Matt McGinnis on 12/01/17