The SnowBrains Podcast

Season 7, Ep. 109Our guest today is Brandon Swartz, the General Manager of Smugglers' Notch, VT. Brandon learned to ski just down the road at Mount Snow, VT, when he was just 3 years old, and from there, he did just about every single job on the mountain. Ski patrol, race department, lift mechanic, lift ops, mountain ops, before climbing the ladder for over 14 years inside Vail Resorts, the biggest ski operator on Earth, eventually running Attitash and Wildcat, NH. Then he walked away from it all to go home to Vermont and run a funky, fiercely independent mountain, with some of the oldest chairlifts in the country.We dig into his story, why he recently moved to Smugglers' Notch, and the future of this old-school ski resort that has gone through lots of change in the past year. Follow The SnowBrains Podcast:- On ⁠Instagram⁠- On ⁠⁠Facebook⁠- On ⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠- On ⁠⁠SnowBrains.com⁠⁠This episode was edited by Liam Abbott. Hosted by Miles Clark.

Season 7, Episode 108Chris Tomer is an Emmy Award-winning meteorologist and avid backcountry skier. After more than 25 years in Denver, he recently relocated to Columbus, Ohio, to become the Chief Meteorologist at 10TV – WBNS. Although he may be further from the mountains than before, he hasn't lost his obsession with mountain weather, and joins us on the podcast today to talk about the horrific ski season we saw last year, and what this coming season across the United States is currently shaping up to be.If you care about mountain weather, no matter where in the U.S. you are based, be sure to follow his YouTube Channel for regular videos forecasting where you can find the best snow. Follow The SnowBrains Podcast:On InstagramOn ⁠FacebookOn ⁠Threads⁠On ⁠SnowBrains.com⁠This episode was edited by Liam Abbott. Hosted by Miles Clark.

Season 7, Episode 107Our guest today is Jeff Kohnstamm, President of Timberline Lodge, OR, frequently associated with the longest ski season in North America and home to the iconic Timberline Lodge. Jeff knows this place better than anyone. He literally grew up at the resort, with his father, Richard L. Kohnstamm, running the resort from 1955–1992, when Jeff took over. On this podcast episode, Miles & Jeff dive into all things Timberline Lodge, including its wild and fascinating history, its feature in the cult movie The Shining, new lifts planned to connect The Summit Ski Area with Timberline Lodge (which will create the longest lift-served vertical drop in the United States), and the increasing effects that climate change is having on the longest ski season in North America.Follow The SnowBrains Podcast:On FacebookOn InstagramOn ThreadsOn SnowBrains.comThis episode was edited by Liam Abbott. Hosted by Miles Clark.

Season 7, Episode 106To start Season 7 of the Podcast, we are doing things a little differently. Today, Jeff Banks, IFMGA guide, avalanche course instructor, and CEO & Founder of AspectAvy, is going to join us as we discuss the Castle Peak Avalanche in Lake Tahoe, CA, that took 9 souls last winter in 2026.This was the deadliest ski/snowboard related avalanche in U.S. history, and there is a lot to unpack, understand, and learn from this incident so we can be safer while knowing the risks of spending time in the backcountry. Follow The SnowBrains Podcast:On FacebookOn InstagramOn ThreadsOn SnowBrains.comThis episode was edited by Liam Abbott. Hosted by Miles Clark.

Season 6, Episode 105Our guest today is Olivier Fremond, the head of Operations & Development at Les 3 Vallées, the world's largest ski resort. When we say large, we're not talking big. We're talking absurdly massive. Les 3 Vallées spans over 600km of pistes, roughly 25,000 acres of skiable terrain, more than 160 lifts, and it connects the legendary ski destinations of Courchevel, Meribel, and Val Thorens in one single ski area. This is a place where you can ski all day, rack up thousands of vertical feet, ski multiple valleys, and still not even come close to seeing it all. Today, we are diving deep into the numbers, the infrastructure, the logistics, and what it actually takes to operate the biggest ski resort in the world. Follow The SnowBrains Podcast:On FacebookOn InstagramOn ThreadsOn SnowBrains.com This episode was edited by Liam Abbott. Hosted by Miles Clark.