Forecast Ski

Brand overview and significance

Forecast Ski is a Canadian ski media brand launched in 2014 and published by the King Network. The title blends a free, nationally distributed print magazine with a busy digital platform that posts daily film news, features, and gear coverage. Each fall the magazine kicks off a new volume and, per the subscription terms, prints three issues per season (September, October, December) that land in mailboxes and core shops across the country. For Skipowd readers, a quick internal hub lives at Forecast Ski on our platform.

Forecast’s role is twofold: celebrate ski culture (films, tours, athletes) and help skiers make better buying decisions via clear, rider-first reviews. That combination—stoke plus service—has made it a go-to Canadian reference for freeskiers who want credible gear advice alongside trailers, tour dates, and industry updates.

Product lines and key technologies

Forecast doesn’t manufacture skis; its “products” are media offerings designed to inform and inspire. The print magazine provides long-form stories, photography, and the season’s Buyer’s Guide. Online, the site updates daily with film trailers, event announcements, interviews, and a structured Gear Guide. The signature initiative is the multi-week Forecast Ski Test at RED Mountain Resort in Rossland, B.C.: written and video reviews capture how current and next-season skis behave in real interior-B.C. conditions over an extended window, not just at a one-day demo.

Process is the “tech” here. Reviews pair on-snow notes with basic specs, ability guidance, and use-case context, while video clips put a voice and terrain to the verdicts. The site also maintains a free subscription (Canada-only) and an accessible magazine archive so past volumes remain useful for carry-over or used-gear research.

Ride feel: who it’s for (terrains & use-cases)

Translate “ride feel” to editorial voice. Forecast speaks to skiers who split time between lift-served soft snow, tracked chop, and firm mornings—the mix that defines much of interior and coastal B.C. Park and all-mountain-freestyle riders will find plenty of film and gear coverage, while directional freeriders get stability, edge-hold, and variable-snow insight that maps to real resort days. Newer skiers benefit from clear ability labels and terrain notes that reduce mismatch risk; experienced skiers get candid takes on flex patterns, mount points, and top-end stability.

Team presence, competitions, and reputation

Forecast’s credibility is editorial rather than podium-based. The brand is edited by longtime ski-media figure Jeff Schmuck and consistently amplifies athlete projects, film premieres, and tour stops (including the Whistler stop of the iF3 Festival). The magazine’s voice shows up across Canadian scenes—from Coast Mountain film weeks to Kootenay test laps—so brands and riders alike treat its channels as a dependable place to launch news and stories.

Geography and hubs (heritage, testing, venues)

Forecast’s center of gravity is British Columbia, with regular coverage from coastal hubs like Whistler-Blackcomb and an annual test program based at RED Mountain. That interior-B.C. perspective—storm cycles, glades, bowls, and long fall-line pistes—shapes both the look and the priorities of the reviews and stories.

Construction, durability, and sustainability

For a media brand, “construction” means workflow and longevity. Forecast’s extended test window at RED Mountain helps surface durability notes and tune sensitivity that short demo circuits may miss, and the print-plus-archive model keeps information useful beyond a single season. The free-to-Canada distribution keeps copies in circulation in shops and clubhouses, while the site’s ongoing updates provide a low-waste way to extend each story’s life with follow-ups and video.

How to choose within the lineup

Use Forecast’s ecosystem as a progression path. Start with the fall Buyer’s Guide to narrow waist width and intent (all-mountain, freeride, freestyle). Then read and watch the Ski Test reviews from RED Mountain to see how candidates behave in chopped powder, firm mornings, or spring slush—conditions you’re likely to encounter. If you ski mainly groomers with occasional soft-snow days, prioritize reviews that cite edge hold and damping; if you chase trees and bowls, look for predictable release and stability in tracked snow; if you ride park, focus on swing weight, mount points, and landing support. When in doubt, cross-reference multiple models within a category; the consistent format makes apples-to-apples comparisons straightforward.

Why riders care

Forecast matters because it blends culture and utility. You get the trailers and tour dates that set the tone for winter—and the practical, plainly written reviews that help you choose the right ski for your hill. Anchored in British Columbia with national reach, backed by a free print program and a daily-updated site, and tested on the kind of terrain most of us actually ski, Forecast turns a noisy gear landscape into usable, season-shaping guidance.