The hottest new winter sport is about to get even hotter

A skier climbs the slops to the Todorka peak in the Pirin Mountains on February 14, 2026. | Nikolay Doychinov/AFP via Getty Images

Over the past few winters, where I live — in one of the country’s winter sport meccas — there have been a whole lot more people packing skins and stepping into the backcountry. 

Trails once quiet, save for the sinuous whoosh of a lone ski line, are suddenly dotted with fresh tracks. Backcountry skiing — long a niche pursuit of hardcore alpinists and telemark nostalgists ...