J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Since the warm period in the latter half of December which saw the highest temperatures in the Scottish Highlands reach +16C, it has been largely cold in the region with occasional snow showers allowing a base to begin to rebuilt at the country's five centres and snowmaking to be fired up on occasion.

The result is that all five centres have been able to open limited additional terrain to their nursery slopes which have been kept open thanks to all-weather snowmaking machines which can cover small areas.

All are stressing limited terrain is open and that it's very 'early season conditions'. Most require online advance ticket purchase and with limited availability these sell out fast, sometimes days ahead.

"We have the Plastic, DinkDink and Rope Tow operational. Still waiting on a bit more of the natural stuff to get more lifts running. Booking is online as we have limited places. Currently none available for the weekend," a spokesperson for Glenshee said on Saturday, with The Lecht posting,
"There has been some fresh snow overnight and this morning improving conditions. We expect to open the same lifts as yesterday. 2 Magic Carpets, Eagle, Osprey, Grouse. The bigger lifts have thin cover of snow especially at the top where the wind stripped it."

This weekend has seen excitement at Nevis Range above Fort William in the West though which re-opened some runs for the first time since the original March lockdown nearly two years ago.

"It's definitely early season conditions up there but it's amazing to finally have skiers back on the slopes of Aonach Mor again!" a spokesperson commented.

The other four centres managed to open some terrain before the second lockdown a year ago but Nevis Range had previously announced it would stay shuttered last season regardless and furlough staff to try to stem pandemic losses. The other four centres also opened limited terrain in mid-December last month before the warm weather wiped out much of the early base.

The coming week is looking warmer again but hopefully not too "thawing-warm" in the mountains this time.

Reports indicate that the UK government is easing the testing and self-isolation regime for travellers returning to England from this weekend.

You can check the full details of changes here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

The key changes are:

* Travellers will no longer need to take a pre-departure test before returning to England.
* Travellers can take a lateral flow rather than PCR test within two days of returning to England.
* Travellers will no longer need to self-isolate whilst awaiting the test result from their test.

The announcement has been widely welcomed by the travel industry.

It comes as heavy snowfall returns to much of the Alps after a warm weekend, Chatel in France is pictured above this weekend.

Currently the rule changes will only apply in England.

We've had a press release come in from Dolomiti Superski saying Italy will enforce 2G on ski slopes/hotels etc from 10th January. This means fully vaccinated and/or recently recovered only. From 1st Jan (as we've covered to some extent elsewhere) new law coming in to force that insists skiers have public liability insurance (2) requires children aged up to 18 to wear a helmet (previously it was up to 14) and (3) puts a ban on 'drink-skiing/boarding'. The last one apparently doesn't have a legal limit set but it's believed it will be the same a drink driving rules for driving in Italy - very low. So looks like a lunchtime beer/vin chaud/grappa on the slopes may now be out?

Club Med, the pioneer of the all-inclusive ski holiday, has announced they're returning to the US ski market after two decades with the unveiling of a new property planned for Snowbasin Resort in Utah, slated to open December 2024.

Club Med most recently operated a facility in the USA at Copper Mountain in Colorado but promise this new opening will be on another level and mark the brand's first-ever Exclusive Collection (5-Star) resort in the U.S. as well as being their first new resort in the U.S. this century.

Now ultimately owned by a Chinese group but still headquartered where the company was established in France, 70 years ago, Club Med has been upgrading its centres in Europe and building new mountain resorts in Japan and China. They also returned to the North American ski market this winter with their first mountain resort in Canada at the recently opened Club Med Québec.

"Our pioneering spirit has allowed us to successfully introduce our distinctive all-inclusive model to ski destinations worldwide and reshape what a traditional ski vacation looks like," commented the brand's President and CEO, Henri Giscard D'Estaing. "Our first resort in Canada, Club Med Québec, delivers an unparalleled year-round mountain vacation experience through boundless cultural touchpoints that pay homage to the region, and we look forward to working alongside our partners to showcase Le Massif de Charlevoix's incredible culture, warm spirit, and remarkable landscape. Looking ahead, we are delighted to bring Snowbasin their very first lodging property and introduce the spectacular region to travelers from all over the world."

The 5-Star Club Med Utah will be a 320-room resort the group says will, "combine American luxury with Club Med's renowned French savoir faire, along with architecture and design touches that integrate elements from Utah and its treasured history."

"Club Med is known for pioneering new destinations, and we are eager to introduce Snowbasin to travelers as well as bring the very first luxury all-inclusive mountain resort to the U.S.," added Carolyne Doyon, President and CEO of Club Med North America, who added, "Club Med Utah will give travelers additional opportunities to discover Utah's natural beauty and welcoming communities through a transformative mountain getaway experience."

The village will offer direct ski-in/ski-out access to surrounding slopes and offer something for every type of traveler, the group says, including families, couples, and meetings and events groups.

Accommodation options will include spacious 2-bedroom Deluxe rooms & Family Suites, while private Penthouse Suites will be available for those seeking added luxury.

Club Med will offer its award-winning children's clubs from 4 months to 17 years old for families seeking a more tailored, family-fun experience. In addition to all-day dining available at the resort's restaurants and lounges, guests can also enjoy included group ski and snowboard lessons, lift tickets, and a heated swimming pool during the ski season.

Snowbasin is located 45 minutes from Salt Lake International airport which receives 395 daily non-stop flights from 90+ international destinations, providing accessibility to travelers from all over the world. The region offers more than 300 days of sunshine as well as "The Greatest Snow on Earth®", with access to Olympic slopes, ski runs for all levels, and one of the highest vertical drops in North America.

The Club Med project is part of a larger master plan recently announced by Snowbasin for the mountain, which also includes additional beginner ski domains, new lift infrastructure and retail and lodging areas at the base.

"Club Med will bring distinctive high-quality development to Snowbasin, building on a superlative ski experience and decades of careful stewardship and investment into Snowbasin from our owners," says Bruce Fery, CEO of Grand America Hotels and Resorts. "Club Med will showcase the beauty and excellence of Snowbasin to a largely international clientele, which will benefit the entire region."

A number of December snowfall records have been broken in California.

The Palisades ski area by Lake Tahoe has reported its all-time snowiest December, with 199 inches (503cm) of snowfall so far.

What's particularly remarkable is that all the snow has fallen in the latter half of the month, the region was suffering a warm, dry November and early December which had forced many resorts in the region to stay closed beyond planned opening dates. Some have only finally opened over the past few days.

Mammoth Mountain, which has managed to stay open for two months already since late October when many others couldn't, now reports the world's deepest snowpack at 15 feet (4.5 metres).

Ironically all the snowfall caused ski areas in the region to close, after they had been forced to close for lack of snow before.

The snowfall, which has arrived in two major snowstorms over the past fortnight, blocked access roads for days, buried lifts, set avalanche danger levels to maximum and was at time accompanied by warm wet weather, then very cold weather that coated machinery in ice and at times wind speeds kit 120mph and visibility zero. It has been a major effort by resort staff to get centres safe to open.

The good news is the coming weekend is looking like a powder perfect start to the New Year.

The weather extremes are being seen across the US where generally its an improving picture but some centres on the east coast and Midwest are still unable to open or have been forced to close again, due to warm, dry weather. For some in states like Ohio and West Virginia December 2021 will be the warmest and driest on record.

Around 4,000 ski areas in 55 countries are believed to be open as we head in to 2022, the most since February 2020.

Almost every nation with ski lifts in the northern hemisphere appears to be allowing ski areas to operate, although the surge in the omicron variant has led to some restricting operations to vaccinated-only skiers and closing borders to countries with high infection levels.

Around 14 ski nations are believed to have resorts open in Asia; 39 in Europe and then Canada and the US.

The few countries that have not yet opened largely appear to be limited by inadequate snow cover – these include Portugal, Cyprus and Uzbekistan.

The operational status of Oukimaden in Morocco is hard to ascertain, there have been issues with COVID closures there through 2021 and it's unclear if these have eased. It's a similar situation for Chréa in Algeria, but both African ski areas have posted images of December snowfall.

Ski resorts of Servia which appear to run the Brezovica ski area in the break-away Republic of Kosovo do not publish information on its operational status and Kosovo's status as a country remains disputed although now officially recognised by just over a half of UN member states.

Info just starting to come out - so far seems if you are fully vaccinated and have had booster you can still enter with recent negative PCR test. Looks like quarantine required if you haven't had booster.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/austria-restricting-arrivals-uk-denmark-netherlands-over-omicron-2021-12-22/

I have given up trying to be optimistic and I guess the priority will be to protect sales to their biggest market, Germany, so expect the news will be bad. However, in normal times I would have been slightly sceptical, having not seen the original report, because all the rumour so far appears to be coming from a single leaked source so far as we can tell? Although the detail they seem to have seems to imply strong inside knowledge.