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Lech ski resort has announced two state-of-the-art new Doppelmayr lifts will go into service there this winter as part of the Arlberg network which connects the skiing of St Anton, Lech, Zurs and a number of other villages in the region.

There's a major upgrade to the old Madlochbahn lift, now a high-speed 6-seater detachable chairlift with pull-down weather-protection bubble covers and heated seats. The also has a new valley station which is located on the other side of the Lake Zürsersee from the current base. With a capacity of more than 2,100 skiers per hour, it replaces a much slower, lower capacity fixed-grip double chairlift installed in the 1960s.

In addition the Zugerbergbahn lift has been upgraded, but in its case to a gondola with 10-seat cabins boasting panoramic windows and a new top station which will be built in to the mountainside, underground.

With a capacity of 2,400 skiers per hour it also replaces a much slower, lower capacity fixed-grip double chairlift installed more than 40 years ago.

Both lifts will be much faster than their predecessors, each cutting uplift time to five minutes a piece.

Both serve on the resorts famous 'White Ring' circuit, meaning it will be quicker and more comfortable to complete the circuit than ever before.

More Italian ski resorts are opening for their winter 21-22 seasons, more than open resorts in Austria, France and Switzerland, are making their main message the importance that skiers follow the rules agreed with government to be able to open.

These include strict mask wearing and the need to buy lift passes online and to hold the country's digital green pass. Some resorts are requiring this not just to be able to enter mountain restaurants but to buy a lift pass and access the slopes as well. There is also a requirement to wear a more effective face mask than the usual cloth or disposable paper versions, with resorts stating the more advanced FFP2 version, or better, should be worn.

"After a long wait, in a few days we will be back to enjoy the snow, the endless white spaces, the long downhills in the slopes and the freeride. In order to guarantee your safety, the lifts will be accessible only with the Green pass. We also suggest you book your ski pass online in order to speed up the operations at the ticket office," a Livigno statement reads.

Italy was one of the three major Alpine nations where skiing was not possible for most in one way or another last season with everything closed. It's neighbour France opened resorts but did not allow lifts to ruin, whilst Austria allowed lifts to run from January for locals but did not allow overnight stays in resort and tourism.

It was at this point last year that these countries as well as Germany and a few others announced pre-Christmas lockdowns, most of which eventually extended in some way into the New Year so there's currently nervousness to avoid a repeat of this.

Germany's Zugspitze Glacier which hopes to resume skiing for the first time since March last year on November 18th posted yesterday that mountain access requirements were being tightened to only allow those who had been vaccinated or had proof of having recovered from a recent infection to be allowed on the lifts as Germany battles a surge in cases, having a negative test is currently not enough. "We can't tell at the moment what rules apply for the winter season," they said.

Currently Italy's Val Senales and Sulden ski areas are open, with the Presena glacier opening this weekend as well as ski slopes on the Italian side of the Cervinia-Zermatt ski area for the first time this autumn.

Cervinia warned skiers wanting to ski on the Italian side that,

"It is recalled that access to lifts is permitted only with the mandatory presentation of the green pass and valid lift pass. Except for under 12 years of age a properly worn surgical mask or FFP2 mask covering the mouth and nose in required."

FFP2 Face Masks are designed to fit closer to the face than other disposable face masks, to improve comfort and protect the wearer from breathing in harmful particles.

The ski season is due to get underway in Alberta and Vermont on Friday with three ski areas set to open for their 21-22 runs.

There's not much snow about yet though and Killington in Vermont (pictured above on Wednesday) will be using entirely machine-made snow to open, taking advantage of recent low temperatures.

In Canada two Banff ski areas, Norquay and Lake Louise will also open, again with very limited terrain initially. Lake Louise says it will have one run, Wiwaxy, open for the first weekend.

A third Albertan ski area, Nakiska, the closest to Calgary, is scheduled to open on Saturday.

Seven other North American areas have opened already, all in California and Colorado. However two of these, Boreal and Palisades Tahoe (formerly Squaw Valley), say they won't be re-opening this weekend as hoped as rain and warm temperatures have badly depleted the remaining snow from a big fall a fortnight ago. Mammoth is staying open daily but has reduced what it has open.

Four Swiss ski areas have announced in the past few days that they plan to open for their 21-22 ski seasons this coming weekend.

Davos, Glacier 3000, Laax and Murren have all announced opening plans this weekend joining the five centres that are already open in the country – Andermatt, Engelberg, Sass Fee, St Moritz (the Diavolezza glacier) and Zermatt …some only at weekends until the main season.

Having nine centres open will place Switzerland equal with Austria for the number of resorts already open.
Laax was one of several centres that planned to open last weekend but decided to postpone due to warm, dry weather in the final weeks of October. However fresh snowfall across the Alps, with up to 50cm (20") reported at altitude, has transformed conditions in the past few days.

It's possible other Swiss areas may still announce opening this weekend although one of the candidates, Arosa, appears to have ruled out doing so.

Glacier 3000 near Gstaad opened six-weeks early in late September last autumn but this autumn has not been so snowy so far.

Resorts across Quebec have also announced only fully vaccinated people will be able to ski there too this winter for the same reason.

Canada's 21-22 ski season is due to kick off this coming weekend at at least three resorts, but it has been announced that several of them will require people to have to show proof of vaccination in order to be able to access the slopes.

The Resorts of the Canadian Rockies (RCR) group which runs Nakiska ski area, the closest to Calgary, which is expected to open this Saturday, as well as Fernie, Kimberley and Kicking Horse Mountain in BC, announced yesterday that proof of vaccination will be required for all guests before they can get on the mountain.

An RCR spokesperson said the move was in line with guidelines issued by the B.C. Health Authority and Alberta Health. If they didn't do so lifts would not be allowed to operate at capacity.

Two Banff ski areas, Lake Louise and Mt Norquay, are expected to kick off Canada's ski season on Friday. Norquay, and the third Banff are Sunshine, have said they too will ask that skiers and boarders are fully vaccinated in order to access all or any resort services.

Mount Norquay and Sunshine Village will similarly be requiring proof of vaccination resort-wide, which allows them to tap into the province's restrictions exemption program. However on its website Lake Louise currently says no evidence of vaccination or evidence of a negative test is needed to ride the lifts there.

Requests for medical or religious exemption will be considered by RCR resorts but need to be submitted a month in advance of a planned visit, according to local media reports.

Many large North American ski resorts have insisted their staff be fully vaccinated, and some say skiers will need to show they're vaccinated to enter some indoor facilities like restaurants, but this is not believed to have extended to skiers and boarders using the lifts elsewhere so far.

Canada is now open to international visitors arriving, so long as they're fully vaccinated.

"That just helps people do what they're at the ski area to do, which is ski and ride," said the RCR spokesperson.

Fresh snow has begun falling again in the Alps following a shift in the weather coinciding with the start of November.

Up to 20cm (8 inches) of snowfall has been reported so far, mostly in the Western Alps, but the snowfall is expected to continue all week and to extend across the alps with snowfall to quite low elevations as temperatures drop. Some centres may see as much as 60cm (two feet) of snowfall in total by the weekend.

It's a marked change from the war and dry weather that dominated October, leading several glacier resorts including Laax that had hoped to open for Halloween weekend to postpone doing so.

However nearly 20 Alpine glaciers are open for their 21-22 seasons already, along with Kitzbuhel thanks to snow-farming there. Cervinia is one of them, pictured top on the morning of November 1st.

At this point in 2020 ski areas that had opened already in Austria, France and Italy had been ordered to close in a pre-Christmas second lockdown which eventually led to tourism being suspended all winter in one form or another. So far this autumn Alpine governments have held their nerve.

Val d'Isère is creating a new ski-in/ski-out area for its younger visitors this winter.

Young skiers will be able to wander through the trees on suspended walkways, which lead to wooden tree houses.
Describing it as an "on-slope adventure" and christening it Village Perdu, the new area is located within the Etroits forest, 2,000m up.

The area has been created as a joint project with the French National Forestry Commission to ensure the land remains unspoilt and use is locally-sourced larch wood.

It's one of a growing number of attractions targeted at families with children and younger teens in the famous French resort.

Others include yoga sessions for children aged 4-12 in the Aqua Leisure Complex and the chance to enjoy a snowshoe treasure hunt through Val d'Isère's Boisses forest, igloo-building, analysing snow and trapper activities in a yurt (with marshmallow tasting!).

Evolution 2 have created a new Mountain Yeti course for 5 to 12 year olds themed on teaching respecting for nature, in particular the mountain environment, instilling a greater awareness of their surroundings.