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An attempt to revive the London ski show this autumn after a two-year hiatus has been postponed to 2022.

The London Ski and Snowboard Festival 2021 was planned to take place at the Evolution London from 28th – 31st October 2021, the same location and with the same organisers as the former Telegraph Ski Show, although no longer associated with the Telegraph.

It is one of a number of attempts to get a ski show going again in the UK after the pandemic, with another, the planned National Snow Show, still currently "on" for the NEC in Birmingham from 23 – 24 October 2021 – the first time there will have been a show there for nearly a decade.

The organisers of the London show blamed ongoing virus restrictions and uncertainty for their show's postponement,
" Unfortunately, despite promising commitments from exhibitors and some of the industry's leading brands, the impact of the extension of covid restrictions and uncertainty surrounding travel over the coming months means that Smart have taken the decision to postpone until October 2022.

"No one would have been prouder to have held the festival this October than me, but regrettably due to the continued uncertainty especially around travel restrictions that has been felt by many of our international exhibitors, we have sought their advice and believe the best decision is to postpone," said Greg Lawson, CEO of organisers Smart Group.

The new dates for the London show are 27th – 30th October 2022.

Ski Utah have reported that the state's ski areas saw record business in the 20-21 season, despite pandemic operating restrictions and a general trend away from destination resorts to 'ski local' options recorded across Europe and north America.

Trade-body Ski Utah recorded 5.3 million skier days, up from 4.3 million in the pandemic curtailed 2019-20 season.

The number was also the state's biggest ever, overtaking the 5.13 million skier days set in the last full season before the pandemic, 2018-19 ski season.

It comes as a surprise for many as local media reports from Utah ski towns through the season appeared to indicate a seriously depressed market.

"Throughout the season it became clear that skiing provided a respite from the day to day realities of the pandemic and allowed an option for guests to safely socialize outside," Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, said in a statement.

Utah is home to a number of North America's best-known ski areas including world famous resorts like Alta, Deer Valley and snowbird and also to the largest ski-area in the USA, Park City.

The ski slopes of Afriski in Lesotho have opened for the 2021 ski season today, the first (and it's looking like probably the only) commercial ski field to open in southern Africa this winter, as it was last year.

With a base at over 2,900 metres above sea level, Afriski is one of the world's highest resorts, at its base at least and although it is rare for it to see big snowfalls, it does get them occasionally. However its business model relies on more predictable sub-zero overnight temperatures which allow kits snowmaking system to create a ski run of up to a kilometre in length, as well as a fun park, which survives daytime highs when they're in positive temperatures.

The resort celebrates 20 years in business this winter and appears to be going from strength to strength. This year, unlike last year, South Africans who make up the bulk of the centre's clientele, are allowed to cross the border into land-locked Lesotho so they're hoping for a better winter for business than 2020.

In terms of snow there have been four or five pre-season natural snowstorms but currently it's a machine made slope that's open.

South Africa's own Tiffindell ski areas was not allowed to open at all last winter due to the pandemic. This year things do look more promising but there's no sign of life on the resort's website or social media channels.

Africa has the least ski areas and ski nations of any of the populated continents but it is unique in having ski areas in both the northern and southern hemispheres. There is also year-round snow-skiing at several indoor snow centres in Egypt.

Huge snowfalls are being reported in Australia ahead of the 2021 ski season's start this coming weekend.

The heavy snowfall has arrived after several weeks of cold temperatures allowing resorts to build bases with snowmaking systems, so its perfect timing.

"We've had 40cm and counting. We're stoked to announce Gunbarrel, Cruiser, Merritts Gondola and Easy Does It will all be open for skiing and boarding from this Saturday 12 June," a spokesperson for Thredbo said.

Perisher resort has already opened, a week early, but the access road to the resort was reported to be blocked earlier today.

Most of the rest of the country's ski areas open Saturday for what is the traditional season start in the country, the Queen's birthday long weekend. Quite often there are just small amounts of ski area open in early June with machine made snow, if any, but 2021 is looking very different, with some areas potentially seeing a metre of snow by the weekend.

Last winter some Australian ski areas were hardly able to open due to pandemic restrictions, this year looks more promising so far, although citizens of Melbourne won't be able to visit ski areas in the province of Victoria for this coming opening weekend due to an extended short lockdown in the city after cases of the Delta variant were found there.

The lifts open for summer skiing on the Pisaillas glacier above Val d'Isère from this Saturday, 12 June. Access will be via the road over the Col de l'Iseran, which opens for cyclists on the same date. The lifts are open for skiers for four weeks, to July 10th, with a maximum of 600 people on the slopes each day.

"A huge amount of snow fell during May at this high altitude and conditions are at their very best," a resort spokesperson said.

Athletes, along with recreational skiers, share a total of six pistes that will be open from 7am each day until midday. Three of these runs are reserved for team training and the other three are open to all. The French freestyle moguls team will be in action here from Monday 14 June. Women's GS takes place on 22 and 23 June and Men's Slalom and GS from 24-27 June.

"For this abnormal season, skiers benefit from an exceptional special offer: €290 for the season (discounted from €350). Passes can be bought on the spot and, at the moment, individual skiers are not required to book in advance. All skiers must wear masks when queueing, as well as when travelling on the lifts. However, you don't have to be masked while actually skiing – just breathe in the pure mountain air and enjoy the stunning views," the spokesperson added.

Les 2 Alpes has already opened for summer skiing and Tignes will open the weekend after next. As reported on Monday Avoriaz will also open some slopes for three days only over the coming weekend to start its summer season.

France is on the orange list for skiers from the UK meaning self-isolation at home on return for 5-10 days depending on how many tests taken and test results. There are also restrictions on entering France from the French government's side although these are easing and from today (June 9th) Brits who have had both vaccination jabs no longer have to give a "compelling reason" (which couldn't include, "I need to ski" apparently) to enter the country. There are many other issues with travel, including insurance, at the present time.

More information here:

https://www.valdisere.ski/en/ski-ete

Stats collected by America's National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) found 59 million skier days were recorded for the recent 2020-21 "pandemic" ski season, the 5th best season on record and a strong recovery from the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.

A skier visit is counted every time a skiing or snowboarding guest visits a ski area or resort; these numbers are compiled annually as part of NSAA's End-of-Season and Demographic Studies whuich have been calculated each winter since the 1978-79 season.

"What a year it has been. From utter uncertainty to a top 10 season in terms of participation - it shows the wide spectrum that our industry bridged this year," said Kelly Pawlak, NSAA President and CEO. "We are proud of the collaborative adoption of COVID-19 best practices that all ski areas implemented and diligently followed from opening to closing day. Americans yearned for safe outdoor recreation, and ski areas across the country delivered."

The US took a broadly proactive view to ski areas opening, perhaps most closely matched to Switzerland's approach in Europe, although there was some difference between states. But on the whole resorts were allowed to open with pandemic safety measures in place.

Although bigger destination resorts suffered lower numbers, a number of small to small to medium sized areas that could actually welcome more skiers than usual and remain with pandemic operating limits, actually had bumper seasons.

Additional NSAA data shows that the average U.S. ski area was open for 112 days this past season, up from 99 days in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season. While forced closures impacted many ski areas last season, this year that was not the case – ski areas, for the most part, remained open for their planned season duration.

The pandemic affected both ski areas operations and guest behaviour. Among responding ski areas, the most common COVID-19 adjustments were skier capacity limits (both indoor and on-mountain), advance purchase or reservation requirements for both lift access and rental equipment, and changes to or elimination of group lessons. Despite these challenges, 78% of ski area operators said this season exceeded their expectations.

"People had to change their habits during the pandemic, and ski areas were no different," Pawlak said. "We tried new things and quickly learned that not only did they function as planned but many of these 'work arounds' improved the experience for our guests and staff members. Ski area operators will use this experience to continue trying new techniques and technology."

These new technologies included online reservation systems and updated ecommerce solutions as many ski areas required advance purchase of lift tickets to ensure compliance with local capacity restrictions. This resulted in the decline of window ticket sales from 46% in 2019-20 to 17% in 2020-21. As expected, the percentage of visits from season pass holders rose to 51% from 45% in the previous season.

In previous seasons, guests skied most often on weekends and holidays, making it a consistent challenge to fill the slopes midweek. This past season, weekday visitation was responsible for 48% of total visits, a 27% increase from the previous season. Capacity restrictions, remote work and school flexibility allowed for more skiers and riders to visit ski areas midweek.

The implementation of public health best practices kept guests, staff and communities safe, but also posed challenges for the industry. Lessons decreased in number by 30%, owing to the prohibition of group lessons which are traditionally popular. Conversely, participation in a solo activity like snowtubing – which can be enjoyed by a group, but in your own tube distant from others – doubled.

These same public health practices led to the cancellation of large-scale events and imposed severe limitations on dining service. As a result, it is expected that revenues in these ancillary lines of business will be down in 2020-21; that data is still being analyzed. However, ski areas adapted to these changes with 41% implementing online ordering for food and beverage outlets.

Like many industries, ski areas struggled to find workers this season. Sixty percent of responding ski areas stated that they were not fully staffed this winter. The pause on J-1 and H-2b international worker visa programs was a contributing factor; the average ski area was short 55 employees, half of whom would have come on an international work visa.

Avoriaz say that when they open for summer this coming weekend, they'll be opening some ski slopes as well as mountain bike tracks, their golf course, and other activities.

They say its because of the "exceptional amount of snowfall that fell last winter". Like most French ski areas they were unable to operate ski lifts during the winter season because of a French government ban, although most resorts were otherwise open.

The ski area will be open from this coming Friday June 11 to Sunday June 13 with the Prodains cable-car, Stade chairlift and Lac-Intrêts chairlift running between 8am and 1pm daily (from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm for the Prodains cable car).

Five runs and a terrain park will be open, with three slopeside restaurants also in operation. Lift tickets will cost only 17 Euros but there are limited numbers available. A joint ticket including mountain biking with skiing will also be available priced 26 Euros. They're due to go on sale online at 8.30am on Wednesday, 9th May.

La Clusaz was the first ski area to reopen in France after the government's six month ban on ski lifts operating ended in late May. It operated for two days with freer lift passes for up to 1,000 people each day, tickets sold out almost immediately.

Les 2 Alpes has now opened for summer glacier skiing and Val d'Isere is due to join them this weekend, meaning three areas will be open for skiing in the French Alps. A fourth, Tignes plans to open the weekend after next for summer skiing.

Local media is reporting that up to $260 million in bond funding from the Military Installation Development Authority has been secured by the developers of Mayflower Mountain Resort in Utah, USA.

Mayfair Mountain, first announced in 2019, is planned to be built on land next to the existing Deer Valley Resort, one of Park City's two major ski resorts, along with the Vail-run Park City Mountain, the largest ski area in the US, which combines the two former ski areas of Park City and The Canyons (formerly Park West).

The famous ski town also has a number of smaller winter sports areas dedicated to freestyle, ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

Mayflower plans to build lifts on its own land that summit on land managed by Deer Valley but it is currently unclear if the two will be formally joined as one area or operate separately. Developers say they're currently in "very active discussions" about that.

Deer Valley is one of the world's very few ski only (no snowboarding) ski areas.

The $260 million represents less than 10% of the intended $3.2 billion the developers Extell Development are reported to be planning to spend in just the first year of a five-year construction plan, with the rest coming from private finance.

$170m is reported to have already been spent by the developers on groundworks infrastructure ahead of construction with a groundbreaking ceremony planned later this month.

The resort will have two base areas, three hotels (one of them including 100 rooms for military personnel) and 1,560 homes.