J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

The British nominee to become the new head of the International Ski Federation (FIS), Swedish billionaire businessman Johan Eliasch, has been elected president in the first round of voting.

Eliasch, whose numerous business interests including being CEO of sportswear brand HEAD, secured 65 of the 119 votes available votes in the first round of polling.

Of the three other candidates, the former Swiss men's world downhill champion Urs Lehmann secured 26 votes, former FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis 15 votes and Mats Årjes, the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) President and FIS vice-president 13 votes.

It is the first time the leader of the FIS has changed since last century.

Eliasch is reported to have said he would quit his role at HEAD if elected.

New Zealand's small 'club field' of Hanmer Springs has pipped the bigger ski area of Mt Ruapehu as well as Australia's largest resort Perisher to be the first to open in the southern hemisphere for the 2021 ski season.

Hanmer Springs (pictured top and at the bottom) decided to open on Thursday 3rd June following a big snowstorm which left deep snow lying on many New Zealand ski slopes. Perisher had previously decided to open a week earlier than originally planned, on Friday 4th instead of Friday 11th June. It had had cold weather for snowmaking enabling it to build a base.



Hanmer Springs got a lot of media coverage in New Zealand on Thursday and in a statement the Amuri Ski Club which runs the centre commented,

"An exciting day up the hill for those that managed to drop everything and get there! …All in all, this is a smile worthy moment in our history to be remembered considering our bad luck with consistent snow in recent years. Definitely an occasion to enjoy the spotlight of being first and enormous thanks must got to the committee and members who have put in MUCH effort to prepare the hill for a fast response like this,"

Another New Zealand ski area, Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu on the country's North Island had originally been set to be the first to open – announcing a target Saturday 5th June opening day months in advance. However it will initially only be opening its Happy valley snow play and beginners area which has an all-weather snowmaking system.

Southern Africa's ski season should begin next Thursday 10th June at Afriski in Lesotho and ski areas in the South American Andes hope to open from mid-June.

Currently things are looking more promising than 2020 when most ski areas did not begin to open until the latter half of June and some opened for just a limited time with many not opening at all due to the pandemic.

There's nervousness in the Australian state of Victoria as the start of the 2021 ski season is only 12 days away but the state, home to around half of Australia's leading ski areas, has gone in to a 7 day pandemic lockdown.

The lockdown is a response to several cases of the Indian variant of COVID 19 being detected in Victoria and, all being well, will end this Thursday, 3rd June, just over a week before the ski season is due to kick off in the state on June 12th.

Local businesses had said that after the 2020 ski season was all but written-off in Victoria, booking levels for some are at a 10 year high ahead of the expected season start.

Before the current mini-lockdown optimism had been high with few cases of the virus for some time and a quarantine-free travel bubble opened recently with New Zealand.

Although there has not been a huge amount of snowfall recently, and little forecast before the hoped-for season start date, cold weather has allowed snowmaking systems to build bases.

The country's largest ski area, Perisher (pictured above a few days ago), has just announced it is opening a week early on Thursday 4th June.
Last year repeated lockdown in Victoria meant some of the state's ski areas only managed to open for 2-3 days. Over the border in New South Wales more areas operated for most of the season as they did not have the same lockdowns.

"It is obviously very disappointing that there has been a COVID-19 outbreak so close to the start of the 2021 snow season, as we are as excited as you are to get out and enjoy the snow," Mount Hotham Skiing Company said in a statement, which continues,

"We support the actions announced by the Victorian government yesterday to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we will promptly implement arrangements to comply with the requirements while continuing to prepare for the opening of the season at Hotham scheduled for 12 June, weather and conditions permitting.

"We are confident that the Victorian government and community will take the necessary action to bring the outbreak under control and anticipate having a successful COVID safe 2021 winter season at Hotham."

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Ski areas in New Zealand have reported up to 25cm (10") of snowfall Ahead of the start of the 20231 season, due to kick off partially in less than a week's time and fully in less than a fortnight's time.

Coronet Peak, pictured, reported one of the bigger accumulations from the recent storms. However after the snow there has unfortunately been some warmer, wetter weather.

"Overnight we saw the freezing level rise to about 1900m and received heavy rain and sleet at the base lodge level. Thankfully the 40cm base we had yesterday is holding out pretty well - albeit pretty saturated. Once our snow safety team are able to get out we expect to find increasing levels of accumulation above 1700m. Just after noon today (Sunday) the freezing level has dropped as forecast and it has begun snowing again in the base area. There is over 150mm of precipitation in the Mt Hutt forecast between noon Sunday and noon Monday so plenty of chances for more substantial snowfalls!" a Mt Hutt resort spokesperson posted on social media.

The resort is expected to be the first to fully open in New Zealand, on June 11th, with Cardrona opening the following day.

The "partial opening" is due at Mt Ruapehu's Whakapapa ski area next weekend which will open its Happy Valley beginner and snow fun area next weekend, which has the back up of an all-weather snowmaking system.

Mt Hutt and several other leading New Zealand ski areas are due to open with full runs the following weekend.

New Zealand is hoping for a busier season with its recently introduced quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia. It is also on the short 'green list' of destinations for travel from the UK but not for travel into and from New Zealand at present, at the New Zealand end.

After the good news that ski areas in France and Italy could finally re-open their lifts to skiers last weekend, leading to brief re-openings of La Clusaz and Passo Tonale, five more areas in four countries are set to open for longer periods of summer skiing over the next few days.

Italy's Cervinia (pictured) is first, re-opening some terrain today, with Norway's Stryn glacier set to open for its 2021 season tomorrow, Thursday. On Friday North America's sole summer-only ski area Beartooth Basin on the Montana /Wyoming state line is due to open (although may be delayed due to too much snow lying on the access road), then Italy's Passo Stelvio and France's Les 2 Alpes should be opening on Saturday.

"After a complicated winter because of the pandemic, Les 2 Alpes is thrilled to announce that the resort and the lifts will open on Saturday 29 May. Skiers and boarders will be able to enjoy Europe's biggest skiable glacier every morning this summer. After a snowy winter, the conditions are excellent – and it also snowed a lot in May, more than 1.5m!" a resort spokesperson told J2Ski.

The lift company has put in place a system to avoid skiers queuing all at the same time to get on the Jandri Express – the cable car linking the resort to the glacier.

Between 6.30am and 7.10am, only pros and their coaches will be able to get on (and they have a specific time during these 40 minutes). From 7.10am to 7.20am, skiers who have booked private lessons, followed by ski clubs from 7.20am. And anyone else will be able to get on the Jandri Express from 8.00am to enjoy ski runs between 3,600m and 2,600m. A day pass costs €36,5 until 18 June, and €43.50 after.

As well as skiing, Les 2 Alpes is famous for mountain biking and a wide range of activities such as trail running, white water rafting, hiking, paragliding, yoga…

"After many months of lockdown and restrictions, Les 2 Alpes is an ideal summer destination to enjoy outdoor activities in a beautiful, uncrowded environment,"

the spokesperson continued, …if you can get there.

Ski areas in Argentina and Chile have reported up to 40cm (16") of snowfall in a weekend snowfall, a few weeks ahead of the start of the 2021 ski season in the Andes.

Chile's El Colorado (pictured yesterday) reported the biggest total snowfall, but Portillo was not far behind with 27cm (11").



South America's 2020 season was badly impacted by the first wave of the pandemic and most areas there could not open at all including most of the well-known ski areas such as Portillo and Valle Nevado in Chile and Las Lenas in Argentina.

About half-a-dozen ski areas in both countries managed up to a month of operations at the very end of the season from mid-August to mid-September 2020.

Hopefully, winter 2021, due to begin next month, is looking more promising. All ski areas appear to be planning to open in June and many have already been open for summer operations earlier in the year.

Chile is currently running first on south America and fifth in the world for the percentage of its population vaccinated with over 90 doses per 100 residents, ahead of both the US and all European nations except Malta.

Since posting this morning three more Italian areas have now confirmed re-opening next week - Cervinia next Wednesday 26th, Passo Stelvio and Madesimo on Saturday 29th.

Following the news from France that La Clusaz will open this coming Sunday and Monday with free skiing on its Balme mountain, an Italian ski area says it will be the first to operate in 2021 there when it opens this weekend.

The resort of Pontedilegno-Tonale in the province of Trentino will be open Saturday and Sunday with skiing on the Presena glacier, the Italian ski team have already been training there over the past week.

As with La Clusaz, limited numbers of tickets will be available and must be booked in advance online.

The French and Italian 20-21 ski seasons did get underway last October with Tignes and Cervinia both open, but both had to close late autumn as pandemic restrictions were tightened across Europe.

Ski resorts in both countries hoped to re-open at various points through the winter but the end the season passed for most without any lift-served operations. Austria meanwhile operated its ski lifts but did not allow any tourism whilst Switzerland operated ski areas as normal to a certain extent but with pandemic restrictions in place and reportedly few international visitors.

Following Les Gets and Pontedilegno-Tonale, French ski area Les 2 Alpes will open for glacier summer skiing the following weekend on 29th May and Italy's Passo Stelvio is expected to open too. Tignes and Val d'Isere will open for summer skiing in June and Cervinia is hinting it will open imminently. About 10 Austrian and Swiss glacier ski areas, along with several in Norway, are also open.

Travel is opening up across Europe in a fragmented way and with varying requirements still for evidence of testing and or vaccination and sometimes quarantine needed. The rules are changing almost daily, as are the ways skiers should interpret the rules, in both the countries they live and the countries they plan to travel to.