J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Sugar Bowl ski area in California have announced they will be staging an Easter Keg Hunt on Sunday.

It's unclear if the announcement is an April Fool or not – it was published on social media early on April 2nd, giving the impression it is not.

"While we still can't organize an event that results in gathering – such as an Easter egg hunt – we can still have some adult fun on Easter Sunday with our annual Easter Keg Hunt. Win a gift card for a real keg if you find the hidden (empty) keg somewhere on Sugar Bowl's uncrowded Easter Sunday slopes!" a resort statement reads.

Sugar Bowl says those who sign up to take part in the Easter Keg Hunt will receive clues to the keg's location via text message throughout Easter morning.

Anyone planning to ski there on Sunday can sign up by texting KEG to 55155. Standard text messaging rates apply.

A "coffee table book" is a term often used in publishing to describe a large, glossy, high-quality, illustration-rich book, but a new ski guide has been described as actually being "a book the size of a coffee table" by an awards committee.

The 616-page book 'Skiing Around the World Volume II' by Jimmy Petterson weighs in at 3.6 kilos. It has won this year's Baldur Award, presented for an outstanding work of general interest that sheds significant light on an aspect of skiing history by The International Skiing History Association (ISHA).

The award was among several announced by the nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve and advance the knowledge of skiing history, honouring the best works of history published during 2020 including books, films, and other media projects.

"We like to think of these as the Pulitzers of snowsports history, projects that honour the people and places that have made skiing so memorable for millions of current and past enthusiasts," says Seth Masia, ISHA president.

Petterson's first book, Skiing Around the World Volume I, has also won numerous awards. The two books include stories and photos of his adventures skiing in 75 countries on all seven continents.
www.skiingaroundtheworldbook.com

Loon Mountain in New Hampshire is to install the first lift with eight-seat chairs on the Eastern side of North America over the summer, ready for winter 21-22.

The project was originally announced more than a year ago but was one of those suspended by the Boyne Group, which owns the ski area, after the coronavirus began. However the delayed start of work this spring has now been given the go ahead.

Remarkably, given that it's now more than 20 years since the first 8-seater chairlift was installed in Norway, the Doppelmayr lift will only be the second in the US, following the recent installation of a chair in Montana at Big Sky. The new lift will showcase the manufacturer's D-Line technology, making it the most technologically advanced lift ever installed in the East and one that will provide unrivalled speed and comfort for skiers.

"The Kancamagus 8 chairlift will be a leap into the future of skiing for our guests," said Jay Scambio, president and general manager of Loon Mountain Resort. "We are committed to bringing the latest advancements to our guests-this lift is the next example of that, following our first-in-the-world dual-frequency RFID installation." 

The chairlift project was unveiled to local and regional stakeholders and members of the media as part of the resort's 10-year plan, presented by Scambio in January 2020 at a community meeting. The state-of-the-art, eight-place chairlift will replace the Kancamagus Express Quad, which was the most advanced of its kind when originally installed at Loon in 1995. 

Each of the 62 chairs on the Kancamagus 8 will feature eight heated, ergonomically designed, and extra-wide seats and tinted bubbles. This ultra-smooth, whisper-quiet ride will move at a speed of 18 feet per second, delivering skiers to the top in under 4.5 minutes. The lift will also be equipped with the most advanced safety features of any in North America, including auto-locking restraining bars, individual footrests and height-adjustable conveyor loading which also increases efficiency in transporting guests of all sizes.

Mark Bee, president of Doppelmayr USA said, "We have a deep, long-standing relationship with both Loon and Boyne Resorts and are proud to be a part of a major step forward in the eastern ski scene that puts Loon on a path towards achieving its goal of having one of the most advanced lift systems in the world." 

North America's largest ski area at Whistler Blackcomb in BC, Canada is being closed down at short notice by health authorities following a spoke in virus infections there.

The cluster in Whistler Blackcomb is reported to be of the so-called P.1 "Brazilian variant" which is believed to be more transmissible and more resistant to antibodies than earlier strains.

The resort is to be closed for at least three weeks through to April 19th. The shutdown will be active from midnight tonight (Tuesday 30th March).

The numbers of infections involved has not been revealed but case numbers in B.C. are now said to be higher than at, "the worst point of the second wave," by regional politicians.

The 209-21 ski season is winding down now in North America but most of the continent's ski areas have operated through the pandemic there. Clusters of virus infection have been uncovered through the season at a number of resorts including Stowe in Vermont, Winter Park in Colorado and another BC resort, Big White, but all kept operating with infections limited to individual buildings which were quarantined.

Whistler has one of the longest ski seasons in North America normally staying open until late may and then re-opening in June/July for a month of summer glacier skiing, although that did not happen in 2020 due to the first lockdown.

Petr Kellner, purported to be the wealthiest person in the Czech Republic according to the Forbes list of billionaires, has died in a helicopter crash.

He was one of five who died in the crash on the heli-skiing trip near the Knik Glacier in Alaska. One person did survive and is described as being in a serious but stable condition.

Mr Kellner was believed to be the Czech Republic's richest man, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $17.5 billion. Another Czech skier, Benjamin Larochaix, as well as guides Gregory Harms and Sean McMannany and pilot Zach Russel were also killed.

Mr Kellner's death follows the assumed death of German-American-Russian billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub, the heir to the Tengelmann supermarket chain, who went missing while skiing off-piste in Zermatt nearly three years ago in April 2018. His body has never been found and he is currently officially assumed dead.

The 4 Vallées have announced they'll be closing a week earlier than planned this winter, on 18th rather than 25th April, as they face ongoing operating losses.

The area has been operating what has been the largest ski area open in Europe this winter, at one point offering 370km of runs, about 80% of the maximum area, though more recently nearer 300km.

Although swiss ski areas and their reskirrts have been more 'open' than most other major European ski nations, they've had few international visitors due to the many travel restrictions.

"The resorts of Verbier, Nendaz, Veysonnaz, Thyon, La Tzoumaz and Bruson are preparing to close a less than normal winter season that has been significantly impacted in terms of visitor numbers," a statement from region explains, continuing, "Nevertheless, while complying with strict safety measures, the operators of Switzerland's largest ski area were thrilled to have had the opportunity to host internationally renowned sporting events such as the ski cross and snowboard cross world cup finals in Veysonnaz, Nendaz Freeride, the final of the Freeride World Tour Xtreme Verbier, and the Telemark World Cup finals in Thyon."

The statement says the 4 Vallées currently have "outstanding snow conditions" and will styasy open through the Easter holidays but the Printse sector (Nendaz-Veysonnaz-Thyon) will close (as planned) at the end of the Easter holidays on 11 April.
However the sectors of Verbier and La Tzoumaz, as well as the 4 Vallées connections and the Mont-Fort sector, will close their doors on Sunday, 18 April.

"This closure, initially scheduled for 25 April, has been brought forward slightly due to the exceptional circumstances we are currently experiencing," the statement adds.

The 4 Vallées will, however, continue to operate services from Verbier for participants in the Haute Route between 18 and 25 April.

"Despite these uncertain times, 4 Vallées are pleased and satisfied to have kept the ski area open throughout the season, starting as early as the end of October," the statement continues, concluding, "…the ski lift operators from the different resorts are looking forward to seeing customers again next season, which will end on Sunday, 1 May 2022."

Vail Resorts have published a number of stats which give some idea of how it is coping through a year of the pandemic.

Vail Resorts, which owns 37 ski areas, believed to be more than any other company, mostly in the US but including Canada's Whistler Blackcomb and Australia's largest resort Perisher, reported a net loss of $153.8 million for the 2021 fiscal first quarter compared with a loss of $106.5 million a year ago. Earnings and revenues for the start of 2020-21 were down 27% compared to the same point in the 19-20 season.

However, sales of the company's key Epic Pass, normally purchased by skiers in more than 100 countries, were reported to be up by around 20% at the start of December to a total of more than 1.4 million passholders. Vail had said in early autumn that in early season only their season pass holders would be allowed on the slopes and at key days through the remainder of the season they'd have priority access. It is not known if this will remain the case post-pandemic.

Almost all North American resorts have been allowed to operate through the 20-21 ski season. Generally with capacity restrictions, typically 50%, in place and sometimes limits on lodging, indoor dining and other measures. There have been virus outbreaks at some areas but these appear to have been successfully limited to individual accommodation buildings and usually resorts have stayed open.

Vail's visitor numbers were reported down by around 15% at the start of January (Forbes report Vail's visitor numbers were down by 16.6% to January 6th). However the decline may have been evened out as most recent projections using Vail Resorts current mandatory online reservation system suggest the group will book more than 12 million skier days this season, compared to a total of 13.7 million last season, a roughly 8% decline

Some small to mid-sized North American ski area have actually reported record business this year as skiers have returned to them or visited them for the first time in preference to travelling further to destination resorts or just to get out of the house. Even with 50% capacity limits they could exceed normal visitor numbers in low to mid-season.

LiftBlog.com reports Vail are planning to spend around $125 to $130 million on new lifts and other capital spending in 2021 ahead of next season, including on about half-a-dozen new lifts. That's about 40 percent less than what was initially planned for 2020 but largely postponed due to the pandemic.

Vail are reported to remain in a strong position with over $600 million of cash on hand as of November 30th and almost $600 million more available within their credit limit.

Having made a smaller loss than expected Wall Street has responded positively and Vail Resorts' stock is reported to have been at all-time highs for the last two weeks.

Engelberg in Switzerland has overtaken Alpental in the USA to post the world's deepest snowpack at 600cm (20 feet), one centimetre (2/5 of an inch) more than the Washington State resort's 599cm. However this position does not look like it will last long.

Ski areas in the Alps had not seen the big snow accumulations of previous winters this season, until about five days ago when a huge storm deposited up to two metres of snow across the region, with Swiss resorts posting the biggest totals.

Up to then the deepest reported base was 4.7 metres, but Engelberg now says it has hit six metres on its glacier – in line with the usual total at this point in the season. Avalanche risk levels have hit level 4, one below the highest.

At the same time in Washington state, which has seen huge snowfalls All winter, the past week has been quieter with some settling taking the total upper slope depth published, which had peaked at 6.6 metres (22 feet) a few weeks ago, back down below the six-metre mark.

The world's usual snowiest resort, on average, Mt Baker, also in Washington state, is on a 5.1 metre (17 foot) base.

More snowfall is expected in Washington state over the next few days, whilst Switzerland now looks set to be dry and often sunny, so the position looks likely to be reversed again pretty soon.