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What's the reality of life for a top skier or snowboarder? How does it feel to constantly chase progression and push yourself at the top level of the sport? And how difficult is it to spend your life on the road, with only dreams of future glory to keep you motivated?
To answer these questions, and to give the National Lottery playing public an insight into how their cash is helping the team, the GB Park and Pipe Team are launching #ProjectPY2018 - an ongoing film series offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes insight into the reality of life as a top snowsport athlete in the lead up the next Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018. Narrated by Olympic commentator and BBC TV Presenter Tim Warwood, over the coming years #ProjectPY2018 will bring viewers closer to the athletes than ever before. We'll follow them through the high and lows, from contest wins and new tricks, to missed flights and injuries. The series continues this week and follows Katie Summerhayes, Aimee Fuller and Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Jones at the most progressive women's event ever: the Suzuki Nine Queens. The second episode drops next week, and follows Katie Summerhayes, Aimee Fuller and Olympic bronze medalist Jenny Jones at the most progressive women's event ever: the Suzuki Nine Queens. To see the films, find out more and subscribe to #ProjectPY2018, go to: http://bit.ly/GBParkandPipe Follow GB Park and Pipe on Twitter and Instagram: @GBParkandPipe |
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 9th 2015
Snow Report Summary This Week's Headlines - Heavy snow in Austria as ski areas there begin closing. - Big powder snow falls in California - up to two feet reported although most ski areas have close for the season there. - 20cm of fresh snow in Bulgaria. - Powder snow in parts of Austria, Canada, France and the US for Easter weekend. - 40cm For Banff Lake Louise - open to mid-May. Significant snow showers over the Easter weekend, in some cases crowning several weeks of unsettled, sometimes snowy weather, brought late season powder snow joy to a number of resorts in the Alps, with Austria doing especially well on Easter Monday. At the same time ski areas across the northern hemisphere are increasingly beginning to call it a day on the 2014-15 ski season with lower altitude areas closing last weekend and many more set to follow as the Easter holidays finish for many areas on Sunday. However hundreds more will stay open to the end of April and in some cases in to May or even later. In The Forecast! The next week or so is looking generally mild to warm, depending on the location, with a little scattered precipitation. Check the J2Ski Forecasts regularly for the latest updates! The Alps Austria Up to two feet of fresh snow has been reported in Austria in the last week, much of it falling from Sunday to Monday leaving superb powder conditions on Tuesday – so long as lifts remained open to access it after the Bank Holiday weekend. Zell am See, which saw one of the biggest accumulations of half a metre in the last week and nearly a foot on Monday night, closed the majority of its lifts and runs on what was one of the snowiest days of the season. High temperatures are now expected over the next few days but the bases are deep on most of the glaciers, many of which will be open to May or June. Other areas like Igls, Seefeld and Bad Kleinkirchheim have already closed for the season. France France got its fresh snow a day or two before Austria, at the weekend, and most areas reported smaller 5-20cm accumulations, the biggest at Argentiere with nearly 40cm. Since then it has been more sunny weather with spring like conditions for the majority of French resorts. Some of the lower centres will begin closing this weekend but others will stay open through to early May, and accumulated bases at resorts in the category – such as Tignes with a metre of snow on lower runs, two metres up top and 20cm of fresh snow should now be fine to make it through to closing day even if there's no fresh snow. Italy Half a dozen leading Italian areas saw some fresh snow between Friday and Monday too, ranging from 15-20m on higher slopes such as the Seanales and Cervinia glaciers, to 5-10cm on lower runs such as those of Madonna di Campiglio or La Thuile. Again, for those areas aiming to stay open for another fortnight to the end of the month and even in to May, or in Passo Tonale's case beyond to June – snow depths look good now to last through all but the most extreme thaw, even if there's no fresh snow (and not much is now forecast, and what there is most likely up on the glaciers). Switzerland It's looking like great skiing for the rest of April on the year round ski slopes of Zermatt thanks to a 60cm (two foot) snowfall in the past week – its upper slope base is up at the 3m/10 feet mark. Wengen, Saas Fee, Verbier and Crans Montana also scored highly with fresh snow accumulations of 40-50cm, many other Swiss areas reported 20cm or a foot. Lower slopes have melted away at more than half of Swiss resorts but are still a couple of feet deep at some resorts including Davos, Saas Fee and Andermatt – the latter still claiming at 6m/20 feet upper slope base depth after another 20cm of snow this week. Other Swiss resorts don't have it quite that deep but a good many do still have 2-3m on upper runs – plenty to see them through to the end of the season. Scandinavia The season long snowfall has finally slowed at most Scandinavian area, the larger ones of which will be staying open for three-four weeks mote in to May. Areas in Finland, Norway and Sweden all have at least 60cm bases so thanks to their northerly latitudes, that should see them through. Pyrenees No new snow in the last week in the Pyrenees and bases are thawing rapidly, but that said thanks to big snowfalls in midwinter, bases are still at the 1.5-2.5m mark at most areas and should last a while longer. But Grandvalira, the area's largest resort, closes on Sunday and very honestly describes snow conditions in the afternoon as 'slush.' Eastern Europe The snow in the Alps did continue on East to bring up to 20cm of late season snow the ski areas in countries like Bulgaria and Romania in the past 48 hours, an unexpected end of season bonus. Thanks to big snowfalls in March Bulgarian centres still have 1-2m of snow lying. Scotland Despite very warm conditions in recent days in Scotland, as with the rest of the UK, the three more westerly of the five Highland areas (Cairngorm, Glencoe ad Nevis Range) report good spring skiing conditions with top to bottom cover in most cases, albeit with softer snow and some thinning towards the bottom of the slopes. North America Canada Banff's Sunshine ski area scored nearly 40cm of fresh powder over Easter weekend, bringing powder snow job to local and visitors alike. There's still five weeks of the season to run there, so it has helped build the bases – which are still nearly at the 2m mark. Although Whistler, Lake Louise and Marmot Basin also stay open in to May, although only Whistler quite as long as Sunshine, most other areas have already closed or will do next weekend. USA Some big snowfalls in the Western US in the last week, and it's still snowing heaving in California. In fact we're not sure just how high on the irony scale it is that after a fourth and perhaps the severest drought winter on Californian ski slopes, and where's almost all of the state's areas now closed and hoping for better things in 2015-16, there's currently about the biggest snowfall of the season underway with up to two feet of fresh snow reported sat the few areas that are still open – including Mammoth and Squaw Valley. There's been up to a foot of fresh snow in Colorado and to the east at resorts like Sugarbush in Vermont and Sunday River in New Hampshire too. However most US ski areas will be closing this weekend, Crested Butte, Jackson hole and telluride already did. Arapahoe Basin has said it aims to stay open to at least the start of June though. |
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All is good... I know you're not a particular fan of Spring Skiing Tony, but sitting in the sun eating Italian ice cream, with an ice-cold Weissbeer on its way, is a darned fine way to end a day skiing under blue skies! 8) A little warmer today but still a lovely chalky packed surface up top, with a very light layer of slush lower down except on the most South-facing and lower runs where the slush is piling up by mid-afternoon. Found our way to the "Churen" pizzeria last night, which has no fewer than 50 varieties of pizza on the menu... and excellent they were too. Really enjoying the combination of reasonable Italian prices and the exchange rate; 5 pizzas, a couple of desserts and a round of drinks is averaging €70-80 (~£55). Really warming to Champoluc; the off-piste/freeride expanse above Frachey is very reminiscent of the Balme sector of La Clusaz (regular readers will know we're rather fond of that!) which is no bad thing. The pistes are a nice variety for bringing on intermediate skiers, although the Red grading here varies from "this is a bit lame" to "Bloody Hell" to quote one of our number. We're being very conservative with our choice of slopes "between and beside", as the snow pack has been rotten all winter, but there's still a lot of fun to be had amongst the milder gullies and tree runs. Some of the steeper slopes on the Gressoney side are starting to purge and I'd be surprised if we didn't see some quite big slides as the weather warms later this week. It's been quite interesting to find out how much we missed from our previous trip; that was in January, bucketing snow and poor viz all week so we didn't see much of the landscape! :lol: Already thinking seriously of a return next winter; it's funny when your list of must-ski-soon places gets longer as you visit one, instead of shorter... :roll: Anyway, another day, another pizza... |
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Pending more time between skiing and eating...
Drove UK to an overnight stop near Geneva on Good Friday; no hold-ups and traffic around Geneva remarkably quiet for a Friday evening... presumably everyone was busy trying to get through the Mont Blanc Tunnel which had a 3 hour wait and was being described as "Sature" on the Autoroute warnings! Through the MB tunnel at 08:00 the next morning with no wait and into Champoluc at 10:30, saw us up the mountain by lunchtime. Snow fell sporadically through Saturday afternoon and vis was pretty variable but everyone found their ski legs regardless. Saturday night brought about 10cm snow, right down into the town, so Sunday's skiing was superb. Given it was Easter Sunday, it was remarkably quiet... 
Easter Monday dawned bright and clear, and - as expected - seemed to bring half of Italy up the mountain with it. Apart from a couple of 15-minute queues at the 4-man chair above Frachey (a bit of a bottleneck) it wasn't an issue though and by 12:30 the pistes were emptying as the locals started lunching (gotta love Italy). 
Snow is holding up very well; the base is excellent and the surface is generally "packed powder" with a typical Spring freeze/thaw layer lower down. Lower runs getting a bit slushy by mid-afternoon but well covered and fun... although we opted out of the increasingly aquatic home run for the end of the day. Even with a couple of youngsters/early intermediates we still covered every run in the sector yesterday. 
Locals all as friendly as we remember (last here 9 years ago) and food, drink and supermarket prices are all cheaper than UK thanks to the exchange rate. A quick mention to Ruben and his team in the Telemark Ski Shop who are giving us terrific service with our kit and are very friendly and helpful (disclosure :- yes, we work with SkiSet but they're clearly doing the same for all their clients). 
Right, have a small group of small people wishing to ski to Gressoney... |
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J2Ski Snow Report - April 2nd 2015
Snow Report Summary Well, well, turned out nice again (in Europe, at least)! The snow forecast last week for The Alps arrived in some style, although with considerable variability in quality and quantity... This Week's Headlines - Up to 1.7m (just under six feet) of fresh snow in the Alps. - Deepest reported snow base of 2015 hits new high of 550cm (over 18 feet). - Significant snow in Scotland and Scandinavia. - Warm and dry in the Pyrenees. - Some Western Canadian and US resorts close early after warm dry winter. A snowy week in the Alps has seen up to a metre of fresh snow reported at half a dozen resorts since last weekend, a few in Switzerland reporting even more, and there have been significant snowfalls almost everywhere - good news for everyone away on Easter holidays. The snowfall has continued Eastwards to bring healthy falls in Eastern European ski areas too. The snow was accompanied by very strong winds, however, which closed lifts earlier in the week and has led to very high avalanche danger in places. But it wasn't universal; the Pyrenees have had a very warm, snowless week and whilst western Scotland got more fresh snow, accumulations in the east have not yet been enough to reopen areas there. Across the Atlantic there have been small snowfalls in the west of the continent, where a number of areas are shutting up shop for the season, and once again better snowfall in the East. In The Forecast! The snowfall in the alps is expected to continue over the coming week, with another metre or more forecast for some resorts, and snowfall in most ski regions too. Check the J2Ski Forecasts regularly for the latest updates! The Alps Austria There has been 20-30cm of fresh snow reported for several days in a row now by many of Austria's leading resorts. St Anton has reported a foot a day for the past few days and that after 90cm of snow this week, Valluga now has a 4m base, the deepest reported in the country this season to date. At the other end of the spectrum, some of Austria's lower altitude ski areas will be closing after this Easter weekend – traditionally some of the first in the Alps to do so. Other areas doing well include Ischgl, Obergurgl and Solden which have reported around two feet of fresh snow each – Solden has some of the deepest snow in the country up on its glaciers at 3.9m (13 feet) but only 5cm (2 inches) down in resort – the biggest top-to-bottom cover difference reported anywhere and highlighting the fact that most of the new snow is falling up high. France French resorts have reported the biggest snowfalls in the world this week, with Tignes and Val Thorens both posting just over a metre of new snow, whilst there's been three feet/90cm at Chamonix, Les Arcs and Val d'Isere. Most other areas have reported 20 -80cm of fresh snow. Most of the snow fell between Saturday and Tuesday, with smaller falls in recent days, although these are expected to continue over the coming week. Snow depths are little changed across the country and still relatively good with most areas having between 1.5 and 3m on upper runs, 30-90cm at resort level. Italy There's been snow across Italy and unusually the two biggest falls – of 70 and 60cm respectively – are on each side of the country's northern ski regions – the biggest at Arabba in the Dolomites of the East, next biggest at Alagna in the Western Alps. Beyond Arabba however most of the bigger falls of 30-50cm have been in the Alps, with falls in the Dolomites more commonly in the 10-20cm bracket. Snow depths remain fairly good in the west, slightly more 'challenging' in parts of the Dolomites where resorts like Cortina and Val Gardena report only 10cm of snow at resort level, 90cm/3 feet at the tops of their slopes. Similar snow falls, although perhaps slightly less, are expected over the coming week. Switzerland Andermatt, already the only resort in the world claiming a 5m base, has reported 154cm of new snow this week, second biggest in the world behind Saas Fee, with 170cm, taking its base to a new high of 5.5m. Engelberg, Verbier, Davos and Grimentz have also reported a metre of snow this week. Snow depths across the country remain good for April, particularly in upper runs where bases are typically 1-2m. At resort level the snow is getting thin or is all gone at quite a few centres apparently. Adelboden, Crans Montana, Laax, Gstaad, Leysin, Wengen and Grindelwald are among areas where there's little or no snow left at resort level. Scandinavia Bases are holding steady in Scandinavia and most ski areas across the region have had some snow, ranging from a few centimetres in Lapland, to a foot (30cm) in Salen (Sweden) and nearly two feet (55cm) at Trysil in Norway. So with a month of the season still to run at most Scandinavian areas conditions continue to look good. Pyrenees Not such a great week in the Pyrenees as it has been very warm with double digit plus temperatures recorded at some area, making the snow difficult to enjoy from late morning at some areas. Unsurprisingly there's been no fresh snow in the last seven days but as the bases were so deep due to earlier snowfalls this is still not really a problem with base depths still 2-3m at mot resorts. Eastern Europe Although 20-40cm of fresh snow was reported in North eastern European areas like the Czech and Slovak republics, little fresh cover has been reported in Slovenia, Romania or Bulgaria. In the former two the cover is very thin now at areas like Kranjska Gora and Poiana Brasov (Both say 5cm at the base, 30cm at the top) although in Bulgaria the heavy snowfall in mid-March means bases remain good with 2m+ on upper runs. Scotland A fairly wild week in Scotland with blizzards bringing up to 70cm of fresh snow on the West, but interspersed with pleasant, dry, sunny weather – however fronts have been passing over so frequently that areas have had to close due to operational difficulties in the strong winds. However conditions are currently expected to be good on Eastern Sunday and Monday. In the east Glenshee and The Lecht remain closed due to incomplete runs following an earlier thaw but the Lecht says it has had enough fresh snow to be close to re-opening. Glenshee seems less optimistic posting pictures on Facebook of season closure mountain clear ups underway. North America Canada The end of a not particularly memorable winter is nigh in many Western Canadian resorts, although Banff and Whistler will of course be open to May. It's been a snowier week than most this year in Alberta and BC with Marmot Basin reporting 19cm in 24 hours and there's been a foot of snow in recent days at Big White, Sun Peaks and Whistler. Over in the East there was 10cm at Mont Sainte Anne where the base depth has dropped to 50-70cm, Tremblant has had 20cm and reports 110-190cm. USA Small to moderate snowfalls across the US this week, where many resorts will be closing over the next few weekends, and many in California and other West coast resorts have already closed early after getting through their fourth warm dry ski season in a row. One of those, Jackson Hole, still has one of the deepest snow bases in the country but it has slipped below the 2m mark to 196cm and there's been no fresh snow there this week. Alyeska in Alaska has moved clearly ahead with a 2.5m base and the most fresh snow in the US this week – just over a foot. Otherwise resorts in New Engand have been doing the best for fresh snow aas has been the case through most of this season with 20-30cm of fresh snow reported at centres including Stowe and Sugarbush. |
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Well, I thought everyone knew this... Sofas need time to settle Andy! They need to be delivered, then left in the house on their own for, say, oh about 8 days... alternatively, if they're not going to be delivered for a while then you'll need to leave the room to settle similarly. Imagine how impressed your OH will be when you tell her that you've budgeted for "leaving the sofas to settle"... perhaps you could take a trip somewhere? |
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Ha, well I'm taking my lazy sod on the thinking that he's only going to spend a week pretending to revise anyway... :roll: ...and getting him away from home might lessen the distractions (he can take some textbooks). |
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What Tony said... and Zermatt.
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