J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

It seems a little like the antithesis of what you would expect if you wanted to experience the freedom of the great outdoors by skiing and boarding in the back country, but this weekend the Tamworth Snowdome indoor snow centre is staging a Discover Backcountry day.

Sponsored by retailer Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports, the day will include free sessions including the chance to explore and test the latest backcountry gear, how to perfect your skinning technique, transceiver training as well as ski films, talks and lots more.

Joining the Ellis Brigham team at the event will be Mountain Guides and Athletes; Martin Chester, Matt Helliker and Blair Aitken, expert coaches from New Generation Ski School, Glenmore Lodge and brands including Atomic, Black Crows, Black Diamond, Nordica and many more.

"The event has been carefully designed to cover everything you need to know about the backcountry," said Ellis Brigham Ski Buyer, Steve Wells, who added, "It's aimed at those who are new to backcountry as well as those have spent some time enjoying all the backcountry has to offer. One thing is guaranteed, you will leave the event with new friends, new-found skills and renewed confidence for when you skin up and click in this winter."

Entry to the event this Saturday, 5th October, is free, as are the talks, workshops, transceiver training and there's no charge to borrow any of the equipment. The coaching is free too, the only cost is slope time.

The battle to be the first ski area to open for the 2019-20 ski season in the USA has got underway in Colorado with snowmaking starting at Keystone and Loveland ski areas.

"Snowmakers fired up the snowguns on Catwalk and Mambo last night. The forecast looks good and we will keep laying down the flakes as long as conditions permit. Get ready, we will be skiing soon!" a Loveland statement reads.

So far only one US ski area has named a target opening date in October, Mt Rose by Lake Tahoe in California which is targeting the 26th.

However others are battling to open sooner, with Arapahoe Basin, frequently the winner, although last autumn Wolf Creek, also in Colorado, opening first after a big early natural snow storm.

Vail resorts have invested in new snowmaking at Keystone with the stated aim of being one of the first to open in the US.

East Coast resorts have also been first in the past if they get enough cold weather for snowmaking, which is looking promising over the next week or so. The usual contenders include Sunday River in Maine, Killington in Vermont and Wildcat in New Hampshire.

One resort could actually open now, but doesn't look to be planning to until November. Timberline ski area on Mt hood in Oregon has a permanent snowfield and was open this year through to the start of September. It also got a 35cm snowfall at the start of this week.

It's snowing again in the Alps with ski resorts across the mountain range posting images of higher slopes that appear to have received between 5 and 20cm of snow overnight.

About a dozen glacier ski areas are currently open so will have fresh snow for skiers to enjoy once conditions clear. Most are gradually increasing the terrain they have open and the length of the skiing day with year-round Hintertux (pictured above this morning)m recently switching from a 1pm summer ski closing time to its 4pm autumn-spring closing.

Solden says it will start running three more lifts and open pistes 33, 34 and 38 from this weekend on.

J2Ski is forecasting some areas in the Eastern Alps of Switzerland could see as much as 60cm (two feet) of snow on higher slopes by the end of the week with most of the snowfall clearing by the end of tomorrow. For most though it will be 10-30cm.

Tignes, which was due to have opened its glacier ski area to start the French season last weekend is amongst those reporting a good snowfall, it's second since it announced a delay to the planned date for lack of snow, so it remains to be seen whether this will be enough for it to decide to open.

The northern hemisphere's first non-glacier ski area to open for 19-20 will do so on Friday this week. Ruka in Finnish Lapland uses snow 'farmed' (saved under canvas) from last winter and re-distributed on its slopes to open three runs.

A state of emergency has been declared in parts of Montana as a severe 'winter' storm impacts that state at an unprecedented early date in the autumn.

At the latest report yesterday evening Western US time up to four feet (1.2 metres) of snow was reported to have fallen in some parts of the state, although more widespread totals were two feet (60cm).

Montana's governor, Steve Bullock, issued a "Winter Storm Emergency" warning for the stare and there's also a severe blizzard warning I effect for the north of the state.

The snow, described as "heavy and wet" was till falling and was expected to continue to do so through today.
It is also falling over a wide areas of North western North America from Alaska to Alberta through Montana, Oregon and Wyoming down to California and Utah. However Montana appear to be getting the biggest numbers.

Whistler reported temperatures yesterday as 4C in the village, -6C at mid-mountain and -9C at the summit.

No ski areas are currently open in North America but October does mark the start of a race to open and in recent years when there were similar snowfalls in Washington state ski areas have opened in late September of early October for a few days to make the most of the snow whilst it lasts so it remains to be seen if one or more ski area will be able to open in the region in the next few days.

Pictured top is Big White in BC, Canada as the snow started falling on Saturday.

Australia's largest ski area, Perisher, will be staying open for another fortnight to October 14th, and a resort statement says that this 136 days of skiing and snowboarding will make 2019 the resort's, "longest season in memory."

In common with several other Australian resorts Perisher opened a fortnight early for the 2019 season after heavy snow in late May.

Australia has subsequently seen arguably the best winter of the four main southern hemisphere ski nations seeing repeated heavy snowfalls through the winter.

The current base depth of 225cm (7.5 feet) is the deepest it has been all season and all of the resort's lifts are reported to be operating and around 90 trails open.

Most southern hemisphere ski areas will close this week or next weekend, although several, including Catedral in Argentina and Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand say they too will be open to at least the 14th of October.

A promotional programme that aims to get more people skiing and boarding by offering free or discounted introductory sessions at English dry slopes and indoor snow centres is back from October 1st to 30th.

Snowsport England's '30 Days of Snowsport' returns for its sixth year, aiming to build on last years total of 8,500 people taking part, many of them complete beginners trying skiing or snowboarding for the first time.
Many slopes will be offering free or discounted sessions throughout the month.

For complete beginners there are ski and snowboard taster sessions throughout October at Chill Factore in Manchester, Snowdome in Tamworth and at Norfolk Snowsports Club. The RT Ski Club at Silksworth Ski & Snowboard Centre will be offering free taster sessions to young people every Thursday throughout October.

On the 5th of October the North Staffordshire Ski Club will be running a Taster Day where people can try skiing or snowboarding for free all day. Similarly the two open days at Plymouth Snowsport Centre on the 5th and 6th October and at Pendle Ski Club on 6th October, where Dave Ryding learnt to ski, are also completely free to everyone.

As well as taster sessions and open days, 30 Days of Snowsport events include races and freestyle events. This includes the National Schools Open Dry Slope Championships on the 13th and 14th of October hosted by the National Schools Snowsport Association.

A full listing of all sessions and activities can be found at: http://www.goskigoboard.org.uk/30-days-of-snowsport-2019.

"This year we are working with our slopes and clubs to offer even more sessions so everyone can get excited for the upcoming winter season," said Tim Fawke, Chief Executive of Snowsport England, "30 Days of Snowsport is for everyone. It doesn't matter if you're a complete beginner or whether you've been skiing before there will be a session available for you. Whether you're young or old, male or female; our clubs and facilities will aim to cater for everyone."

Austria's Molltal glacier has re-opened taking the number of ski areas open in Europe and the Northern Hemisphere to 11. Six of those centres are in Austria, with a seventh, Kaunertal, planning to open this Saturday and an eight, Kitzsteinhorn above Kaprun, early next week.

The Molltal glacier aims to open for nearly 11 months a year from June to the following May but the past two summers has been forced to close in summer as snow cover on the glacier melts away. Last year it was for just a few weeks but this year it was nearly two months. The centre did get a good snowfall of more than 30cm in mid-September but did not re-open immediately, there's been more snowfall there in recent days.

The other five glaciers currently open in Austria are Hintertux, Pitztal, Solden, Stubai and the Dachstein, although the latter has only opened cross-country trails, not downhill runs, so far.

Five other areas are open in Europe at present: Passo Stevio and Val Senales in Italy; Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland and Galdhopiggen in Norway.

There has been snow on higher slopes across the alps in recent days with Tignes saying it had his first significant snowfall of the season yesterday, a day after deciding to delay the planned start of the ski season there, which was to have been this Saturday, due to inadequate snow cover.

A ski slope down the roof of a 'heat-to-energy' power plant in Copenhagen is due to finally open next week.

The power-plant-dry-ski-slope is the brainchild of the BIG architectural firm that has built a reputation for innovative design on flagship projects worldwide.

The slope project was first announced around seven years ago and the artificial ski slope was installed about a year ago, but the complex, now named 'Copenhill' has only operated for occasional 'test days' through the past year rather than fully opening.

Now it plans a big opening weekend on 4-6 October, Friday-Sunday next week.

Danish media reported that this was due to health and safety legislation which prevents a public assembly on top of a boiler. Unfortunately no one had applied for exemption for the ski slope and it has taken some time to get the necessary permissions, but these now appear to be in place.

The ski slope is believed to be around 350 metres long, making it one of Europe's longest to date. It uses a surface material manufactured by Italian company Neveplast.

The slope's operators have been keen to try to create a natural environment on the power plant roof with trees and shrubs growing – reported to be no mean feat. Unusually the plan appears to include grass growing through the plastic slope material.

Copenhill sits at the heart of an outdoor activities area with a lake beneath the power plant and the world's largest climbing wall due to open there next week.