J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

The French 2019-20 ski season won't start this Saturday as hoped with Tignes announcing this morning a delay to the start of its autumn glacier season – and blaming climate change for it:

"Global warming and its repercussions are more relevant than ever, with Tignes witnessing first hand these effects upon its mountain domain: record temperatures seen throughout Europe this summer and over the previous few weeks have particularly affected the Grande Motte glacier.

By the end of this September, we can only lament over the degraded snow conditions, which do not offer the optimal training conditions required for skiers, clubs or snow sports professionals, who traditionally take to their skis in Tignes as from the month of October.

Our privileged position as a witness to these events, together with the special importance the resort places on its glacier, implies our natural adherence to environmental initiatives undertaken throughout the world.

Consequently, the Société des Téléphériques de la Grande Motte, the Régie des Pistes and the Town Counsel of Tignes have taken the joint decision to postpone the opening of the Grande Motte ski area (initially planned for the 28th September) in order to continue their protection efforts on the glacier. Future snowfall will determine the date of the autumnal opening of this domain."

Tignes was formerly opened for snowsports year round in the 1980s and 1990s but then started to have spring and autumn gaps in its operations whilst maintaining that it was open 12 months a year by operating to the start of May then re-opening in late June with a similar pattern in August/September.

This year however it was forced to close early, in late July, so missed an August opening and this will be the second year in a row it has not opened in September.

It still has the longest season in France by some distance however with no other area really opening in October, other than Les 2 Alpes for a short period at the end of the month, and it too failed to open last autumn due to lack of snow then as well

It has been a snowy day at some areas in the Alps above around 2000 metres.

After a sunny weekend glacier ski areas have reported up to 10cm of snowfall above 3000 metres today, with ski areas in Austria, where five glacier ski areas are already open, particularly excited by it.

It's expected to return to sunshine tomorrow meaning a potential September powder day on some glaciers.

The Pitztal glacier was the latest to open for the 2019-20 season last weekend and the Dachstein glacier has also re-opened but, so far, for cross country skiing only.

They join the Stubai (pictured above this afternoon), Hintertux and Solden glaciers which are already open and a sixth, Kaunertal, is due to open on Saturday. A seventh, Molltal, should be open but is currently closed as it has been since early August due to inadequate snow cover following the hot summer.

Elsewhere Saas Fee and Zermatt are open in Switzerland; Passo Stelvio and Val Senales in Italy and Galdhopiggen in Norway – meaning we're back to double figures for the number of areas open.

The French 2019-20 ski season is due to start this coming weekend at Tignes but so far it looks like this may be delayed, as last year. An online statement on the resort's website says,

"Without any snow falls by the end of September, the opening, initially scheduled on September 28th 2019, is unlikely. More information to come on Tuesday, 24th of September."

Digging at the moment and key issues I've found so far: https://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/0/18988.page#159128

Ski tour operators have moved to reassure skiers booked on holidays with them that they will aim to minimise any disruption resulting from the company going in to administration.

Although Thomas Cook has not operated a ski division as such for some years, the company's size means it is a part of some ski holiday packages by other operators.

A number of tour operators use Thomas Cook Airline flights to carry their customers to the Alps and some skiers have also booked their holidays through Thomas Cook travel agents. In addition some skiers have booked flights directly with the now-closed airline.

"As a responsible tour operator, please be assured that your holiday with Inghams is entirely protected. As soon as we have details of your new flights, we will of course be in touch. In the meantime, please do bear with us as we make these arrangements. As we are sure you can appreciate, demand for replacement flights will be high and rebooking may take some time," and online statement from the company reads.

Neilson have released a similar statement but have advised customers that if they booked a holiday through a Thomas Cook travel agent with them recently they should contact them directly to ensure that Neilson have received full details of the booking before Thomas Cook shut down.

Skiers who had booked a flight directly with Thomas Cook Airlines may have more difficulty getting a refund, the best bet seeming to be if they have booked by credit card, via their card provider. Most insurance policies seem unlikely to help,

"Allianz Assistance confirms that financial failure of a Tour Operator is not something typically covered by travel insurance policies as UK firms are, in the main, financially protected by an Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or Air Travel Organiser's Licence (ATOL) financial bond. People who used a credit card to purchase their holiday will have additional consumer protection and should contact their credit card provider," the insurer commented.

Skiers staying in the authentic 3 Valleys resort of St Martin de Belleville will have access to the slopes via a brand new gondola lift this winter.

The new lift will have a number of improvements including ground level boarding, faster speeds and increased capacity to 2,400 people per hour.

"The new lifts has extremely comfortable cabins from the moment you step inside and for the whole journey, with a totally redesigned concept," a spokesperson for the SEVABEL lift company said.

The tourist office is also excited about 72 new ski lockers that have been created in the heart of the village with capacity for 300 pairs of skis.

The aim of the lockers, which can be reserved when you buy your lift pass, is to make to-ing and froing between the village and Les 3 Vallées ski area easier.

The building contains changing rooms, toilets and hair dryers for users as well as the lockers.

Italy's Val Senales glacier ski area has become the third in the past 24 hours to open for the 2019-20 ski season after the heavy snow of last weekend.

The centre reports perfect conditions this morning after more than 50cm of snowfall last Friday to Monday, with blue sky conditions now.

Today also sees the traditional 'return of the sheep' from the mountains around the ski area as summer grazing comes to an end.

Two Austrian glacier ski areas opened for their 19-20 seasons yesterday - Solden and Stubai. They joined five areas already open - Hintertux in Austria, Saas Fee and Zermatt in Switzerland, Galdhopiggen in Norway and Passo Stelvio in Italy.

Austria's Piztal glacier is due to open next weekend which will mean half of the eight areas open by then will be in Austria. The following weekend, the last one of September, will be the same again with Austria's Kaunertal glacier due to open then as well as Tignes in France as we return to double figures.

Two more Austrian areas, the Dachstein and Molltal glaciers, may re-open this months too, subject to more snowfall.

The first clearly visible snowfalls on the late astronomical summer/early meteorological summer have been reported in the US Northwest – causing great excitement on social media.

Resorts in Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado all posted images of 5-10cm snowfalls on their higher slopes although no official stats were published.

North of the border there were similar images at sunshine ski area near Banff, likely to be one of the first to open for winter 19-20 there at the end of October or start of November.

Earlier in the week Arapahoe Basin, one of half-a-dozen US areas vying to be the first in the country to open, which could be anytime from early October but more likely in the latter half of next month, rolled out its mobile snowmaking units in readiness to fire them up once temperatures dropped.

At Keystone, another contender, they made a small snowman.

Currently J2Ski forecasts that that's likely to be it for US snowfall for a while, although there's a chance of similar snow at resorts in California and Colorado in the forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday next week – currently a little far off for much certainty though.

Oh dear, I really must stop inventing new measurements of time, I've been warned before :(