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Top news from the other side of the planet...
James 'Woodsy' Woods win the NZ Freeski Open Team BSS slopestyle skier James 'Woodsy' Woods has taken the title of the NZ Freeski Open Champion after dominating the finals in Cardrona and taking the title ahead of Swiss skier Oysten Braten (2nd) and NZ athlete Jossi Wells (3rd). 
Photo Credit: iON Cameras After taking the top qualifying spot, Woodsy dominated the finals with a first run score of 93.3 and stayed on top for the remainder of the three runs, cementing the win with a score of 96.7 in the second run.
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where can i snowboard in Sweden or Norway in late November early December
Started by User in Scandinavia, 8 Replies |
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Hi Paul, welcome to J2Ski...
Some of our regulars ski in Scandinavia so can hopefully chime in (when they wake up from their summer slumbers...), but you can find the usual opening weeks for quite a few ski areas on the following pages :- Norwegian ski area openings Swedish ski area seasons Obviously all dates are dependent on the arrival of the snow, but those should give you a starting point. HTH |
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J2Ski's Guide to Where to Ski in September 2014
28th August, 2014
Snow Report Summary September, like May, is change over month for the global ski scene as we get the exciting first tastes of the northern hemisphere's 2014-15 ski season, while the southern hemisphere's ski areas begin to close down. In the northern hemisphere very little is open as summer ski operations have largely ended - September is the only month of the year when no ski area in France or Norway is scheduled to be open at all. But equally glacier ski areas in Austria and Italy will be looking to open from mid-September on if they get fresh snow on their high slopes as is usually the case. In the southern hemisphere most ski areas will be winding down their 2014 seasons through September with the majority closed by the end of the month. Southern Africa's two small areas closed at the end of August in fact. Australian ski areas have had a bumper snow season, so there may be extensions, whereas New Zealand areas - many of which had a poor start to the season - may try to add extra weeks to to make up. In South America there's been heavy snow in the last week on August after a relatively dry month. This months Snow Report is sponsored by... 
British Columbia, Canada - with perfect powder, reliable snowfall and 13 major resorts, BC is every skier's dream. The Alps Austria Austria comes in to its own in autumn as its eight glacier areas open from mid-September to mid-October, which together normally add up to more areas open than the rest of the northern hemisphere combined by early October. There was some fresh snow reported in mid-August but last month also saw a major thaw of established bases. Two areas are already open as we enter September. The Hintertux glacier in Austria is the largest open centre, although its snow cover has dropped dramatically with an August thaw from 2.8m deep at the top a month ago to 1.25m now at the top, and 40cm at the base of the 600m+ glacier vertical. 18km of runs remain open though. The Molltal glacier reports it has three runs ope, served by three lifts and reports a 2.6m base. Centres expected to open from mid-September include the country's highest, the Pitztal Glacier, which plans to open on September 20th, as do the Kaunertal, Kitzsteinhorn, Stubai and Solden glaciers. The Dachstein glacier tries to open year round when there's snow cover, but is currently reporting there isn't any and that it's closed , so needs fresh snow before it re-opens. France Les 2 Alpes, which saw fresh snow a week ago, was the only French resort open through much of August, closing at the weekend, and there are no French resorts planning to open in September. Tignes will be next to open on 4th October. Italy With Cervinia's skiing on Plateau Rosa due to finish on the first weekend of September (Sunday 7th), there's only one Italian area expected to be open throughout the month; Passo Stelvio which reports a 1 – 2.5m base as we enter September. However the former summer-skiing area of Val Senales expects to open soon after Cervinia closes, conditions permitting, any time from the 13th September on (but that date is to be confirmed). Cervinia reports no fresh snow since the end of July but describes conditions as still 'good' with a 1m base on top of the Plateau Rosa glacier. It will re-open for the 2014-15 on weekends from mid-October. Switzerland Swiss skiing is limited to Saas Fee and Zermatt in September with more areas like Engelberg, the Diavolezza glacier and Diablerets due to join them from mid-October. It's been a pretty dry month in the Swiss Alps through august and both resorts have hard packed bases on which we hope to see some September snow soon. Zermatt reports a 120cm base, 14 slopes open and 12 lifts running. The snow's deeper at Saas Fee with 225cm and there's a centimetre or two of fresh in the past few days. Nine lifts are operational. Scandinavia The last glacier area open in Norway, Folgefonn, closes for the season on August 31st. However the start of the 2014-15 season is likely to be only weeks away, last September saw early snowfall and limited opening in September, and most years centres in Lapland start to operate by mid October. North America It's unlikely there'll be any lift-served skiing in September in North America . The Timberline ski area on Mt Hood which is open for much of the year, typically closes in September although it does sometimes open at weekends. But currently there's limited snow so that seems unlikely. Some of the world's highest ski areas in Colorado – particularly Arapahoe Basin and Loveland – like to start snowmaking in September if temperatures dip cold enough, but they very rarely open before October. September 2013 also saw surprise huge September snowfalls in Washington State leading to a few areas opening for a few days to celebrate, before it all melted, but we can't predict if that scenario will repeat itself. Canadian ski areas usually begin opening in the first week of November. Southern Hemisphere Africa The season ended at the end of August at Afriski in Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa. Ironically after virtually no natural snowfall all season, the slopes got a covering for the last week of August. But both centres had successful seasons thanks to their comprehensive snowmaking. Tiffindell was able to stage the first FIS sanctioned races in Africa last month. Argentina Despite (or perhaps because of) very low temperatures (double digits below zero) it was a mostly dry August in Argentina after heavy snow at the start of the month. However base depths on the pistes are largely good with most lifts and runs open. Caviahue has the deepest reported based in the country with 2m of packed powder, although bigger Las Leñas is not far behind with a 1.6m hard packed base. There's a metre at Catedral, South America's, and by some measures the southern hemisphere's largest resort. Australia Australian ski areas have had a great 2014 season and although most will be closed by the end of September, the majority still have healthy bases as we start the month. For most the last significant snowfall was about three weeks' ago but temperatures have stayed low and there have been a few centimetres every now and then to freshen things up. Most of the major areas are reporting snow depths between 135 and 160cm including Hotham, Falls Creek, Perisher and Thredbo. Falls Creek is on 115cm. Chile Chile's ski areas are largely in good shape as they enter the last month of the season. There was little or no new snowfall for most of August after heavy snow in the first week of last month, but in the last week of August there was more heavy snow, with Valle Nevado reporting 72cm in 48 hours and Portillo 40cm in the same period, so things are looking up for the last month of the season there. Nevados de Chillan currently has the deepest snowbase in the world at present at 3.4m. Villarica has a 2.2m base and Valle Nevado 1.2m. The coverage is a bit more scant at Portillo (75cm) and La Parva (60cm). New Zealand It has certainly been an interesting season in New Zealand. To sum up the key points – firstly, the snow came late, secondly, it was so late some small club fields didn't open until early august, a few still haven't opened, but, thirdly, a few areas had huge snowfalls in the end and now have healthy bases. Most areas have in fact received average-good snowfall through August. Among the areas looking good for the rest of the season, are Mt Ruapehu where Turoa and Whakapapa now have bases above the 2m mark; The Remarkables and Temple Basin, both also around 2m, and treble cone which reports the country's deepest base at 2.6m. Indoor Snow and Dry Slopes If you need a quick snow fix closer to home there are more than 50 year-round indoor snow centres and several hundred artificial surface 'dry slopes' operating in more than 50 countries around the world. For the UK there are six indoor snow centres from Hemel Hempstead to Glasgow and around 60 dry slopes. |
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British Park and Pipe athletes head to Southern Hemisphere as event season starts
After a summer of intense training including stints in Scotland and time on the glaciers in Europe and the slopes down under, a number of Britain's Park and Pipe squad are back in competition action, heading to Australia and New Zealand for the World Snowboard Tour Southern Hemisphere events and the NZ Freeski Open. For the snowboarders, competing for Great Britain are Olympic Bronze Medalist Jenny Jones, Sochi stars Billy Morgan and Aimee Fuller and 16 year old Katie Ormerod, who recently became the first female to land a double cork 1080. 
Photo from Boardworld Kicking off with the 4 Star Slopestyle Mile High, running from 25th – 27th August, the snowboarders will take on the world's best riders as they battle it out for the $15,000 prize money in Perisher Blue, Australia - www.australianslopestyletour.com Then from 1st – 3rd September all four riders will continue on the Australian Slopestyle Tour which moves on to Falls Creek, Australia where they will be competing in the Style Wars. Billy, Jenny and Katie will then head over to New Zealand to compete in the Snowboard Slopestyle event on 19th September at the 5 Star Level Burton High Fives in Cardrona, New Zealand. The event webcast will provide full streaming from the event - www.burton.com/HighFives. British Ski Slopestyle star James Woods will also be in action, competing in the NZ Freeski Open in Cardrona where he has spent much of the summer training. The competition runs from 28th-31st August – www.nzfreeskiopen.com Following on from the huge success of last winter season, these are the key events of the Southern Hemisphere season where all the athletes will be keen to make their mark. For full profiles of the British Ski and Snowboard athletes visit www.teambss.org.uk and follow @teambss on Twitter. |
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Ugh, looks like Youtube have changed their embed code and stopped old stuff from working... will have to do some voodoo later... :twisted:
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Fixed that for you... 8) I did think for a minute there that it was an impressively large piste map... :lol: Enjoy your holiday! |
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J2Ski's Guide to Where to Ski in August 2014
1st August, 2014
Snow Report Summary The Southern Hemisphere's ski season is in full swing, as we enter the busiest month of the year for many of the 100 or so areas south of the equator. Australian snowfall has been less spectacular in most areas in recent weeks, after a good start to the season. There have been moderate falls in New Zealand and South America in the past week, however, and base depths have passed the 2m mark at some resorts. In the Northern Hemisphere, glacier areas keep opening and closing although - overall - there are now fewer places to ski than there were a month ago. Five countries in Europe are open for glacier skiing although the number of individual areas is back in single figures. Only one centre remains open in all of North America. The Alps Austria August is the annual low point, with just two ski areas open now. The year round Hintertux glacier is in good shape, albeit with what their snow report honestly describes as "old snow" – but that's lying 2.8m deep at the top of the summer skiing area and 80cm deep at 2660m, nearly 600 vertical metres below. There are 18km of runs open. Also open is the Dachstein glacier (1.3m base). France Tignes is reported to be ending its summer skiing a month earlier than it did a few years ago, on this Sunday August 3rd. With Val d'Isere already closed and Alpe d'Huez, which had initially reported plans to open through July and August apparently deciding against, only Les 2 Alpes will be open from Monday onwards. It will stay open to 30th August this year. It is reported to have a 2m base with the last snow, 5cm, on July 20th, although some people reported skiing in the rain there since then! Italy With the re-opening of Cervinia's skiing on Plateau Rosa we're back up to a choice of two Italian resorts to choose from - the other at Passo Stelvio which reports a 1 – 2.5m base as we enter August. Cervinia's slopes are open until early September and offer cross border summer skiing in to Zermatt, Switzerland – a unique offer at this time of year. Fresh snow last month made it 'mid-winter powder in July' for those lucky enough to get to the powder. Switzerland Since Saas Fee re-opened last month (and will stay open to spring 2015), Switzerland's now back to a choice of two summer ski and board destinations, and near neighbours at that. Zermatt continues its year-round operations, whilst Saas Fee has made its new look terrain park the focus of summer operations. Both resorts have good snow cover on their glacier slopes. Norway The lift-assisted ski season in Norway looks to be nearing its end, with the Galdhoppigen and Stryn glaciers now closed. Only Folgefonn, with a 3-4m base, is still open as August begins, but it too expects to finish its season by the middle of the month. North America With the Blackcomb glacier at Whistler ending its 2014 summer ski and board season last weekend, there's nowhere currently open in Canada, until resorts in Alberta and BC re-open in early November (or possibly late October if the signs are good), unless you want to hike up. As the Red Lodge summer camp in Wyoming has also ended its season, the only option open in North America is Timberline in Oregon during August 2014. The snow there is around 2.5m deep and the terrain park open from 7am to 2pm daily. Southern Hemisphere Africa August is traditionally the last month of their short ski seasons for Afriski in Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa. The latter reports it has clocked up nearly 200 hours of snowmaking this season and has a 700m long main run now, nearly 90cm deep with machine made snow, but there's not been any natural snowfall this season. Indeed a recent plea was posted on the centre's snow report page, "The skiing and weather at Afriski remains great. A bit of natural snow would be great, do you know anyone that can arrange a proper cold front for us please ?" Argentina It appears to be a fairly average season in Argentina as we enter August. There have been some significant snowfalls in recent days after very little snowfall through much of July leaving bases depths generally around the 60cm – 120cm mark, in other words perfectly adequate but not terribly impressive! Catedral has a 50cm base, Las Lenas 80cm with Caviahue reporting the deepest in the country at 1.5m. Australia Australian ski areas are having an awesome 2014 ski season with four major snowstorms in the last six weeks and regular top ups besides. As a result – and this is quite a rare claim to make – several Aussie ski areas have some of the deepest snow packs in the southern hemisphere right now, at 150-170cm for most areas. Hotham is on 1.5m, Thredbo and Perisher 1.7m – that's nearly six feet deep. Most centres have enjoyed a few more centimetres of fresh powder in the past few days making for a great start to August. Chile It's a mixed picture across Chile with the southern end of the country scoring by far the best with 2.4m (eight feet) of snow now lying at Nevados de Chillan – this is the greatest snow depoth reported anywhere in the southern hemisphere at present. There have been some of the biggest snowfalls reported anywhere in the world in the last few days of July in Chile, but after a promising pre-season in early June depths are less impressive at 30cm (Valle Nevado) to 90cm (Portillo) in the north of the country closer to capital Santiago. New Zealand New Zealand's 2014 season remains distinctly non-vintage so far, although there have been promising signs and bigger snow flurries in the latter half of July. It's ironic that given the effort to attract Aussies, the key market, over each winter, the snow is currently deeper back in Oz. Three NZ areas do now have at least 1m bases though – Turoa, the Remarkables and Treble Cone. Elsewhere its more typically 30-60cm, although that's enough to open most runs at the commercial ski fields. Indoor Snow and Dry Slopes If you need a quick snow fix closer to home there are more than 50 year-round indoor snow centres and several hundred artificial surface 'dry slopes' operating in more than 50 countries around the world. For the UK there are six indoor snow centres from Hemel Hempstead to Glasgow and around 60 dry slopes. |
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Just bumping this... the official (planned) opening dates are coming in thick-and-fast now, and we'll be updating our pages as they come in.
For quick reference, here are the latest sets of ski area opening dates (with a rough indication like 'Mid December' where we're still waiting) :- Austria France Italy Swizerland And for your optimal browsing pleasure, you can sort the tables by opening (or closing) dates to see where's opening first. We expect to add a few hundred more season dates over the next month or so. 8) |
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