J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Blimey. :shock:

Emily Sarsfield considering legal action following non-selection for Olympic Squad


Photo: Daniel Smye-Rumsby, courtesy of Emily Sarsfield

Trying to read between the lines doesn't really help... the decision not to take her to Sochi seems illogical to say the least. She seems to have met all the (published) criteria for selection and the BOA appear to be "giving away" an available place to another country?

Does this all hark back to Eddie The Eagle? Is it the case now that you have to be a dead-cert medal hope and/or already have a high media profile to be able to get to The Olympics?

What do we feel about this?

We think the "official" J2Ski line is that anyone mad enough to enter Ski Cross in the first place should be automatically eligible... the fact that Emily appears to be pretty damned good at it (now ranked inside the world's top 30 as of today, apparently) should seal it.

As many of you (we hope!) may have noticed, we made some changes to the content and format of our Snow Mails this week. As we've had a couple of questions about the changes, it's worth dropping the answers in here for general information.

Why the changes?

We know that more than 1 in 5 of our visits (to the website) is now made on a mobile phone, and 1 in 3 of you read our snow mails on your mobile. Those proportions will continue to grow.

So we wanted to make it easier to read, and faster to download, when you're mobile.

What did we do?

We've cleaned up the layout, reduced the number of links and promotions in each mail and - on average - reduced the "payload" by more than half; which means less data to download to your phone (and a little less cost when "roaming" abroad).

Why the shorter forecast?

See above - it helps to reduce the size of your email.

Remember - as we repeat whenever we get the opportunity - "any forecast beyond 48 hours is only an indication". So always check online for the latest forecast, and the latest reports of current snow conditions.

To get regular (Daily if you want) updates of the forecast, simply adjust Your Profile.

Enjoy! 8)

Week Ending January 24th, 2014

Re-publication :- our Snow Report Summary, being the text up to "Europe - Alps and Dolomites", is free to re-publish, but must be clearly credited to www.J2ski.com with text including "J2Ski Snow Report" linked to this page - thank you.

Snow Report Summary
More snow arrived in The Alps this week, and this looks set to continue with widespread - light to moderate - snowfall. Some significant local accumulations are possible over the weekend, particularly in the Pyrenees, and further snow is in the forecast for next week. Temperatures will be significantly colder than of late too.

This Week's Headlines:
* Heavy snow in Norway.
* Up to a foot of snow in 24 hours in New England.
* Swiss resorts post some of the biggest snowfalls of the last seven days.
* High avalanche danger in parts of the Alps.

Snow levels in many of Europe and North America's leading ski regions have continued to rise over the past week, thanks to more significant snowfall in parts of the Alps, the Dolomites and the Rockies.

Once again the southern side of Europe has generally seen the best of the snow with the biggest falls in the southern French Alps, parts of Switzerland and across Italy where base depths are as high as four metres. Zermatt has posted one of the biggest snowfalls at 70cm in the past seven days.

In northern Europe conditions remain generally very good at most Scottish centres and Norwegian resorts have seen their snowiest week of the season so far.

In North America the snow has continued to build in the Rockies with more healthy falls in Colorado and Utah, with Banff in Alberta, Canada to the north reporting 90cm of new snow in the week up to the weekend. However in recent days the snowfall focus has moved East with some big snowfalls in New England.

Conditions remain challenging at lower resorts in Austria (although fine on higher slopes), and in Eastern Europe.

Sochi 2014

Snow depths at Olympic alpine venue Rosa Khutor keep on rising dramatically (about a foot a week since we started checking three weeks' back) although oddly there's not much snow reported falling from the skies. However the web cam images are showing a reassuringly snowy scene. Although only a few centimetres of fresh snow has been reported, snow depths have risen above 1.5m ( over five feet) and more is expected over the next few days.

You can keep an eye on the snow there with our Snow Report for Rosa Khutor.

Europe - Alps and Dolomites
Austria
Conditions continue to be challenging at some Austrian areas, although perhaps not quite so dire as a week ago as even the most low lying areas reported 5-15cm of fresh snow at the weekend. However cover is scant at lower elevations at low lying resorts with just white ribbons of machine made snow in places like the Skiwelt. Bad Kleinkirchhiem which has had 'snow cover issues' reported 20cm of fresh snow in 24 hours. BUT higher elevation Austrian resorts are doing much better and are normal-to-good in terms of cover and rather anxious to distance themselves from the 'poor snow in Austria' rap.

The Stubai glacier fired off a press release to J2Ski.com on Monday advising the snow is lying two metres deep with a foot of fresh in the past week and similar claims are true for high elevation areas like Pitztal and Solden and Obergurgl.

There is snow and cold in the forecast for most Austrian ski areas too.

France
It's been another good week for snowfall in the French Alps with, once again following the January 2014 pattern, the southern half of the region doing a little better than the northern half ...but that said there's been plenty of new snow across the country.
Some of the bigger falls were reported over the weekend when winners in the southern Alps included Risoul and Vars with 30cm each, Pra Loup with 40cm and Isola 2000 with 50cm of snow.

In the Northern Alps the biggest falls were reported at the end of last week (Thursday – Saturday) when the Portes du Soleil reported 25cm of new snow in 24 hours.

Italy
Italy has also had another good week of snowfall with ski areas from the East to west sides of the country doing well. World cup action has been moved from Garmisch up on the Austrian/German border to Cortina this week due to the lack of cover on the north side of the alps compared to the south. That was after events in Cortina at the weekend first had to be cancelled due to too much snow falling.

On the East of the country Monterosa reported 20cm of new snow at the weekend and there was up to 40cm in the Milky Way. Moving west, San Martino reported 40cm of fresh cover and Madonna di Campiglio reported a fresh foot of snow and further in to the Dolomites there was another foot of snow at Val Gardena, which has had a very snowy January indeed. Over on the East at the Slovenian border there was a foot of snow too at Sella Nevea.

Switzerland
It has been a snowy week in Andermatt which claims the deepest snow in the world at present for a non-Glacier resort at 3.9m (13 feet) and has clocked up more than 60cm of fresh snow in the past week. Most Swiss resorts are looking good however and many have had 1 – 2 feet of fresh snow. Generally conditions are good across Switzerland and cover has improved a lot even where it was most needed, in the West of the country, where resorts like Leysin and Villars had been a bit short on snow cover. Following three feet of fresh snow in the past seven days at Leysin for example that's no longer the case and both now have upper slope bases above the metre mark.

Pyrenees
The Pyrenees continue to enjoy one of their best winters since – well, since last winter's record snowfall to be honest, but the past two seasons are certainly the best of the last five or so. This year the regular top ups of fresh snow on top of a deep base has meant the southerly mountain range's 50 or so ski areas in Andorra, France and Spain have had some of the most consistently good conditions all winter of just about anywhere. Bases in Andorra are 1.6 – 2 metres on upper slopes and most areas have had another 10-15cm of fresh snow over the last 48 hours.

Scandinavia
It has been the snowiest week yet in Scandinavia with several Norwegian resorts repeatedly posting 20-30cm snowfalls every 24 hours or so. Among the beneficiaries have been Beitostolen, Geilo, Hafjell, Hemsedal and Vradal.

Eastern Europe
Eastern European ski areas continue to rely largely on snowmaking with little or no fresh snow since Christmas week at most areas. So in other words, not good – but that said most of the ski areas in Bulgaria for example are managing to keep pistes open thanks to snow management techniques - not ideal but better than nothing.

Scotland
Scottish ski areas continue to have largely good conditions – except at the Lecht which does not have enough snow. Glencoe reports good snow top to bottom whereas Cairngorm,, Nevis Range and Glenshee all say very good snow at top, thinning lower down. Strong winds bringing blizzard conditions closed several centres on Tuesday but they're largely back to normal now.

North America
Canada
There's not been a huge amount of fresh snow in Canada in the past week although interestingly it's Mont Ste Anne in Quebec (six inches of fresh snow) that claims the deepest snow base of the entire north American continent at present with 215cm on upper slopes – just over seven feet of snow. Out west, Banff reported 90cm of snow during the seven days to last Friday, but hasn't reported much since. Indeed most fresh snow in recent days has been on the eastern side of the country with Blue Mountain in Ontario also reporting 2cm. Nothing new at whistler but it does have a 1.5m (five foot) base now.

USA
Snow has continued to fall in most of Western USA but the rate has slowed in the past week to just a few inches of fresh. However in the last 48 hours there's been heavy snowfall in New England with Stowe reporting a foot of snow in 24 hours and its Vermont neighbour Smugglers' Notch not far behind with 25cm. Other big name resorts in the area like Killington and Sugarbush have had 10-15cm of fresh snow. The country's deepest bases are out west with Snowbird in Utah, Steamboat in Colorado and Jackson Hole in Wyoming all now with more than five feet of snow lying on upper slopes. But conditions remain 'challenging' with no fresh snow in drought hit California, where bases are 75cm at best at resorts like Heavenly, Squaw and Mammoth – very far from the norm, sadly.

Wanderer wrote:I don't have any current information about the area.

Decent amount of snow in the forecast for tomorrow, and turning significantly colder over the weekend and into next week... with a bit more snow likely. Looking pretty good for snocannon and his mates! 8)

This blog from the team hired to build the Ski and Snowboard Cross courses...

http://johnniebalfour.tumblr.com/?og=1

:shock:

Good luck guys, and stay on their case!

18 Teams Achieve Record Km's in the 2014 Alpine Challenge!



After a fantastic weekend of endurance skiing and snowboarding, 18 teams have returned to the UK after competing in the 2014 Snow-Camp Alpine Challenge.

The teams awoke early to perfect powder snow conditions in Morzine on the opening day of the Challenge, and set off in their attempt to reach 21 checkpoints across the huge Portes de Soleil ski area, clocking up GPS tracked km as they went.

Snow-Camp Director, Dan Charlish, said, 'This event, now in its fifth year has been a huge success. We added even more checkpoints this year, and on top of the mountain hike, a sledge relay ensured this year's Challenge was the toughest yet! As always the atmosphere was fantastic with all the teams enjoying the level of competition and experience of navigating around 15 resorts and 100's of km's of pistes.'

Local team Morzine Source Magazine were crowned Alpine Challenge Champions for 2014 with a staggering combined team ski and hike total of 316 km, whilst hitting all 21 checkpoints over the two days. Second place went to Mountain Mavericks who missed first place by just one km, with a total of 312km and third went to team MASS with 306 km.

Justin Mountstephens from Team Ebay said,' It was a fantastic event – we thoroughly enjoyed the skiing and raising money for such a good cause, but we underestimated how hard the Challenge would be – it's not called an endurance event for nothing!'

Alpine Challenge 2014

Over 80 people took part in this year's Challenge, representing companies including PWC, Delancey, Ernst & Young, eBay and EA SPORTS. Combined fundraising across all teams is still coming in but the event has already raised over £30,000 to support Snow-Camp's work with young people. A special mention to top fundraisers this year Team Delancey, with second place going to the Ladies That Launch and Loose Cannons winning third.

Dan Charlish said, 'All teams are continuing to make a fantastic effort with their fundraising and this will have a huge impact on our work with young people – as a small charity we are so grateful for all the support from everyone involved in this year's event. The money raised as a result will mean we are able to support five young people through our Apprenticeship Programme for a full year – training them for future employment across the snowsports industry at the end of their apprenticeship'.

Sponsors Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports were proud to have supported the event once again and have been supporters of Snow-Camp for many years. They were joined by Morzine Tourist Board, Hotel Aubergade, Delancey, Ski and Snowboard Magazine & EA SPORTS as key event sponsors.

The Alpine Challenge 2015 will be launched soon! To enter your team please contact Snow-Camp or see www.snow-camp.org.uk/alpinechallenge to find out more.

Full PR here - Team GB Sochi Squad Announced

Fantastic to be taking such a strong squad, with some real medal contenders amongst them.

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Record number of Skiers and Snowboarders selected for Team GB for Sochi 2014

The British Olympic Association (BOA) today announced that 19 skiers and snowboarders have been officially selected for Team GB for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games.


Photo courtesy of Team GB

The selected athletes are (full athlete profiles can be found on www.teamgb.com ):

· DAVE RYDING (born: Bretherton, lives: Bretherton) (Alpine Skiing)

· CHEMMY ALCOTT (born: Twickenham, lives: Surrey) (Alpine Skiing)

· ANDREW MUSGRAVE (born: Poole, lives: Trondheim, Norway) (Cross Country)

· ANDREW YOUNG (born: Huntly, lives: Lillehammer, Norway) (Cross Country)

· CALLUM SMITH (born: Bristol, lives: Inverurie) (Cross Country)

· ROSAMUND (POSY) MUSGRAVE (born: Cairo, Egypt, lives: Oyne) (Cross Country)

· JAMES WOODS (born: Sheffield, lives: Sheffield) (Ski Slopestyle)

· KATIE SUMMERHAYES (born: Sheffield, lives: Sheffield) (Ski Slopestyle)

· MURRAY BUCHAN (born: Edinburgh, lives: Edinburgh) (Ski Halfpipe)

· JAMES MACHON (born: Sheffield, lives: Sheffield) (Ski Halfpipe)

· ROWAN CHESHIRE (born: Stoke on Trent, lives: Stoke on Trent) (Ski Halfpipe)

· EMMA LONSDALE (born: Settle, Yorkshire, lives: Settle, Yorkshire) (Ski Halfpipe)

· ZOE GILLINGS (born: Isle of Man, lives: Leeds) (Snowboard Cross)

· BILLY MORGAN (born: Southampton, lives: Southampton) (Snowboard Slopestyle)

· JAMIE NICHOLLS (born: Bradford, lives: Bradford) (Snowboard Slopestyle)

· JENNY JONES (born: Bristol, lives: Bristol) (Snowboard Slopestyle)

· AIMEE FULLER (born: Bromley, lives: Belfast) (Snowboard Slopestyle)

· BEN KILNER (born: Banchory, lives: Banchory) (Snowboard Halfpipe)

· DOM HARINGTON (born: Leeds, lives: London) (Snowboard Halfpipe)

The race to make the standard for Team GB nomination and subsequent selection went down to the wire for the British skiers and snowboarders, with Aimee Fuller securing her place on the team with a 5th place at the Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup in Stoneham last weekend, and Chemmy Alcott proving to selectors she was fit, despite her final race before selection being cancelled due to heavy snow. The 19 skiers and snowboarders will be one of the biggest numbers ever selected for Team GB for an Olympic Winter Games across the skiing and snowboarding disciplines.

Sochi 2014 sees the introduction of Ski and Snowboard Slopestyle and Ski Halfpipe into the Winter Olympics, three disciplines where the United Kingdom hope to make an impact. Snowboard Parallel Slalom will also make its debut on the Olympic Programme, but will not feature any Team GB athletes.

In Ski Slopestyle, James 'Woodsy' Woods hopes to be challenging for Olympic honours after last year being awarded the FIS Crystal Globe which is given to the best athlete in each discipline competing at World Cup level. Woodsy also won a silver medal at the Freestyle World Championships, becoming only the second ever British medallist at World Championship level. This season has seen some good performances for the Sheffield born athlete, who will be looking to match his performances from last season in Sochi.

Woodsy will be joined by fellow Sheffield skier Katie Summerhayes on the Ski Slopestyle course in Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Summerhayes, who is just 18, carried the flag in the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, representing Team GB for the first time. She is back competing again following a knee injury which meant she was out of action all summer and missed the start of this winter's competition season. Last weekend saw Summerhayes take second place at the World Cup Ski Slopestyle in Gstaad.

Also just back from a knee injury is Sheffield Halfpipe skier James Machon who has shown his form in recent World Cups. He will be joined by Edinburgh athlete Murray Buchan for the Ski Halfpipe which takes place on 18th February. The women's competition takes place two days later on 20th February with World Cup gold medallist Rowan Cheshire and Yorkshire skier Emma Lonsdale the selected Team GB athletes.

Alpine skier Chemmy Alcott has defied the odds and come back to world class racing after breaking her leg back in 2010. This return to fitness sees her selected for Team GB as she tries to make a mark in her fourth Olympic Winter Games. Alongside Alcott is Alpine skier Dave Ryding who is a Europa Cup Slalom Winner and from Lancashire. Ryding will race on 22nd January in the Slalom at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre.

Team GB is well represented in Cross Country skiing with four athletes competing at the Laura Cross Country Ski and Biathlon Centre. Leading the way is Scottish athlete Andrew Musgrave who last weekend won the Sprint title at the Norwegian Championships and recently finished 9th in a World Cup race which made up the Tour de Ski, in which he finished 27th overall. Andrew Musgrave will be joined on the team by fellow countrymen Andrew Young and Callum Smith. For the women, Rosamund Musgrave, better known as Posy, will compete in the sprint events. After an outstanding season Posy, sister of Andrew, looks to make an impact at her first ever Games.

Seven snowboarders will take to the slopes for Team GB during Sochi 2014. In the new discipline of Snowboard Slopestyle, Billy Morgan, who came third in the 2013 World Cup finals and second in a 4* World Snowboard Tour event last year will lead the charge. He will be joined by team mate Jamie Nicholls, who has qualified for his first Winter Olympics. For the women, triple X Games winner Jenny Jones will compete in the Snowboard Slopestyle event on 9th February. She is joined by Kent born Aimee Fuller who secured her place on the team after coming 5th in last weekend's Snowboard Slopestyle World Cup in Stoneham, Canada.

In Snowboard Halfpipe, Ben Kilner will go into his second Olympic Winter Games accompanied by team mate Dom Harington. Scottish athlete Kilner placed 18th in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and hopes to better that performance in Sochi. For London based Harington, this will be his first Winter Olympics after being a dominating force alongside Kilner on the British snowboard halfpipe scene for some time.

In Snowboard Cross, Zoe Gillings comes into her third Olympic Winter Games for Team GB. In Turin 2006 she finished 15th and in Vancouver 2010 8th in the Ladies Snowboard Cross event. Gillings will take to the course in Rosa Khutor on Sunday 16th February.



Commented Sochi 2014 Team GB Chef de Mission Mike Hay:

"Team GB hasn't taken a bigger contingent of skiers and snowboarders to an Olympic Winter Games for over two decades – since 1992 – so it is great to now have 19 of them heading out to Sochi with us shortly.

"What makes it even more exciting is the fact that we are going into Sochi with a number of athletes with medal potential in events new to the Olympic Programme. These new events should attract a varied audience and hopeful inspire many more young British people to take to up winter sport."

Said Paddy Mortimer, Team GB Ski and Snowboard Team Leader:

"We are proud of all our coaches, support staff and athletes who have done so well to get to this point.

"We send out a big thank you to our commercial partners, UK Sport and the public for their continued support through the National Lottery. This support has greatly assisted in continuing the fantastic work of our athletes and coaches.

"The athletes that have been selected to Team GB and those that were close, all are a great testament to how skiing and snowboarding is developing at an elite level in this country. We must all now continue our hard work and professionalism and we will see it rewarded."

James 'Woodsy' Woods said: "I am always incredibly proud to represent the United Kingdom in everything I do. To be given the opportunity to go to the Winter Olympics to do just that is amazing. I will certainly put all my efforts into my performance, representing my country and representing the freeskiing culture.

"The UK has a brilliant team going to Sochi along with an incredible field of people to follow, I truly hope everyone reaches their huge potential - enjoy the show!"


Andrew Musgrave said: "Being selected to be part of Team GB in Sochi is a huge honour. This will be my second Olympics, having also raced at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, but four years ago I was still very young. Going into Sochi I feel like a much more mature and experienced athlete and I believe what I have learnt over the course of the last four years will help me perform to a much higher level and I cannot wait to get started."



Katie Summerhayes said: "I am so thrilled to have been selected to compete for Team GB at the Winter Olympics. This is a dream come true and I can't believe it's happening. The last two years have been hard for me, so I just want to thank everyone who has supported me and helped me to get here. I can't wait to get to Sochi both to compete and support the rest of the team."

Rowan Cheshire said: "I am over the moon about being selected for Team GB and even happier to be picked because it's the first time my sport has been included in the Olympic Winter Games. When I think about competing in Sochi I feel a little nervous, but at the moment I am just overcome with excitement!

"To have made it to Sochi means the world to me as I have grown up watching the Olympics and dreaming of going, and this has now become a reality. I would like to thank my family especially my dad for supporting me through the years, and also my coaches Pat Sharples and Jamie Matthews for the being the best coaches ever!"

Ben Kilner said: "I'm absolutely thrilled with the way things have gone this season. After what seems to have been a very quick four years since Vancouver 2010 here I am again. I am absolutely delighted to have made the team again and look forward to putting on a good show for our nation.

"Team GB are sending what I think will be their best and most successful Winter Olympics squad. I am really proud to be a part of it and I will do everything my body is capable of doing to make my country proud."

Zoe Gillings said: "I am delighted to have been selected to compete for my third Olympic Winter Games. I don't think I would have got the results needed in the past two seasons if it wasn't for the British Ski and Snowboard performance director Paddy Mortimer who does everything he can to help the athletes. Now is the time for me to go to Sochi, use the experience I've gained at my two previous Winter Olympics, ride as fast as I can and try to get onto that podium!'"

Dave Ryding said: "It's a great feeling to be selected to represent Team GB in Sochi, after four years of hard work since the last Olympics I look forward to putting my best skiing out there on the day of the race. A massive thanks to everyone who has supported me along the way, I'm sure it will be a highly successful Olympic Winter Games for Team GB."