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Brighten your Monday at 09:00 - Win a Free Ticket to the London Ski and Snowboard Show!
Started by User in Ski Chatter, 8 Replies |
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With just over two days to go until the London Ski and Snowboard Show, we've managed to get our hands on half a dozen weekday tickets which we're going to give away this very morning.
Find out more at www.skiandsnowboard.co.uk All you have to do to win a ticket is answer a simple question (the answer to which can be found on J2Ski), which we'll post on this thread at exactly 09:00 this morning (UK time).
To win your free ticket, valid for any one weekday for one person... come back to this thread at 9 this morning (feel free to have coffee or breakfast in the meantime). |
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Hello, and welcome to a distinctly snowy Weekly Snow Report! As we write, temperatures are dipping across Europe and daytime averages are about to drop by 10-15C over the next 48 hours. Cold air is pushing into the region from the North and East, whilst mild, wet weather tracks from the West. The combination has the potential for some significant snowfall in the Northern and Eastern Alps, with snow likely across the wider area. The exact interaction of the two weather systems is difficult to forecast with any accuracy but the Northern Alps, including Chamonix and Zermatt, will likely see snow starting late tomorrow (Friday) at altitude and continuing through Saturday with the snow line falling to 1200 metres and below by the end of the day. Local accumulations may be heavy! This Week's Headlines - Californian ski areas open early after heavy snow this week. - Canadian resorts opening early due to cold temperatures for snowmaking. - Little fresh snow in the Alps so far... but more expected this weekend. - Squaw Valley and Boreal opening in California. - Les 2 Alpes Opening for 10 days only in France. Already Open – 25 Glacier and Non-Glacier Ski Areas Austria With most of the ski areas in the southern hemisphere now closed, Austria can claim to have the most ski areas open of any one country in the world at present. The amount of terrain open at Solden has increased dramatically with nearly 30km of runs and a 42cm snow base. Hintertux continues to have the largest ski area available anywhere at present with 41km of slopes open, 14 lifts running and a 590m vertical. Austria's other open areas are the Kitzsteinhorn glacier at Kaprun with 90cm, Molltal (12km of slopes open, 40cm), Pitztal (51cm), Stubai (9 runs open, 70cm snow depth) and Kaunertal (39cm). Canada Two Alberta ski areas are opening early, this week. Mt Norquay, the local ski hill for Banff will be the first ski area in Canada to open at 12 noon today. October 25th with 30cm of natural and machine made snow. Nakiska in Alberta, the closest ski area to Calgary, plans to open this Saturday, October 27th, its earliest ever opening date. Much of the snow is machine made and there's a 15cm base so far. Finland Ruka has one run open, thanks to snowmaking, and two lifts running to access it. The run opened on schedule a week ago for the resort's eight month season, the longest of any non-glacier ski resort and a good sign as last autumn opening was delayed by more than a month due to warm weather. France Tignes is currently the only ski area open in France. Six lifts are running and there's a 40cm base. Les Deux Alpes glacier will also be open for 9 days from the 27th October to 4th November 2012. Italy Having opened the past two weekends Cervinia will be open full time from this Saturday 27th October to 5th May 2013. 23km of runs are open and the centre has a 90cm snow depth. Passo Stelvio and Val Senales are both also open for glacier skiing, the latter with a 30cm snowbase and five beginner and intermediate runs open. Switzerland The choice of open ski areas in Switzerland has doubled this week with the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin as well as the Titlis Glacier above Engelberg both opening last weekend joining Saas Fee and Zermatt from this weekend. Saas Fee and Zermatt both have their glaciers open for snow sports, although there have been closures due to bad weather (rain) on some days. Saas Fee has a 117cm base of what it describes as 'hard snow' with five runs open along with its terrain park and half pipe. North America USA California is the first region in the northern hemisphere where heavy natural October snowfall has allowed for early resort openings without the need of snowmaking or glaciers. It's very early days of course but resorts will be hoping this means a return to the very good winter of 2010-11 and not a repeat of the very bad 2011-12. The early signs are good with Squaw Valley opening early (today, October 25th) after nearly a metre of snow has fallen there in the past 72 hours. Nearby Boreal will open for a full 12 hours from 9am to 9pm from Friday, 26th October. A little further East Loveland has now joined Arapahoe Basin open in Colorado and Timberline in Oregon is opening at weekends. Several small areas have opened in New England and the MidWest too thanks to snowmaking. Southern Hemisphere – Still Open Turoa in New Zealand is believed to be the only ski area still open in the southern hemisphere with a 210cm (7 foot) base. It plans to stay open at least another week to November 4th, weather permitting. From next Thursday it will celebrate the rare southern hemisphere ski season phenomena: 'Snowvember'. Opening Soon (subject to conditions) Killington in Vermont and Sunday River in Maine both aim to open 29th October. Copper Mountain, Colorado, plans to open Friday, November 2nd, 2012. Glacier 3000 above les Diablerets and Gstaad in Switzerland expects to open on 3rd November. Lake Louise, Sunshine, Banff on 9th November. Heavenly opens for skiing and snowboarding on Friday, November 16, 2012. Watch J2Ski for the latest developments in the winter forecast, and we'll be back next week with more snowy news... |
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This just in from those excitable folk in Canada; and judging by the number of exclamation marks in their press release they're either very excited or they have some stuck keys on their keyboard... 8)
Mt. Norquay OPENS TOMORROW! The Earliest Ski Resort Opening in Canada! 
Picture courtesy of skibig3.com Banff Lake Louise Sunshine is already on track for another record smashing ski season! Mt. Norquay is leading the way in the record books with its earliest opening in its history and the first ski resort to open in Canada! Mt. Norquay will be open for skiing tomorrow, Thursday October 25th at 12noon! The combination of 30 cm of natural and manmade snow has provided the best opening skiing conditions ever! Norquay will also be open 10am-4pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Following closely on the heels of Mt. Norquay is The Lake Louise Ski Area and Sunshine Village with opening dates currently scheduled for November 9th, completing the big three trifecta of boasting the longest ski season in North America. This is fantastic news for skiers and snowboarders to Banff Lake Louise Sunshine. Banff National Park and its three world-class resorts look forward to a season of fresh powder, great skiing and smooth riding in Canada's Protected Playground, where open runs and iconic views come naturally to us. For more information visit www.SkiBig3.com |
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The J2Ski October Snow Report - Week Ending October 20th, 2012
This Week's Headlines - Up to 50cm new snow reported at open ski areas in the Alps. - Ruka expects to be the first non-glacier ski area in Europe to open, today, Thursday, 18th October. - The snow in the Alps has covered an extensive area across much of the continent over the past few days. - First Colorado ski area opens and Killington in Vermont expects to open this weekend. - In Austria the Kaprun and Kitzsteinhorn Glaciers above Kaprun have both opened with fresh snow. - Cervinia in Italy and Engelberg in Switzerland have also opened. Already Open – 20 Glacier and Non-Glacier Ski Areas Extensive fresh snow and cold-enough weather for snowmaking has allowed more resorts to open for winter 2012-13 including the first non-glacier ski areas. Austria With most of the ski areas in the southern hemisphere now closed, Austria can claim to have the most ski areas open of any one country in the world at present. It now has seven glacier ski areas to choose from – almost half of the world total, thanks to the opening of the Kaunertal and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers at the weekend due to fresh snow. Both have terrain parks open, Kaunertal with a 48cm base and four lifts running. They join already open Solden, Stubai, Pitztal, Molltal and Hintertux glaciers, the latter with probably the largest ski area open anywhere at the moment - 50cm of new snow has allowed the area to almost double terrain open to 38km between 2660m and 3250m with a dozen lifts operating. Finland Ruka began snowmaking on Monday this week and expects to open as planned, later today, Thursday, 18th October with the resort's main run open. It should then remain open until 9th of June 2013. It will be the first non-glacier ski area in Europe to open and it's hopefully a good sign after autumn 2011 when opening was delayed more than a month due to warm weather. France Despite the excitement of fresh snow widely reported across the French Alps, only Tignes is open daily until most of the other ski areas in the country begin opening in late November and early December. The only exception is Les 2 Alpes which will open its glacier, among the largest in the Alps, for 10 days of events, new season gear testing and 'fun' in a week's time before closing again until its season proper begins. Italy Cervinia opened last weekend and will re-open next (20th-21st October) then every day from 27th October to 5th May 2013. 23km of runs are open and the centre reported 25cm of fresh snow by the time it closed last Sunday. Passo Stelvio and Val Senales are both also open for glacier skiing. Norway The Galdhøpiggen summer ski area on Norway's highest mountain says it closed last weekend on October 14th due to lack of people wanting to ski or board there after that. If it gets more requests it may re-open. The only Norwegian slope currently reported open is a small fun slope at Trysil which has used snow saved from last winter preserved from the summer sun by a covering of bark chippings. Switzerland The choice of open ski areas in Switzerland is gradually growing and indeed expected to double shortly with the Diavolezza glacier near St Moritz in the Engadin as well as the Titlis Glacier above Engelberg both joining Saas Fee and Zermatt from this weekend (20th October). Saas Fee and Zermatt both have their glaciers open for snow sports, although there have been closures due to bad weather (rain) on some days. Saas Fee has a 117cm base of what it describes as 'hard snow' with five runs open along with its terrain park and half pipe. North America USA After Wild Mountain in Minnesota became the first North American resort to open last week, more ski areas have been opening in the US. Arapahoe Basin became the first in Colorado yesterday when it opened limited terrain on the 17th and Loveland expects to open soon having received four inches of natural snow topping up snowmaking efforts – although those were hampered by a power failure which stopped operations for a time. Timberline at Mt Hood in Oregon which had expected to be first North American ski area to open has kept delaying doing so and now plans to open limited terrain this weekend. However both have been beaten by, with only a 93m vertical and a top lift height more than 3,500m lower than Loveland, it opened on Sunday October 7th thanks to snowmaking. On the East Coast little Woodbury Ski Area in Connecticut expects to open this weekend as well as the largest resorts in the region, Killington in Vermont, although it only expects to open two runs for season pass holders only. Southern Hemisphere – Still Open The only ski areas still open in the southern hemisphere are Turoa and Whakapapa on Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand. Both have just over 2m snow bases. Whakapapa will close this weekend (22nd October) but Turoa will have 'a limited area on the upper mountain' open 'on fine weather days' over a further fortnight until November 4th, weather permitting, when it will celebrate the rare southern hemisphere ski season phenomena: 'Snowvember'. Opening Soon (subject to conditions) Les Deux Alpes glacier will also be open for 9 days from the 27th October to 4th November 2012. Killington in Vermont and Sunday River in Maine both aim to open 29th October. Copper Mountain, Colorado, plans to open Friday, November 2nd, 2012. Glacier 3000 above les Diablerets and Gstaad in Switzerland expects to open on 3rd November. Free to re-publish in whole or part so long as credited to J2ski.Com with hyperlink to http://www.j2ski.com/snow_forecast/. Thank you. |
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...then scousefly has come to the right place! A long, long time ago, in a Galaxy far far away... some geezer sketched out plans for a ski site to make planning his own DIY trips easier... :D :D
Same with package deals; a great headline price and they'll sting you on ski passes, hire and (my favorite add-on from Crystal a good few years back) "optional transfer" (as opposed to walking from the airport!).
Works both ways! On my way to Serre Che some years ago we got diverted from GVA to Grenoble. The nice people from Avis happily transferred my car hire booking and we were out of the airport in 20 minutes... while a large group with a TO waited for their buses to drive down from Geneva in heavy snow. DIY is not difficult; you just need to do your research and - as Brucie says - price it carefully. |
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Arapahoe Basin announces opening day for 2012-13 ski and ride season
Ski area will be first in Colorado to open 
Image courtesy of arapahoebasin.blogspot.co.uk Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (A-Basin) announced that Wednesday, October 17, 2012, will mark the official start to the Colorado ski and snowboard season. The Black Mountain Express lift will start at 9:00 a.m. MST to shuttle guests to the beginning of the intermediate High Noon trail at mid-mountain.
New at A-Basin for the 2012-13 season is the Pika Place Learning Area, scheduled to open November 2012. Situated in the base area adjacent to the Black Mountain Express lift, Pika Place is geared toward younger guests and first-time skiers and riders. Pika Place features a new trail, a new conveyor lift and Ace's Kids Park, a beginner-level terrain park with smaller versions of popular features found in A-Basin's other two terrain parks. This season, A-Basin launched an on-site Rossignol Experience Center designed to help skiers elevate their on-mountain experience and skiing technique. This rental program features an array of Rossignol skis with auto-turn rocker technology, an innovation that provides greater control and confidence to skiers of all abilities. Guests can receive the guaranteed lowest price on A-Basin lift tickets by purchasing them in advance at ArapahoeBasin.com. Current lift ticket window pricing will run through December 21, 2012, with adult (19+ years) full-day tickets priced at $64, youth (15-18 years) window tickets priced at $54 and child (6-14 years) window tickets priced at $32. Children under age 5 ski free. A-Basin also offers several season pass products, including the two-season Double Down Pass ($499; on sale through December 31, 2012). For season pass pricing and snow conditions, please visit ArapahoeBasin.com or call 888-ARAPAHOE (272-7246). |
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:D
Let's start with Montgenevre...  |
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The Alps (well, some of them at least) are about to go all white! Widespread light snow to around 2,000m is expected tomorrow (Friday) with a further band of snow pushing in late on Sunday and into Monday. Heaviest snow, as low as 1,500m in many areas, is expected in the North and East of The Alps and local accumulations may be significant. Of the open ski resorts, Zermatt in particular appears to be in the firing line...
This Week's Headlines - First ski area in North America opens for 2012-13, in Minnesota in the Mid-West of the USA. - Cervinia in Italy, Engelberg in Switzerland and Kaunertal in Austria all plan to open for the season this Saturday, October 13th. - Fresh snow in New Zealand – 15cm reported at Mt Ruapehu. - Ruka in Finland expects to open next week, the first non-glacier ski area in Europe to do so for 2012-13. - Pitztal and Kitzsteinhorn Glaciers report up to 10cm fresh snow. - Galdhøpiggen reports fresh snow this week but plans to close this weekend at the end of its summer ski season. Already Open – 15 Glacier Ski Areas There's not been much fresh snow this week but more areas are opening. Austria The Hintertux glacier, which along with Zermatt in Switzerland is one of two areas open year round, still has the most piste open in the northern hemisphere (22km) with a 65cm base and 590m skiable vertical served by more than a dozen lifts. The Pitztal glacier reports 8cm of snow this week and 68cm of snow already this season – which began four weeks ago. It currently has a 30cm base. The Solden and Stubai glaciers are also open but with just a few lifts, runs and kilometres of piste to enjoy and thin snow cover. A fifth Austrian option, the Molltal glacier has up top 20cm snow depth and 8.5km of runs open. The Kaunertal glacier plans to open this weekend and the Dachstein and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers also expect to open soon . Finland Ruka is expected to open on Thursday, 18th October and remain open until 9th of June 2013 – the first non-glacier ski area in Europe to open. France Tignes has 20km of slopes open with snow depth of 20cm and temperatures around -1C . It will be open until May 2013 and apart from Les 2 Alpes opening for 10 days later this month, the only French resort open until late November. Italy Cervinia plans to open this weekends (13th-14th October) and next (20th-21st October) then every day from 27th October to 5th May 2013. Passo Stelvio and Val Senales are both reporting they're already open for autumn glacier skiing. At Val Senales 8km of slopes are open with snow depths of 30cm and at Passo Stelvio, one of several claimants to being "Europe's biggest glacier" 20km of runs are open. Norway The Galdhøpiggen summer ski area on Norway's highest mountain says it will stay open to October 14th and that there has been fresh snow this week – but is a bit vague about how much. There's a 1.5km long trail served y a T bar lift. Trysil opened a fun snow run at the end of September using snow saved under a layer of bark chippings from the previous year. There's a conveyor lift to access the snow. It it still open and the centre says it will keep it open and free to use for as long as it lasts. Switzerland Ski slopes at Engelberg are expected to open this weekend on October 13th but will close for maintenance work from 5 - 16 November. Saas Fee and Zermatt both have their glaciers open for snow sports, although there have been closures due to bad weather (rain) on some days. Saas Fee has a 117cm base of what it describes as 'hard snow' with five runs open along with its terrain park and half pipe. North America USA After postponing opening for a week, Timberline at Mt Hood in Oregon had expected to be first North American ski area to open, on October 12th. Loveland in Colorado had also begun snowmaking a week ago and is hoping to open imminently. Last year it opened on October 14th. However both have been beaten by Wild Mountain in Minnesota, with only a 93m vertical and a top lift height more than 3,500m lower than Loveland, it opened on Sunday October 7th thanks to snowmaking. Southern Hemisphere – Still Open Almost all ski areas in the southern hemisphere have now closed for the 2012 season. The last resorts in Australia closed last weekend after a great winter 2012. However some ski areas are still open. Mt Hutt will stay open this final weekend to October 14th (extended season) and Mt Ruapehu has announced it will stay open in to 4th November for 'Snovember.' It has been snowing there again and the current snowbase is over 2.1m (seven feet). Opening Soon (subject to conditions) Both the Kaunertal and Kitzsteinhorn glaciers in Austria expect to open any day. Kauntertal is waiting more snow, currently 20cm and says it will open this weekend. Kitzsteinhorn has 50cm. The Dachstein glacier also says they need more snow to open downhill runs. Loveland, Colorado, USA has begun snowmaking and hopes to open any day. Cervinia will open the weekends of 13th-14th and 20th-21st October then every day from 27th October to 5th May 2013. Ski slopes at Engelberg are expected to open on October 13th but will close for maintenance work from 5 - 16 November. Ruka, Finland is expected to open on Thursday, 18th October and remain open until 9th of June 2013 – the first non-glacier ski area in Europe to open. The Diavolezza Glacier near St Moritz expects to open on 20th October. Les Deux Alpes glacier will also be open for 9 days from the 27th October to 4th November 2012. Killington in Vermont and Sunday River in Maine both aim to open 29th October. Copper Mountain, Colorado, plans to open Friday, November 2nd, 2012. Glacier 3000 above les Diablerets and Gstaad in Switzerland expects to open on 3rd November. With Snow in the Forecast, this weekend should see some lovely vistas on the web-cams... |
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