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Cairngorm ski area above Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands is reporting some of the best Easter snow conditions in several years as the centre also celebrates one of the most consistent ski seasons in decades, having now operated for nearly five-months straight, other than closures due to strong winds or access roads closed by snowfall. About a dozen runs representing about half the full area, are currently open with fresh snowfall over the past few days. The only blip on the operating horizon at present is Storm Dave, which looks set to prevent safe operations tomorrow and on Easter Sunday, although Easter Monday is looking very good with likely further fresh snowfall. "Next week is looking like we'll have some epic conditions up the mountain after some fresh powder from storm Dave," a Cairngorm Mountain spokesperson confirmed. Glencoe on the West Coast also remains open with about five runs skiable, best suited to good skiers. The centre reports that currently best skiing is in the Main Basin and Spring Run. Mid Mountain the Wall is complete but the loop round Mugs Alley to Old Mugs Alley now requires a bit of walking. Scotland's three other ski areas at Glenshee, The Lecht and Nevis Range are all closed for snowsports. The Lecht and Glenshee have opened for the Easter Holidays in recent years using their all-weather snowmaking machines but appear to have decided not to do so this year. |
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Zoe Atkin has added another major milestone to an already remarkable season, becoming the third British skier in just 24 hours to secure a Crystal Globe. Her latest accolade follows last month's bronze medal at the Cortina–Milan Olympics, part of Great Britain's strongest Winter Games performance in history. Atkin sealed the Freeski Halfpipe title and her second successive Crystal Globe after winning the final World Cup stop of the 2025–26 tour in Silvaplana, Switzerland. Lining up for her first World Cup outing since winning the country's first ever Halfpipe medal at the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, Atkin dominated from the outset, qualifying in first position and then setting the competition winning score in her first run of Finals to ease her way onto the top of a World Cup podium for the fourth time in her career, and the first time outside of the USA. Her success comes on the heels of two other standout British performances: Charlotte Bankes claimed the Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe in Mont-Sainte-Anne the previous day, while Kirsty Muir took both the Freeski Slopestyle title in Silvaplana and the overall Park & Pipe 'big globe', awarded to the top athlete across all three disciplines. Those results mark the first time British athletes have ever secured four Crystal Globes in Olympic disciplines in a single season and, added to the three medals won across the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, confirm the 2025/26 season as a record-breaking endeavour for GB Snowsport athletes, featuring 50 major podiums for British skiers and snowboarders. |
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Charlotte Bankes has added another major milestone to her remarkable career, securing a further Snowboard Cross Crystal Globe and reinforcing her status as Britain's most successful snowsport athlete on snow. The Olympic champion arrived in Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada leading the overall standings and delivered once again, claiming her fifth podium and third individual win of the 2026 World Cup season.
Her latest triumph builds on a campaign that began with uncertainty. Returning from a broken collarbone sustained in training at the same venue last year, Bankes opened the winter with ninth place in Cervinia. A commanding victory in Dongbeiya, China, soon reset the tone, and from that point she remained firmly in the hunt for the overall title. Bankes entered the final race with a narrow 13‑point advantage over defending Globe holder Lea Casta of France, and a 34‑point buffer on Australia's Olympic champion Josie Baff. By the end of the day, she had done more than enough to seal the title—her third career Crystal Globe, following wins in 2022 and 2023. Her World Cup victory tally now stands at an extraordinary thirty. Reflecting on the performances of Bankes and Freeski star Kirsty Muir, GB Snowsport Head Coach Pat Sharples said their dual Globe wins were a fitting conclusion to the season. "It shows the consistency they've both delivered against the strongest fields in the world all winter," he said. "We're incredibly proud of them, and of the wider coaching and support teams who have worked tirelessly throughout the season." Along with Kirsty Muir's Freeski Crystal Globe win, there was further British success yesterday, in Telemark, where Jasmin Taylor claimed her twelfth World Cup podium of the season with bronze in the Parallel Sprint in Les Contamines-Montjoie. It marked her second podium in as many days, coming off the back of gold in the Classic race. The Snowboard Cross World Cup will return next winter, with the 2026/27 highlight set to be the FIS Snowboard, Freestyle and Freeski World Championships in Montafon, Austria, in March. |
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Aberdeen's Kirsty Muir secured the women's Crystal Globe today after taking second place in the final Freeski Slopestyle World Cup of the 2025/26 campaign in Silvaplana, Switzerland.
The result caps a standout season for the 21‑year‑old, who arrived in Silvaplana fresh from winning last week's event in Tignes and has now collected four podium finishes across the FIS Freeski Park and Pipe tour. Her runner‑up performance was enough to widen her advantage in the overall Slopestyle rankings, finishing the season on 280 points and comfortably sealing the title. "I'm still very speechless. It had definitely been a goal of mine for a while and this season had been going so well. You have to be consistent over the competitions. I'm just overall so stoked with how the season has gone," said Kirsty. Crystal Globe Standings Freeski Slopestyle - Women's Kirsty Muir (GBR) - 280 points Elena Gaskell (CAN) - 211 points Lara Wolf (AUT) - 210 points Freeski Park.& Pipe Overall - Women's Kirsty Muir (GBR) - 470 points Naomi Urness (CAN) - 392 points Anni Karava (FIN) - 372 points n.b. one Halfpipe competition remains in Overall Freeski P&P, but Kirsty's lead is unsurmountable ahead of the final competition of the season |
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Snowy conditions have returned to the Alps ahead of the Easter Holiday period with snowfall reported down to valley floors after temperatures dropped by up to 10C in a few hours.
The change in the weather has been caused by a front moving down from the Arctic, bringing widespread snowfall across the Western, Northern and Central Alps. Austria, where the snowy conditions are expected to continue for at least a week, has reported up to 50cm of snowfall on its glaciers so far. Similar totals have also been reported in Switzerland with Adelboden, Engelberg and Leysin amongst those posting 50cm 24-hour snowfall totals. The French Alps are also seeing significant snowfall with Chatel in the Portes du soleil so far posting the most, 48cm. Snowfall is expected to continue through tomorrow, ease over the weekend then return at the start of next week with 20-40cm falls forecast for the last few days of March. Avalanche danger measuring agencies are warning that danger levels are jumping from the level 2 ("moderate") most areas have had for the past few weeks to 4 ("high") or 5 ("very high") on the danger scale to a maximum 5 and are therefore warning skiers and riders to stay on groomed pistes marked as open. |
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Scotland's Kirsty Muir delivered an emphatic victory at the Freeski Slopestyle World Cup in Tignes on Thursday, keeping her at the top of the women's standings on 200 points, with only next week's Silvaplana season finale remaining in the 2025/26 season. She also leads overall in the freeski category. After leading the morning qualification session, she carried that form straight into the finals, laying down her best run of the day on her first attempt. The judges awarded the 21‑year‑old from Aberdeen 82.78 for her winning run, which opened with a switch left bio 900 tail grab, followed by a right double cork 1080 safety, a left 270 on continuing 270 off, a switch right lipslide to forward, and a right slide to frontside 450 leading safety on the cannon rail, before closing with a left cork 900 tailgrab on the final jump. Canada's Elena Gaskell finished second with 76.60, while Austria's Lara Wolf took third on 76.41 after improving on her first‑run score of 52.73, pushing U.S. skier Grace Henderson's 71.58 into fourth place. Thursday's result marks Muir's second Tignes victory, following her maiden World Cup win at the event last year. She also won the Freeski Slopestyle World Cup in Snowmass (USA) in January, her final World Cup appearance before Milano Cortina 2026. With two wins from two Slopestyle starts this season. Muir also leads the overall women's Freeski Park and Pipe standings on 379 points, having claimed her maiden Freeski Big Air World Cup victory in Secret Garden (CHN) in November, followed by fourth place in Beijing and ninth in Steamboat (USA) in December. |
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Kitzbühel is set to expand its winter offering beyond sport this weekend with the launch of a new high-altitude electronic music festival. The Electronic Boutique Festival Sound | Escape will debut on the Kitzbüheler Horn from 20–22 March 2026, bringing three days of open‑air performances to one of the resort's most scenic peaks. Perched high above the town, the inaugural edition promises a blend of electronic music, panoramic mountain views, and late‑season skiing. Organisers have confirmed CLAPTONE as the headline act. Admission will be free to those with lift passes, opening the experience to skiers, snowboarders, and non‑skiing visitors alike.
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Swiss resorts have ended up reporting the biggest snowfall totals through the weekend storm, Saas-Fee reports it got a metre of snow on its higher terrain, the Aletsch Arena 97cm. Verbier also scored highly with an 80cm accumulation. The avalanche danger level has risen to 4 on the scale to max 5, which means "high danger level", particularly off piste. Ski areas in France and Italy also reported healthy falls ending nearly three weeks of mostly dry weather that followed the huge falls in mid-February. In France Bonneval-sur-Arc behind Val d'Isere posted the most, 80cm, but many resorts posted at least 60cm up top. Three days of World Cup ski racing at Courchevel was hit by a 53cm fall there, with just a rescheduled Downhill successfully staged on Friday, then two Super G races planned for Saturday and Sunday were both cancelled. Les Carroz is pictured top on Saturday. Italy saw the final days of Paralympics disrupted by the weather too. The biggest falls here were in the west with Cervinia posting 60cm, Pila 50cm and Sauze d'Oulx 45cm. Austria got a some weekend snowfall too, if not so much as further west, Sölden reporting the biggest falls with 42cm. Clear skies and warmer temperatures have now returned to most areas and are expected to continue for the coming week. |
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