J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

There are a few new music festivals coming up this spring as the ever popular concept of music and skiing during the more 'chilled out' period later ion the season continues to gain ground.

The band Texas will headline the new Verbier Impulse Music and Ski Festival in April, which also promises "a great international surprise guest." Along with the big bands, Swiss stars, tribute bands and young talent from the Valais region will be appearing.

The new festival, which also has acts 77 Bombay Street, who are a Swiss German group, and Stefanie Heinzmann on the line up is to be built around the Verbier High Five by Carlsberg ski event which has been running at the famous Swiss resort for the last 15 years.

Unlike most ski festivals, the six-day Verbier Impulse will be staged over two successive weekends, April 8th through 10th, and the following week from April 15th to 17th, with a midweek gap in the action between the two. Musically, both weekends will be structured the same with a group performing covers on the Friday, an international star on the Saturday and a Swiss star on the Sunday.

The headline concerts will take place on the "main stage" that has recently been christened "Arène des Attelas" located just down the hill from the Chalet Carlsberg.

An arena will be constructed with a capacity of over 5,000 people at 2500m. Festival fans will be welcomed in a wind proof basin in front of a breath-taking panorama.

In addition to the Arène des Attelas, several other venues will be hosting concerts: either up on the slopes on the Mouton Noir's terrace and the stage of the "1936" bar; or in the village where most of the establishments will have live bands playing.

Access to the concerts will be free of charge for all people with a ski pass for Verbier or 4 Vallées (minimum value CHF 66.- and the same for pedestrians). Special deals for 3 or 6 days will be available www.verbierimpulse.com

Neighbouring 3 Valleys resorts Courchevel and Meribel have launched a joint bid to host the FIS World Alpine Skiing Championships in 2023.

If successful the resorts would join a group of less than 10 ski areas worldwide to have hosted Olympic, world championship and World cup competitions.

Whilst the Winter Olympic Games have been moving ever further East in to Asia since 2010, with no chance of a return to Europe on North America now for at least another decade, the planet's more established ski areas continue to do battle to win the chance to host the bi-annual World Alpine Skiing Championships, last staged in Vail and beaver Creek last winter and due to be hosted by St Moritz in a year's time in 2017.

The two resorts, both world leading ski centres in their own right, have both been increasing their presence on the world-class competition map in recent years, staging World Cup races for the first time in many years. Since 2010, Courchevel has organised a stage in the women's Alpine World Cup skiing circuit.

The resorts are also home to top French ski racers, including Courchevel based skier Alexis Pinturault has proudly carried the colours of the resort to competitions around the world, taking his third consecutive win in the super combined race at Kitzbühel on 22 January.

The final decision on who will host the 2023 event will be made in June 2018. The 2019 competition will be staged in are, Sweden and the 2021 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The last Alpine Skiing Championships staged in France was the 2009 competition in Val d'Isere.

(The Dolomites this morning)

The Dolomites are seeing big snowfalls at present – the first really significant snowfalls of the season in the North Eastern Italian mountains.

Accumulations reported in the last 24 hours include 28cm (11 inches) at Arabba and 40cm (16 inches) in Cortina. Alta Badia posted 20cm (8 inches) and Canazei 30cm (a foot).

These snowfalls come on top of falls of 10-30cm reported on Sunday/Monday meaning some areas have now had up tpo 70cm in the past few days – more than most have seen all season.

Dolomiti Superski had managed to open large amounts of terrain, and stage World Cup races in December, thanks to its huge snowmaking system, but the area has seen very little natural snowfall all season, with just one moderate fall in mid-January of 10-20cm.

The region has now been transformed by the fresh snow which is expected to continue in to next week with some forecasts suggesting some resorts may get another metre of cover.

The five Scottish Highland ski centres are all operating again after a fortnight of stormy weather and yoyo-ing temperatures led to all five being closed for a period due to stormy conditions and/or snow melt.

Storm Henry hit the area quite hard and unusually seemed to cause more problems at the normally more snowsure higher centres like Cairngorm and Nevis range, whilst Glencoe and The Lecht came through with quite good snow cover still. Glenshee however lost most of theirs as temperatures rose around 15 degrees Celcius following a period of stable, sub-zero days, with little wind or precipitation.

Fresh snow followed Storm Henry as the weather stabilised allowing Nevis Range to re-open with top to bottom cover on their front side. Glencoe, pictured above, is also in great shape and currently enjoying perfect conditions. Cairngorm and Glenshee have also partially re-opened, joining The Lecht and report some fresh snow overnight although cover remains thin and narrow on lower slopes.

Low temperatures, low wind speeds and clear skies are dominating the forecast for most of this week although fresh snow is expected at the weekend.

So far storm Imogen appears to be passing to the south of Scotland.

It's a month since the centres were first able to open for the winter after stormy weather in late 2015 caused the same problems of thawing as the snowpack built and/or the weather was too wild to open.

Resorts in the Eastern Alps which had missed out on some of the big snowfalls in Western Europe over the past months have finally seen their first significant snowfalls of winter 2015-16 over the past 48 hours.

St Moritz, which had been posting a base of just 20-40cm, through January, and like many ski resorts in the region had been using snowmaking equipment to keep runs in good condition, has had more than 50cm of snow in the last few days including 11 inches (27cm) in the past 24 hours.

Another Eastern Swiss resort, Samnaun, has reported similar snowfall.

The snowfall has also been reported to have reached the Dolomites, another area that has had very little snow this winter. The biggest fall has been reported at Passo Tonale, where 50cm has been recorded in the past 24 hours on the glacier. This frequently builds a base of 4m, sometimes 5m, or 6m by the spring in a normal season but again had had very little snow this winter until now. The picture above was taken this morning from the valley below the slopes.

Further East, Cortina d'Ampezzo reports 20cm of snow in the last 24 hours.

The snow is also continuing to fall in Western Europe with many resorts reporting at least a foot of fresh cover over the weekend. Zermatt for example reports 30pcm/12 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours alone.

The French ski resort of Les Arcs is trying to re-invent mountain tourism with an all new concept that seeks to bring together summer and mountain activities at the heart of their ski area – and they've spent over €40m on it.

The heart of the idea is that rather than have skiing for part of the day, then evening activities in another place, and different locations again in the summer, you build a giant one-stop complex above your resort that is open for at least 12 hours a day and is home to snow fun activities and learner slopes as well as indoor venues, restaurants and water parks so it appeals to skiers and non-skiers alike.

Called Mille 8, it has been put together over the past few seasons and will officially open on the evening of 16th February with a three hours sound and light show. This promises to be a spectacular with the latest technologies in 3D images projections (video mapping, ballet of laser light rays, pyrotechnics…) used.

After the show the DJs will set the dance floor alight in front of The Lodge, the newly opened venue in Mille 8.

The average costs for 'winterisation' of rental cars varies considerably depending on where you fly in to, according to a new study by iCarhireinsurance.com which provides car hire excess insurance.

Winter tyres and/or carrying/using snow chains are often compulsory in snowy conditions, or in some cases just in winter, in many European nations but car rental companies tend to see them as an 'add on extra' cost.

iCarhireinsurance.com compared the winterisation charges in six ski destinations (Geneva, Grenoble, Turin, Innsbruck, Sophia and Barcelona) levied by five car hire companies (Avis, Hertz, Budget, Europcar and Sixt) for a week's hire of a medium-sized car from 13 - 20 February 2016.

The survey found that the highest charge was in Grenoble with Budget charging a £119 winterisation cost while the lowest cost was £15, if hiring from Sixt in Sofia. On average drivers are paying around £37 for winterisation costs.

"The regulations on winter tyres and snow chains vary between countries, but car hirers do need to be up to speed on whether they need them in the country they're hiring in, otherwise they could face a 5,000 Euro fine in Austria, for instance," said Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com.

AVERAGE WINTERISATION COST IN EACH DESTINATION

Barcelona £46.32
Geneva £64.14
Grenoble £52.73
Innsbruck £20.76
Sofia £19.85
Turin £20.07

Average Cost £37.31

Winter tyres are not compulsory in Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria, however, if local signs indicate that snow chains should be carried in the vehicle, you are required to do so and if an accident were to occur a motorist without winter tyres would have a far greater chance of receiving the responsibility of any damage incurred from the collision.

"Winterisation charges are another example of how car hire companies snowball costs at the rental desk, and can make an original low rental price not such a good deal after all," said Ernesto Suarez, CEO and founder of iCarhireinsurance.com. "With these winter destinations, however, do make sure you've done your research and know the necessary equipment required for the country you're in."

EU laws regarding winter tyres and snow chain requirements are as follows:

• Germany - Must have winter or all season tyres (M+S*) fitted during winter seasons.
• Austria - Must have winter tyres (M+S*) fitted on snow covered roads from 1st Nov - 15th Apr.
• France - Carry snow chains and use as directed by local signs.
• Switzerland - Carry snow chains and use as directed by local signs. Winter tyres are recommended but not compulsory.
• Andorra - Carry snow chains and use as directed by local signs.
• Italy - Carry snow chains and use as directed by local road signs. Winter tyres are recommended but not compulsory.

iCarhireinsurance has produced a winter driving infographic on the subject:

https://www.icarhireinsurance.com/information-and-news/blog/infographic-winter-driving-top-tips

The world's best downhill racers (at least, those who are not currently injured from races earlier this season) are currently training at the newly completed venue for the 2018 South Korean winter Olympics.

"I guess you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And PyeongChang just aced it. This will be a fantastic venue," Norwegian racer Kjetil Jansrud (pictured above), commented this morning, adding, with a reference to the lack of natural snow,

"Right now this place has as much snow as the last European venue we visited, and frankly with minus 15 degrees it's not a question of climate."

World Cup races are due to be staged at the venue over the coming few days, exactly two years before the Olympics are staged there.

The construction of the venue has been controversial as it involved creating an all new piste and resort base in an area that was formerly protected natural park land. The decision led to a petition from environmentalists signed by over 1.3 million people.

South Korea did not have an existing piste with a vertical that met the normal requirements of an Olympic Downhill, but protestors argued that either the closest existing run might be extended to meet the minimum requirements or that the IOC might relax the requirement, but neither option appears to have been acceptable.

Construction of lifts and run were only just completed in time, late last month, after workers worked around the clock and through holiday periods to reach their target.