J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Canada's ski season is underway with Lake Louise Ski Resort opening for the 24/25 winter season.

It claimed first in the country after its fellow Banff resort Mt Norquay postponed a planned opening on Saturday by a week.

Skiers are reported to have arrived bright and early, with the resort's Glacier Express starting up at 9am accessing Bald Eagle, Wiwaxy and portions of Easy Street runs, rated beginner and intermediate terrain. The lower Easy Street terrain park was also set up with early season features and a portion of the Learning Area was also open.

Apart from Lake Louise and Norquay at least three more Canadian ski areas are expected to open at the weekend, all in Alberta. They include the third Banff area Sunshine, Marmot Basin near Jasper to the north and Nakiska ski area, closest to Calgary. Sommet St Sauveur in Quebec also appears close to opening some terrain thanks to snowmaking but has not named an opening date yet.

The heaviest snow in the region though has been in BC, in line with the La Nina forecast predictions, with Red Mountain reporting over two feet of snow since weekend. The BC season starts at the end of next week at Sun Peaks.

(Image top credit Jill Tester / Lake Louise)

More US ski areas say they'll start their seasons this coming weekend, including the first to open in the states of California and Utah.

In California Mt. Rose - Ski Tahoe will set its Lakeview Chair running with access to about 300 vertical metres of early-season terrain. There'll also be a beginners area and terrain park available.

In Utah, Brian head has announced that it will start its season at 10am on Friday, its second earliest ever opening. The Navajo trail looks set to be one of the first available for skiers this season.

There'll also be at least two more centres opening in Colorado to join the three already open (Arapahoe Bain, Keystone and Wolkf Creek). Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, which have posted further good snowfalls in the past few days are due to open.

You can also ski in a fourth state Nevada's Lee Canyon.

There's a chance other centres may announce they'll open over the next few days.

Yes our only hope now is just to pray to Ullr and keep manically snow dancing to appear the snow gods. But hopefully there's already some snow lying up high and it won't thaw too much. Even more hopefully we'll get a big dump before the 23rd still. About 20 ski areas in Austria, Italy and Switzerland have already opened for their 24-25 seasons, most with terrain about the same altitude as the French resorts up high and they're claiming its great skiing up high in the sunshine. Skiing is about eternally living in hope :)

With more Austrian, Italian and Swiss ski areas set to open in October and 20 glacier and snow-farmed centres expected to be open in those three nations this weekend, France is conspicuously absent in terms of having anywhere open to ski yet of the 'big 4' ski nations in the Alps.

There are no plans for anywhere to open there for another fortnight either, with Tignes having given up on early Autumn opening last year and Les 2 Alpes giving up on its attempts to open for a fortnight's glacier skiing in late October and early November after the French Alps suffered a series of dry autumns that left them both having to cancel opening plans. Ironically this year conditions are quite snowy on the country's glaciers, as across the Alps, after big mid-September falls have been followed by further fresh snow top ups, although the past fortnight has been largely dry and sunny.

Currently the French season is due to begin on 23rd November with Chamonix, Tignes and Val Thorens aiming to open then.

Val Thorens kicks off the winter season with its La Grande Première weekend on November 23rd and 24th, 2024. The program includes free ski and snowboard tests, festive events, concerts, a raclette party, and an expo village showcasing the latest gear.

The weekend will also see the resort unveil the new multi-service Caron 3200 complex at 3200m, with wine bar and restaurant and featuring a 360° panoramic view of over 1000 summits.

The full 3 Valleys is scheduled to open from December 7th.

Image credit: L.Brochot - OT Val Thorens

The Arabba – Marmaloda ski area on the Dolomiti Superski pass and part of the Sellaronda circuit will unveil a new high-speed detachable six-seat chairlifts to visitors this winter at the Padon Pass.

The new "Piani Di Ornella-Passo Padon" lift replaces an old double chairlift that dates back to 1982.

Carrying skiers and boarders up to 2,370m the new Leitner built lift is of course faster, travelling at 6 metres per second to make the ascent in just over two minutes, with more comfort and a higher capacity than its predecessor.

The new lift's ascent time is less than half that of the lift it replaces and 2,198 skier per hour capacity more than double that of the old lift.

Arabba – Marmaloda will open for its 24-24 season on 5th December.

A few days of cold and sometimes snowy weather has led to two more US ski areas announcing plans to open this weekend.

Colorado's Arapahoe Basin and Keystone, both amongst the 10 highest ski areas in the world, will open some terrain from Saturday, Keystone announcing it will have its target minimum of two miles of runs available from day one.

They'll join already open Wolf Creek to give the US three centres open from Saturday. Ski areas have been reporting freesh snowfall right across the US from east to West coasts, including the Midwest with resorts in the Rockies posting 10-12 inches over the past 72 hours. However it has been very cold temperatures allowing round-the-clock snowmaking that has made the difference allowing resorts to open.

However, it has also been announced that Canada's planned season start at Mt Norquay near Banff has been pushed back a week from the tentative target date of this Saturday as snow cover is not enough there.

It will now open in a week's time when other Canadian areas including Lake Louise, Jasper's Marmot Basin, Nakiska and Banff sunshine already planned to open.

In the US more ski areas are expected to announce opening dates in the coming day with Breckenridge and Copper Mountain amongst those already planning to open on the 8th or 9th November.

Avoriaz will kick off its 24-25 season with an opening festival weekend that brings together new gear testing, bands and DJs and discounted lift passes.

Rock On Snow, running from 13-15 December 2024, will bring together over 65 brands, offering the chance to test the latest snow sports equipment—skis, snowboards, bindings, boots, helmets, masks —before it hits the market.

Visitors will be able to explore the test village, where hands-on trials of all the gear are completely free. Those intending to take part though should register in November to secure the test card required to be able to test the kit.

Over the three days, participants will be able to ride the slopes, meet industry professionals, and test gear in real conditions. Testing takes place from 9am to 4pm.

"On average, you can keep the equipment for 90 minutes and there's no limit on the number of products you can test," an Avoriaz spokesperson said, adding, "There's also a great atmosphere, entertainment and lots of surprises."

Attendees can also take advantage of special lift pass rates, with an Avoriaz pass prices at £21 / €25 for one day, £39 / €47 for two days, and £56 / €67 for all three days.

Two indoor snow centres in England have made the unusual move of joining a giant global season long pass.

The snow centres at Hemel Hempstead and its sister facility at the Trafford Centre near Manchester are amongst more than 50 conventional ski areas that have joined the global Indy Pass which now includes more than 230 ski centres worldwide.

The Indy Pass offers two days of skiing at each of the hundreds of resorts participating in it. There's a limited amount of passes available each year and the passes are on sale for limited periods with those wishing to by a pass often asked to join a waiting list.

"Indy Pass now has over 230 resorts on three continents, and you can expect our remarkable growth to continue," said Indy Pass director, Erik Mogensen. "Our mission and values command our support of independent ski areas and will continue to drive every decision we make, including not overselling the pass."

Regular ski areas joining the pass this winter range from Spain's largest resort Baqueria Beret; to US Midwest resort Bruce Mound in Wisconsin to the 12 centres around Innsbruck in Austria and several resorts in Japan including Ninox Snow Park, Washigatake Ski Resort and Yuzawa Nakazato Snow Resort.

Passes are far cheaper and coverage much more extensive than most of the other multi-resort season passes, although others offer unlimited access at some centres and at least a week at most others rather than only two days.

The full Indy+ Pass which has no blackout dates is $539 Adult / $299 Kids and the more restricted Indy Base Pass $419 Adult / $239 Kids (12-and-under)