Messages posted by : J2SkiNews
Mt Norquay, Banff's local ski hill, turned out to be the first area in Canada to open, last Thursday 6th November, beginning its 90th season. It was quickly followed the next day by Lake Louise (pictured above) ahead of it staging World Cup races in a few weeks' time and Sunshine, the region's third area, has announced it will open this Saturday 14th November, meaning all three Banff areas will be open for the coming weekend. Norquay is opening a new blue run this season, showing that even at 90 you can still offer something new. Celebratory initiatives include a special 90 Cent (45p) day ticket offering once a month with all revenues going to local charities and the creation of a 'Norquay 90 Kolsch' beer by the local Banff Ave Brewing Company. Lake Louise opened its Glacier Express Chair to mark the opening of the 2015/16 ski season with early season access to Bald Eagle, WiWaxy and Easy Street runs, with additional terrain opening in the coming weeks. The resort has lots planned for the 2015-2016 season starting with the official Kick-Off Party on November 14th, the Men's and Women's World Cup races later this month and the opening of a brand new Sushi Restaurant, Kuma Yama, in the Lodge of the Ten Peaks. Sunshine Village Ski and Snowboard Resort say they have a current base of over 46 cm (18 inches) and lots of all-natural snow having blanketed the resort over the past few days. "Large snowfalls over the last couple of days have made this mid-November opening possible," said Dave Riley, Chief Operating Officer, Sunshine Village, "and we couldn't have done it without the hard work and determination of the entire Sunshine Village team." The resort will unveil Canada's first heated chairlift this winter. Elsewhere in Canada there's been heavy snowfall in some areas of the west of the country, most notably at Revelstoke in BC which has reported more than a metre and a half of new snow in the last 109 days. However most resorts in the area won't open until the end of the month or early December. Sun Peaks in BC has opened today but for various national teams training ahead of the Lake Louise world cups, not to the general public. When fully open the three Banff resorts have 8,000 acres of skiing combined served by two gondolas and 26 chairlifts. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the area is known for its exceptional natural beauty, rare wildlife and abundant landforms. |
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The London Ski and Snowboard Show is underway at Battersea Park and J2Ski.com popped along to check out the all new venue. This was our 29th ski show so we had plenty of experience to compare previous versions with. Before the show doom mongers had been pointing to the new location being some distance from public transport, particularly tube stops an that a more than doubling of the adult entry ticket cost to £25 (although that includes an annual subscription to the Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Magazine) might hit numbers. It is also moved to a slightly later date outside the English half term holidays and they also thought that moving part of the event to outdoor tents and a real snow slope might not be sensible in the English autumn. As it is we found the 2015 show to have a much better 'feel' than recent shows in traditional venues Olympia and Earl's Court. The organisers have tried hard to create a more festival feel with outdoor events on the real snow slope, quality music events in the evenings, fashion shows and interesting talks. There are also comedy performances from stars of the annual Altitude Comedy Festival, film shows and sets from the team at the Snowbombing music festival. Rather than feeling loud, echoey and half empty, every inch of space was used and a starry ceiling gave the show a more intimate feel. The new 'Genius Bar' was a particularly good idea, we thought, with the cream of British ski journalism including Gabriella le Bretton, Lesley Woit, Henry Druce of the Telegraph Ski & Board magazine and Dave Watts of annual guide book and 'skier's bible' Where To Ski and Snowboard among others giving free and independent advice to show attendees who were then in a position to just go over to the stand of a resort or equipment supplier to ask for more advice there and then, the perfect one stop shop. 
How are the visitor numbers stacking up? On the one hand the PR company for the show are saying it's 'packed out,' on the other some long time show attendees are murmuring that they think numbers are well down in line with the doom mongers predictions, but it was hard to tell during our daytime visit and perhaps to early to do so. It was certainly getting busier when we left at 4pm yesterday. On the other hand mailshots from the show's organisers are still coming through advising that tickets are available on the door – and with 80,000 expected to attend a firework show in Battersea Park tonight and perhaps looking for something to do before or the firework show, there could be a lot of people going in today. London Adult £25 Concession/Student: £15 Child (11-16): £10 Child (Under 11): Free Après (Thurs & Fri only from 5pm): £18 Opening timings: Saturday - 9:30am-5pm Sunday - 10am -5pm www.london.skiandsnowboard.co.uk  |
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The USA is the most active ski nation for resort openings at present. Whilst resorts in the Alps (with a few notable exceptions) mostly stick to planned opening dates, US areas tend to open as soon as they have adequate snow cover to do so. This season has been much heralded as a 'Godzilla El Nino' winter with the most excited reports forecasting the strongest and snowiest weather cycle off the Pacific in (up to) 60 years. This is, on the face of it, good news, for ski areas which on the West Coast in particular have suffered four seasons of drought and big drops in skier numbers as a result. However too much snow might ironically affect operations and access. First to open a fortnight ago were Killington in Vermont and Sunday River in Maine on the East Coast followed by Arapahoe Basin and Loveland in the Colorado Rockies a week ago. They have since been joined by Wolf Creek in Colorado and Mt Rose on Lake Tahoe in California is set to open today (Wednesday November 4th) in as clear sign that Tahoe is finally expecting a good winter. Mammoth will open on Friday. It has kept snowing across much of Western North America over the past week with a few areas reporting very big falls already keeping the El Nino dream on track, but warmed up a bit in the East. Revelstoke in BC has reported the biggest snowfalls – a metre in total over the last week and things are looking good at Big Sky Resort in Montana (pictured above yesterday), "Big Sky Resort received 6" (15cm) of snow mid-mountain last night and it's been snowing all day. This storm brings the base to over a foot mid-mountain and much more snow on top of Lone Peak at an elevation of 11,166 feet. Big Sky Resort opens in 22 days on Thanksgiving Day, November 26th and we're off to a healthy start to a great ski season!" said the resort's Sheila D'Amico. North of the border Lake Louise is expected to be the first ski area to open in Canada, this Friday November 6th. The extent of the 'El Nino Effect' is also debated with some saying it is limited to the immediate West coast area and some even to the US side of the border, whilst others extend its reach further across North America and again the most excited believe it has implications for European weather too. Good snowfalls in South America And New Zealand during 2015 (after a slow start to the southern hemisphere winter) are being credited on El Nino. |
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Adeline Roux, the manager of Courchevel's Tourist Information Office has taken the unusual step of speaking out about the plethora of resort rankings and awards that appear each autumn and criticising ski resorts that play the ratings and awards game. "As a world-renowned resort, Courchevel is automatically included by ranking organisers. It is a brand that increases sales and attracts others which also lends credence to this type of initiative," said Adeline Roux, adding, "So far we have just let these rankings happen without jumping on board and it follows logically that the resort has never stood out positively." But Adeline Roux has now decided that with an ever growing number of rankings and awards appearing, it's time for her to speak out, "Having come to the conclusion that these rankings were very questionable and lacked objectivity to some extent, I have never wanted to involve the resort in these initiatives. This situation has now become detrimental. Never seeing Courchevel stand out positively, both the general public and the press may have believed ideas that are false or negative or do not reflect reality. It is therefore now time to speak out." "Really you just look at who the organisers of these rankings are to realise that these private companies use the data collected for their own benefit," Adeline Roux stated, before listing some well known resort assessment and ranking sites and awards. "I distinguish two major risks: First, on the pretext of standing out, some resorts and travel agencies have got into the game, making it easy for the firms organising these rankings to access their lists of customers and businesses. No information is provided about the way the list, that the resort has helped them obtain is used. If you consider the value of qualified lists today, and the price that firms are prepared to pay to obtain them, it is more than a golden opportunity to be able to get hold of these records! All this by simply dangling in front of them a position in a ranking." "What surprises me is that resorts have not identified this risk factor or have not attached great importance to it. What's more, in the end, these rankings do not help tourists to find their bearings among the hundreds of resorts that exist. Choosing a ski resort is a very subjective matter which takes into account very different parameters depending on the people concerned and their tastes and expectations. There is no need for judgement in this respect." "By backing these rankings, resorts are not adopting the right approach to obtain customers who risk being disappointed by what they discover. In my opinion, this goes against the intended effect." Among the rankings and awards Adeline Roux is less than happy with are TripAdvisor and Best Ski Resort, "Let me give you a few examples: TripAdvisor's ranking, which shows an average price per day, is impossible to check and is meaningless: in Courchevel we offer 48 hotels including 3 five-star luxury hotels and 18 five-star hotels, which is unrivalled and obviously raises the average price for a stay automatically. Showing the wide range of accommodation available in resorts would be much more relevant for tourists! In Courchevel, you can find anything from unstarred to luxury hotels." "Best Ski Resort: this firm carries out on-site surveys on a non-representative panel of customers chosen randomly, without distribution of the tourists questioned consistent with the resort's actual segmentation. Moreover, in Courchevel, the pollsters behaved inappropriately and intervention was needed to put a stop to their actions." "Finally, all rankings that require a resort to ask its customers to vote. It is obvious that a resort with a lot of standardised accommodation will receive more feedback than a resort with customers who are less enthusiastic about social networks or a resort with less accommodation." "I am amazed to have seen how easily in the last few years Internet users reveal their private life on the web. It is almost with a kind of unawareness that they are even quick to hand out both their "intimate" and business details, without checking the use that can be made of them, in order to belong to a community or obtain a financial advantage." "Dictators of the past tried to obtain personal information from people by force. They did not succeed. If they were still alive, they would choke if they saw how easily private companies today can arrange for people to give away a lot of information about themselves and their circle of acquaintances freely!" "These rankings enable brands or destinations to use, without a professional code of ethics, private individuals' new behaviour on the Internet for substantial gain." "I am fully aware that by refusing these rankings, the resort risks being sidelined and finding itself outside the system which, if it were to find credence over the long-term, could marginalise Courchevel." "The important thing for Courchevel is to focus our energy on satisfying our customers and raise awareness of our resort. For us, being "better" is not achieved by ranking for all the reasons given." "We have no time to devote to these surveys which bring no added value to help holidaymakers find the destination that suits them. It is useless and even negative to attract people whose expectations do not match the resort's facilities and it would even be counter-productive," concludes Adeline Roux. |
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The year-on-year overall decline in sales of ski kit in the UK is continuing but trade body the Snowsport Industries of Great Britain (SIGB) hopes that some promising signs are good news for a return to growth in the market in the years to come. Whilst overall sales dropped in 14-15 those promising signs included growth in sales of junior snowsports equipment sales and of female specific kit. There was also a growth in snowboards sales. Ski boots continued to be the strongest selling item of hardware, reflecting the attraction of buying good-fitting boots in the UK and the acceptance that boots are the single most important purchase for participants, where ownership is a better option than renting. Sales of ski boots were down just 1%, although against that decline junior ski boot sales were up 11% and female specific ski boot sales up 10%. "The sale of both skis and snowboards continues to be impacted by carriage charges on planes, high-end rental packages in resort and offshore internet sales. Despite this, after a big drop in sales last year, there was a reported 24% growth in sales of snowboards - the opposite of the trend in snowboard boot sales (27% decline)," and SIGB statement reads. Ski sales did not do so well, down 6%, the only good news that can be scraped from that stat is that it's a smaller fall than in recent years. "We can see some positive trends within the overall statistics from the SIGB Trade Survey and although we can't yet report an upward trend in overall snowsports hardware sales, we are buoyed by the fact that the decline has flattened," said Sam Noble, SIGB President. "We hope that pushing out the messages about the benefits of buying your snowsports kit in the UK and the launch of our new Go UK Buy UK campaign will have a positive impact on sales, and hopefully reverse the decline of snowsports hardware sales in this country." SIGB launched their Go UK Buy UK Campaign in September 2015 aimed at encouraging skiers and snowboarders to buy their kit in Britain. The campaign is spreading the word about the benefits of buying in the UK, notably: sound clear advice, after sales support, worry-free warranty, good value and supporting the industry and athletes. www.sigb.org.uk |
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There's been heavy snowfall reported in the Pyrenees for the first time in the pre 15-16 winter season build up. It's good news for the area where most ski areas are scheduled to open in 4 weeks' time, conditions permitting. The snowfall has continued west with significant accumulations reported right across the Alps. Solden and Zermatt which are both open for glacier snowsports and reported more than 20cm of fresh snow each overnight. And across the Atlantic the first resorts in North America are due to open today in Colorado – Arapahoe Basin and Loveland have both said they're scheduled to open. |
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Plans for the UK's seventh and largest indoor snow centre yet appear to be moving forward after two years with little news on developments being made public. The centre, promoted as a kind of 2012 Olympic legacy and supported by London's Major Boris Johnson, is to feature indoor runs of up to 300m in length and be linked to the Westfield-owned Stratford City Shopping Centre, reported to be currently Europe's largest. The 300m slope would be nearly twice as long as any existing in Britain and be one of the 20 largest in the world. The latest news, reported by Costar UK , is that Westfield have bought a 4.6-acre site next to Stratford City from a railways company owned by the Department of Transport, which is thought to be the intended location for the indoor snow centre. There are unconfirmed rumours that the operator of The Snow Centre at Hemel Hempstead north of London are being lined up to operate the new facility. |
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(Zermatt yesterday) Another snowfall bringing 30-50cm of fresh snow to higher slopes is expected to cross the Alps over the next 48 hours. It's the fourth such wave of snowfall to cross the region since early September and the bands of snowfall are coming increasingly frequently, raising hopes for a good start to the main 15-16 ski season. Snowfall predictions are particularly good for ski areas in Italy and Switzerland that are already open including Passo Stelvio (which claims the deepest snow depth in the Alps at present) and Cervinia, as well as Saas Fee and Zermatt. Laax is scheduled to open for the season on Saturday which could be perfect timing just after the snow storm if forecasts are correct. Across the Atlantic there's been a wave of snowfall across the West of North America too with resorts in Utah and Washington State posting snowfall pics and Loveland in Colorado opening for the season tomorrow,, two days earlier than last year. |
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