J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Coronet Peak, a ski area near Queenstown in New Zealand, announced earlier today that it has broken it's all time snowfall record – with a month of the ski season still to go.

In a separate move Mt Ruapehu, another New Zealand ski resort, had announced a two week extension to its 2015 ski season, to October 26th. The resort is generally the last top remain open in the southern hemisphere and often ends up opening in to 'Snowvember.'

It follows news of more good snowfalls in Australia – where members of the British Ski and Snowboard team including James 'Woodsy' Woods are currently training – and South America, meaning it looks like winter 2015 will finish off a good one in most of the leading ski regions of the southern hemisphere, even if it started off slowly in some.

Coronet Peak's snowfall tally passed the 3m mark and the old record set in 2010 earlier today after another 10cm of snow fell.

"This is the winter that just keeps on giving! We're thrilled that the awesome conditions our guests have enjoyed throughout the season are continuing and we'd love to get as many people up the mountains to enjoy our record snow," said Paul Anderson, CEO of resort operator NZSki

At another of the company's ski areas, The Remarkables, the exceptional snow cover to lower levels means the boundary of the Homeward Run has been extended out to the Outward Bound ridgeline, more than 1.5km (almost a mile) down the access road.

"This encompasses another 13ha of terrain across wandering, rolling faces and gullies ending up on the access road right at our new Number 4 car park where they can pick up the shuttle to get backkl up," said ski area manager Ross Lawrence.

Fresh snow over the past few days in the Alps, Scandinavia and North America has got pulse rates racing among skiers tracking resort's pre-season snow posts. To add to the excitement the Co-op has got its first mince pies of the season on sale.

Solden in the Austrian Tirol has announced it will be open several weeks ahead of schedule, this weekend, thanks to the fresh snow there.

Ski areas across the Central and Eastern Alps in particular have been posting picture of several centimetres of snow. This is seen as good news for Austria's glacier areas in particular. Although only two are currently open, and all have lost serious snow cover during the long hot summer, Hintertux, open year round for snow sorts was among those posting fresh snow images. Along with Solden five other Austrian glacier areas are scheduled to open from mid-September to early October.

Saas Fee in Switzerland, which is currently open for snowsports, reported 30cm of fresh snow had accumulated and posted images of skiers enjoying unexpected early September deep powder conditions on its glacier.

At the Grossglockner, Austria's highest peak, what could be the first snowman of 15-16 was built and photographed (as above).

Snow was also reported at lower levels, for example on the tops at Jasna in Slovakia.

In northern Europe images of fresh snow near Riksgransen in the northern Scandinavia have also appeared.

Across the Atlantic snow has been reported and photographer in the Canadian and US Rockies and in Washington state on the West Coast. The latter was greeted with particular excitement as a 'strong E Nino' bringing heavy snow id forecast after four years of drought, last winter's being particularly severe. Two seasons ago Washington state areas like Crystal Mountain opened briefly in late September after an unexpected heavy snowfall but then the winter snows failed to really arrive. Hopefully the El Nino forecasts will prove correct this time.

Scotland's five northern ski centres have released a limited number of 'All Area' ski season tickets valid for use on any day that CairnGorm Mountain, Glencoe Mountain, Glenshee Ski Centre, Nevis Range or The Lecht are open.

Pass holders can choose which of the five centres to go to on any one day, perhaps taking in to consideration snow conditions and weather forecasts then go straight to the lifts, bypassing any ticket office queue.

Holders also benefit from vouchers for two hours free slope time at Scotland's indoor real snow centre, Snow Factor at Braehead, Glasgow.

Last year the season tickets were only offered to those who had bought them previously, this winter they're available to new purchasers too, although at a higher price, and the number of passes available are limited.

The tickets can be bought online from www.ski-scotland.com/seasonticket and cost, with loyalty discount, £465 for an adult and £255 for a child (5-17 years at 1 December 2015). Without the loyalty discount, the prices are £520 and £290.

All proceeds from these tickets sales go directly to Ski-Scotland, the marketing partnership which promotes Scottish snowsports, and fund a range of marketing activities before the snow arrives and throughout the season, which usually starts around Christmas time and continues well into the spring. In some years, there is early snow to allow October and November skiing and most years the season extends until late April and into May.

"Some people have found the sales page online, even when we were still testing it, and have already applied for their tickets," said Chair of Ski Scotland Heather Negus, "As in previous years, we expect them to disappear like snow off a dyke, so we advise you to get online and book as soon as possible."

A new global web site extension .ski goes on sale next week after several years of planning.
Anyone will be able to buy a domain name with the .ski extension from lots of online domain name registration businesses with costs ranging from 30 – 50 pounds per year.

Around 800 ski resorts, brands, associations and athletes are reported to have already secured .ski extensions for their websites during a private sale period ahead of the public launch next Tuesday September 8th.

Among them is Britain's top female ski cross skier, Emily Sarsfield (pictured above), who has registered: emilysarsfield.ski

"The .ski domain is perfect for me as it instantly identifies with my sport and what I do - it feels great to be part of something like this right at the start," said Emily.

The brand new gTLD (Global Top Level Domain) .ski is powered by Internet Registry StartingDot who say they have worked with the support of the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Millions of .ski domain name options will be available to purchase at over sixty online resellers such as 1&1, GoDaddy.com and Name.Com – simply decide on the name and purchase it, just like you would with any other domain name. Availability is on a first come, first serve basis.

The Mille8 development at the heart of the Les Arcs ski area, above Arc 1800 in particular, will fully open this winter.

The areas partially opened last year, but this ski season will see a crucial indoor element seen as completing Mille8 added to the €36m project.

Les Arcs is promoting Mille8 as a new idea in winter sports holidays, something looking towards the future.

The concept is that rather than a just a regular base village with ski area above, Miller 8 is a kind of activities and entertainments hub, open at least 12 hours a day with as a mixture of indoor and outdoor facilities and attractions, plus lots of laid-on events and activities to dip in and out of – all within a concentrated area above the largest of Les Arcs' bases.

Outdoor attractions include a toboggan run and terrain park whilst indoors there's a swimming pool complex and spa. The new Lodge, which will open on 18th December but with an official opening two months later on February 16th, will be a dining and apres ski centre as well as the venue for many of the laid on events and activities.

Les Arcs are laying on a huge number of activities starting with things like yoga on the snow and Nordic walking before the lifts open, then with more entertainment shows and fun activities like snowball battles and sledging races later in the day. They've even got a dedicated Mille8 app and big information screens dotted around the area to keep holiday makers informed on what's available and when.

The centre has been designed to operate in the summer too, located in the centre of the golf course then instead of the ski slopes. A new gondola accessing the top of Mille 8 opened last winter.

Investment in a replacement to the famous Rotair revolving cable car last winter (pictured) followed by the coming opening of the new Titlis Express gondola this winter will dramatically cut ascent times from Engelberg to the top of the Titlis glacier some 2,000 metres above.
The Titlis Express will be inaugurated on 12 December cutting the ride time from Engelberg to Stand to just 16 minutes.

The new 8-seater lift from Engelberg-Trübsee-Stand uses two separately driven systems with a conveyance capacity of 2,475 persons per hour, approximately 1,000 riders per hour more than with the previous gondola system.

The full ascent is nearly three miles long stretching 4,680 m, with 164 cabins on the system covering an altitude difference of 1,425 m. The new cable cars load level with the ramp allowing riders to just walk on—a lot more comfortable than having to duck and climb in as before.

There'll be an open-air concert to celebrate the opening of the new lift on Friday, 11 December and the resort is keen to stress that despite the tens of millions of Francs invested, prices for lift tickets remain the same as for 2014/2015.

Sunshine Village, one of the three Banff ski areas in Alberta Canada, will unveil a new chairlift this winter with the novelty of heated seats - the new Teepee Town LX lift.

The first heated lift in Canada, the Tepee Town chair will replace the old Tepee Town double-chair.

The new lift is a high speed quad which will also feature pull down weather protection hoods on its 47 chairs.

Due to the development taking place in a National Park, there was an extensive environmental analysis which took place before the lift was given the go ahead by Parks Canada and construction in the Park requires the best methods to protect the natural resources.

The state-of-the-art lift will run at a speed of 1,000 feet per minute and offers access to blue runs with expansive views of Mountain Assiniboine off of the Continental Divide while also opening up challenging black and double black terrain like the Shoulder – a local's favourite— as well as the popular Shoulder and the Teepee chutes.

La Plagne's big news for the coming winter is a new gondola linking the traditional village of Montalbert, one ofg the most atmospheric of the huge resort's 10 different bases, to the heart of the slopes in just six minutes. It replaces the Montalbert and Fornelet chairlifts – which could take 45 minutes to transport skiers up the mountain.

The new gondola will take 10 people per cabin and open for Christmas week on 19 December.

The resort will also unveil a new Zip Wire Park with eight new zip wires, from 50m to 200m in length, which have been installed and run from Belle Plagne to Plagne-Bellecôte, two high-altitude villages. This new area will also include spider nets, wooden bridges and a final nine-metre base jump.

A 90-minute session on the zip wires costs from £13 per child (maximum age 13) and £20 per adult.

La Plagne has 225km of runs and 121 lifts linking 10 villages, each with its own character, and a multitude of activities available both on and off the slopes. It is part of Paradiski, a region shared with neighbouring Les Arcs, and the fourth largest ski area in the world by some measures with over 430km of piste combined.

A six-day Paradiski lift pass (encompassing La Plagne and Les Arcs) costs £158 per child (maximum age 13) and £203 per adult.