J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

With a great deal of variation existing between airlines' ski baggage fees and policies, travel search site Skyscanner has launched a straightforward online guide to the cost of bringing ski equipment on flights to the slopes at: http://www.skyscanner.net/news/ski-fees-guide.

The guide analyses more than twenty leading airlines offering flights to ski destinations, looking at whether they allow ski equipment – such as skis, boots and poles – to be taken within the normal hold luggage* allowance or whether a ski fee is charged, if there are weight and dimension restrictions on the hold luggage and, and if these are exceeded, what the additional cost of hold and extra luggage is.

The guide highlights the significant variation in baggage policies between the different airlines; while some of the airlines looked at do allow ski equipment to be carried within the normal hold allowance, most no frills airlines require passengers to pay an extra 'ski fee', meaning passengers have to purchase a further piece of baggage to accommodate their skis, boots and poles. This ranges from £50 return with Jet2 up to £100 return with Ryanair.

Skycanner found that the result of these differing charges means that what may initially seem like the cheapest option could more than triple in price when all the fees are added to become the most expensive total price.

For example when looking on 7 November at flights from January 3rd – 10th 2015 from London (Stansted or Gatwick) to Grenoble, the company found, for example, a Ryanair flight from London to Grenoble for £24.99 each way came to £189.98 with ski carriage for Ryanair compared to £189.14 with BA including ski equipment up to 23kg and £171 with Norwegian Air including ski equipment totalling 40kg.

The guide also highlights that it is not just the differing fees that travellers need to consider when choosing their ski flights, but also length restrictions of baggage. Some airlines (Air France Air Berlin, Delta and KLM) have generous policies allowing passengers to bring baggage of up to 300cm on board while others (US Airways, Austrian, Iberia, Lufthansa and United) will not permit normal hold baggage to be over 158cm in length. It is likely that anyone taller than around 5ft6 would have skis longer than this and as such would be forced to pay for extra ski baggage with these airlines.

For a further level of complication, some airlines also have different policies according to the class of ticket bought. Air France, for example, offer the inclusion of ski equipment in the 'classic' ticket fare price, but do not permit included ski equipment for passengers travelling on their 'mini' flight ticket; Iberia also operates a similar policy.

"We strive to offer the most transparent pricing on our site and this guide takes that one step further by offering clarity around the varied and often confusing ski fee charges that airlines impose. We hope that this will enable customers to make an informed decision when choosing the right flight for them, or indeed whether it is cost effective for them to fly with their own ski equipment," said Skyscanner's Mary Porter.

Ski areas are reporting superb conditions after the latest snow storms to hit the Alps, the second in less than two weeks, move away.

After blizzard conditions on Wednesday and Thursday many resorts now have clear blue skies and are showing images of pristine white slopes.

18 glacier areas are currently open in France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. Verbier has announced it will open for the season three weeks ahead of schedule, tomorrow, with skiing down to Attelas (2,727m). They report 40cm of fresh snow.

Hintertux in Austria has one of the biggest areas open in the world at present with 40km of runs open over a 1150m vertical. It reports a 185cm base and powder conditions.

There have been reports of big snowfalls in France such as at Serre Chevalier (pictured above) but so far no resorts are planning to open early and join Tignes which is the only centre open there at present.

Elsewhere in the world resorts are opening in North America today and tomorrow following Lake Louise opening, the first in Canada, yesterday. Keystone and Copper in Colorado are due to open as are Boreal and Mt Rose in California and Mt Norquay in Alberta.

Ha ha! Fair point sorry I have obviously watched too many Hollywood road chase movies! I was thinking of Donner Summit which vaguely lumps itself in with Tahoe resorts and claims to be 2.5 hours for San Francisco but looking at Google maps it gives a best time of 2 hours 55 and i guess that's from the edge of San Francisco rather than SFO. Anyway have amended.

Verbier has announced it will open for the season three weeks earlier than planned – this Saturday November 8th.

The resort has benefited from big autumn snow accumulations, reportedly one of the big beneficiaries of the heavy snowfall a fortnight ago, and the latest snow storms that are currently depositing large volumes of snow on the Alps. Locals reported snow at lower levels rapidly melted away after the first storms a fortnight ago however.

The news has just been announced and so far there's no detail on exactly what will be open. Verbier previously offered summer skiing on the Mont Fort glacier in years past so has the ability to open outside of the main season without too much extra snow.

The forecast for Verbier over the next five days shows temperatures ranging from -2 to -10 on the glacier with snow showers and sunny spells continuing in to next week.

It has been snowing for up to 36 hours now across the Alps and although most areas are not reporting how much has fallen because they're not open yet, stats are starting to come in from the nearly 20 glacier areas that are open in the 'big 4' Alpine nations.

This is the second major pre-season snowfall in the past fortnight, which potentially means one of the best starts to the season for some years, assuming conditions continue to be favourable through November.

Initial forecasts were for snow above 2,000m and heavy rain below but these reality seems to vary. Saas Fee for example is one of many showing heavy snow down right down to resort level too.
In Austria the Pitztal Glacier, already in to its third month of operation this season, has reported 44cm of new snow in the past 24 hours, the Hintertux Glacier 22cm and the Stubai 60cm.

In Italy Dolomiti Superski reports heavy snow above 2200m and the Presena glacier at Passo Tonale, which is yet to open but expects to imminently, has had 70cm of new snow.

French and Swiss resorts are also sending in images of huge snowfalls. Avoriaz is pictured above.

The storm is ongoing and measurements reported vary to some extent on when they were taken as much as location as the snow continues to accumulate.

Tickets are going on sale this week for a new direct service from London Gatwick to Reno in Nevada which is scheduled to launch in just under 14 months' time for winter 2015-16.

Reno-Tahoe International Airport is one the closest airports to major ski resorts in North America including Squw Valley and Heavenly. Passengers can see ski runs from the airport's runways upon landing and it is a quick 45 minute to one-hour drive from airport baggage claim to the ski lifts – compared with 3-4 hours from San Francisco, the nearest major international hub currently used by most to access Tahoe's slopes.

The twice weekly service from Thomas Cook Airlines commencing on 19th December 2015 will see tickets priced from £399 return, with a new Premium service available from £599 return. The service, believed to be the first on this route and run in partnership with Ski Lake Tahoe, will provide a twice weekly service until 9th April 2016.

The flight will be contingent upon approval of landing rights by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and will use recently refurbished A330 aircraft. http://www.thomascookairlines.com

In one of the few recent positive statistical signs for the British ski and snowboard industry, figures just released by trade body Snowsport Industries of Great Britain (SIGB), show a significant jump in sales for last season, compared to the previous winter (and indeed the previous five winters).

Snowboard boot sales were up a whopping 21% and ski boot sales by 10% from winter 2012/13 to 2013/14, the first growth in the market since 2008.

"This reversal of the five year downward sales trend demonstrates that skiers and snowboarders place huge importance on the buying of good-fitting boots in the UK, and that boots are the single most important purchase for participants, where ownership is a better option than renting. The growth in boot sales is also shown in the junior market with ski boots up 25% and snowboard boots up 1%," said an SIGB statement.

The downward trend in ski sales is still continuing but has slowed, with a 4% drop (in 2012/13 the reduction was 16%), which the SIGB hopes means a return to growth is not far away.

commented: "In what continues to be a tough retail market, our figures shows some sign of recovery for the snowsports hardware market. It is encouraging to see that people continue to place importance on the purchasing of properly fitted boots for both skiing and snowboarding, and see the benefits of buying these boots in the UK from expert retailers," said Sam Noble, President of SIGB, who continued,

"With the continuing buzz around snowsports following Sochi 2014, we hope to see a return to positive growth in ski and snowboard sales this winter. After a tough few years, the outlook looks more promising and the UK snowsports industry may well have turned a corner."

Cold weather has allowed ski areas to open in Colorado, the MidWest and New England over the past 48 hours, taking the number of ski areas open in the northern hemisphere past the 20 mark and moving the US in to second place behind Austria in terms of 'country with the most areas already open.'

Wild Mountain in Minnesota opened for Halloween last Thursday, joining Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, which has been open a fortnight and Timberline ski area on Mt Hood in Oregon which remains open more than 10 months of the year.

A second Colorado area, Loveland, which is often first to open in the state and had been snowmaking on and off throughout October finally managed to open on Saturday (Nov 1).

In New England many ski areas report starting up their snowmaking systems but Sunday River in Maine (pictured above) is believed to be the first to announce it will open in a few hours' time for a six month pus season.

It is a slightly mixed picture in the US however as Keystone in Colorado, which had planned to open last Friday, has postponed opening due to the previously warm weather hampering snowmaking. Copper Mountain also delayed opening on the same date for the same reason but hopes to open this coming weekend.

Meanwhile heavy snowfall has been reported in California and Utah and snowmaking systems have also been fired up there. California will be particularly keen to get a good start to the winter after a very lacklustre 2013-14 season.