J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

It's 150 years since St Moritz hotelier Johannes Badrutt bet a group of departing British summer tourists that if they came back and stayed that winter they'd enjoy a sunnier, healthier winter than in damp foggy London – despite the reputation the Alps had back then in wintertime as a hoe of demons and devils.

Mr Badrutt won his bet, the English tourists reported back what a great time they'd had and within 20 years St Moritz was a celebrated winter destination and the great and the good were arriving en masse leading Mr Badrutt to have to build ever bigger and better hotels. That bet is widely seen as having started winter tourism worldwide, downhill skiing arrived a few decades later and the fore runner of the alpine technique in the first years of the twentieth century.

St Moritz plans to celebrate the anniversary all winter with events and promotions in resort and on the slopes.

In the Corviglia sector guests will find the history of 150 years of winter tourism displayed from the valley station (Chantarella) right to the top of the Corviglia.

The so called "Free Fall" section at the start of the resort's men's downhill run, the steepest in the world, will be open to the skiing and boarding public for the first time and there will be an extension of the Funslope for beginners.

There will also be a new attraction called "Skiline" on which skiers will be able to automatically film their descent and download it afterwards.

For the latest information on celebratory events, St Moritz has set up a page at:

http://www.engadin.stmoritz.ch/winter/en/activities/scintillating-st-moritz/150-years-of-winter-tourism/

You may not have thought thermals could get any more hi tec, but you'd be wrong!

Falke's new skiing underwear is the ultimate high performance 'onesy' weighing in at a cool £310 and described as a 'limited edition product.'

Officially named 'Skiing Underwear Falke Air Insulation' the product was "Gold Winner" in the 'Base Layer Ski' product category at the leading international trade show ISPO 2014.

So what's so good about them? Firstly the company's 'Skiing Air Insulation' is produced through a special knitting process which has no seams and creates open ventilation spots. These zones grow larger with movement and thus enable optimal temperature control and moisture management.

Then the polyamide fibre with embedded crystals converts the heat of the body into infrared rays and ensures optimal moisture management, even during the passive phases.

Next those crystals improve the blood circulation and shorten the muscle's regeneration period, which increases the body's performance the company says.

In addition rubbing points are reduced to a minimum because the underwear is processed with adhesive technology and there are therefore no irritating seams.

Finally the outfit, made up of two products, allows for 18 individual variations. The shirt with face mask and gloves can be customised by the sportsman just as easily as the stirrup trousers.

Thanks to the knitting technique, the long trousers can be turned into ¾ lengths for example, using scissors but without the threads becoming detached.

The result is that the most demanding skier feels exceptionally at ease in his clothes.

The Palmer snowfield above timberline lodge on Mt hood in Oregon has re-opened this weekend to start its (usually) 10+ month ski season, through to August 2015.

Does this mark the first ski area in North America to open? Kind of. Timberline certainly claims it is, but it's likely one of the areas now snowmaking in Colorado or New England will claim to be first in a week or two's time, having gone from grassy slopes to snow-covered, rather than in Timberline's case a glacier-like permanent year round snow field.

How good conditions are is difficult to know, Google's weather feed says it's up to 29C at The lodge below the slopes this week and sunny and the centre's own snow report says there's 0 inches of snowcover, but presume that needs up dating as they also say,

"Palmer Snowfield is open for Fall Skiing and Riding. Only the upper snowfield will be open - all riders will be required to download on all lifts - be prepared to carry all equipment. Early season conditions exist."

Several more glacier ski areas In the Alps were due to open this weekend but Engelberg in Switzerland, which was one of them, has decided to delay until next weekend or possibly the one after. It's been snowing there today though.

However the Kitzsteinhorn Glacier in Austria is open with a 1m snow depth and all eight Austrian glacier ski areas are now reported to be open – more than the rest of the northern hemisphere's open ski areas combined.

Several ski areas in Colorado have fired up their snowguns to take advantage of cold temperatures in Colorado, with the aim of being the first in the state, and possibly the country, to open for 2014-15.

Snowmaking is reported to be underway at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area (pictured above), Copper Mountain and Loveland ski areas, which may be open with a fortnight if conditions remain favourable.

"The beginning of October brought cold temperatures and natural snow to Summit County, and we're helping Mother Nature get our ski area open for the season," said Adrienne Saia Isaac, Marketing & Communications Manager at A Basin, "It takes approximately two weeks from the start of snowmaking to create the 18" of base necessary to start skiing on the first trail to open, the intermediate High Noon run."

The three areas are all among the 20 highest in the world, with bases at 2900-3200m (two vertical miles) above sea level, and ski runs reaching as high as nearly 3900m – similar at the top to the year round glacier ski area at Zermatt.

The snowmaking comes on top of substantial natural snowfall at some Colorado ski areas in the last few days of September,

"Mother Nature delivered 7 inches of snow to the slopes of Loveland Ski Area over the past three days. Not to be outdone, Loveland's snowmaking team fired up 17 snow guns last night and began laying down some manmade flakes of their own," said John Sellars from the resort, "Loveland Ski Area's snowmaking team took advantage of the cold temperatures last night and began making snow on Catwalk and Mambo at the top of Chair 1 at 7:00pm. Snowmaking crews will work their way down Catwalk and Mambo to Home Run covering this top-to-bottom run with tree-to-tree coverage for Opening Day 2014."

"Our first night of snowmaking was very productive," said Bobby Babeon, Loveland's trail maintenance and snowmaking manager. "Mother Nature got us off to a good start and our team is ready to finish the job. We will keep making snow around the clock as conditions permit and the slopes should be ready for the first skiers and riders in just a few weeks."

A new ski mapping tool called 'FatMap' is set to revolutionise skiing and snowboarding say its creators.

Available on a phone or tablet, FatMap combines cutting edge mobile and gaming technology to produce ultra-high resolution 3D maps for use by both piste skiers and freeriders to help then plan and enjoy ski adventures by giving them knowledge to shape the perfect ski day and the tools to explore further.

"Highly accurate GPS-enabled ski navigation will help users to locate themselves with ease in complex terrain whilst high resolution 3D fly-throughs of classic off-piste and piste lines will enable users to imagine themselves on the mountain before leaving the house. Combined with essential resort and terrain intelligence information, Fatmap will make it easy to plan a day on the slopes or a day exploring off-piste," said a statement on behalf of the company.

For freeriders detailed freeride mapping will show where the hidden off-piste lines are including information on steepness, length and difficulty. The app also promises detailed terrain intelligence that identifies avalanche risk zones, crevasse zones and slope gradients in addition to up-to-date conditions reports bringing together all of the essential information in one place.

For piste skiers the detailed piste mapping feature can be used to plan a day on the slopes and help identify the sunniest pistes, best restaurants and give information on lift status and weather conditions. It is also offers real-time location sharing and for those keen to record and share their experiences, FATMAP also allows users to record distance travelled, vertical descent and speed and create their own unique 3D fly-throughs for sharing on their social networks.

FatMap's founding partners Dave Cowell and Misha Gopaul came up with the concept when on a ski expedition to Albania in 2010.

Dave, an experienced software developer and Geography scholar from Oxford University is a self-confessed mapping geek and Misha is a successful Tech Entrepreneur who is also on the Swiss Mountain Guide training scheme and British ski mountaineering team.

Both are passionate off-piste skiers and climbers preferring nothing more than being away from it all at any chance possible.

"FatMap is based on a simple principle. 'Know more. Do more.' We believe that uncertainty can often stop skiers and snowboarders from challenging their limits, so we created FatMap to empower them with the tools and information, to explore further, safely," said Misha Gopaul.
FatMap will launch in December 2014, initially covering Chamonix, Verbier, Zermatt, Val D'Isere & Tignes (Espace Killy) and Les Arcs and La Plagne (Paradiski) with more resorts promised throughout the winter season.

It can be downloaded via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. All users will be able to download a free trial prior to purchase. Once downloaded you can choose from either the 'Piste' or 'Freeride' version for your favourite resort. The cost of the version will vary depending on the size of the resort area however 'Piste' will be available from £2.49 per resort per year and 'Freeride' will be available from £9.99 per resort per year.

fatmap.com

The MS Trust is looking for participants for its charity fundraiser ski event in Chamonix next March.

The aim of the event is to ski the 30,000ft height of Mount Everest in vertical every day over three days between 13-17 March 2015 to raise funds to help people with multiple sclerosis.

Any skiers or boarders wishing to take part are asked to raise pay £150 now to register, and the commit to raise at least £1,500 in sponsorship. The charity which is looking to find 25 participants, provides lots of help and advice in the fund raising and connecting up participants ahead of the event to share ideas.

Speaking about last season's challenge, earlier this year, participant Sarah Burgess from Southampton, said, "The trip was jam-packed from start to finish but the camaraderie was excellent and everyone returned home feeling accomplished and proud of our achievements."

Included in the package are the price of flights and transfers, accommodation (bed and breakfast), a three day lift pass and ski guides who will lead participants in small groups during the challenge. Monster Ski travel is run by leading independent ski tour operator Ski Independence (www.ski-i.com).

Previous Monster Ski events held in Colorado, Engelberg, Whistler, Tignes and Chamonix have raising over £400,000 since the first event in 2008.

"I would certainly recommend this trip to anyone looking for a ski trip with a difference – pushing yourself to the limit on the slopes, whilst at the same time raising money for a great cause," added Sarah.

For more information see www.mstrust.org.uk/monsterski or contact Jess Wright at the MS Trust on 01462 476707.

In the same month that Vail Resorts purchased Park City Mountain resort after (kind of) winning a bitter legal battle and announced it plans to create the largest ski area ion the US for winter 2014-15 by merging it with The Canyons next door which it also owns; and Salt Lake City got the new official trademark 'Ski City USA' and a group of proponents of the inter-connecting of seven of the state's leading resorts (all accessible to skiers, five to boarders) claimed that 65% of Utah residents were in favour, a judge has decided that Alta's ban on snowboarding on their slopes was legal and has thrown out a suit by a group of boarders that it was not. Utah is home to two of the three ski areas in the US that still ban snowboarders (the other Utah resort is Deer Valley, with Mad River Glen in Vermont, a private club, the other).

The judge's 30 page ruling basically said that Alta had the right to ban the use of certain types of equipment from its slopes, so was not covered by equality legislation or the boarders constitutional rights.

"Plaintiffs' case fails because there is no law to support it," the judge wrote.

This was a different point to the main thrust of the snowboarder's main argument which was that Alta's attitude was more about people than equipment.

The boarders also argued that because Alta's slopes are on public land, leased from the US Forest Service, boarders should be allowed to board on the land ultimately owned by the US population.

However the Forest Service backed Alta's case which was that it's position was about equipment, not people, and the resort's lawyers said that using snowboards meant boarders had a 'blind spot' on the slopes because of their stance, and that some of Alta's slopes were too steep for boarders.

The group of snowboarders pointed out Alta had allowed monoskiers who also have both feet fixed to a single board and other sliding devices.

Benson wrote. "The Equal Protection Clause is not a general fairness law that allows everyone who feels discriminated against to bring an action in federal court."

"We continue to believe the case has merit, and regardless of the ultimate outcome, we hope that Alta and the U.S. Forest Service will voluntarily reconsider their policy and provide skiers and snowboarders equal access to public land," the boarder's lawyer said, adding that they were considering an appeal.

There are around 50 (if I remember right) British ski schools that operate in France with no problems and at least 100 British instructors. The various conflicts with the ESF are because some Brits have refused to get the full ESF recognised qualifications as those Brits believe the demands are unreasonable and not justified under European equal rights laws. However most Brits who want to teach in France have just done everything the French asked and are therefore qualified to teach with no problem. I'm probably (1) horribly over simplifying it and possibly (2) wrong, but i'm sure someone will correct me if that's the case. Anyway if I'm not wrong then I assume these people are qualified to teach in France.