J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Mont-Sainte-Anne in Quebec will open two new mountain sections this winter for glade skiing. This is a popular form of ski slope in North America – with thin tree cover.

One run will serve intermediates, the other is for experts, and both will connect into existing trails and end near a sugar shack, where traditional maple syrup treats are served. This brings the number of trails at Mont Sainte Anne to 69 in total.

Mont Sainte Anne will also inaugurate a new lift on December 15th, named La Panorama-Express. Aa Dopplemayr detachable quad chair, manufactured locally in St-Jérôme, Québec, it will replace the triple chairlift that was serving this area before.

This investment will cut lift time in half and serve more skiable terrain, and its path will be modified and optimized to provide access to the entire mountain, not only the expert area as before. It is also the biggest investment made in Québec's ski industry for the upcoming season.

Yes I thought that, but the Austrians are always trustworthy with their numbers, here's the live link to the rapidly growing Pitztal numbers: http://www.pitztaler-gletscher.at/en/skigebiet/schneehoehen

There's been increasingly heavy snowfall in the Alps over the weekend.

Falls of up to 20cm were reported over Saturday/Sunday and now up to 30cm for Sunday/Monday 24 hour periods at the glacier ski areas that are already open.

However with snowfall all the way down to the valleys in many parts of the Alps, this is clearly good pre-season news for all of Europe. Temperatures are typically in the -1 to -5C range.

The Pitztal Glacier, which operates Austria's highest lifts, which was one of the first to open in the alps back in mid-September says that it has already received 2.9m of snow this autumn, with 66cm in the past seven days, 29cm of that in the last 24 hours.

The Kitzsteinhorn glacier near Kaprun has had 30cm of snow in the past 24 hours while others have reported moderate accumulations such as 10cm at Stubai, 15cm at Molltal and the snowfall is still heavy at most resorts.

More and more resorts are offering freeride areas that have been made, hopefully, avalanche proof and more and more people are trying freeride in preference or in addition to sticking to the pistes.

Ever better equipment for this kind of skiing make heading off piste ever easier, but the safety issues have not changed, and it's important to know what you're doing and be able to recognise danger signs, as well as being able to do it.

St Anton in the Austrian Arlberg, famously one of the world's leading freeride resorts, is one of the resorts offering free Snow and Avalanche Awareness Camps (SAAC), which have been set up to encourage skiers and snowboarders to learn about the mountains. In fact the two day basic camps operate throughout the season in over 20 ski resorts across Austria.

With a mix of theory and practical learning, the focus is on alpine dangers, improving awareness and increasing an individual's own sense of responsibility. To reserve a place on one of the (English speaking) camps email office@saac.at to check availability or visit www.saac.at to view this season's dates and locations.

You can attend these camps while booked on a regular package holiday or travel independently to take part.

For example for the Basic Camp takes place in St Anton am Arlberg on the 14th/15th December you could travel with Ski Safari (www.skisafari.com) which offers three nights at the four star Hotel Post, with prices starting from £619 per person, based on two sharing, including flights and resort transfers and departing Friday 13th December.

A rare new dry slope complex has opened after a £1m re-development by Barr Construction of the Newmilns resort in East Ayrshire, Scotland.

Britain's newest ski slopes officially opened today (Saturday, November 2nd) at Newmilns Snow and Sports Complex on the day that heavy snow is forecast in the Cairngorms.

Barr Construction was on site for seven months transforming the original Newmilns ski slope to create two brand new slopes to cater for beginners to more advanced skiers.

"This project has been a tremendous success and a great challenge for the team at Barr Construction," said Paul Hollywood, project manager at Barr Construction. "We are confident the staff at NSASC will make a complete success of the new facilities and look forward to seeing many Scottish youngsters taking an active interest in snow sports with the addition of these top of the range slopes."

The centre has two slopes, 100 and 32 metres long respectively, and in a new tweak on the 'which surface is best?' debate for dry slopes, has two lengths of bristles to facilitate downhill skiing and manoeuvres to cater for skiers and snowboarders. For freestyle skiers and boarders a new table top jump area has also been created.
Barr Construction's mascot Barrney was at the opening event to meet the local community while checking out Barr's work on the upgraded facilities.

"We have a broad range of expertise in sporting facilities and it is a great achievement to add snow sports to our portfolio," added Mr Hollywood.

Newmilns Snow and Sports Complex was already a popular attraction in the local community, with many Ayrshire primary schools visiting of the complex before renovation began, and bookings have already been coming through thick and fast for the newly improved venue.

"After spending a lot of time raising the necessary funds for this redevelopment, it is extremely heartening to see the ski slopes up and running and attracting such a strong interest," said Bobby Pollock, chairman Newmilns Snow and Sports Complex, "Barr Construction has worked tirelessly to meet our specialist requirements and the centre is now fully equipped to keep up with growing demand.

Set to boost local interest in winter sports and shape the next generation of professional Scottish skiers and boarders, the centre also received backing from The Scottish Government.

Newmilns Snow and Sport Complex is a registered charity and social enterprise community organisation and raised funding for this renovation from a variety of organisations such as sportscotland, Landfill Communities Fund, The Robertson Trust, the Scottish Rural Development Programme, Social Investment Scotland and received a final grant from East Ayrshire Council.

(Library picture of Mt Norquay)

Canada'a 2013-14 ski season got underway today (Friday, 1st November) with Mt Norquay ski area in Alberta opening a week earlier than expected. A second Canadian ski area, Nakiska, will open tomorrow (Saturday, November 2nd). Norquay had been snowmaking and received 17cm of fresh snowfall this week too.

Mt. Norquay is the closest ski area to Banff, one of three resorts near the famous Canadian ski town, all of which benefitted from a snowstorm earlier this week (www.SkiBig3.com).

"We've enjoyed a beautiful fall, but the minute the snow started to fall last Sunday, we knew it was time to shift our focus on bringing winter fun back to all families for the season," said Mt. Norquay GM, Andre Quenneville.

Opening days at the Lake Louise Ski Resort and Sunshine Village will quickly follow on November 8th, with Sunshine Village hosting a sneak-a-peak day on November 7th with their annual 'Ski before we Open' event. Stay tuned for updates.

Fellow Alberta ski area Nakiska Ski Area will open for the season tomorrow ( Saturday November 2nd) and for another winter will continue to be one of the first ski resorts to open in Canada.

"Being less than an hour away from Calgary and such a great place for all to ski and snowboard, Nakiska is the most convenient and easy to get to mountain ski area for Calgarians," said Matt Mosteller, VP of Sales and Marketing at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, "being one of the first in Canada to open, this weekend at Nakiska shouldn't be missed," he continued.

South of the border Copper Mountain and Keystone in Colorado have also opened today.

The Jungfrau Winnercard, an electronic lift ticket valid at the famous Swiss ski region that incorporates the resorts of Grindelwald, Murren and Wengen, has been upgraded for the coming winter 2013/14 with a range of new hi-tec features.

The new version of the skipass will allow skiers the chance to create a personal diary charting experiences and videos to share with as few or as many fellow skiers and boarders as they like online.

The website connected to the pass also offers regular competitions alongside the chance to earn badges for accomplishments on the slopes such as distance skied or metres of vertical descended – all measured by the pass.

Another new feature is the Jungfrau Winnercard ski movies; simply touch your ski pass on the sensors in the Kleine-Scheidegg Männlichen or Mürren-Schilthorn ski areas and the journey down is tracked by cameras before being uploaded to your Jungfrau Winnercard online profile.

Just like touchline technology for Wimbledon and goal line for football, you'll now be able to produce visual evidence to back up your bragging during that après ski conversation on who went where, who went fastest and who did the hardest run.

30 years after the Sarajevo Winter Olympics (Torvil and Dean's finest hour) and two decades after the horrors of the war as Yugoslavia broke up, a new attempt is being made to market Bosnia and the ski slopes of Sarajevo in the UK.

New British company Ski Sarajevo (ski-sarajevo.com) is the first for several years to market ski holidays to the Bosnian's capital, and specifically Mt Jahorina located 28km from the city and one of three ski areas that hosted the Games three decades ago.

"Bosnia has always been a fantastic ski destination with first-class slopes, conditions and infrastructure as well as a huge amount of local culture and stunning scenery," enthused Grant Seuren, director of Ski Sarajevo, "…there's a new interest in finding Europe's best alternative ski spots. It's the perfect great-value destination for independent travellers of all abilities looking for somewhere new to ski, socialise and ultimately have fun."

Marketed particularly at those looking for a full-on après ski experience too, Ski sarajevo's 2014 hlidays will take place in February 2014 with packages from £269 per person including airport bus transfers, five days' accommodation, breakfasts and lunches, plus the services of a tour manager.

A £100 'Event Pass' available as an optional extra includes a five-day ski lift pass, entrance to all Ski Sarajevo parties on and off the mountain, participation in a planned Winter Games Festival and walking tours of Sarajevo and Mostar with local Bosnian guides.

The prices exclude flights to Bosnia which were offered from £164 return via skyscanner.net at the time of writing.