J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by J2SkiNews

Plans for an indoor snow centre by the London Olympic park have returned from the grave with mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson unveiling new and apparently fully financed plans to build the UK's seventh currently operating indoor snow centre, with the longest British slope yet, next to the Olympic venue as part of his speech on the first anniversary of the 2012 Games.

The new plan talks of a £200m centre with five slopes, the longest 300m, with toboggan run and terrain park, along with shops, restaurants and a hotel to be built by the owners of the adjacent Westfield Shopping Mall and to open, hopefully, by 2015.

It appears to be similar or the same as an Acer Snowmec project proposed for the former Olympic media centre as a legacy facility mooted to be built post games in discussions in 2011, but later ruled out.

Birmingham based Acer Snowmec are the leading designers and snow system suppliers to indoor centres in the UK and around the world where there client list includes Madrid and Dubai snow centres.

There's quite a lot of mis-information about the plans already in mainstream media, reminiscent of some of the stories attached to the over-a-decade-delayed Snoasis (http://www.snoasis.co.uk) project in Suffolk which had hoped to open before the Olympics as a centre of winter sports excellence.

These include claiming that the 300m long main slope and 20,000 sqm snow slope area will make the centre the world's largest (it will put it in the top 10 of the 60 centres operating worldwide but slopes of up to 600m exist in the Netherlands, Germany and France); that Ski Dubai is the world's largest (again it's top 10 but not biggest) and that the 300m slope will be twice the length of the existing longest UK indoor slope (which is 180m, so at the risk of being pedantic, no).

The slope will be the UK's seventh, meaning it Britain will equal the Netherlands in having the most indoor snow centres in one country in the world.

There have been several other indoor snow centre proposals for London over the past two decades.

It is hoped the centre will attract up to three million visitors per year.

It could be the first new indoor snow centre for skiing to open for several years at that point as, since the worldwide economic crash, most newly conceived indoor snow centres have been primarily snow play/activity centres in Asia with shorter slopes or flat snow play areas.

"One year on from London's Olympic and Paralympic Games and we are defying the sceptics who prophesied a herd of white elephants. Westfield's plans for a world-class indoor ski centre (…) underscores the massive confidence in this area from investors which is delivering a real payback for taxpayers in terms of jobs and the regeneration of east London," said London's mayor Boris Johnson.

Hi y'all. I am just working on the J2Ski August snow report! I'm afraid that despite the snow depth, and the confusing on-site info, the Kitzteinhorn glacier at Kaprun is closed for skiing/boarding until a yet-to-be-decided date in mid-September. There are a couple of glaciers that are open in Austria however - Tux near Mayrhofen in the Ziller Valley (http://www.hintertuxergletscher.at/en/home.html - one of biggest, year round) and Molltal ( http://www.gletscher.co.at) with 12km of runs open. A third choice maybe the Dachstein glacier but it has another confusing website. I'm told it's always open but last time I looked it said 0 slopes open. Maybe it was just a bad weather day. Might be good to visit though as they just opened a new cable car with an open air balcony on the roof of it you can stand in. Looks very cool, in more ways that one.

The big two tour operators which together take more than half of the UK's estimated 900,000 skiers on their trips each winter, Crystal and Inghams, have just launched their main programmes for 2013-14 including more than a dozen 'new' destination choices between them.

In fact quite a few on the list are resorts they've visited previously but had dropped from their brochures, although some are all new.

Scandinavia is popular with both companies, Crystal adding Norway as a country choice with three leading resorts there on offer – Geilo ("the st Moritz of the North), Hemsedal (under the same management as Sweden's Are and several other regional leaders) and Beitstolen. Inghams have opted to add to their existing quota of three Finnish Lapland resorts (Levi, Saariselka and Yllas) by adding Pyhä.

Inghams have also focused on Austria, adding four traditional village resorts on big pass areas including Axams and Götzens on the giant Innsbrruck regional pass, Kirchberg across from Kitzbuhel and Going on Austria's largest lift-linked pass, the Skiwelt.

The company also has new choices in France, the pretty old spa town of St. Gervais and the recently renovated family-friendly purpose-built option Valmorel.

Over in North America it is returning to old Inghams favourite Jasper, home to Marmot Basin ski area.

Crystal Ski remains the UK's largest ski holiday tour operator offering winter sports holidays to three continents, 13 countries, 132 ski resorts and departures from 21 UK airports.

Following the furore over 'ski hosting' of clients by staff working for British tour operators, which French police have decided breaks French law, the UK's biggest operator, Crystal, has announced that reps will meet clients by key lifts at the base off the slopes each day to offer advice on conditions and routes for the 2013-14 ski season.

In the meantime the case against the operator Le Ski, for employing what the French authorities consider to be an under-qualified and therefore illegal 'ski guide' will reach its second court case in early November in Chambéry.

The case led to the suspension of what tour operators call 'ski hosting' or 'social skiing' by British operators across France.
The dispute has rumbled on for decades with the Ecole du ski Francais backing the French authorities' action, but virtually all major British tour operators supporting le Ski in their legal case.

The company is supported by Alpine Elements, Crystal Ski, Inghams, Mark Warner, Neilson, Ski Esprit, Ski Olympic, Ski Total, Skiworld, Thomson Ski.

Commenting on the decision to position staff to give advice at ski lifts, a Crystal company spokesperson said, "This doesn't break any law, nor does social skiing, that's what we're trying to convey at the court case."

The ski hosting issue is believed to be only a problem in France. The tui group which runs Crystal Ski and Thomson Ski say they offer social skiing in over 90 resorts in all other countries apart from France.

The price of a six day pass for adults and children aged 13 and up will hit a new high of 277 Euros next winter, which seems likely to be the most expensive pass in Europe outside the Swiss franc zone.

However after introducing the 'Tribu' pass last winter, which offered discounts when three people bought the same pass valid for six days or more for the same dates and duration, the 3 Valleys will be extending the concept to offer a smaller discount when only two people buy the same ticket for the same dates and duration together in '13-'14. The 6 day adult price per person drops 10 Euros to 267 Euros. Children age 5 – 12 pay 221.6 Euros for six days.

The discounts for three or more people buying together remain and are slightly larger – 262 Euros each and families with two or more children aged 5 to 18 can all pay the child price when all four (or more) buy tickets together for the same dates/duration.

There are also lower rates before Christmas and after Easter and lower rates if you only buy a ticket for an individual valley rather than the full region, with the same discounts offered if two or more people purchase passes together.

A four season decline in the number of British skiers booking ski holidays appears to be over as a small decline of less than 1% in 2011-12 has been reversed by a small increase of less than 1% in 2012-13 according to figures from the UK's largest ski tour operator Crystal in the company's annual report on the British ski travel business, the closest the country has to official data.

The overall number of skiers increased by 5,000 year on year, increasing the number travelling abroad to 899,700 in 2012/13, the first increase of numbers since the peak in 2007/8 when about a quarter more people were boking ski holidays before the economic crash when British skiers numbered around 1.2 million.

Although it does not yet seem likely well will now see again double digit growth to match the double digit declines after the recession hit, tour operators are, as they normally are at this time of the year, reporting healthy bookings for the coming winter.

The Crystal Ski industry Report says that the 2012/13 season finally stopped the rot of skier number decline due to great snow across European resorts, a 'good calendar' for Christmas and New Year departures, and an early Easter holiday in March.

"As anticipated, last year the decline in the ski market has now bottomed out and we are starting to see signs of recovery and growth. However, we cannot rest on our laurels and need to continue to deliver exceptional value, innovation and great service if we are to see the market return to pre-recession levels," said Simon Cross, managing director Crystal Ski.

Among the details, school ski trip bookings were down again, although the student booking market saw an upturn. And more than a decade after the demise of the tour operator sector was predicted with people booking ski accommodation and travel direct on the internet, tour operators are still taking 84% of the total tour operator market, say Crystal Ski, who said they took an even larger chunk of the total market with 34% of the overall market.

France continues to be the most popular country with British skiers, taking 34.8% in the 2012/13 season, an increase in market share from 34.6% but Austria's edged 0.1% closer to regaining that 'most popular destination country' slot it once held as its market share rose to 28.2% from 27.9% due to growth in newly linked ski areas and well priced packages especially in smaller resorts.

Italy's share slightly decreased from 15.4% to 15.2% as Neilson reduced capacity into Turin. Andorran resorts capitalised on market demand for value with its share rising marginally to 6.6% and Swiss ski holiday bookings rosse as the Swiss National Bank continued to cap its exchange rate and the ongoing marketing investments pay off, increasing market share from 4.9% to 5.5%.

The USA continues to see a decline especially in Colorado, whereas Canada grows market share through exceptional marketing campaigns and differentiated offers. In total, North America's 4% share has dropped from 4.5%. Bulgaria also saw a fall to 2.4% due to Inghams withdrawing.

"With initiatives from Snowsport England, the indoor ski centres in the UK, our own first time ski or board promotions and the efforts of resorts in Europe and beyond, there is a real focus on attracting new or lapsed skiers to the market," concluded Simon Cross, "This focus, combined with the additional exposure that the Winter Olympics in Sochi will bring to the sport, should ensure that the growth that we experienced last season is the start of the recovery."

New runs are something of a rarity in the Austrian Alps, or anywhere in Europe, indeed new advice from the Austrian Lift Operators Organisation following an investigation on piste length by German ski journalist Christoph Schrahe may mean the total published piste kilometres in the country is about to drop (it's already happened at Mayrhofen which has fallen to 133km after having around 159km the past decade or so).

New black runs are even more of a rarity, with the handful that have appeared in the past 10 years mostly restricted to the Dolomites where resorts were keen to offer more challenge.
But next season, the Kitzsteinhorn ski area above Kaprun has announced a new advanced run will be unveiled, and they're so excited by it they're giving it an exciting name "Black Mamba" – although on the map you'll see it marked as run number 14.

The kilometre long groomed slope will pitch at up to 63% and drops 290 vertical metres in altitude. The run starts at the valley station of Kristallbahn at 2,265 metres and ends at Langwiedboden.

"(The run) …is venomous like a mamba – perfect for all experts who love it steep!" said a statement from the resort, "From now on the "Black Mamba" lurks at Kristallbahn, offering an additional run that snakes over several curves and steep slopes down to Langwiedboden. From winter 2013/14, there's only one motto for all expert and courageous riders at Kitzsteinhorn: Do it!"

Tour operators are of course always telling us to "book early to get the best deals" or sometimes more accurately "book early to ensure the holiday you want is still available."

But they don't often go in to a great deal of explanation as to why you should book early.

So it's always interesting to get some insider tips, and J2ski.com talked to Xavier Schouller, boss of frequent award winning operators Peak retreatswww.peakretreats.co.uk - which specialises in unspoilt French villages linked to giant ski regions and Ski Collection www.skicollection.co.uk, which offers affordable accommodation in the leading French resorts, and which between them cover most French resorts, about how winter 2013-14 looks like shaping up in terms of bookings.

Here's what Xavier told us, and though the advice applies particularly to French ski trips, much of it is equally valid for travel to other countries.

The Key Holiday Periods

Christmas 2013

Change over day is midweek (Saturday 21st) which is good news as it avoids complications when Christmas and new year change over days fall at the weekends which can mean tour ops have to do 8 or 6 day trips to avoid flying then. Christmas has been a bit of a quieter week than it once was in recent seasons and currently there are lots of good deals.

New Year 2014

Although it's a good change over day again (Saturday 28th) New Year, traditionally the busiest and most expensive week of the season, looks likely to be booked up quickly, so if you want to go then, best book now.

"The New year week sold out quite quickly last season and again this season being a holiday week for most other European countries too we expect availability to disappear pretty quickly," says Xavier.

February Half Term

In February French holidays run for four weeks from 15th February (Paris area first week) to 15th March. British holidays are concentrated in one week, the same one as the Parisians.
"Sadly UK half term will be back to one single week in 2014 after being spread over two weeks this year so there will be a lot of pressure on availability and we can't recommend enough for clients to book early," says Xavier.

Easter

It's a later Easter but the school holidays are coming before it and booking is already well underway,

"With Easter holidays in early April we are seeing good demand for that month already and both weeks (beginning 5th and 12th April) are proving popular on the back of last years' excellent conditions," says Xavier, "Once again the UK holidays start at the same time as the Belgians and the French and German holidays start on the 12th. This is also the second week of UK and Belgian holidays so this will be the possibly more popular week.

Overall

Xavier reports business up last season and expects further growth next winter with the market buoyed by the good snow conditions last season, which left skiers hungry for more and going home to tell their friends.