J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by admin

Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah has announced it aims to stay open for skiing and riding on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) for another month through to June 20, conditions and weather permitting.

The extension would mark 199 days of skiing and riding for the 2009/10 season, two days short of Snowbird's record 2004/05 season when the resort stayed open for 201 days until July 4. As of May 20, Snowbird's mid-mountain base stands at 117 inches with forecasts calling for flurries throughout the weekend.

It's the third year in a row that Snowbird has surpassed its annual average in snowfall.

Other US resorts still open include Mammoth Mountain in California which has announced it will aim to stay open to July 4, and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, which plans to stay open in to June. Timberline Mountain in Oregon is open year round except for a few weeks maintenance closure each September.

North of the border only Whistler Blackcomb's glacier skiing is now open in Canada following Sunshine ski area near Banff's closure at the weekend.

Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

Pablo Escobar wrote:I wonder if he is taking any steps to offset the environmental impact of his expeditions.

Yes, I believe he's decided not to use the extensive lift system on K2...

Pablo Escobar wrote:I think I can just about see a skiable line...

:shock: :lol:

Fredrik's blog is worth reading over a coffee... some great terrain in Iceland...

Extreme skier Fredrik Ericsson to ski K2, the Savage Mountain

This summer, Swedish ski mountaineer Fredrik Ericsson will embark on his dream of becoming the first person to ski the world's three highest mountains: Mount Everest, K2 and Kangchenjunga. Arguably, the toughest challenge of the three will be his expedition to the world's second highest mountain, K2, which begins in May 2010.



Fredrik Ericsson is one of the world's leading high altitude skiers with ski descents of some of the highest mountains on earth, including Peak Somoni, Shisha Pangma, Gasherbrum 2, Laila Peak and Dhaulagiri.

"I have already skied on five mountains higher than 8000 meters. During these adventures I gained critical experience that will apply towards my goal of skiing the absolute highest. The project spans two years and I will try to ski the three highest mountains in the world: K2 (8612m) this summer, Mount Everest (8850m) in autumn 2010, and Kangchenjunga (8586m) in autumn 2011," says Fredrik.

The first big challenge starts now when Fredrik, together with American alpine journalist Trey Cook, go to the Karakoram mountain range in Pakistan. The mountain they plan to climb and ski, K2, is arguably the hardest of all 8000-meter peaks. It is a remarkably steep pyramid with no easy route to the top. Climbing the mountain is further complicated by unusually severe and unpredictable weather systems.

K2 was first climbed in 1954 by the Italians Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli. Since then, The Savage Mountain – as it has come to be called due to the extraordinarily high number of deaths on the mountain – has been climbed on 10 different routes and only around 200 people have summited. Although several of the world's best ski mountaineers have tried no one has ever made a complete ski descent from the summit of K2.

After a rough, two-week journey by plane, jeep and on foot the team will arrive on the Godwin-Austen glacier at the foot of K2 where they will set up base camp at an altitude of 5,100 meters. Over the next four weeks they will undertake several acclimatization climbs in order to prepare for the enormous challenge. Mid-July will see the team start the grueling climb to the top of K2.

"We will not use supplemental oxygen or high-altitude porters. In addition to the equipment that all climbers carry I'll also be carrying my ski equipment and wearing ski touring boots which are not nearly as warm, comfortable or functional as climbing boots. This makes the climb much more challenging but also more rewarding," says Fredrik.

Ericsson and Cook plan to climb the south-southeast ridge, a serious, 3500-vertical-meter route featuring extremely strenuous, high-altitude climbing. During the weeks leading to their final push the team will methodically move higher and higher up the mountain while their bodies and minds grow accustomed to the debilitating hardships of climbing at such altitude. When the team is fully acclimatized, the two will need four days to get from base camp to the summit, spending three nights in inhospitable, bone-chilling, high-altitude camps on the way.

"On the final day of our summit push we will start climbing from our 8000 meter camp at midnight and I believe it will take about 12 hours of climbing above 8000 meters to reach the top," says Fredrik. At this extreme altitude, known as The Death Zone, the body only takes in one-third as much oxygen as sea level and inevitably deteriorates above that altitude.

The ski descent, which is the ultimate goal of the two-month expedition, is expected to take five hours. The descent from the summit all the way to base camp has a vertical drop of almost 3500 meters and has very steep sections of up to 50 degrees.

"To ski at 8000 meters is very strenuous. I can only manage to make a few turns before I have to stop and rest. After four to five turns I'm as exhausted as after skiing 1000 vertical meters in the Alps," says Ericsson.

To follow the expedition, log onto Fredrik's website www.fredrikericsson.com where regular updates will be posted.

About Fredrik Ericsson

Fredrik Ericsson grew up in a town called Umeå in the northern part of Sweden but since 2000 has had Chamonix in the French Alps as his base. As a professional skier he spends the winter being filmed and photographed skiing in exotic mountain ranges around the world.

Summary of Fredrik's most notable ski descents:

* 2003 - Peak Somoni, Tajikistan (7,495m). Skied from summit to 4,500 meters.
* 2004 - Central summit of Shisha Pangma,Tibet (8,012m). Skied from summit to 5,600 meters.
* 2005 - Gasherbrum 2, Pakistan (8,035 m). Skied from summit to 5,500 meters.
* 2005 - Laila Peak, Pakistan (6,069 m). Skied from 5,940 meters.
* 2007 – Dhaulagiri, Nepal (8,167 m). Skied from 8,000 to 4,700 meters.
* 2008 – Kangchenjunga, Nepal (8586 m). Skied from 7,000 to 5,500 meters.



Fredrik's sponsors: Dynastar, Tierra, Osprey, Hestra, Scarpa, Grivel and Adidas Eyewear

Supporters: Tissot, Exped, Giro, Primus, Brunton, ATK Race, Ortovox, Jämtport

China Announce Plans To Open World's First 1km Long Indoor Slope

China will open the world's longest indoor ski slope yet , when the first kilometre (3,300ft) long indoor slope will open in the city of Guangzhou near Hong Kong.

Guangzhou will feature a slope of 1000m in length and has 100 million people living within a radius of 100km.

The new indoor snow slope will probably be the country's seventh, and the fourth to be named after Olympic ice skater Ye Qiaobo, who won medals in speed skating at the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games and has subsequently developed a love of skiing, in common with millions of other Chinese people.

The new indoor slope will be nearly twice as long as the current longest indoor slope at Amneville in France, which is reported to have been extended to 600m, overtaking the previous longest in Germany and The Netherlands.

Prior to Guangzhou however, Chengde has announced her third indoor slope will open in Nanjing next year, with a 500m long slope. The city, which was the country's capital prior to 1949, has a population approaching 8 million.

With six indoor centres China will match the UK for the number of indoor centres, equal third behind The Netherlands with 8 and Japan where nine small elderly indoor snow centres built in the 1990s are still believed to be operational. However the large size of the new slope coupled with other large indoor centres in China means that the country will have more square feet of indoor snow slopes than any other.

Qiaobo opened her second indoor slope after the initial centre in Beijing in Hangzhou last October. After Nanjing and Guangzhou she has also announced her fifth centre will be built at Chengdu, in the centre of China. It has a population of 10 million and is close to the world's biggest city, Chongqing, which has a population of 33 million.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

Finland's Pyhä ski area is spending 8 million Euros on upgrades this summer, the bulk of it on a high= peed detachable six-eater chairlift with weather protection hood, only the second of this type of high capacity lift in the country.

The spend is the biggest investment in the ski resort's history and has the stated goal of bringing Pyhä to the 'next level' in terms of development and meet international destination standards. By 2015 Pyhä aims to double the current number of skiing customers.

PyhäExpress will takes skier up to the top in four minutes, and has a capacity of 3000 people per hour - nearly three times as much as a traditional t bar lift. The lift is 1100 metres long, rising 280 vertical metres.

Nearly half the slopes of Pyhä can be reached by the new lift, including the resort's new FIS classified slope. In addition, thanks to careful planning, a uniquely versatile ski area will be formed around PyhäExpress with five slopes of different levels of difficulty can be reached by the new super fast lift.

These five slopes are all more than 1 km long and they include slopes suitable for both beginners and more advanced skiers. A completely new slope is the FIS classified racing slope, which will be built during summer 2010.

Planning of the investments at Pyhä began back in 2001 when the resort's master plan was made by Canadian-based company Ecosign Mountain Resort Planners Ltd, the team behind Whistler and many other leading ski resorts worldwide.

"The best slopes in the country will now be paired with the best ski lift in the country," said Miia Porkkala, ceo of Pyhätunturi Ltd.
"The aim of the careful planning and the big investments is to make Pyhä one of the top five ski resorts in Finland and the best destination in the country for an active skier."
"The new developments will improve the services for skiers at Pyhä remarkably and make the ski resort a more interesting destination internationally as well. The foreign tourists and training groups are used to modern ski lifts and they know to demand the same level of services anywhere they go."

Pyhätunturi Ltd is part of the Rukakeskus Group, which is owned by the Aho family. It has been operating the ski areas at Ruka since 1973 and at Pyhä since 1987.
Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

It was the hottest weekend of the year so far and at CairnGorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands, where temperatures at the top reached 20C on Saturday, snow sports enthusiasts were flocking to the high tops in their shorts , t – shirts and kilts to enjoy the unseasonal temperatures out on the ski slopes.

Over two hundred skiers and five hundred ski spectators headed up the mountain where the sledge park, snow cross terrain park and Ptarmigan Ski Tow is still providing winter fun in what is set to become one of the longest skiing seasons on record. Skiing is still possible right down to mid mountain level and Colin Matthew (Operations Manager) said:

"CairnGorm today has had a real carnival atmosphere with the public out it shorts, shades , t shirts and even the occasional kilt. The sledge park and the fun park have both been really popular today. Snow conditions are soft and a bit like summer skiing on a European glacier with the temperature on the top slopes well into the lower 20's – the only difference is that we're short a few thousand feet on altitude here at CairnGorm".

This week will see a dramatic drop in temperature however, back down to single figures once again and more Easterly/Northerly airflows. Colin Matthew continued:

"The beginning of the week sees a return to cooler temperatures which will help keep the snowpack in a reasonable condition, with careful management we hope that we can keep skiing going for at least the English Holiday weekend at the end of May".

Courtesy of and © Snow24 plc

Winter 2010/11 seats are on sale now, so get in for the best prices.

Use Skyscanner to compare their prices with BA, etc.